Page 54 of The Broker

The cavernous space of his entryway became cozy and intimate when he came closer, and even he seemed to notice. His irises darkened with something that looked a hell of a lot like lust.

“It’s hard to be friends with you,” I uttered, “when you look at me like that.”

Noah drew in a deep breath and didn’t look away. A war was going on inside him between what he should do and what he wanted to do, and it seemed like desire was winning out.

“Sorry,” he said, although he didn’t sound sorry at all.

But then he broke the gaze, turning his focus to the small purse that dangled from my elbow. The bag didn’t hold anything more than my phone and a tube of lipstick, but I had nowhere else to put them.

His gaze rose back to my face. “I know this will probably be a challenge for you,” a slight smile tilted his lips, “since you’re a ‘permanently online’ person, but you’re not allowed to use your phone inside Club Eros.”

“I can’t have my phone?” I tried not to screech it, because he’d sort of just asked me to amputate a part of my body.

“You can have it,” he clarified, “you just can’tuseit. If they catch you with it out, they’ll ask us to leave, and neither of us will be welcome back.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a safety thing. They don’t want people taking pictures or video.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.”

The weight of my handbag seemed to quadruple when I realized it was no longer needed. I must have made a face, because he shot me a questioning look.

“I’m trying to decide if I should even bother taking this, then.” I raised my elbow, jostling the little purse. “All it does is hold my phone since I don’t have any pockets.”

“I have pockets,” he said. “You want me to hang on to it for you?”

I dug out my phone, but hesitated. “You don’t mind?”

“No.” He chuckled and plucked it from my hand. “I think I can manage.”

I watched as he opened his suit coat and slipped my phone into the interior pocket, and the idea of it wasexciting. The small device was such a big part of my life. It was an extension of me, so to know it was nestled inside his jacket, next to his heart, was deeply satisfying.

When I set my no-longer-needed purse on his entryway table, movement drew my gaze out through the front window. A black sedan turned into the driveway.

“Is that—”

“Our ride?” he said. “Yeah. You ready?”

Shit, I wasmorethan ready.

We didn’t talk about the club in front of our driver, like it was some secret we needed to keep, which was sort of ridiculous. The guy knew where we were going—he had the address.

But . . . did he?

Because when we got there, I didn’t see anything that looked remotely like a club. We weren’t in the best part of town, and the street was dark. All the buildings around here looked like they were commercial, and most of them had gone out of business during the pandemic.

I got out of the car when Noah did, but I stood on the sidewalk in disbelief. “You sure this is the right place?”

It was a stupid question, since he’d been here before, but he didn’t make me feel dumb. His laugh was light and casual. “Yeah. I know it’s not much to look at from the outside, but I think that’s kind of the point.”

He gestured to the concrete walkway that was off the sidewalk, leading up to...

Oh.

There was a house nestled between two large warehouses, complete with a covered front porch. In another neighborhood, it would have looked cute, but here it was so out of place. It looked old, too, like it had existed long before the industrial buildings that grew up around it.

The windows were dark, most likely blacked out, making the place look empty.

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