Highest Bidder (Salacious Players Club, #5)

by Sara Cate

“I…don’t need your help.” “You don’t have to need it. Take it anyway.”

Getting my heart broken is painful enough. But getting mine broken

I’m coming to grips with something pathetic, and that’s that I don’t want her to leave.

“You’re not a failure, Daisy. Accepting my help doesn’t mean you need me to get you out of the situation you’re in. It means you’ve taken care of yourself for so long that you deserve a break. I wouldn’t offer to help you if I thought by doing so, I’d make you more dependent on me.”

I’m not sure if I love the idea of him cherishing me or if I’m terribly disappointed that Ronan Kade has no interest in corrupting me.

It’s not about the luxury or the age difference or anything other than how incredibly good I feel around him. Someone else’s happiness has never mattered so much to me in my entire life.

The number of years a person has lived seems like such a trivial detail when you find someone who lights a spark in your soul and makes life worth living again.

“Baby girl, you make me crazy.” “Why are you fighting it so much?” I reply in a whisper. “I don’t know anymore. You make me forget.” “Then, touch me. Touch me like I know you want to.”

Happiness like this doesn’t last for long—I know that much. But I’m going to do everything I can to savor every second of it. It’s going to hurt like hell when she breaks my heart, but fuck…she’s worth it.

He feels best when he’s needed, and I feel safest when he’s there to protect me. If people think that’s weird, then fuck them.

“I want to learn about everything you do. I want to be what you need.” “Baby,” I reply, keeping my tone soft, “you are everything I need.”

I’m surprised to find Eden pulling me in for a hug. It’s sweet at first, but as she pulls away, her green eyes find mine. “Please don’t hurt my friend.”

Ronan Kade is the richest man in town. He could have anyone he wants, but I’m the one who brings him to his knees.

And maybe that’s what love is—feeling unworthy and astonished that the man you think is the greatest person alive wants you. What a gift a love like that is.

I wish I never got on that stage in the first place, so I would have never known what it’s like to be loved by Ronan Kade.

But I can’t keep saving her. I can’t keep licking her wounds. I can’t take care of Daisy if she won’t take care of herself.

But I also learned, through these harrowing and sometimes overwhelmingly sad meetings, that while sadness does permeate the air nearly everywhere, so does joy. Ironically, it turns out that that’s sort of what makes life poetic in the first place. It’s not an Instagram filter or a Pinterest board. It’s gross and gritty and beautiful and stunning all at the same time.