Chapter 3

THREE

Letty

What the heck is Hugh even doing here? Does he buy a lot of women? Is that why he’s never talked about going out with anyone? Why I’ve never seen him on a date around town? He just… he doesn’t seem like the type.

“Do you come here a lot?” I blurt out, and he frowns.

“No, of course not.”

I want to ask him what he was doing here tonight then, but I swallow down the question and step towards the bed.

The truth is that I’ve had a crush on my boss since I started working for him. Hugh is handsome in a rugged, badass kind of way. He’s close to six and a half feet tall and towers over me. He’s just as wide, too, and is one of the only men that I’ve met who can make me feel small and delicate when I’m standing next to him.

The blanket is pooled around my feet, and I kick it aside as I reach for the straps of my dress.

“Stop! Just…wait, you don’t have to do that,” Hugh says, clearing his throat as his eyes dart from the bed, back to me.

“You don’t want to verify your purchase?” I ask him, and he growls.

“Stop. I hated listening to him talk about you that way, don’t you start now, too.”

“What way?” I ask curiously.

“Like you’re just a thing. Like you’re property.”

“Well, right now, I guess I kind of am,” I point out.

Hugh’s eyes flash with anger, and I back up a step, holding my hands out in a placating gesture. My butt bumps up against the bed, and I glance back at it, taking in the thick comforter. It looks comfy.

I sit down on the edge of the bed, and Hugh swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he watches me warily. His hands fist at his sides, and I wonder what’s going through his head right now.

What’s going through my head right now? I think as I study him.

My mind is racing. On the one hand, I don’t want to make things awkward between us, but on the other hand, I’ve wanted Hugh since I started working for him, and this could be my chance to have him.

The question is, which thing do I want more?

As I stare at Hugh, I know that I have my answer. If I can only have him for one night, then I’m going to take that. I think that I’ll always take what I can get with him.

“You should know what you just paid a lot of money for,” I tell him, my voice coming out low and husky.

“I know what I paid for,” he says firmly.

It takes me a moment to realize that I’m excited about this. I’ve been into Hugh since I met him and my crush has only grown the longer that I worked for him and spent time with him. He’s a great boss. He’s always so kind and generous with everyone. To be honest, working for him has been the easiest job that I’ve ever had. When I first started as his assistant, I thought that I would be traveling the world with him, answering emails and phone calls, setting up meetings, and taking notes. Really, though, it’s just been a lot of us hanging out together. It feels like right after he hired me, he took a step back from his business, but I can’t be sure about that since I don’t know what his schedule was like before he hired me.

I scoot back on the bed and then lay down before him. My pale hair fans out around me, and I brush some off my shoulders as I look at my boss.

“Do it.”

“Letty,” he starts.

“It’s the rules, boss.”

“Hugh,” he corrects.

I spread my legs, and his eyes dart down to my core and then away. In all of the fantasies that I’ve had about being with Hugh, none of them ever went like this.

“Letty.”

“Hugh.”

His lips flatten into a thin, straight line, showing his displeasure, but he steps forward toward the bed and hovers over me. I spread my legs wider, and we lock eyes as his fingers trail up the inside of my thigh. I suck in a shuddery breath, and Hugh's dark blue eyes turn almost black as he stares down at me.

“Wider,” he orders, and my thighs spread on their own.

His fingers trail higher, and we both seem to hold our breaths as he slips his fingers under my thin thong and brushes against my drenched opening.

He pauses for a moment, his finger so close to where I’m aching for him, and I try to remain still. My hips are restless, though, and it takes everything in me not to arch up into his touch.

His finger pushes into me, and we both freeze, our eyes locking again. His finger wiggles slightly as he pushes in another inch, and we both let out a shaky exhale as he touches my virginity.

A strange look passes over his face, and I lick my lips as I stare up at him.

“Letty,” he chokes on my name, and it looks like he’s in a trance.

