CHAPTER 13 #2
Tanner beamed. “Great, welcome back!”
He chattered cheerfully, filling their water glasses and handing them menus. “I’ll be back to check on you. Wendy should be here shortly.”
Nick opened his menu, but instead of reading it, he looked at Jannie. “You didn’t tell me you’ve been here before.”
“Once, a long time ago.”
“I hope you liked it.”
“Loved it.”
“Good.”
As Jannie started to check out the appetizers, she got an uneasy feeling of being watched.
She looked around, and sure enough, the two women from earlier stared from a nearby table.
And not just at Nick; one of them was practically undressing Jannie with her eyes, sipping a red cocktail, and running her tongue across her upper lip. Jannie fought back a groan.
“Something wrong?” Nick asked coolly.
She glared at the woman who was ogling her.
He followed her gaze and, to her surprise, chuckled. “Oh, I see. The daring duo.”
“Slutty duo,” she muttered. “Ugh.” She frowned at her menu, feeling doubly uncomfortable as Nick’s penetrating gaze fixed on her.
“What is it that bothers you, exactly?” he asked after a beat.
“What kind of question is that?”
“You’re a beautiful woman, Jannie. People notice you.”
“They noticed you, too.” She looked at him over the menu. “Don’t tell me you’re into what they suggested?”
He didn’t reply.
Her eyes widened. She caught his little smirk and swallowed. Had he done that? And enjoyed it? Something stirred in the pit of her belly.
Jannie forced herself to view the food options while doing her damnedest to appear unfazed. “That’s your business, I suppose.”
She hoped he would change the subject or, at the very least, go back to his menu.
No such luck.
“Do you consider that dirty?”
She shrugged. “I don’t consider it at all.”
“You, of all people, should know that sex is about more than just procreation.”
Where was he going with this? “And?”
“Most people have no idea how to use their bodies or what level of pleasure they can experience if they let go of their prejudices and inhibitions.” A pause. “Tell me something.” He leaned forward, his eyes dark and unreadable. “What was it about that bus that caught your attention?”
Whoa. He’d noticed her staring at it.
“Bus?” The image reappeared vividly before her eyes. Jannie tried to refocus on her menu but suddenly couldn’t read a thing.
“Yes. The bus that passed us by while we were walking here. What did you think about that ad?”
She licked her lips. “Why do you ask?”
“What did it make you feel?”
There he was, asking about her feelings again. “What does it matter?”
A corner of his mouth tipped up. “Because I may have had something to do with it.”
She gaped at him. It took a few seconds before she found her voice. “You. Had something to do with that … the ad.”
He nodded, then studied her intently for a few moments before finally saying, “I staged and photographed it.”
She managed to swallow her gasp. “You can’t be serious.”
“Do I look like I’m not serious, Jannie?” His piercing gaze held hers, sparking something so intense inside her that she had to suppress a shudder. “I happen to own that club,” he calmly said.
“You …” No other words came out. She closed her mouth.
He nodded slowly.
“You own the club that bus was advertising?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t wrap her brain around this shocker. Wild butterflies whirled in her belly, and an ache appeared out of nowhere to throb at her temples.
“Exactly what kind of club is this?”
He smirked. “You saw the ad.”
Oh, had she ever. And that meant …
“You’re into kink.” She hadn’t meant to make it sound like an accusation.
He shrugged. “If that’s what you choose to call it.”
“What else would I call it?”
“You don’t need to call it anything.”
Much to Jannie’s relief, their server approached. “Welcome to Steak!”
Nick smiled at her. “Thank you. Glad to be here.”
“You go first,” Jannie said to Nick. No way could she concentrate on choosing appetizers, not after what he had just disclosed.
The waitress beamed at Nick, then at Jannie. “I’m Wendy. How is your evening going so far?”
It’s going off the deep end.
Nick gave Wendy his dazzling smile. “It’s going great, how about yours?”
“Oh, you know … I can’t complain!”
Nick. Into kink. Into BDSM. Into … Why had he disclosed this?
Jannie barely heard him place his drink order, and Wendy preened and blushed under his easy smile and dark-eyed gaze. It was inevitable; he unintentionally radiated a sensual aura every female sensed from the first glance and deep-voiced word out of that beautiful mouth of his.
That bus … in her mind’s eye, she vividly saw the image.
A sex club. God …
Jannie began to feel lightheaded.
Wendy turned to her. “And for you?”
She needed a drink. Badly. In fact, she needed several.
Jannie swiped up the cocktail menu and homed in on the first thing she saw. Orange liqueur, whiskey, lemon soda … yeah, that looked strong. She needed it. Right now.
