Page 23 of Indiscreet

“Oh, clutch the pearls, we must be decent,” Elliott said mockingly. “Nothing will happen that she doesn’t want to—”

“We know that’s not true,” she snapped.

“It is with me,” Elliott said sharply. “You’re crying foul now after everything—”

“I’m not,” she said heatedly. “And please be quiet. You don’t know me or what you’re talking about.”

“I know that you like to upgrade,” he said scornfully.

“It wasn’t like that,” she muffled.

“Seriously, what do you want?” His tone was gentle.

“Like you’d help me now, even if I told you,” she grumbled. “Just stay away from me and my friends.”

No more hanging back. I hurried down the rest of the stairs noisily and just like I suspected, they stopped arguing. I went to Liz.

“I found it.” I held out the shawl and she took it. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

She glowered at Elliott. “Oh, we will, most definitely.”

I gave her a hug at the door and watched her drive off. I came back in to find that Elliott had moved on to my kitchen. He was jotting down notes on a notepad. “This room will need to be gutted. Hope you like takeout.” He winked at me.

I crossed my arms. “Actually, I’m no longer sure about the remodel, at least not with Dane’s company.”

He came over and stood in front of me. “That’s fine—even better, actually. We both know that’s not why you called in the first place. You wanted to take Dane up on his offer to have sex with us.”

I looked away, my face hot. I couldn’t deny it—I had considered Dane’s offer—but I offered some further explanation. “At the time I sent the message, things were different. I was curious, and you were pretty clear from that night that you considered me a tourist.”

“You were one,” he said, not backing down. “You enjoyed us both playing with your pussy, but afterward you tried to make us feel like shit for doing it to you.”

I lifted my chin, despite the heat growing in my face at his crass words. “No, that’s not all that happened. I admit that I wanted to and agreed to allow you both to…do that to me. I just had never done that before and I was embarrassed, but I have since found out that Dane’s involved with someone.”

Elliott sighed. “It’s complicated, but you’re not looking for a relationship, are you?”

“No,” I admitted. “But I hate cheaters. Even if he was in an open relationship or whatever, someone is bound to get hurt.”

“No one will,” he said. “Dane has his interests, like having me in the mix, but you know that already.”

“Yes,” I said. “But is there anything else?” I was curious.

“That’s for you to find out if you decide to take Dane up on his offer,” he replied. “What I will share is this: if it ever turned personal, he wouldn’t change his kinks. If you already feel like it’s too much for you, you should walk away like your friend wants you to do.”

I glared over at him. “Did something happen between you and Liz?”

“Nothing happened with me,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “She thinks she knows something about me, but she’s judging me by whatever gossip she heard.”

I shrugged. I believed there was more to it, but neither one of them was willing to share. I also thought it better to not jump to conclusions.

“Fair enough, but still, she’s really unhappy about something.”

“Sometimes people get caught up,” he said with a sigh. “But let’s get back to you, me, and Dane—what’s keeping you from taking him up on his offer?”

I rubbed my arms. “I don’t know.”

“That’s not a no,” he replied with another wink.

I tried to hold in my smile. It wasn’t.

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