Page 9 of The Owner's Temptation

Slowly, my gaze lifts to hers as I pick up one of the large coins.

They’re thick, weighty-looking, and identical—both stamped with a bold, raised numbertwoon either side.

She waggles her eyebrows, smug as hell. "Yeah, babe.It’s real."

“Whoa.”

“And we’re going.”

“I’m not.”

“Oh, but you are.” Harper focuses on her sandwich like it’s restoring her lifeforce.

It probably is.

I shake my head, setting the coin back on the table. “Harper, Ireallydon’t have the funds to go gallivanting through a sex club. Hi, your jobless friend. Remember?”

Harper waves a dismissive hand, unbothered. “I don’t meantonight.” She leans back against the couch, stretching her legs out. “My vagina is currently in recovery mode. Last night was a fuck-a-thon of Olympic proportions, and frankly, I need anapbefore I can even consider stepping foot inside a place where people are actively getting railed.”

I snort, shaking my head. “I repeat. I’m not going to a sex club.”

“Youaregoing to a sex club,” she says, pointing at me with the last bite of her food. “I leave for vacation tomorrow, and when I get back? You better have a job and be ready for a night filled withsin.”

I open my mouth to protest again, but she levels me with a look.

“Babe, The Masquerade is just the front. Therealclub is inside.” Harper waggles her brows picking up a coin and tossing it back into my lap. “Nine levels of Hell, straight up to The Devils Playground. And these? These are level access coins. Number two means I got us into the ‘soft exploration’ floor.Vanilla kinks, voyeurism, a little light bondage.”

I blink. “You gotusin?”

“Mhm.” She takes another smug bite of her sandwich. “Well, my new situationship can get us in.”

I set the coin down. “Yeah,not happening.”

There are more things to worry about. Like the fact I’m already drowning financially and now I have no job.

I groan, rubbing my hands over my face. The events of last night replay in my mind—getting fired, Steve getting his facerearranged, and then…him.

Mr. Tall, Dark, and Tattooed.

The raw power in his movements. The way his steel-gray eyes locked onto mine, like he saw right through me. Like heknewme.

I bite my lip, hating the way my stomach clenches at the memory.

Nope. Nope, nope,nope.

Harper hums, eyeing me over her coffee cup. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

“Whaaat?” I draw the word out. My high-pitch tone giving away the lie.

She grins. “Ohhh, yousoare.”

I glare, reaching for my own coffee. “We’re changing the subject.”

“Fine. Let’s talk about your newmystery jobthen.” Harper nods toward the sleek black card sitting on my nightstand. “Did you look it up?”

I sigh. “Yeah. There’snothing. And it’s not my new job.”

She frowns. “Nothing?”

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