by Lexi Blake
“Don’t be such a baby,” Kori said as she tightened the laces again. “You look gorgeous.”
“But I’m going to tell the guy Kai assigned me to that I changed my mind,” she complained. “Shouldn’t I do that in street clothes? Won’t this give him the wrong idea?”
Ally looked up from the vanity she was sitting at. Apparently on play party nights, Deena turned the Master bedroom into the women’s locker room. “Why are you copping out on him again?”
“Because she’s scared,” Deena shot back.
“I am not.” She was, but not as scared as she’d been before. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“I think it’s because she loves therapy,” Kori explained. “She can’t stand the thought of missing out on a session with my man. He’ll do that to you. You get addicted to the way he adjusts his glasses.”
She had to smile. “That’s it. I can’t go a week without opening my heart and soul to Kai.”
Tiffany looked perfect in her leather catsuit, her long legs well defined. “I think she doesn’t want to hurt Javi’s feelings. Or she doesn’t want to watch Javier scene with another chick.”
The idea kind of turned her stomach. “I’m very confused when it comes to Javier, and that means I should take a step back.”
Don’t rush into something, baby girl. Give it time and think about what you want and what’s the best way to achieve your goal. Talk to me. I’ll help you make a plan.
Yeah, she couldn’t talk to her mom anymore, but slowing down still seemed like a good thing to do. When she’d found Javier sitting in the hallway, she hadn’t even hesitated. There had been no question in her head that she would walk by. She’d done what felt right. She’d gotten down on the floor with him and offered him comfort.
And when he’d asked about giving up on her, she hadn’t been able to take the out.
“What’s confusing about Javi?” Deena asked. “He’s totally upfront.”
Ally frowned her friend’s way. “I don’t know about that. He’s being kind of sneaky with her. I think it means he likes her. Like like likes her.”
Tiffany shook her head. “Don’t listen to Ally. She eats way too much sugar. What she’s trying to say is that Javier has never been serious about a woman before and might never be again. He’s an honest guy. If he tells you something, you can believe him.”
Like saying she was special. “And if I’m not ready?”
The last woman in the room stood up and smoothed down her long dark hair. Sarah Stevens looked at herself in the mirror. “Then you should be prepared to make yourself ready or lose the right one forever because the right one doesn’t always sit at home pining for you and hoping you’ll change your mind. She doesn’t sit around watching your television show and eating ice cream and dreaming about your abs. She goes and finds newer, more attentive abs, abs that are prepared to accept the affection you have to give them.”
Sarah walked out, her heels clicking on the floor.
“Javier doesn’t have a TV show,” Jules said, looking to Kori for more information.
“See, Sarah started out with the right idea and then veered totally off into personal territory,” Kori said with a sigh. “Don’t mind her. She’s dealing with the fact that her right guy wasn’t ready when she was.”
“I heard a rumor that she had a thing for an actor,” Ally said.
“Kai’s brother. He used to be on TV. He’s been floating around since the end of the show. I hoped he would come home, but he’s having trouble trusting people,” Kori said. “And I think he’ll lose her over it. I think it’s there in the back of his mind that she’ll be waiting for him when he’s ready, but Sarah is not one to sit around and hope a guy comes to his senses. She’s moved on. She started dating a doctor she met at work. He’s an asshat. I hate him and I’m pretty sure one of these days he’s going to ask her to marry him and she’s going to say yes.”
“People can’t help bad timing.” Wasn’t that what was going on with Javier? Bad timing. She wasn’t ready. He was.
Would she be ready if he had any other job? If he wasn’t so damn good at the one he had? If he was an accountant, would she have jumped in with both feet?
Was she torturing herself by working at Top? By staying close to what she wanted? How was she going to feel when the one-handed chef came in? What the hell was that about? What kind of experience did that guy have? Had he grown up in kitchens?
She forced the thought back as she had been for doing for days.
“The timing is always bad,” Tiffany said. “That’s life. There’s always some reason to say no. The key is not being able to. It’s about finding that one man who you can’t say no to because he’s wormed his way into your heart. Sebastian didn’t think it was the right time either. I convinced him. And Kori got over her fear of the man bun and now she and Kai are very happy.”
“His man bun is sexy,” Kori advised. “If I don’t say that he won’t whip me tonight, and this girl needs some serious relaxation.” She finished up and turned Jules toward the mirror. “There you go. Now you look amazing and you’ll properly honor the dude you’re turning down for the night.”
Yeah. She would honor him with her boobs. Her boobs looked awesome. The emerald made her skin glow. It was perfectly creamy and smooth right to the point where her prosthetic was attached.
Deena stepped in front of her, reaching for her hand, the fake one. She held it like it still had feeling. “If he can’t see how gorgeous you are, he doesn’t deserve you.”
Ally moved in beside her. “It took forever to convince Macon he should wear shorts and show off how intensely hot his body is, but I managed it. You’re beautiful, Jules.”
“No one out there will think anything less,” Tiffany promised. “And if they do, we’ll weed ’em out. This whole party is about having fun and accepting who we are. There’s no one way to be beautiful. So show them your way.”
