Page 3 of Revelation

I laugh. “With whom?”

“With... the Common Decency Police.”

“Okay. Duly noted. Complaint lodged.”

“Because yousuck.”

“Yes, I do, actually, as we both know very well. And if you ever want me to do it again, then answer my question.”

Out of nowhere, his fury roars back to life. “Oh, fuck no,” he bellows. “Let me set you straight about something right here and now: I donottolerate any form of sexual extortion in a relationship. That’s an absolute deal-breaker with me. You wanna suck my dick? Great; then suck it. You don’t wanna suck it? Then don’t. But don’t use sex as a weapon to manipulate me. I fuckinghatethat.”

My heart lurches into my throat—and not because Josh is chastising me—I don’t care about that—but because Josh just said he doesn’t tolerate any form of sexual extortionin a relationship. Are Josh and Iin a relationship?

“Jeez,” I manage to say. “Overreact much?”

“I’m notoverreacting,” Josh replies. “I absolutelyhatethat shit.”

“Okay, okay. Jeez-us. I’m sorry. I’ll never again say, ‘If you want me to suck your dick, then fill-in-the-blank.’ Happy?”

“Yes. Thank you. I hate that shit.”

“Fine. Got it. But I must say I find your whole speech awfullyironic considering I used sexual extortion to get you to give me your application in the first place.”

He pauses. “Hey, wait a minute—youdid, didn’t you? Well, that was kinda shitty of you.”

“Hey, whatever works.”

There’s a long beat during which I’m smiling from ear to ear.

“So,” I say. “You still haven’t answered my question, Playboy: Who are all the blonde playmates?”

He makes a sound of frustration. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

“No chance. I’m a Scorpio. We hold grudges. So who are they?”

“You don’t have permission to be snooping around in that folder, Kat. Click out.”

I don’t reply to him—I’m too busy looking through the folder.

“Hello? Madame Terrorist? Did you hear me? Exit the folder. You’re trespassing.”

“Yeah, I heard you. And I would totally follow your instruction, I really would—but the thing is, I’m having somewhat of aconundrum.”

“And what is that?”

“It’s kind of like a dilemma.”

“Have I done something to give you the impression I’ve got the vocabulary of a sixth-grader? I know what aconundrumis—I’m asking what isyourconundrum, specifically?”

I seriously can’t wipe the smile off my face. “Well, on the one hand,” I say, “I really want to respect your request. Ireally, reallydo, because I’m actually a fairly nice person, despite the way I tend to behave around you, and also because I think you’re probably right: it was very, very naughty of me to go through your personal stuff without permission.”

“Thank you. And on the other hand?”

“Well, on the other hand, I really, really likebeingnaughty.”

Josh makes a sexy sound. “Oh. Well, thatisquite aconundrum. What on earth are you gonna do about it?”

“I dunno—I haven’t decided yet. Maybe I’ll just look through your pervy blonde-porn-star folder while I figure it out.” I scroll through the photos again, my smile hurting my cheeks. “These women all look the same, Josh,” I say, still going through the photos. “Looks like you’ve got atype,huh?”

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