Page 52 of The Broker

Right. I got out my phone and checked my schedule. The club was only open a few nights a week, but I had some space this weekend. “Saturday?”

She didn’t even think about it. “That sounds great.”

An alarm blared inside me, telling me to get out of the car before I did something stupid... like putting my lips on hers. “Okay, I’ll figure out a time,” I reached for the door handle, “and text you the details.”

Charlotte nodded and followed my lead, climbing out of the passenger side. I stood beside her Yaris, holding the driver’s door open for her, and watched her round the back of the car. She didn’t get in though. Instead, she stood at the side, with the car door between us, and I was grateful. I needed the barrier to keep me in line.

“Hey, thanks again for coming with me tonight,” she said softly.

“Of course.” I almost added ‘anything for a friend,’ but was wise enough to leave it off, because the thoughts swirling through me were not thoughts a friend should be having.

She hovered there long enough for me to realize she was waiting for something. An invitation, perhaps? I wasn’t going to do that because nothing good could come from it.

Orgasms could come from it.

Yeah, but it wouldn’t be worth the fallout after. I liked my job. And I happened to like Charlotte even more, which was why I didn’t want to hurt her.

If she was disappointed I didn’t ask her to come in, she didn’t show it. She sat in the seat and gazed up at me with a bright smile. “Saturday,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

I nodded and closed the door, unable to say anything, because I worried what would come out of my mouth. She was looking forward to me taking her to the club, but me?

It was concerning how fucking thrilled I was about it.

FOURTEEN

Charlotte

Excitement buzzed in my system all day, but it ramped up significantly when it came time to get ready for my evening with Noah. I twirled my long, color-treated locks of blonde hair around the barrel of my curling iron, studying my reflection in the mirror. Shit, I’d need to go easy on the blush and contouring tonight. I was already flushed, and it had nothing to do with the heat the iron was putting out.

I was going to a sex club tonight.

The thought played in a constant loop in my brain.

Once I’d finished my hair and makeup, I pulled on a black leather mini skirt and paired it with a maroon top. The shirt was satin and cut low enough in the front that I considered taping it in place, but ultimately decided against it. I didn’t mind if the edge of my bra showed occasionally. In fact, I kind of liked the idea.

It was like a sexy little hint.

My overnight bag was already packed, which had taken me a lot longer to finish than I’d expected. Noah had told me it’d be late when we left the club, so I could stay in his guest bedroom tonight.

I packed options with varying degrees of sexiness, just in case he changed his mind about which bed he wanted me to occupy. He probably wouldn’t though. My no-sex rule was still in place, and we might find sharing a bed too tempting and torturous.

After I’d zipped up my high-heeled boots, I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my closet and snapped a selfie. I messed with the settings until I had the color grading where I wanted it, and then laughed at myself. The pic was cute enough, but I wasn’t planning on posting it to my socials. I’d edited it simply out of habit.

Me:Is this outfit okay for tonight?

I followed my message up with the picture, then set my phone aside as I awaited Noah’s response, although I was confident I’d get his approval. He’d said the club had a dress code, but also that it only applied to men. Women could wear whatever they wanted—and aslittleas they wanted.

This outfit was bringing my A game.

It pushed the line for me, and was the kind of look that’d make my dad frown—but he wouldn’t dare say anything about it. I wasn’t much younger than his client Stella, and this was exactly what she’d wear on a night out.

I knew, because I’d talked to her stylist last year and bought some of the same pieces.

By sending the selfie, I’d spoiled the reveal for Noah, but I figured this was a good trade-off. Now he had a picture of me in his phone. Sure, he could watch my YouTube channel or my TikTok videos anytime he wanted, but this was different. This image wasonlyfor him.

Noah:Yeah, looks good.

It wasn’t the resounding answer I was looking for, but I could live with it.

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