Page 43 of Not Quite Perfect

“David tells me you’re a reporter,”Hank said, an expression of polite interest pasted on his face.

Next to him, his girlfriend Gwen was busy studying her fingernails. Despite assuring me that tonight was okay for our double date, they’d walked in late, their clothes askew. Ever since they’d sat down, Gwen had looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.

“I am. Just local stuff though.”

I nudged Victoria’s shoulder with mine. She was playing down her success at the paper, something I noticed she did whenever someone complimented her on her writing. “Victoria’s just being modest. She’s the one who broke the story about Mayor Donaldson’s second family.”

“No way,” Hank said, obviously impressed. He turned to his scowling girlfriend. “Did you hear that?”

She glanced up, her eyes flat. “Congratulations.” Her tone couldn’t have been less congratulatory if she’d tried.

Hank pushed Gwen’s nonplussed response aside with a quick flick of his hand. “Don’t mind her. She doesn’t like to read.”

“I do too,” she said, shooting him daggers. “Just not all that boring stuff you’re always droning on about.”

Not surprisingly, I wasn’t a fan of Gwen. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been a fan of any of Hank’s recent girlfriends. He liked them beautiful and bitchy. The problem was, Gwen assumed I didn’t like her because she worked in retail and didn’t have a college degree. In reality, I couldn’t have cared less what she did for a living. I didn’t like her because she was miserable to be around. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever seen her smile.

“What sort of booksdoyou like?” Victoria asked, popping a warm olive in her mouth.

“Trust me, you’ve never read them.”

“You might be surprised.”

“Fifty Shades of Greyis my favorite book,” Gwen answered. “I’m all about the BDSM lifestyle.”

Hank spit out his water and then sucked in a lungful of air. “What she means,” he explained once he’d caught his breath, “is that she likes trashy romance novels about couples who are into BDSM.” His neck and cheeks had turned a mottled shade of scarlet. “We’re not, um, we don’t …”

Gwen laughed, and I swore it was the first time I’d ever witnessed her enjoying herself. “Relax Hank. Vicky knows what I mean.”

Victoria pushed a wayward strand of hair out of her face and sipped from her glass of wine. “I have a ton of respect what E.L. James did for the genre. Since you likedFifty Shades, you should check outThe Reckoning. Most people love Broderick, but I’m a Nicky fan.”

My palm dropped to her knee under the table while I reached for my glass with the other. I knew Victoria devoured romance novels, but I’d never paid much attention to what they were actually about. Maybe I needed to. Was she secretly into BDSM? She’d never mentioned it before, but if this was her way of saying she wanted to be tied up and spanked, I was more than willing to give it a go. Not that I necessarily knew what I was doing, but I was smart and a fast learner.

“Is Nicky another naïve young virgin who falls in love with a controlling billionaire?” I asked, shooting a smirk Gwen’s way.

Yeah, I knew what the book was about.

Gwen laughed and shook her head. “Nope. Nicky’s a dude. He’s the head of one mob family, while Broderick is the head of another. They went to boarding school together, and you know what happens at an all-boys school.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

I tried to keep the surprise from my face as I turned to Victoria. I was learning all sorts of things about her reading preferences tonight. “You read gay romance?”

She shrugged. “Some of them arereallywell written. You want a tear jerker that ends in an epically satisfying conclusion? Start with a couple who defies the odds in a way no hetero couple ever can.”

“This particular story isn’tstrictlygay though,” Gwen interjected, leaning forward with a gleam in her eye. She liked shocking people, and from the way she was inspecting me, I got the impression she was hoping to give me the shock of my life.

“There’s also Mia, the woman they both love,” she continued. “The threesomes areepic. When Broderick forces Nicky to fuck Mia in front of him before he turns around and then fucks Nicky himself … wow.” She mimed fanning herself as she tossed Victoria a conspiratorial wink. “I needed to come so bad after reading that scene.”

Under the table, Victoria’s hand skated over my thigh, coming dangerously close to my cock. She dropped her fingers down between my thighs and palmed my balls before her hand floated away.

I replayed Gwen’s description of the book in question in my head, my thoughts growing frantic. Was bringing up this book Victoria’s way of indicating she was interested in pursuingthatsort of relationship? If it were, I didn’t know if I could do it.

But what if it’s the choice between giving her what she needs or having her seek it elsewhere?

I reached for my water, chugging down the entire glass. When I set it down, I turned to watch Victoria’s face as Gwen recounted the chapter where the three had their first sexual experience together. As she droned on, Victoria caught my eye and winked.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

---