I had need zipping through me and excitement already driving me wild by the time the court cupboard came up for bidding – the one I’d fallen in love with in the item listings and known straight away that the estimate was never going to come close.
I took a step forward to get an even better view of the bidding, and he cleared his throat for this one, casting his eyes right over the crowd.
“This one is quite a beautiful specimen,” he said, and there was a twinkle in his stare. An appreciation of the piece in the same way I’d felt it myself, I just knew it.
I could sense the ripple in the room as the bidders prepared, and the tension was alive, the whole place ready to blow.
And blow it did.
Hands shot up all over, even though people were visibly holding back, and Mr Lindon was fast and firm, keeping the action running hard.
I loved it. I totally, one million percent, more than any other promise of a career in the universe, absolutely damn loved it.
There were bidders on the end of phones casting their offers, and bids coming in from the online site, and this one was special. Just as special as I’d known it would be.
Then, when the figure was almost three times the highest estimate, with the silence hanging heavy between Mr Callow in the room and Mrs Evans at the end of the telephone, the hammer came down.
Mrs Evans for the win.
And then, when the hammer blow was still sounding loud, Mr Lindon’s eyes met mine. Hard. Heavy. Hungry. Undeniably hungry. For me.
Faith Martin for the win.
Shock doesn’t even come close. My eyes were wide, mouth open, and I felt guilty and gawky for being so wet between the legs and wanting him so bad, but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but how we stared at each other across that room.
It was like the garden all over again, trapped in that moment, but I was a different girl now. A girl who was nearly a woman. A girl who was ready to take him, all of him, whatever he wanted to give me. In his stare across that room I knew there was a whole damn load he wanted to give me.
But then he looked away.
He looked away and didn’t look back.
My heart pounded all the way through the remaining bids, my whole body thrumming, and I could barely make it through before zipping on out of there and heading to the bathroom. Shit, how I needed the bathroom.
I’d never felt like it before, not once in my whole life. I’d never had my clit buzzing so bad that I had to race into a toilet cubicle and tug down my knickers to rub myself senseless.
I came quickly. Crazily quickly. I bit my lip to stop myself gasping, trying to hold my breath as I tumbled over the edge. It didn’t work. I was a mess of hisses and whimpers, cursing myself for being so useless at reining it in. The squeak of the main door hinges sounded as someone entered the toilet block, and I tried harder, giving everything I had to shut the hell up, but my body was a mess of shakes and shudders. Shit, how I didn’t want a client hearing me like this, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help it at all.
Collecting myself took some deep breaths, and I felt even more like a dirty little bitch as I smoothed down my blouse and pencil skirt. I cursed myself before hitting flush and pulling that door lock to the side, but it was when I stepped outside the cubicle that my shame flared to a whole new level.
It wasn’t a client standing there with her hands in the sink, all ready to set the tap running. It was Erica. Her glare stabbed me in the mirror reflection, and my burning cheeks blared right back at me, and I knew it. I knew it for certain. There was no way she hadn’t heard my dirty little gasps and shudders behind the cubicle door.
We stood shoulder to shoulder as I took my place at the sink and I couldn’t look up, couldn’t do anything but soap my hands and hope for the best.
She smelled of violet and spice and crazy expensive perfume, and her breath was a hiss in my ear before she spoke.
“Don’t think you’re the first dirty little slut in this place with an infatuation on Miles Lindon and her hands down her knickers,” she said. “You’re just another sad little bitch who’ll get nowhere, no matter who your daddy is.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing at all, just kept my head down and kept soaping my hands while she continued.
“If you have any sense in that silly little head of yours, you’ll focus on doing your mindless little job and keeping the coffees coming. You’ll be done in this place before you know it.”