Page 66 of RAKEish

Eddy beamed and ushered her to the table, where his friends greeted her with cheers and excited whispers, immediately making room for her.

While Lux ordered a glass of wine, they shared stories and opinions with such passion she found herself almost glad Scott had stood her up. Within no time, she’d vowed to learn to knit and then fill out a questionnaire to join their exclusive club. They promised to give her serious consideration.

“Honey, let’s talk hypnosis,” Eddy said to Lux during a lull in the conversation.

The others at the table broke into giggles.

“What about it?” Lux asked.

“It’s the one thing you’ve given Scott grief over that I simply cannot condone. I, myself, find the mind-bending practice to be quite delightful.”

“Oh,” Lux said. “I do as well…when used wisely.” Perhaps if her heart hurt too much after she did what must be done this evening, she could turn to hypnosis to forget.

“But you see, your definition of wisely and mine are at odds,” Eddy said.

“How so?” Lux asked.

Eddy ran his pink feather boa over his shoulders like he was about to start a strip tease dance. “I’m one of the subjects that was hypnotized on the evening of February 14th that prompted Scott’s column that women might benefit from hypnosis to turn their shy ways into guy ways.”

Lux frowned. “You were hypnotized into having on demand orgasms?” Her imagination couldn’t even picture him up on stage doing what Scott had described in his column. “And you’re not livid?”

“Oh, doll face,” Eddy said. “I will take orgasms on demand twice a day every day.” He flicked his hand through the air as he spoke, drawing her attention to his bracelets and rings and pink nail polish. “I knew what I was getting into when I went on that stage. No one exploits Eddy. Not anymore, anyway.”

“Is it true, then,” Lux said, still trying to wrap her brain around what Eddy was saying. “You had orgasms…in front of the audience!”

He dropped his knitting and leaned toward her. “Honey, if I didn’t want to be talked about, I wouldn’t wear white before the first day of spring.” He placed his hand over his mouth while fluttering his crazy long, pink eyelashes. “Or dress drag. Or volunteer at an after-midnight comedy club to be hypnotized.”

“Enough about Eddy,” said Abby, one of the club’s founding members and owner of a nearby yarn store. “Lux, for your sake, we’re all hoping like hell you are as allergic to commitment as Prince Landshire is. We’d just hate to see you get hurt.”

“Umm. Hello,” Eddy said. “We were talking about Eddy—”

“Don’t mind him,” Wendy, the president of the Manhattan Knitter’s club, said. She sported a low ponytail, ragged sweatshirt, and jeans. “His boa has been in a tinsel tangle ever since his off-Broadway production was cancelled and replaced with a naughty version of Cinderella as a nod to Prince Landshire moving to America and choosing Manhattan as his new home, thus our fondness of flaying the man.”

“How awful,” Lux said to Eddy, forcing herself to contemplate how hard it would be to learn to knit and absolutely not allowing herself to recall Scott’s comment about adoring his Naughty Cinderella who wanted to swallow.

“Trust us, he has plenty of other irons in the fire,” said Annie, the only non-founding member of the club. If Lux recalled correctly, she was a lawyer.

“You know, Lux, you make me wish I was in college just so I could take your Psychology of Your Twenties class,” Abigail said in a thick southern drawl. “God bless my hometown, but it did not prepare me for the intricacies of meshing adulthood with knitting needles that double as secret weapons and cozy mystery novels that turn out to be more real than I ever imagined.”

The others gasped at her, and she looked sheepish. “Pardon my blathering. That was overshare. Ignore me.”

Lux frowned. “Do you stumble upon dead people often?”

“More times than I can count on one hand anymore,” Abigail said with a straight face.

Lux, who’d been expecting an I’m joking response, gasped. “Really.”

“Oh, sugar pie,” she exclaimed, her voice tinged with a mix of shock and amusement and syrup. “I have just revealed more than the bosses allow.”

“I’d say,” said Eddy. “Not that I’m ever again going to rat you out. I learned my lesson last time.”

Abigail giggled. “Pay him no mind. He thinks just because he had a chat with some of my people, he’s suddenly on their hit list. I mean, it’s not like they have a hit list or anything.”

As if Abigail’s people had been conjured and were here to place Lux on a hit list, someone touched Lux’s shoulder, causing her to yelp. Turning, she breathed a sigh of relief to discover it was Scott and not a hitman. His presence was as commanding as it was belated.

“Scott, you made it,” Lux said breathlessly, her heart still pounding from the fright.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said.

---