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Gross.
“You have to admit, doing this during the masquerade is the best bet.” Adrian takes a long gulp of his cherry-flavored Coke once it’s delivered, then makes a noise like he’s pleasantly surprised. “Not bad.”
“It does seem like the most obvious choice. The guards will be scattered,” Theo muses. “Plenty of chances to lure him out.”
“What can I do?” I whisper, because this is all too exciting to sit here in silence.
“You can eat your burger when it gets here,” Theo deadpans.
“She thinks she’s going to be involved,” Adrian explains.
“I thought that was the whole point. Me being involved.” Waving a hand to get their attention, I add, “I’m not a child. And I laid that guy out flat at the restaurant, remember?”
Theo eyes me, his mouth tightening in a thoughtful way. “You know, she could be the perfect weapon.”
This, I can work with. “Deadly, dangerous,” I whisper, nudging Adrian when all he does is scoff.
“You know what Matteo’s like,” Theo tells him. “He never could resist a pretty face or a nice body.”
Nice body. I’m a little embarrassed to hear him say it, but in a good way. He says it like my ability to fulfill that role is a matter of fact.
Adrian’s hand rests on the table, where I can watch it curl into a fist before he drops it onto his lap like he’s hiding it. “I don’t feel comfortable with that,” he grits out, jaw clenched.
“Don’t I get a say?” I ask him. The narrow-eyed look I get in return is all the answer I need.
The tension at the table is thick enough to cut with a knife, but at least the food is good. Eating is a nice diversion. “Do you have a hotel yet?” I ask before taking another big bite of probably the most flavorful burger I’ve ever tasted.
“No, not yet,” Theo replies around a mouthful of fries. “I drove straight to the estate.”
“You should stay at our hotel. It’s really nice.”
For once, Adrian agrees with me on something. “It would be good to have you in the same place.”
Wow. If he gets any more affectionate, I might shed a tear.
Theo pulls out his phone and a minute later has a room. “Thank fuck. I’m running on fumes here.”
Adrian grunts. “I know how that feels. Come on, let’s wrap this up, get back there.”
When I turn to him, a little confused by the sudden rush, he looks at me with a gleam in his eye. “I told you. You owe me one.”
A shiver runs down my spine because I know what that means. Nobody has ever finished a milkshake faster than I do now.
By the time we’re back at the hotel, saying good night to Theo before he gets out of the elevator on the floor under ours, I think I know what I want to play out next. I did a lot of research on it before I wrote it the first time, and it’s something my readers always seem to enjoy.
As if on cue, the energy in the elevator car changes when we’re alone. “Have you ever heard of edging?” I ask him in a soft voice. I mean, why not jump right in? We both know what’s going to happen tonight.
“Of course.” I can feel him staring down at me while I stare straight ahead. I’m afraid I would burst into flame if I looked at him now. “Is that what you have in mind?”
“Yeah, there’s a scene I would like to re-create.” Pausing a beat, I add, “For research.”
“Of course. We can’t forget that part.” The doors open, and as usual, I follow him down the hall. Maybe it’s the anticipation of what I know is coming, but I can’t take my eyes off his ass. It’s not fair for a man to have an ass as nice as that. Firm, tight. Like a peach I’d love to take a bite out of.
Either he’s turning me into a hopeless sex maniac, or I was secretly one all along. Who am I kidding? I’m a freaking smut writer. And before that, I was a reader. I always enjoyed sexual fantasies, I’ve just never been brave enough to make them come true.
“So tell me,” he urges as we step into the room and he turns on the lights. “Exactly how did you lead into that scene? How did it begin?”
“It was honestly nothing revolutionary.” As I speak, I kick off my shoes, letting my hair down from its double buns and shaking it out loose over my shoulders. “They just happened to be in bed together at the time, sort of leading into your normal, vanilla sex scene—but then it changes.”
