Page 3 of 4-Ever Theirs (4-Ever 1)

Chapter Two

Andi tugged the fitted skirt of her stretchy lace dress past mid-thigh, watching her bare skin peek through the intricate patterns. Her outfit was modest enough to seem like a nun’s habit compared to the latex corsets or fishnets and boy shorts she saw others wearing. Still, discomfort for the women whose breasts spilled from their necklines rubbed off on her.

It wasn’t that she was a prude. At least she didn’t think so, but she’d never had the freedom to put herself out there like that. Or someone to admire her and support her inner sex kitten like the men escorting their dates to the discrete doors of Flesh, a local sex club, seemed to be doing.

She was out of her league. Totally intimidated.

Crazy to have considered this a reasonable first step on her foray into hook-up experimentation.

She hadn’t even made it across the parking lot from her ancient Civic to the dark building, which looked too innocuous to be the den of iniquity it was purported to be, before she was second-guessing herself. And that was precisely why she had to keep going.

Andi steeled her spine and lifted her chin, hoping the few assets she had were at least displayed to their best advantage when she perfected her posture. A simple kind of woman, she went with what she knew best. Directness.

“Good evening,” she said to the man monitoring the entryway before he could address her.

“It is.” He smiled sincerely at her greeting, making her wonder if she might not seem as out of place as she felt. Until he asked, “Can I see your membership card?”

“Oh. Um. I’m not…” She shrugged. “I’m meeting someone here.”

The guy’s lips dipped into a frown. “Let me check the guest roster…”

“Not necessary,” a newcomer said as he approached at a jog. Tall and fit, he filled out his jeans and lightweight sweater in a way that made her hum softly. Hopefully to herself. “You’re Andi, right?”

“Yes.” She beamed up at him, relieved she wouldn’t have to suffer the mortification of being turned away or the discomfort of waiting for her date in some holding room. Her propensity for arriving early had never landed her in trouble before. Note to self: Be fashionably late to dates from now on.

See, she was learning shit already.

As smoothly as one of her roommates might, her blind date leaned down and kissed her cheek before placing a possessive hand on her lower back. Immediately, she felt something inside her unravel. She might not have any clue about what she was doing here, but her lab partner—Veronica—seemed to have done her justice by fixing Andi up with her brother.

During a study session, Andi had confided that she was thinking of sneaking in a night at Flesh before her time in town ran out, hoping Veronica would be her wing-girl for the outing. Instead, her friend did one better. Turned out her brother was a member. Grossed out as Veronica was about believing he even had a sex life, she figured it was safer to play matchmaker than to let Andi take a spin in random-partner-roulette.

She had to agree.

Cross one thing off her list of possible disasters for the evening. This blind date was definitely not a hardship to look at. Or socially inept. He brushed his thumb over her spine casually, making her shiver. In response, he drew her tighter to his side. So far, definitely good. Soooo good.

“Nice to see you again—”

Her date talked over the bouncer’s greeting. “Let me take care of this real quick, grab us a couple drinks, and we can get to know each other.”

The guy working the door seemed kind of irritated at this point. She glanced over her shoulder, but there wasn’t anyone waiting. It wasn’t like they were holding up a line or anything.

Andi would be glad to move past him before he could change his mind about allowing her admission.

Her date refused to allow her to cover her portion of the entry fees, then asked if she wanted to store her things in one of the club’s secure lockers. Veronica had outlined Flesh’s basic policies. Cell phones weren’t allowed in the playrooms. Better to take care of that now than have to put the brakes on later and introduce any additional awkwardness into the situation.

“Sure.” She smiled and kept up their small talk as he walked her through the rest of what she needed to know. Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad idea after all. With a shy smile, she glanced up at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name before. It’s Peter, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Shit. I kind of forgot my manners when I saw you out there.” He cracked a smile that dazzled her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Seriously. I was kind of worried about how well my sister knew my type.”

He lifted her hand and dusted a kiss over her knuckles.

Andi wasn’t the sort of woman who fished for compliments. It still made her grin when he added, “My sister will be getting a kickass graduation present after this, that’s for sure.”

“You don’t think it’s weird?” She cleared her throat and tried not to blush. “You know, that I wanted to…”

“Nah. No judgment here, honey.” His grin turned sort of wolfish at that. “I am a member here. And you saved me the trouble of hunting down someone half as interesting as you to play with tonight. I’m happy to give you what you’re looking for.”

To her horror, Andi felt her eyes prickling again. This guy was being a perfect gentleman. He was cute, and easy to talk to, and didn’t seem to judge her. So why did she still wish she was at home?

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