“I’ll have the Golden Goddess, please.”
“Ooh, that one’s my favorite.” Wendy grinned. “Great choice.”
Nick smiled. “Perfect.”
“You’ve had that one before?” Jannie asked.
His dark eyes locked onto hers, piercingly deep. “No, but I’ve always wanted to have the golden goddess.”
Wendy stood there, her lips parting. “Um … I’ll, uh, be back with your drinks.”
She walked away, and Nick turned the full force of his attention on Jannie.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Where were we?”
“You were telling me what you’re into.”
“Was I?” He tilted his head. To her relief, his eyes took on the same warm expression they always had when he looked at her. “What do you want to know?”
“Why would you own a sex club?”
“Why not?”
Jannie said nothing, waiting.
He closed his menu, then leaned forward. “Because I looked for such a place and never found one, nor anything close. So, I found a few friends with the same vision and created one. We opened last month.”
Sin City Dark. It suddenly occurred to her where she’d heard that name before, and a strangled little laugh escaped her. “You named it after a dessert?”
“Not just any dessert.” He smiled, just a tiny tipping at the corners of those lips. “What can I say? It was a great name.”
“You stole the name!”
“Well, not exactly.” A mischievous twinkle entered his eye. “I convinced your brother to let me feature Louise Fontaine’s pastries on the dessert menu. She agreed to let me use the name in exchange for a small ownership stake.”
These arrangements, she knew, didn’t happen with just one conversation. “How often have you spoken to Adam?”
“A few times. Ian, too. We reconnected in the bar at the Mile High and got to talking about old times.”
“Ah.”
Well, now it made sense. After all, they had attended the same high school. Nick never socialized, but her brothers must have at least crossed paths with him in the hallways. She might have even mentioned him once or twice back then.
A sudden thought occurred to her. “Were you keeping tabs on me?”
She thought he looked a tad uncomfortable, and warmth spread through her chest at the thought that he cared.
“I tried to. But you wouldn’t talk to them, so …” He shook his head. “I didn’t get much information.”
The server appeared with their drinks. Nick, she realized, had only ordered Pellegrino.
Jannie raised her cocktail. “Cheers.” She took a sip. It burned as it went down, and she welcomed it. It had been such a long time since she’d indulged in a strong alcoholic beverage that she could practically feel it rushing through her veins.
She could also feel Nick’s eyes on her. There was something about the way he looked at her tonight that both excited and unsettled her. Hopefully, it wasn’t him liking the disguise more than her usual appearance. “What’s that look for?”
“Honestly?” He sipped his Pellegrino. “I’d like to see the real Jannie.”
His bottom lip was wet. She wanted to lick it. Bite it. “The real Jannie? Who even is that?”
“Oh, she’s in there somewhere.”
“Under all this?” She gestured toward her fake hair and heavy makeup, which didn’t even make people look twice. In Vegas, this was tame, she supposed.
His smile was slow, and the glint in his eye had her heart beginning to pound. “Under all of it.”
What the heck did he mean by that?
You know what he means.
But … What was he into? Whippings? Humiliation? Group sex? She really hoped not, because even at her most adventurous, she didn’t think that was for her. Which meant they were incompatible, no matter how heart-stoppingly attractive he was.
Curiosity, however, got the best of her. She sipped her drink. “So, tell me more about this club of yours.”
Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Oh, back to that, are we?”
“Can anyone get in?”
“No.”
“Oh, so it’s members only?”
“It is.”
“And how do you select your members?”
“Very carefully.”
“I can imagine.”
“Full criminal and background checks. Discretion is paramount, so applicants must fill out an extensive questionnaire and sign a confidentiality agreement. And everyone must be over twenty-one.”
“How many members do you have?”
“A little over a hundred, with capacity for more.”
“And you only recently opened?”
He nodded. “I was surprised at how quickly it took off, to be honest. Most of it has been word of mouth. News spreads fast about good things, apparently.”
“How very humble of you.”
His smile was self-assured. “What can I say? I’m happy with how it’s coming along. We still have a few issues to work out. Some construction snafus, but everything fell into place more seamlessly than expected.”
She gulped her drink. It already gave her a buzz. Strong stuff. Good. That was how she got up the nerve to ask what she really wanted to know. “What goes on there?”
“Parties. Events. And more.”
“Define more.”
“It’s not my place to define it. The clients are in charge. We simply facilitate what they envision and make it come to life for them.”
“Where Dreams Come True,” Jannie recited dryly, quoting the famous Disney slogan.
He smiled. “Within reason. And safety parameters, of course.”
“Of course. And these … what do they call them? Scenes?”
His smile turned wicked. “Not just scenes. Experiences.”