Chapter 3

"Lot more people here than I thought there would be." Eva sat in the seat next to the aisle, the trousers of her pantsuit hanging over the skinny metal chair that was barely big enough to hold an adult's butt. I may not be very heavy, but I'm tall. Come on. It was bad enough that Eva had almost no leg room between herself and the front row right before her. How was Nadia handling this? Besides poorly? "Kathryn made it sound like there were only twenty attendees today. Guess it's a good time of year for charity in Vegas."

They occupied the top floor of the hotel, where Kathryn had reserved the premier loft for that morning's event. Those who hadn't already eaten outside of the hotel – or weren't intermittently fasting – grazed through the buffet table and enjoyed a complimentary mimosa at one of the chairless tables dotting the bigger room in the back. Squeals of excitement and groans of acknowledgment hit the air every time two people recognized one another. Anyone who had agreed to be "auctioned off" for a date that day put on a badge and mingled with the crowd before going backstage.

Nadia soon joined the excitement when she gasped at a certain someone's appearance.

"You made it!" She scrambled over Eva's lap to meet her best friend Jasmine halfway down the aisle. A stylish houndstooth dress accompanied the voluminous black hair bobbing through the air as Jasmine embraced Nadia as if they hadn't seen each other at brunch a few days ago. "I know you got into Vegas yesterday too, but you made it sound like Ethan wouldn't want to come to the event."

Jasmine's laugh told a tale that Eva didn't need to interpret. "As if I would let him get away with not coming!" Jasmine and Ethan Cole existed on opposite ends of the introvert-extrovert spectrum, but Ethan always accompanied his wife where she wished to go – within reason, anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if he dips early and spends his whole weekend in Vegas hiking some canyon somewhere. Without another soul around.

"He had to take some extra time to decompress last night," Jasmine said while she and Nadia continued to stand in the aisle right next to Eva. Only once did Jasmine acknowledge her friend's wife, who preoccupied herself with her phone but couldn't help but overhear the conversation. "The flight was so last-minute that we had to fly Economy. I let him have the window seat but that meant I was next to a stranger who talked my ear off for three hours. Even I was burnt out by the time we landed."

Eva snorted. The only reason she could imagine Ethan Cole, self-made billionaire, flying Economy was because he was the sort of guy to still wear jeans and a black hoodie when out among the masses. And want McDonald's for dinner, by the sounds of it. Eva's stomach growled. No, she didn't want greasy fast food, but her breakfast of bagel and cream cheese wasn't holding up. I wonder what kind of catering Kathryn sprung for the event…

She wasn't getting up anytime soon, though. Nadia made sure of that.

"You guys should fly back with us." Nadia glanced down at her wife. "That's cool, right? We could fit two more on the plane going back east."

Eva shrugged. "Have to run it by the people who own the plane," she said. "Who would be the Mathers. Unless they're maximizing the capacity without our input, though, I'm sure it's fine. Have her people call their people."

That was a joke, but Nadia rolled her eyes. "You participating in the event?" Nadia asked her friend again. "Spectating? Bidding?"

"I know Ethan has already donated money to the charity, but I was like, bro, if the right stud gets on that stage, I'm bidding. I don't think he took me seriously."

"So what happens if you're the lucky winner of some ‘stud?' Is your husband third-wheeling?"

"He wishes."

Eva never did get her snack from the buffet. Nor did she get to say hello to anyone but the acquaintances filtering into their seats. Feels like I'm at a wedding. Neat rows of well-dressed individuals facing a platform and a podium? Either a wedding or a high-level MLM event. Eva had been conned into both before.

All right stomach let's stay restrained. Nadia finally took her place next to Eva again right when the event began. Kathryn, who had been standing off to the side of the platform, adopted her best people-pleasing visage while approaching the podium.

"A personal and most hearty thank you to everyone who has come here today!" That was where Eva tuned out her best friend. She could only take so many fake niceties at this point in her life, even if such things were in the name of charity.

Besides, there wasn't much Eva had to know about the auction. You've been to one of these, you've been to them all. The infamous "bachelor" auction had seen multiple iterations in Eva's lifetime, but even this quaint charity event had become more progressive to include married men and the occasional woman, assuming both were game to follow the strict rules. Eva may have participated as a bachelorette in the past, particularly when her sapphic circle put on their events for LGBT charities back in the day. Feels like a lifetime. She hadn't heard of such a thing since getting married. Either people had given it up for now, or Eva was no longer invited now that she had "settled down." Both seemed likely true.

Except what Kathryn had gone out of her way to accomplish for this event was bundling dating experiences to up the stakes. On the podium was a bingo wheel that spat out a number corresponding to a date package Kathryn had secured before the event, some as late as that morning. Hence why she asked me for ideas yesterday. To keep things fair, the date wasn't selected until the lucky man was on the auction block, the idea being that some bidders might take a chance on the experience itself and not the person associated with it.