Her way. She looked at herself again. She was good at pretending to be cool with her life. But what was really unattractive about her arm? It wasn’t normal, but it worked. Not as well as it had, but she could be independent.
Adaptation. That word kept playing through her head.
“Is Javier here tonight?” She’d intended to speak to the Dom Kai had selected to be her guide and then head home. She needed time to think about what she wanted. To carefully lay out all the options. The last time she’d done something without planning, she’d ended up in the Navy, and where had that gotten her?
It had gotten her to a place where she could save five lives. Would she let those lives go to save her hand?
Was there ever a right time for anything? A right time? A right place? A right man?
“I saw his truck pull up,” Tiffany replied.
Deena winced. “I hope he’s ready because Kristy came tonight, too, and I think she’s decided he’s still her best bet. Sorry, guys. She’s close friends with Eric’s sous chef’s sub, and we’re desperately trying to keep him.”
“Damn,” Ally swore. “I’ll go and run interference.”
“Interference?” Jules asked.
Tiffany stood to go with Ally. “Kristy can be very aggressive and Javier…well, when he’s not attached…I don’t think I’ve ever seen him attached. He tends to take whatever’s offered, if you know what I mean.”
She shook her head. “Not with that one. She walked out on him when he needed her. He won’t be going back to her. Not even for sex.”
Deena looked a bit uncertain. “I’m glad you believe in him.”
The guys liked to bet. Maybe it was time she did show some faith in him. “Twenty bucks says he turns her down flat.”
Deena’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know if taking that bet makes me a bad person, but I’m in. Especially if it means you stay for a bit.”
There was the trap and she’d walked right into it. But then maybe she’d wanted to. Kai wanted her to do one thing that scared her. Well, nothing scared her quite like Javier.<
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“Don’t bother running interference. Javier can handle that woman,” she said. “And someone help me get my arm off. I don’t need it tonight.”
She didn’t like the way the suspension system looked. It wasn’t that it was ugly, merely that she thought her skin was prettier.
“You don’t have to do that,” Kori said. “I’m telling you no one minds here.”
Jules was sure Kristy minded, but she would mind the stump, too. It wasn’t about that. “I don’t need it tonight. I’m going to ask Javier to show me around and he’ll take care of me. It will be nice to depend on someone else for a night.”
Kori’s lips curled up. “That is an excellent reason to dump the arm. And you are playing Xbox this week.”
Ten minutes later she walked out into the large living area and couldn’t help but gawk like the tourist she was. “It’s really pretty.”
Deena stayed close to her side. “Not what you expected, huh?”
“It’s not very dungeon like.” The room had been done in multicolored twinkle lights. All the furniture had been rearranged and covered in what looked like incredibly soft blankets. There were already couples relaxing and talking quietly.
“The dining room is much more of a scene space,” she agreed. “And then there’s our actual playroom, where most of the scenes will happen. I’ve got a violet wand set up in one of the guest bedrooms, and there are a couple of spanking benches. The kitchen has a nice buffet and wine and beer, but be careful. If Eric thinks someone’s playing drunk, he’ll take care of that pretty damn quick.”
Kai stepped out of the kitchen and smiled her way. “You look lovely tonight, Jules. I’m happy to see you here. I think I saw Cal in the dining room. Let me introduce the two of you.”
“Cal is not needed this evening,” a familiar voice said.
She turned and her mouth nearly dropped open. Javier was standing there dressed in a pair of jeans that molded to his every muscle and nothing else. His chest was on full display and it was stunning. She’d seen it before, but she hadn’t had the real chance to simply stare at him.
“Someone has to walk her around,” Kai said, eyeing Javi, though she was fairly certain it wasn’t with the same amount of lust she had. “Are you planning on handling those duties tonight?”
“I will.” He turned toward her. His hand came out, seeking to shake hers. She put out her good hand, but Javier was too quick. He reached straight for her left arm and brought her stump to his lips.
That man knew how to get to her. “So you got rid of my mentor for the night?”
“I am giving you an alternative,” he promised. “And I swear, I’ll keep my hands to myself. I’ll be a good mentor and I’ll even drive you home. I’ll answer your every question and behave myself.”
She could barely breathe. How had she thought she could stay away from him? Why would she want to stay away from him?
Oh, yeah, there was the whole danger to her heart and well-being, but somehow she couldn’t think about that in the moment. All she could see was his chest and abs. Sarah had talked about finding a nice set of abs to settle down with for the night and that suddenly seemed like a brilliant idea.
“Jules?” Kai was staring at her expectantly. “Do you accept Javier as your mentor for the night? He’s gone through all the training classes. He knows what he’s doing and I trust him. I could go over some of the classes he’s trained in.”
Kori put a hand on her husband’s chest. “Stop teasing her. The drool is totally a sign of acceptance.”
Was she really drooling?
“I can’t help it,” Kai said with a grin that made him look far younger. “Come on, love. Eric’s got a hard point in the garage for suspension play.”
There was no way to miss the light in Kori’s eyes as she let her husband lead her away.
“You two have fun,” Deena said. “I’m going to help Eric in the kitchen and then we’re going to play. See you around.”