Then he blinks, and it’s like the spell is broken. He pulls his finger out of me and stumbles back two steps.

“I’ll be outside,” he says roughly.

Then he turns and hurries from the room.

I sit up, tugging my dress down, but it’s not enough. I feel raw and exposed and… rejected. I reach for the blanket that I dropped earlier and wrap it around myself. I take a deep breath, staring at the door and wondering what the heck is going to happen now.

I grab my phone and open my messages to Lilou.

Letty: Auction is over.

Lilou: And?

Letty: Ten million dollars.

Even just typing that number feels like I’m hallucinating.

Lilou: WHAT?!?

Letty: The winning bid was Hugh.

Lilou: Hugh?

Lilou: As in, your BOSS? That Hugh?

Letty: Yep.

Lilou: Whoa.

That about sums up how I’m feeling right now too. I tuck my phone into my purse.

I try to get myself together a bit as I wait for him to come back. By the time that Hugh comes back to the room, I’m composed and ready to leave.

“We’re all set here. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulder, and together, we head down the dark hallway and out the front door. It’s dark out, and I stick close to Hugh as he leads me over to his car. He opens the passenger door, and I slip inside, tucking the blanket around me.

“Where are we going?” I ask him as he climbs behind the wheel.

“Home.”

“Yours or mine?” I ask, letting out a giggle. “I’ve kind of always wanted to say that,” I admit, and he smiles slightly.

“Mine.”

I nod, and we ride in silence back to his place. It’s not far from the auction house, just a little further up the mountain, and soon enough, we’re pulling into his driveway.

“I didn’t think to ask. Was your car at the house?” He asks me as we park.

“No, they had sent a car. It’s back at my house.”

He nods and climbs out of the car. I scramble to do the same. He opens my door and grabs my hand, tugging me out of the seat. The blanket starts to come undone and he wraps it tighter around my shoulders as we head inside.

“It’s late. You must be tired,” he says once the door is shut behind us. “Come on.”

He leads me up the stairs and down a short hallway to the left. Hugh’s house is huge, and I’ve really only seen the kitchen, his office, and one of the living rooms. I glance around now, but there’s not much to see. There are no art or pictures on the walls, and the other doors are closed.

He opens one of the doors and ushers me inside ahead of him.

“This isn’t your room,” I blurt and he shifts on his feet.

“Um, no. It isn’t.”

“Why am I not sleeping with you?” I ask him.

“Letty, I’m not going to fuck you tonight.”

“Then why did you buy me?”

“Because I’m not about to let anyone else have you.”

“What does that mean?” I ask him, and his lips compress as he presses them together.

It’s obvious that he’s not going to answer me, and I frown at him. I want to demand that he answer my question, but before I can, he asks a question of his own.

“Why were you at the auction? Why did you put yourself up for sale?”

My mouth slams shut. I don’t want to tell him why I was there. I don’t want to explain my messed up family to him or tell him about how I now apparently owe some loan shark a quarter of a million dollars. We both remain silent and stare at each other, locked in a stalemate.

“Good night, Letty,” he says finally, and I sigh.

“Night, boss.”

“Hugh,” he growls.

I turn my back to him, hiding my smile as I make my way over to the bed. I hear the door close as he leaves, and I want to poke around, explore the room, and see what I can learn about my boss, but my eyes are already starting to droop.

In the morning, I promise myself.

I climb up onto the bed, unbuckling my shoes and letting them drop to the floor. I wrap the blanket tighter around me as I lay back against the pillows. They smell like Hugh, and I smile as my eyes drift shut.

My mind tries to race with thoughts about what will happen in the morning. What happens now between Hugh and me? Am I going to have to quit my job? I guess I can since he paid ten million for me, though it feels like I should pay him back the extra since he saved me from being bought by someone else, someone scarier.

I’ll figure it out in the morning, I promise myself, taking slow, even breaths.

A minute later, I’m fast asleep.