Page 42 of Beneath the Blindfold

“The girl gets naked,” I said quickly.

Court frowned. “That’s it?”

It wasn’t. I took them into a room and . . . “I watch her get herself off.”

Her face went blank. “Oh.”

“I didn’t tell you about this place, I know. But you gotta believe I ain’t lying about this, Court.”

“Okay,” she said with a tight voice. “How about you give me a tour then?”

THREE

COURTNEY

Julius King was unexpected. He was huge with an intimidating build, yet he was the nicest, sweetest guy I knew. Back in college, he’d been surprisingly fast on the football field. After we graduated, he’d gone into security for the club . . . only to end up owning the place.

Even his deep purple suit and black dress shirt was unexpected. I hadn’t seen him dressed in a suit since the tux he’d worn at my wedding. This one fit much better, and the eggplant color looked beautiful on him. He looked commanding and confident as he stood from the couch and gestured toward the other door in the room, the one which led further inside his club.

My best friend owned a brothel. I’d known for months, but seeing really was believing, and it was hard to wrap my head around it.

He hadn’t changed much physically from the guy I’d met at a house party Tariq had taken me to after a football game our junior year. Julius had shaved his head after graduation and kept the look. He was thick with bulky muscle. His bicep was probably bigger than my thigh, and the weekend after my divorce had been finalized, I’d had two glasses of wine and wondered what it’d be like to have his powerful arms around me.

The thought made me shiver. It felt wrong to like the idea so much because he’d been my friend for years, but it also felt . . . completely right. On paper, we shouldn’t click. We were opposites in every way, literally black and white, but instead we fit together perfectly.

And once the idea of us moving from friends into something more was in my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

I wasn’t sure how long he’d had feelings for me. If it was before I’d come to Chicago, he’d done a damn good job of hiding it, but the more time we spent together, the more obvious it became. He got braver over the last few months, and I did everything I could to encourage him.

But I wasn’t laying it down hard enough, I guess. My eagerness reached a critical turning point when my sister asked if she could set me up with a guy from her gym. I knew what I wanted, and I was fairly confident it was the same thing Julius did, but I also didn’t want to be ninety years old when he finally made his move.

And it’d been months since I’d had sex with anything that wasn’t battery operated. Julius was attractive and worked at a club surrounded by beautiful women who sold their bodies for money, which he had plenty of. Times were desperate. I wasn’t going to lose him before I’d even gotten him.

My legs were jelly as I stood from the couch. I believed in what I was doing, but that didn’t mean it was easy, and I could not get a handle on my nerves. They rattled in my chest, vibrating me from the inside out.

His eyes were jet black and filled with concern, but I couldn’t tell if it was for me or for himself. Was he worried I’d judge him? The concept of him running a brothel took some getting used to, but I’d done it. There were legal jobs he could have had that were worse than this. Above all, I trusted he knew what he was doing.

“I’ve never given a tour before,” Julius said. “How much do you want to see?”

My body temperature rose and made my weak knees worse. I’d had fantasies about this place. All of them included the man before me. He said he didn’t touch the women, but did he live this lifestyle? Would he tie me up or blindfold me if I asked him to?

I could barely choke the words out over my excitement. “All of it. Walk me through what you do.”

He drew in an unsure breath. “This room is where a client hangs out before his appointment.”

“His?” I repeated. Cordell and his wife had played together, living out their mutual fantasy of a threesome, but . . . “You only take men?”

“Nah, we take women and couples too, but ninety-five percent of the members are guys.” He strode to the door, but hesitated before opening it for me. “You sure you’re cool with this? Shit’s gonna get real.”

It was like he’d lit a firecracker and tossed it inside me. I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded quickly. I was dying to see more. Would the blindfold club match the sexy images I’d painted in my mind?

He tugged the door open.

The hallway, like the holding room we’d just come from, was dim. Black walls, broken up by open doorways on both sides. Security lighting in the corners was bright enough to see, but it made the long hallway feel ominous.

“I don’t have the lights on since we’re not open yet,” Julius said.

“Oh.” It was all I could think to say.

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