Page 27 of Dancing With Lies

“Uh oh.” Roxie laughed as Kai ran away. “What now?”

“I guess we go back downstairs?” Lincoln offered but Roxie shook her head.

He’d spent two weeks teasing her, torturing her and she’d seen how uncomfortable he looked when she mentioned a sex dungeon. This was her chance at payback.

“No, I don’t think so. I want to see this room.” She muttered as she pulled two bobby pins out of her hair and headed for the padlock.

It wasn’t anything special, Lincoln probably could have broken it with a good tug she thought, but it was more fun this way. She dug around in the mechanism with the two pins until she got the feel she wanted and smiled when the lock popped open.

“And we’re in.” She smiled as she opened the door and reached in to find the light.

It wasn’t a bright light, but that was alright. They could clearly see what Kai had displayed around the room. A massage table with straps, sex toys on shelves, ranging from dildos to breast clamps and ball gags. It was a room full of a rich man’s sex toys and Roxie had to smile in appreciation. It was all clean, of good quality, and all of it made Lincoln uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” She couldn’t help the teasing tilt to her eyebrows or her lips when she looked at him.

“Nothing.” He waved at all the stuff in the room. “I think I’ve only ever seen most of this in porn movies.”

“Haven’t you ever been in a sex shop? We have a few here you know.” She replied with a teasing note, picking up a huge dildo that she showed to him. “Haven’t you ever played with a girlfriend?”

This was her world, a world she was familiar with, that she was an expert in, and they both knew it.

“I’m uh, sorry, I’ve been too busy to really explore this kind of stuff.” He waved at the dildo in her hands and she looked at him with curiosity.

“Really? You know what I did at Elmo’s right?” She asked breathily, smiling up at him. “That I wasn’t just a dancer?”

“I figured that. Dylan told me a little bit about the place, that some wild stuff went on there.” Lincoln mumbled and looked away.

Had her big bad boss just gone shy on her? Roxie wanted to laugh but she knew he’d just storm off if she did, so she swallowed it.

“I’m not a prostitute, well, I wasn’t. I was a kept woman, yes, but I wasn’t a prostitute.” She felt the need to point that out. “It was on my terms, though, all of it.”

“It sounds like a fair deal.” He responded quickly, as if he was eager to get the conversation over with.

She moved closer to him, the dildo still in her hands, and looked up at him. “I made men beg for a chance to so much as kiss my shoes.”

She put her hand against his chest and leaned into his body as she spoke in a whisper, her eyes daring him to take a chance. She wasn’t sure why she was trying to seduce him, as payback for the asshole he’d been maybe, but was that all?

Lincoln swallowed and his jaw moved as he looked back down at her, his gaze hungry and full of need in an instant. She saw his eyes move a fraction of an inch as he looked into both of her eyes, down at her lips, then back up. Roxie could feel the heat coming from his body, even though he wore a white t-shirt and dark blue shorts. She could smell the scent of his cologne and soap, his male scent beneath all that, and hunger flared into life.

“Lolly.” He whispered as he reached up for her face, but she stepped back.

That nickname was like a cold bucket of water and she moved even further away from him. “No, don’t call me Lolly, either. She’s as dead as Chloe is. And I still hate you, for the record.”

She could feel the hurt burning in her eyes but hoped it came out as the hate she told him she felt. But it was a lie, as it had always been, and she knew it.

“I’m sorry, Roxie. It slipped out.” He said, quickly moving towards her, but she stepped out of the room. “But thank you, your highness.”

She couldn’t help the glimpse of a smile that flashed over her face when he reminded her, he used to call her princess, too. Maybe it wasn’t all bad.

“I think it’s time for me to go home, Lincoln.” She handed him the dildo in her hands and walked down the stairs. “I have a boyfriend to go home to.”

It was a stark reminder to them both that Roxie wasn’t free, not really. Even if that boyfriend had disappeared on her completely. Again. Which was another reminder of something else she’d forgotten lately.

Men were a dime a dozen. She’d learned that over the years. She’d had a lot of experience with sex, on her own terms, but she’d let Nathan do something she’d promised she wouldn’t allow a man to do. Turn her into a doormat. Well, almost.

“I’ll see you, Monday, Link.” She shot over her shoulder as she put her flip flops on, grabbed her bag, phone, and keys, and headed for the door.

“You don’t want to have another drink? More food, maybe? We could heat it back up.” He asked and looked kind of sad that she was leaving.