Anything to get more donations.

Eva had a bid card in her hand. So did Nadia, and she was determined to find a lucky someone to go out on a date with that weekend. More power to her. Eva was a firm believer in keeping the missus happy. Anything that made Nadia giddy – and, hopefully, horny – was a bonus in Eva's book, and she didn't care if a fake boyfriend for a weekend made that happen. Nadia identified as lesbian these days, but she had dated men in the past. According to her, "It's for fun… and to make you a little jealous." They had established that jealous Eva was a fun Eva. Or so Nadia insisted.

Eva was not as game to bid, although she wasn't opposed. It depended on the man in question. Or woman, but she doubted there were any there that day. That would make Nadia the wrong kind of jealous.

It was a delicate act they followed.

Since we're in Vegas, how about we bet that neither of us "wins" a lucky date for the weekend? Suited Eva fine. She was mostly here to support her best friend, who had bitten off more than she could chew organizing this "fun" weekend for their wealthy community. Nadia came along because she was intrigued by the premise and that was when Eva truly couldn't say no. Keeping – and making – Nadia happy was her #1 goal in this marriage. Anytime Nadia showed interest in something, Eva backed her 100%. Even if that meant a silly weekend in Vegas watching her cavort with some bachelor who might make her feel like a different kind of princess until Monday.

Keep your hands off her, bucko. Eva wasn't worried about her wife cheating – that was preposterous, especially with a man. She was worried about the guy more than anything else.

Eva barely recognized the first two men to offer themselves to the thirsty audience. Yet she did recognize the same aftershave they both wore, and it was only then that she realized the matching jawlines and sandy blond hair marked them as brothers if not fraternal twins. She was even less surprised to find out that the second winner was the mother of the first. Only in this world… Mother and daughter fell out of their chairs laughing when Kathryn slammed her hammer and declared them the winners of a hot double date. It took Eva way too long to figure out that "hot" was about the "Thunder from Down Under" show they had won along with their bid. Whether the brothers were excited about the show was another story.

Halfway through the auction, when a total of five men had their fun, Kathryn took a moment to thank everyone who had participated thus far. "Now I'd like to introduce you to a very special guy throwing his hat into the ring," she announced with a knowing look. "Our next handsome gentleman is someone many of you might know if you've seen me around enough."

Eva hid her groan. Nadia hid her cheesy grin behind her bid card, prompting her wife to shove it back down before they accidentally bid on Ian Mathers.

Cheers and whistles rang through the audience as Ian took the stage, his flirtatious game bumped up to eleven as he preened for the women in the front row and blew kisses to the ones in the back. In classic "I swear I'm not as old as I am" form, he had left the top few buttons of his dress shirt undone and hooked his thumbs into his pockets when he wasn't winking at one woman or complimenting the dress of another. Kathryn took it in enough stride. More like she freakin' loves this. Kathryn was the kind of woman to want a desirable husband, after all. It wasn't enough for him to love her and want what was best for her – no, half of America must want to sleep with him as well.

Eva could relate. Sorta.

"This handsome specimen has been off the market for years, ladies and gentlemen." No one would guess that one day ago, Kathryn had been asking her gay best friend to bid on Ian to keep the riff-raff away from him. Or was it to drive up bids? I can't remember. "I'm told that makes him more attractive."

The laughter ringing through the room had nothing to do with Kathryn's MC skills and everything to do with the weightlifting pose Ian adopted when told he was back on the meat market. Kathryn smiled through the hamminess, but Eva knew her best friend utterly died inside.

"Why don't you tell us something about yourself while I draw what kind of date you're going on, Mr. Mathers?"

Kathryn spun the bingo cage. Ian stretched his arms above his head, "accidentally" popping his dress shirt out of his pants and revealing that he had been hitting the gym those past few months. Now I'm the one dying inside. Eva had never been attracted to a man in her life, and she definitely didn't get it now.

"I love nothing more than making sure my date has a great time." He tucked his shirt back into his pants. When he hoisted his belt up into place, he concluded, "In my twenties, that meant going out of my way to show off what I could do. Nowadays, I'm a fan of letting her set the pace. It's my job to make her feel like a queen."

There was that genuine smile on Kathryn's face again! Yes, girl, show this crowd how you've whipped him into shape since you first hooked up with him.

Nadia nudged her wife. "I can't tell what's fact and what's fiction anymore," she whispered beneath the polite applause of the crowd.

"Everything, nothing, all at once."

