“I think I understand,” he said.His thumb was stroking the back of her hand in a soft, almost absentminded caress.She had no doubt he knew he was doing it, that it was a deliberate tactic, but it was nice all the same.“You want affection, respect, a little filth—”
“Maybe more than a little,” she interrupted.
He grinned, lightning quick and wicked as sin.“And to have fun.”
“Lots of fun.
“Fun is my brand, darling,” he assured her with a wink, then sobered a little.“Were you thinking of booking an overnight?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” she said honestly.
“I’m going to recommend it.With what you’re asking for, the experience you want, you’ll want the extra time.”
She bit her lip.“I don’t think I can afford that.I actually can’t afford any of this, but my friends are chipping in.”
“Are they now?Well, that’s nice of them.”
“They wouldn’t take no,” Chloe admitted.
“Pie,” Carol announced, and with considerably less warmth than she’d used to deliver Sawyer’s coffee, plopped two plates down on the table.“Anything else?”
Chloe started to ask for forks, but Carol was already striding away.Nonplussed, Chloe blinked at Sawyer.“I guess we’re supposed to eat this with our hands?”
Chuckling, Sawyer slid out of the booth.“I’ll snag some forks at the counter.Be right back.”
She watched him go—and the back view was just as good as the front—then picked up her coffee with a sigh.He was very charming, and she enjoyed talking to him.And she had no doubt that if he was in charge of her threesome, it would be a delightful and highly satisfying experience in every way but one.
It wouldn’t be with Jesse and Knox.
She brooded into her coffee, annoyed with herself.Jesse and Knox weren’t an option, and she knew it.So why couldn’t she get them out of her head?
“Hey, Chloe.”
Their voices were even in her head, at least Jesse’s, she thought with a sigh.She was getting obsessive.
“Chloe?”
And there was Knox.Really, this wasn’t healthy.
“What’s she doing?”Jesse again.
“I don’t know.”Knox.“Maybe she can’t hear us.”
She could hear them.Of course she could.They were in her head, after all.
Oh, God.Weren’t they?
She lifted her head, then wanted to crawl under the table when she saw both of them standing beside the booth, staring at her with nearly identical looks of concern.Face flaming, she worked up a smile.“Hi, guys!”
“Hey,” Jesse said.“You okay?”
“Sure!I’m fine!”she squeaked.“Why do you ask?”
“We called your name,” Knox told her, eyeing her with concern laced with suspicion.“A couple of times.You didn’t hear us.”
She laughed, a high-pitched giggle that made her want to cringe.“Sorry.I was just thinking.”
They exchanged a look, the kind that saidshould we take this person in for an involuntary psych hold?She forced herself to relax and tried another smile.“So, um, what are you guys doing here?”
