At Any Price(5)

So the younger guy wasn’t blond. “What else can you tell me?”

“Rich as hell, of course. Both keenly interested, especially after I sent them the face shots.”

I rolled my eyes. Aside from his many other technical achievements—Heath designed and built websites for his day job—his beloved pastime was digital photography. And he was very gifted at it. He was the one who’d insisted, when I’d cooked up this crazy scheme in the first place, on dressing me up in a bikini (one I bought at Anthropologie and ended up returning because it was way beyond my price range). He took snapshots of me on the rocks of the jetty at Corona Del Mar beach.

The pictures he’d posted on the auction website were from the neck down. I guess I had a nice figure even if my breasts were pretty small. But I was on the taller side, which gave me the side effect of long legs. Nevertheless, I’d been pretty sure that my lack of surgical enhancement or fake bake tan would affect the results of the auction. But apparently that wasn’t the case.

Despite how much I knew it was time to get it over with and just lose it, it wasn’t just a matter of surrendering my virginity to the guy willing to pay the most. I had a carefully laid-out plan in place. First he’d have to submit to a thorough screening by my “bouncer.”

“Yes, I’m going to have to find a way to appropriate the one who doesn’t win you.”

I laughed. “Let me know how that works out for you. Then again, maybe not. I’d rather not know.”

“I’m meeting the Californian guy tomorrow for lunch in Irvine. After I meet the New Yorker, I’ll be in touch. I asked them both for medical records and I’m having some background checks run.”

“It all sounds good.”

“Mia, I need to tell you this again, it’s not too late to back out of this. Once money is exchanged and plans are made, it’s a done deal. But you still have that freedom to walk away and be completely anonymous. I mean, this is not an easy thing to ask of yourself. You’ve never had sex before and planning to do it with a complete stranger—”

“Heath—”

“I mean, I did make sure to put into the language of the auction that you might require a ‘get to know you’ period. Maybe a few dates first so it’s not just so—sudden?”

I shook my head, trying to suppress a rising mound of frustration. We’d been over this before—several times. “I already told you I’d rather not know him. I just want to get it over with as quickly as possible. It’s not a romantic act for me—just a bit of skin. I have no emotional attachment to it. It’s high time I lost it. This way, I can move on with my life with a nice fat bank account.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. I sat up and squeezed my eyes shut and thought of my mom. She’d need another melanoma therapy vaccination soon and those came dear, especially with no medical insurance. She’d probably refuse to get it and choose to pay the mortgage instead. Anger at our helplessness burned at the edge of my awareness. “I told you I’m not backing out.”

“Okay. I just felt obligated to say it again.”

“And again. And again.”

“Right. Now I’m going to ask you another question that will annoy you.”

I braced myself but didn’t say anything.

“What do you think your shrink would say about this?”

I arched an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen Dr. Marbrow for years.” I couldn’t afford her anymore, either. “She released me to my own recognizance. Declared me all healed.”

“Riiight.”

“You think I’m crazy?”

He sighed. “I think that the shit you were dealing with takes a long time to get over.”

I swallowed. Six years wasn’t long enough? If not, then how much would it take? A decade? Fifteen years?

“I’m a tough woman,” I breathed.

“Hell yeah, you are. I’m just saying—”

“Okay, that’s all the preach you get today. No more. Talk to you at the end of the week. I gotta start getting ready for work.”

“Are you logging in tonight?” he asked.

“It’s our regular game night. You know I’m always there.”

“Any word from Fallen?” Heath referred to a regular member of our group by his game name—FallenOne—as we all did, since he’d never given us his real name. We’d all been gaming together for over a year, along with another good friend from Canada, and Fallen hadn’t been making our regular group nights for nearly two months.

“I’m not sure what’s going on in his personal life right now.”