Page 50 of The Neighbor Wager

The one set around high-achieving women.

She has a book type.

“And you?” she asks. “Any Dommes in your past? Or were you the one holding a whip?”

My head goes to all sorts of places it shouldn’t. Dangerous places. But cursing the mental images only brightens them.

Deanna Huntington, in only her boots, utterly in control as she slides onto me.

Not going there. “Do you see anything as romantic?”

“No. I want a sex story.”

“It’s not that interesting.”

“Neither was mine.”

It came with some powerful visuals. But, sure, I can move through this. “Faith.”

“Was it a relationship or just sex?” She doesn’t addI know you’re too into Lexi for another relationship, but it fills the air anyway.

I wasn’t, then. At least, I didn’t think I was. I thought I was over her. “We were friends with benefits. We both agreed to a course of experimentation. Dirty talk, pictures, bondage.”

“You tying her up or the reverse?”

“Are you looking for your next sub?” I mean the words as a joke, but they send my blood rushing south anyway. This is too much talk about sex. I need to discuss something else.

She takes a long sip, looks around to check the coast is clear. The bar is still empty. The four people on the dance floor are still swaying. She leans in and whispers, “Are you asking?”

I ban the mental image from my mind. “We did it both ways. We tried a lot. And it went well. For a while.”

“The suspense,” she teases.

“She wanted to have a threesome with another woman. Her request. And what guy turns that down, right?”

“It’s a common male fantasy. I’ve seen the data.”

Does her app really collect data on sexual fantasies? She must know a lot of secrets. “I helped pick the woman, I organized the meeting, I went out for drinks. But even after three margaritas, I felt stiff.”

She raises a brow.

Right. “Tense. Awkward. I tried to get into it. I kissed the other woman. I watched them kiss. But when it was time to touch her, I couldn’t do it. No matter how much Faith insisted it was fine. More than fine. Sexy. I felt sick. I stopped things and we got into a fight and that was it. We made up a few days later, but we never really got past it.”

“And that was it, the end?”

“I was leaving anyway.”

“To come here?”

I nod.

“Why did you leave?” she asks. “You have a job in New York.”

“I can work remote.”

“Still. You don’t have a reason to be in California.”

“I have meetings in Los Angeles. We’re opening a new office.”

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