Page 7 of Playing By His Rules

“Uh, what are you doing?” Madison asked, startled by her friend’s primping.

“Making you look like you’re fuckable,” she said, grinning. “You ready to get your cherry popped?”

Madison arched a brow. “I’m hardly a virgin.”

“Umm. You’re anescortvirgin,” Tammy clarified, then looped her arm through Madison’s as she led the way through the lobby, past the regular bank of elevators, to the single lift where a man in a black business suit stood guard.

He scanned their security cards and checked them in before allowing them inside the glass enclosed elevator. The ride up to the thirty-sixth floor, which was the top of the hotel, was a slow one that provided a stunning view of the Las Vegas strip in the distance, all lit up for the evening.

“Just a word of advice, you might want to switch out that bracelet,” Tammy said, eyeing the pink one on her wrist. “You’ll make a helluva lot more money for just a few hours of work if you’re more . . . open-minded.”

“Umm, not tonight.” Madison shifted on her feet. “I’m not sure I’m ready to jump into bed with a random stranger my first night on the job.”

“It’s really not a big deal,” Tammy said with a shrug as she dug her lipstick out of her purse and reapplied the red stain. “It’s like having a one-night stand.”

“I’ve never had a one-night stand,” Madison murmured.

“Oh, my God.” Tammy laughed. “Are yousureyou’re not a virgin?”

“No, I’m not,” she assured her friend. Always the responsible one, Madison had never had a carefree kind of life that included hot, illicit sex with a random stranger. The few boyfriends she’d had over the years had been tepid at best in the bedroom, including Evan, her last relationship.

But Madison’s guilty pleasure was reading smutty romance novels at night before falling asleep—the kind with dominant men and women eager to follow their wicked demands. In real day-to-day life, she didn’t want a guy who controlled her, but there was something so alluring about the thought of giving herself over to a confident alpha man who took charge in the bedroom.

Tammy dropped her lipstick tube back into her purse. “You must be a strictly vanilla, missionary kind of girl.”

“I’ve done . . . other things,” she said, much too defensively.

“Mmm.” Tammy hummed the doubtful sound as she pulled the bodice of her dress a bit lower to expose more of her breasts before they arrived at their destination. “Honey, fucking doggy style or riding a man’s dick isn’t even close to being kinky. Now, add some spankings, or having a guy tie you to a bed while making you delirious with the need to be fucked as his mouth pleasures you, or being forced to your knees to suck a man’s cock with him gripping your hair—all consensual, of course—and then you can claim that you’ve done “other things”.”

“Fair enough,” Madison acknowledged, even as Tammy’s explicit words created evocative images in her mind, making her own body ache for exactly those things—which were similar scenarios that played through her mind at night when she only had her vibrator for company. “But tonight, I’m wearing my imaginary chastity belt.”

Tammy’s brown eyes glimmered with amusement. “Such a shame, but I get it. There are women like you who need to take baby steps in this business and there are women like me who have no inhibitions and love getting laid on a regular basis while getting paid for it.”

Sometimes, Madison wished she had the nerve to be that uninhibited and just enjoy sex for the pleasure of it, without any strings attached. But she’d always been a one-man kind of woman, and not one who slept around with various guys to scratch an itch.

God, what was she doing?The elevator started slowing its ascent as they neared the top floor and the exclusive members only club, and she shifted on her feet as doubts and hesitation started to suddenly surface.

Tammy, seemingly sensing Madison’s sudden bout of nerves, gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. “You arenotchanging your mind when you’re this close to entering The Penthouse,” she said, her tone firm. “I’m not sure you’ll get any takers with that pink bracelet on, so just take tonight to watch and learn and see if this is something you reallywantto do.”

Madison shook her head. “Does anyone reallywantto do this?”

Tammy’s red painted lips quirked in a half smile. “Yes. I do.”

Madison winced, though her friend sounded more matter of fact than offended. “I’m sorry. I’m not judging.”

“I know you’re not,” she replied, her eyes kind. “This line of business is not for everyone, but I love sex, especially when my client is a generous lover, and I’m not interested in a commitment relationship, so this job is a good fit for me.” Then she grinned gregariously. “And as an added bonus, I get paid very well for having orgasms. It’s a win-win-situation.”

Madison wasn’t interested in a relationship either, and a part of her envied Tammy’s confidence and open-minded views about sex.

With a soft pinging sound announcing they’d arrived, the elevator door quietly slid open. After taking a deep, fortifying breath, Madison followed Tammy into a plush, elegant reception area to check in for the evening.

Chapter 5

They were greeted by a very well dressed and beautiful dark-haired woman, possibly in her late fifties, who was sitting behind a simple glass desk with a small computer tablet in front of her. Her skin was smooth and flawless, her hair impeccably cut and styled, and she wore a deep purple dress that accentuated her curves but was more modest than either Tammy’s or Madison’s attire.

“Good evening, ladies,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Security cards please.”

“Hello, Rebecca.” Tammy greeted the woman by name, clearly familiar with who she was. “This is Madison Corbin, and it’s her first night at The Penthouse.”

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