"Well, Mr. Mathers," Kathryn said while leaning on the podium, a piece of paper in her hand, "allow me to reveal what fantastical experience you'll be offering a lucky lady this weekend." Kathryn unfolded the paper. "Oh, my. How about that? An all-inclusive experience for two at tonight's Strip Spectacular hosted right across the street. This event includes dinner and a complimentary bottle of wine while you have the best view in the house of the Strip's most entertaining, wildest show that's all pizzazz. Afterward, you'll be able to go backstage and meet some of the performers, complete with autographs and pictures. This is a thousand dollar value, everyone, not including the man who will guide you through the whole experience!"

More applause and whistles rang through the room. That has to be one of the most generic dates in there. Eva couldn't help but wonder if it was rigged to give Ian a date close by where Kathryn could keep an eye on things. The only reason Ian agreed to do this was because his wife had asked, and when Kathryn was in Mistress Mode? Even I comply with what she wants.

"Why don't we start the bid at five thousand?"

Almost instantly, a bidding war began between two women on opposite sides of the room. Eva paid little attention to it until she realized that the woman in a black hat and sunglasses was one of Kathryn's frenemies from college. Not the one who exposed her sex tape a few years ago, but one of the mean girls in that circle. Great. This would end well.

Kathryn gritted through her teeth when she called the woman's number and said, "Do we have twelve-thousand? Anyone? Twelve-thousand?"

The other woman bidding against the lead dropped out with a performative huff. Ian offered her another blown kiss and said it would have been an honor. Yet even he recognized the mean girl in the back and had to maintain a stoic demeanor in front of so many people. If nothing else, Ian and Kathryn were poker face masters.

Yet the tension ate away at the good time that had been the crux of Eva's mood that morning. If this chick wins, I'll never hear the end of it. No end to the whining, the paranoia, or the speculations over what she might try to do with a man who knew how to take care of himself. Except it didn't matter to Kathryn, who had been through enough with these people over the years.

So Eva did what best friends do: she raised her card, placing a twelve thousand dollar bid on a man she already loved to roast for existing. Basically, my life.

Nadia sucked in her cheeks. Eva ignored her as Kathryn leaped in to announce the sneaker bid.

Of course the other woman didn't want to go down without a fight. Ian Mathers, you are one expensive dude. Sure, a great male escort would cost about the same if not more, but Eva had never been in the market, nor did she think Ian in his thirties constituted as great male escort. If money were tight and Kathryn was out there pimping her husband, they could get the starting bid. Probably not much more.

Since this was for charity first and foremost, people were willing to spend more money for the sweet tax write-off. In Eva's case, she could think of much better reasons to splurge her money on charity.

Instead, here she was, in a bidding war with a bitch.

"That's fifteen thousand dollars to the lovely bombshell in the black suit." Kathryn exhaled her tired sigh of relief and clapped for her husband, who had pulled in the second-highest bid thanks to Eva. Don't tell me this was part of your grand plan, Kathryn. That would be the end of their friendship. Probably. Maybe not.

"You're a good friend," Nadia said.

Eva grimaced. Ian instantly frowned the moment he left the stage. Yeah, he's about as happy as I am right now. Eva couldn't wait to either donate her prize package or spend the evening with Ian, of all people. She didn't hate the guy, but the only thing they had in common was a love of women. She'd rather share that obsession with… other women.

"Do you think that other woman will come to our room tonight and be all pissy?" Nadia asked when the rabble had died down and the auction moved on to the next "lucky" guy. "Asking for a friend who doesn't want to deal with it."

"I doubt it. That's one of Kathryn's old nemeses from college. You know the one."

Sighing, Nadia sat upright in her seat and secured her board in her lap. "Do I get to tag along if I don't get a date tonight?"

"Oh, shush."

Nobody was more relieved to move on than Eva, who tried not to think about a twelve-thousand-dollar deduction from her personal bank account. That's like half my monthly allowance these days. She focused on the worthy charity her money went toward. Otherwise, she had to focus on her best friend's husband.

Already, she conspired ways to haze him for the rest of the weekend.

"We have a surprise addition to today's lineup, ladies and gentlemen." Eva had been completely checked out until Kathryn said that. "We've made a grand show of the amazing men who have donated their time and attention to charity. Now, I'd love to offer something different for those who haven't quite yet found the perfect date for their weekend in Vegas."

Eva could only imagine what that meant. A legitimate prince from some tiny European country? A recent divorce survivor back on the market and looking to score? She lowered her sunglasses to keep out the bright glare of the sun now streaming through the high-rise windows. Pretty soon, she'd have to shed her suit jacket to keep from roasting.

Those sunglasses prevented her from immediately recognizing who walked out onto the stage, much to the murmuring amazement of the audience. It was Nadia's excited reaction that made Eva lower her glasses again.

"Holy shit," she muttered.

It was Lacey Cruz, and her charm was turned up to a hundred.