“Unsanitary, Ryan,” Vanessa says, over-enunciating the middle syllables.
“If your assistant won’t bid on you, get somebody else to do it,” Justin says.
“It sounds easy, but it’s not,” I say. “You know how hard it is to find a woman who won’t be expecting more from me than just some money to do the job? Oh no, they’re going to want to be my girlfriend. To get involved. Maybe more.”
My brother makes a face. He never had to deal with this problem, but knows how it is.
I continue, “I asked Court t
o get his girlfriend to bid on me, but I don’t know. He didn’t seem too keen. For all I know, he never even told her about it.”
He’s pretty gooey-eyed over his girl, whose name I can never seem to remember. Although they aren’t married or anything, I have a feeling he doesn’t want her bidding on me. It was always “bros before hos” for Court…until now. Traitor.
I eye Isabella. “You think Isabella’s too young to be bidding at a bachelor auction?”
Sophia laughs. “Not at all. But you’ll have to convince Dane first.”
I give her a dry look. “Yeah, that’ll totally work. But if you ask…”
“Not doing that,” she says. “It would only upset him.”
“But what about me? Doesn’t anybody worry about my fate?”
“Make Evie an offer she can’t refuse,” Vanessa says.
I thought I already did that. “Like what?”
She shrugs. “How am I supposed to know? She’s your assistant. You figure it out.”
Chapter Five
Evie
Despite Kim’s advice, I don’t broach the subject to Nate immediately. To be honest, I don’t know how. The new statue that appeared over the weekend seems hugely accusatory. This is what’s going to happen to Nate because of you!
And it’s pretty horrific. It looks like the woman’s trying to literally suck the soul out of the guy’s body through his cock. I mean, maybe I’m overthinking this after Nate said the thing about Georgette and his bone marrow, but I’m pretty sure the statue is depicting Nate getting violated in more ways than one.
Then there’s Nate himself. He seems distracted, irritated and anxious. I’ve never seen him like this. He must really be worried.
And he couldn’t find anybody to help him.
Despite what I told him, I didn’t put an ad up on Craigslist. What Kim said is right. Nate trusts me to take care of everything, and I can’t just dump him onto some unvetted stranger off the Internet. For all I know, an ad might attract an even crazier person than Georgette, and no one needs that.
Besides, Georgette’s becoming increasingly more disgusting. Or unhinged. Maybe she doesn’t know Nate doesn’t check his own emails, except for one very private account only a few of his family and friends know about. (Not even I know the address for that one.) She’s been sending nude photos of herself in various twisty poses designed to show of what she can do in bed. Forty-six of them so far.
Every single one of them has the subject line: Feel free to do what comes naturally with this. ;) ;) ;)
Ugh.
She doesn’t seem worried about the possibility that Nate might post them all over the Internet. Or that I might sell them to a porn site in exchange for hazard pay.
Actually, no amount of hazard pay would be enough to compensate for all the eye bleach I’m going to need. Since I’m a good assistant, I don’t bother Nate with the crass porno shots. But they cement my decision to rescue him from this obviously disturbed individual from his past, popping back into his life like a genital wart that refuses to die.
Except I’m not exactly sure how to broach the subject after turning him down so firmly earlier. But like Kim said, it’s my job to guard him from the likes of Georgette.
On the sixteenth day since he asked me to bid on him at the auction, I add broccoli to his kale and protein shake for an extra dose of antioxidants and vitamins, all the goodness he needs to fend off the crazy folks and help make the world a better place with the Sterling fortune. I know he enjoys nutritious food to keep himself healthy, and I give him mad respect for that, even though I could never drink what he does because it tastes like sewer every time I sample a bit. But no pain no gain is a real guidepost for Nate.
He comes down to the kitchen from his bedroom. His dark brown hair is carelessly styled, like he just ran his fingers through it, although he goes to this unbelievably expensive barber. He hasn’t had a single drop of coffee yet, but his eyes are clear and alert. He’s dressed in a pale cream shirt, the collar undone, and some black slacks I picked out for him. He looks fabulous, as usual—strong and powerful. Watching him is how I learned what men who work out look like with clothes on.