I dug out a twenty from my pocket and slid it inside the front of his thong. No padding. I licked my lips and smiled up at him, hearing the girls howl in the background. Dan or Don’s thong full of bills was pretty close to my face at the moment. I was about to gently guide him back, when the music stopped.
Everyone froze in the sudden silence.
“What the hell?” I looked around.
My gaze flashed to the open door, then to the wall where my sound system was. Sebastian, my upstairs neighbor and a royal pain in my ass, stood there, the cable dangling from his fingertips.
Seeing red, I pushed Dan or Don out of the way and jumped to my feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Sebastian? Did you just rip out the cable from my sound system?”
Sebastian wore a pair of black shorts and a deep scowl.
“Don’t freak out, I only unplugged it,” he said. “I need to get some frigging sleep. It’s two in the morning, and you’re keeping the whole building awake. It’s a wonder no one’s called the police.”
Dan or Don piped up. “Dude, I am the police.”
Sebastian spared him a glance, then looked around the room.
“Don’t you all need to get some sleep?” He pointed to Sue. “You’re getting married tomorrow. I know because I’m the best man, hence my need for sleep.”
I scoffed. “Princess Sebastian needs his beauty sleep?”
His brown eyes narrowed, and he stepped toward me. I moved forward until we were toe to toe.
“What did you say?” he growled.
The room was silent.
“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t be such a party pooper,” I snarled. “Sue’s getting married tomorrow. She deserves a bachelorette party. What are you doing home so early? Didn’t you organize Cam’s bachelor party? I didn’t expect either of you would get any sleep tonight.”
“Obviously, I’m more responsible than you are when it comes to organizing parties. We went to a club where we didn’t disturb anyone, and we had the good sense to leave early so we could get some rest. I didn’t know I was coming home to an orgy.”
“Don’t be silly, it’s not an orgy... yet.” I couldn’t resist poking him.
He fisted his hands at his side. While his body wasn’t nearly as buff as the stripper’s, I had to admit he was well built. I’d had the chance to see all of him a few years ago in an incident involving handcuffs and whipped cream. Neither of us had forgotten that.
“I don’t care what the hell you do as long as you let me sleep. If you want to get a face full of that, do it in silence.” He jerked his chin toward Dan or Don’s junk, then stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
That broke up the party. I was furious with Sebastian, but I didn’t protest when the girls announced they were leaving. Nikki, Ange, and Lily lived in different buildings a couple of blocks away, close enough to visit each other in slippers. It was late and we were all exhausted. As Sebastian had so rudely pointed out, there was a wedding tomorrow. I paid the stripper, whose name turned out to be Tony, let him get dressed, and thanked him for his services.
Sue got teary-eyed at the thought of her last night in this building, but we reminded her that she was moving into the gorgeous townhouse she and Cam had purchased last month.
I yawned as I closed the door behind them. My place was a mess, but I didn’t care. I would clean up after the wedding. Leaving everything as it was, I went to shower.
After removing my makeup and brushing my teeth, I stepped under the lukewarm jet. As I shampooed my hair, my jaws ached from clenching them. I was beyond pissed off at that jackass Sebastian. How dare he interrupt our party? I was even more furious because of what he’d implied. As if I would engage in sexual activities with a man who probably got paid for it. It was one thing to watch an exotic dancer at a party, but an entirely different matter to go beyond that.
As for Sebastian, that manwhore had some nerve talking about me that way. He was the most promiscuous man I knew. He had a new chick every week, changing them like clockwork. Talk about hypocrisy. The first time I’d met him, he’d been handcuffed to his bed, buck naked, with his dick and balls covered in whipped cream.
I pretended my cheeks were flushed in rage and did my best to banish the mental image of a naked Sebastian wearing only a mountain of cream and a cherry on top of his... dessert. So what if he was good looking? I couldn’t imagine why Cameron, Sue’s fiancé, and Sebastian were such good friends. While Cam had dated quite a few women before meeting Sue, he was completely devoted to her now, and perfect husband material. Sebastian was the kind of guy who couldn’t turn into husband material if his life depended on it. At thirty-two, Cam was far more mature than his similarly aged friend.
Annoyed with myself for thinking about Sebastian, I padded to my bedroom. I slipped into a large Yankees T-shirt and a pair of oversized shorts, then slid into bed with a moan. It was going to be a short night. I just hoped the AC would last another day.
Chapter Two
Jesse
Sue and Cam had decided on an intimate wedding, the kind of ceremony I would want if I were to get married—which seemed unlikely. I was by no means a domestic goddess. I couldn’t cook worth a damn, and my housekeeping skills demanded a housekeeper. If I were to get into a long-term relationship, it would have to be with a guy who didn’t mind role reversal.
I was great at fixing things around the house or building stuff from scratch. I could handle most tools and loved taking things apart to see how they worked. If the air conditioner did drop dead, I could probably fix it myself without Mr. Gore’s help. Were my imaginary husband and I stranded on an island, I could build us a house and hunt well enough to keep us from starving. The odds were my cooking would be what killed us.