“Are you sure it’s all right?” Javier stepped in so she could hear him over the music. It wasn’t loud, but neither was Javier.
She stared up at him. That was one gorgeous man. “You planned this.”
“Yeah. I told Cal I would murder him if he laid hands on you.”
“You were sneaky.” Everything the women had said to her came back full force. Javier was upfront. He didn’t expend energy he didn’t have to. If he wanted a casual hookup, he would find one.
She was difficult. And he was still here.
“I have to be when it comes to you,” he admitted. “But I think you’re going to be worth it. You already are. Did I thank you for sitting with me the day Rafe came home? I swear I never realized how lonely I was until I met you.”
He was going to kill her. “I don’t know that this is the best idea, Javi, but I know I want to try. I can’t seem to not try. Why don’t we take it slow?”
He backed up slightly. “Slow. I can do that.”
“But we could play around with this stuff, right? I mean they call it play for a reason. It’s not super serious.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” He took her hand and led her toward the kitchen. “Come with me. We need to talk before we start the evening.”
She should have known that anything that was Kai-approved would come with a whole lot of talking. She followed Javier as he walked through the double doors that led to the kitchen. It looked like this was a part of the house Eric had either renovated or it was the reason he’d bought the sucker. The kitchen was huge, with a massive island and professional-grade appliances.
She stared at that gleaming six-burner gas stove and then realized it was Javi’s turn to drool. They were dressed for sex, but she and Javier were lusting after an appliance.
“One of these days,” he said with a sigh.
“One of these days,” she replied.
“Now we’re talking, baby. Come here.”
Why had she said that? She didn’t need a six-burner stove. And yet for a second she saw herself standing there, flipping something in a ridiculously perfect pan. She’d been standing next to Javier and they’d worked flawlessly together.
That way lay danger. She was about to say something, draw her hand away from his, but she caught sight of Ian Taggart sitting in the corner. He was dressed in leathers, but his attention was focused on the woman sitting in his lap. His wife was in a corset and thong, but he wasn’t looking at her breasts. Nope. His whole attention was focused on what was in her hand.
“Is that one of Macon’s lemon tarts?” Jules asked quietly.
Javier leaned over to whisper. “Yeah, he made them special for tonight. It keeps Big Tag happy. Last week he sent over a gallon of lemon pudding. I do not want to know what those two did with that. I highly suspect it was nasty.”
Charlotte Taggart took a bite of the tart and then licked her lips.
“Only you, baby,” Big Tag whispered back. It was super sensual, the way they shared the decadent treat. Charlotte held the tart up to her husband’s lips, but at the last second, he pulled her in instead and took her mouth in a ridiculously dominant move.
Just watching them was getting her hot. And she didn’t think Big Tag was all that sexy. Sure he was gorgeous, but he was never serious. He was really serious about kissing his wife.
Javier led her to the backdoor. He tugged her along until she found herself in the backyard. It was small but lovely, with an outdoor kitchen and a ten-foot privacy fence. The light from the small pool illuminated the yard with a blue glow.
“That’s better. If we stayed in the kitchen, I’m fairly certain you would have seen your first hard-core sex scene,” he admitted. “Those two are known for being terrible exhibitionists.”
“They’re going to have sex right there in the kitchen?” She glanced back, oddly wondering if she shouldn’t have watched that.
He sat down on the plush lounge chair. “Yes. They will and they won’t have any shame about it. This is a space where they
don’t have to. No one here will think any less of them. It works for them as a couple. They can be lovers in a space like this, not limited to their bedroom. They’ve got three kids. Apparently, that’s hell on a sex life, but they can come here and be crazy lovers for a while. And that’s something I think we should talk about.”
“Being crazy lovers?”
“The fact that we’ve got several relationships going on, and I didn’t think about it when I came to you the first night. I’ll be honest—I didn’t think I would get any further than sitting with you and sharing a bottle of wine and asking you if you wanted to go out with me sometime.”
She let him tug her down beside him and felt a smile cross her face. It was good to know she could be surprising. “Shocked you, huh?”
“I was very happy, but now I realize I gave myself away far too quickly. You view me as a sexual object.”
He sounded so prim, she had to bite back a laugh. “I’m very sorry, Javier. I used you for sex and that was wrong of me.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “You know how ridiculous that sounds, but I didn’t like the way you dismissed me the next day. I know I have a reputation, but I have feelings for you. I want a promise that if we decide to sleep together again, you’ll stay in bed with me, wake up with me, spend the morning with me.”
“I promise.” She didn’t like the thought that he had felt used. Even though that’s kind of what she’d done. “But like I said, I’m not sure I’m ready for anything serious.”
Because she was scared and she had to wonder if her fear was going to cost her everything.
“I think we need boundaries,” Javier said. “I’m your boss at work. Not directly, of course, but Chef is giving me more responsibilities, and I might need your help from time to time.”
She wouldn’t mind taking more responsibility for the front of house. No matter what Kai said, she was adapting. She couldn’t cook the way she wanted so she would concentrate on other parts of the industry she loved. “I can handle that.”
“Excellent,” he continued. “We’re friends when we leave work and we can decide what we want to be when we’re here.”
