Page 55 of Tempt

She covers her face, then mumbles. “No, you should read it. Yes. But with some warning, because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.”

“I don’t read your books as some kind of shortcut to understanding you as a woman.” I frown, and reach for her. I need that contact, and when she folds into me, soft and cuddly, I know she does, too. “You don’t think that’s why I’ve been reading them, is it? I know you aren’t your characters.”

“Then why are you reading them?” It’s a question she’s never asked me before.

“Because you’re a damn good writer.” My voice catches. “Because they’re hot, and they came from your imagination, but I know they’re fiction. They’re entertainment, and entertaining. I can’t stop reading them when I get into one. That’s why I keep picking them up. That’s all.”

“You don’t want to know if I…” She trails off.

Oh, fuck yes. I want to know if sheanything. But not because of a book. “If I have my way, we have the rest of our lives to figure out new and interesting ways to be dirty together.”

She wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my neck.

I hug her back. Hard.

We have more to talk about there, obviously, but first…breakfast. “Can I make you some Eggs Benny?”

She nods, a tight bob constrained by the fact that I’m pinning her against me.

I’m buildingHazel a perfect goat cheese and avocado Eggs Benny when she asks me the question, so it takes me a second to reply.

And in that second, she tries to take it back.

“Never mind, it’s not—”

“No, say it again.” I put down the pot of hollandaise sauce and grab a dish towel. She’s got me curious now.

She licks her lips, her eyes wide. “Have you ever been to a sex club?”

“Nope.” I hold my hand out, and she takes it. I tug her close. “Why do you ask?”

“Um…” Her breath goes funny as I stroke my fingertips against her collarbone. “Remember the bearded guy at Alex’s house on New Year’s Eve?”

“Mmm.”

“He owns a sex club.”

I stop my teasing touches. “Really.” I say it like a statement, but it’s a question, too.How do you know?

Hazel laughs, answering the unspoken part. “I follow him online. For research. I’ve never been, but…I would. If you would.”

I grab her plate and set it on the table. “Sit.”

She sits.

I quickly assemble a plate for myself, taking zero care in the details. “Sure, if you want to go, I’d go with you. Do you want me to ask Alex about it? He loves to introduce people.”

“I noticed.” She’s looking at me like I’m not getting it.

That’s because I’m not getting. “What is the missing puzzle piece here?”

“Is Alex kinky?”

“Jesus.” I laugh. Then I gesture at the eggs. “I just wanted to make brunch.”

“Sorry, not sorry.”

“No need to be sorry.” I think about it. “Maybe? If he is, he’s discreet about it. But even if he knows that guy through another channel, he’d still make the introduction.”

---