Page 85 of Fakers with Benefits

“You won’t. Just be yourself and have fun. Everything else will fall into place.”

The valet opened the car door. I pasted on a smile and climbed out of the car.

“Holy mother of pearl.” I craned my neck and looked up at the hotel the benefit was being held at. “You didn’t tell me we were going to a literal castle!”

Vlado covered his laugh with a cough. “Wait until you see the inside.”

“I’m gonna get tackled by the poor police as soon as I step through the door, aren’t I?”

“No one is tackling anyone.” Evan held out his arm. “Not in public, at least.”

Looping my arm through his, I tossed him a sweet smile. “I thought you weren’t into primal play?”

“Primal play?” Vlado fell into step behind us as Evan led me up the walkway, which had an honest-to-god red carpet, and toward the ornate glass doors. “What’s that? It sounds like it’s either a great time, or a terrifying one.”

“Depends. Do you like chasing your partners down and going all caveman on them?”

“Yeah, not really my thing. I’m more of a pleasure Dom.”

“Really?” Perking up, I glanced back at him. “Bet the ladies love that.”

“I’ve never had any complaints,” he said with a smirk.

I turned my attention back to the hotel as we stepped through the main doors.

“Holy crap on a cracker. What in the Midas touch is going on here? Why is everything so…gold?”

“Because it’s luxe?” Vlado said.

My head was on a swivel as we walked across the gilded lobby. Every fixture and surface was done in gleaming gold, and the décor and furnishings wouldn’t be out of place in a palace. “It reminds me of those people who wear designer labels from head to toe. A little is classy, a lot is trashy. How much does a room go for here?”

“A lot,” Evan said.

I glanced at him as he steered me toward the back of the lobby. “Is this one of those ‘if you have to ask, you can’t afford it’ moments?”

He nodded.

“Are the rooms like this too?” I waved my hand around. “Do you think people stay here to cosplay royalty and live out their princess fantasies?”

Vlado choked out a laugh. “Princess fantasies?”

“You never pretended you were a princess when you were a kid? If I was staying in a place like this I’d totally pack a gown and tiara and just sit in my fancy-ass room that probably costs more than my rent and pretend I was a princess. Hell, I’d even splurge and order all sorts of fancy nibblies from room service and stand on my balcony so I could look down on all the peasants outside while I stuffed my face like a French Queen.”

“French Queen? Is that a Marie Antoinette reference?” Evan asked.

“Maybe. Is she that bitch who ate cake and got her head chopped off? ’Cause that’s who I was talking about.”

Vlado snickered behind me.

“Something like that.” Evan chuckled.

“Holy baby bunnies,” I exclaimed as Evan led me through a doorway at the back of the lobby. “How is the hallway even fancier than the goldsplosion of a lobby?”

The hallway in question was positively drenched in gold accents, and had the most beautiful stained-glass ceiling I’d ever seen. The lighting was soft and shone through the stained glass, giving the room a warm glow, like sunshine.

“How are they doing that? Isn’t it dark out? Why does it look like an enchanted forest in here? Isn’t there more building on top of us? What sorcery is this?”

“The lights create the illusion of it being daytime,” Evan said. “They also have a setting that looks like twinkling starlight, and another that can mimic sunset or sunrise.”

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