Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish Page 0,31

her entire body. She's just… too powerful for that.

Carla makes a face. “I’m not saying that she is. I'm just saying, would you have thought I was a Submissive without me revealing it to you?”

I shake my head.

“Okay then. Just remember the NDA you signed.” She motions me over to an empty table to the side of the clothing rack. “Come help me sort through this mess right quick and then let’s get lunch.”

We spend the next half hour categorizing fashion designs and matching model profiles to the outfits they’ll be wearing for Debra’s upcoming fashion show. Carla is making quick work of the task, but I’m finding it hard to do even the simplest thing, tired and my mind filled with anxiety. When I screw up and pin a model’s profile on the wrong outfit, Carla places a hand atop mine, her expression concerned.

“What’s on your mind, Dah?” she asks.

Do you even have to ask?

“I just wish there was a way that we could find out more about…” I say, my voice trailing off. I don’t know why I’m bothering. Carla has already said she doesn’t know anything about Lucian. She can’t conjure information about him out of thin air just because I want her to. I’m probably just worrying myself to death over nothing.

Carla shakes her head, her eyes filled with sympathy. She must think my worry is getting tiresome, but I can’t help it. This is my first time doing something like this, and no matter how hard I try to relax, I remain on edge. “I don’t think so, the club's rules…” her voice trails off as her face crinkles into a thoughtful expression. “I know!” she says suddenly, her face brightening, snapping her fingers. “We can look him up on the net!”

Oh my God, I’m so stupid. That’s actually a genius idea. Why the hell didn’t I think of that? I’ve spent all this time worrying when a simple Google search could have turned up dirt… if there is any.

Probably because all I’ve been thinking about is being fucked by him, I think to myself.

“Let’s cyberstalk him,” Carla says, slinging a black slinky dress over the rack and throwing the model profile she’s holding down on a table.

Uneasiness touches my chest.

“You’re not going to be able to work unless you find out more about Lucian to put your mind at ease. So let’s get it over with. You only have a few hours before you meet up with him, and you don’t want to go into your first encounter terrified, trust me.” She begins making her way over to the nearest desk, and I hastily slip the white dress I’m holding onto a hanger and place it on the rack. “What about all this?” I gesture.

“It'll still be here when we're done. C’mon. It'll only take a few minutes.”

“You think Debra will care that we're doing this on a company computer?”

Carla practically rolls her eyes as she says, “Girl, you don't even wanna know what I've searched on company time.”

Fuck it. My need to find out more about Lucian overrides my caution of breaking the rules. “Let’s do it.”

She grabs a chair and slides it across the floor to sit next to me as I tap on the space bar to bring the screen to life. I take control of the mouse, and within a few clicks, pull up the Chrome browser.

The blank Google search bar sits in front of me, the cursor blinking.

“You ready?” Carla whispers, placing a comforting hand on my thigh and gently rubbing it.

I’m ready for anything that says this man isn’t a sociopath, I think to myself.

Gulping, I nod, and my fingers fly across the keys. Lucian Stone. I stare at his name in the search bar, anxiety filling me. What will this search reveal? I wonder. Hopefully nothing. Back in front of Madam Lynn, he definitely didn’t look like a bad man with his dashing good looks, but my opinion on that will change quickly if I find something I don’t like.

“Dah?” Carla presses.

Screw it. Taking a deep breath, I tap the left mouse button.

The first few results that pop up on the screen are pictures of him, all of them incredibly handsome, and him with other young businessmen in suits. Some are even shirtless pictures of him on the beach, his incredible eight-pack abs proudly on display. Desire stirs in my stomach as I look at them. He’s so gorgeous and built like a Greek god. Seriously, he