“How exciting!I’ll try to stop by this weekend if I can.I’m a sucker for a really good chocolate chip cookie.”Eben grinned.“Especially if it’s gooey in the middle.”
“She makesgreatchocolate chip cookies,” Ashley said immediately, giving Audrey’s arm a little squeeze as she advertised for her.“You’re going to love them.”
“Awesome.I can’t wait.”Eben even sounded like she meant it.
“Thank you.”Audrey could feel the blush starting on her cheeks.Taking compliments was not her forte, but she’d discovered that Ashley only doubled down if she tried to dismiss it.
Eben got them checked in, had Audrey sign off on some paperwork, took their coats to hang up, then wished them a good night.It was all surprisingly mundane.
That ended when they walked past the bouncer and through the door into the main area of the club.It was a bar, but Audrey had never seen bar patrons dressed like this before.The corset and skirt she was wearing, which had felt so very risqué, suddenly seemed very tame by comparison to some of the outfits on display.Her eyes widened as she took in the scene.
A woman wearing nothing but a full body fishnet stocking that covered her from neck down to where her feet disappeared into stiletto heels, was kneeling on a cushion beside another woman who sat on a barstool.The woman on the barstool was dressed head to toe in what looked like black leather, completely covered.Sitting across from her was a man wearing shiny black short shorts, calf boots, and silver piercings glinting from his nipples.There were three drinks on the table, and Audrey watched, fascinated, as the woman picked up one and lowered it down in front of the woman kneeling beside her, allowing her to sip through the straw.
“Keep moving, and try not to staretoomuch, though obviously you don’t have to look away,” Ashley murmured, pulling her along.On Audrey’s other side, Naomi chuckled, as she was close enough to hear Ashley’s comment.“Oh, look, there’s Cassidy and David.”
Audrey’s head jerked around, although she had the belated thought that maybe she didn’t want to see what her brother was wearing…
Thankfully, he was wearing more than he did at the beach.No shirt, but he had on pants.The fact that they were leather and a little tighter than the pants he normally wore was something she could easily ignore.He was looking back at her, though, for only a moment, before covering his eyes and groaning.Next to him, Cassidy was giggling, her eyes bright with amusement.
Claudia stepped out to peer around David and grinned when she saw Audrey.While Cassidy was dressed more like Naomi, Audrey, and Ashley, Claudia stood out for the simple fact that she was far more covered.While she was wearing a corset and a short skirt, her boots were thigh high, nearly to the hem of her skirt, and had viciously spiked heels.Her dark hair had been pulled back into a severe bun high on the back of her head, and her makeup was smoky, with sharp cat’s eye eyeliner.
She gave Audrey a little wave, and Audrey waved back at her.
The presence of so many of the women who had befriended her was helping to settle her nerves.
Then Claudia’s focus went beyond her, and she waved again, still smiling.Audrey turned to see who Claudia was looking at, and all those nerves that had just started to settle zipped right back up and started to swoop all around her.
Mason had just walked in, and just like her brother, he was wearing nothing but leather pants… but her reaction to seeinghisupper body was very different.She was so distracted, she almost didn’t notice that Yasmine was at his side until Mason offered Yasmine his elbow to help steady her on the towering heels she was wearing.
Audrey’s heart sank into her stomach.
Coming tonight suddenly felt like a horrible mistake.
ChapterThirteen
Mason
Fuck.
He had his fiancée on his arm, and she looked amazing in a tightly fitted PVC top and skirt that hugged her body like a glove, but the difference between his reaction to seeing her versus Audrey was hard to ignore.While he could aesthetically appreciate Yasmine’s beauty and ensemble, it didn’t cause the spark of hot need that one glance at Audrey did.
Audrey, with her red hair finally down, curling around her pale shoulders, her breasts plumped up by the corset that nipped in her waist to give her an exaggerated hourglass.Mason had never really thought of himself as a curves man… until now.He’d never really cared what a woman’s body looked like enough to have a preference.
Until now.
But he had a feeling it wasn’t a preference for a body type.
It was a preference for Audrey.
Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.
Taking in a deep breath, he tore his gaze away from the new complication in his life, forcing himself to focus on the woman leaning on his arm.The one he was engaged to.
They were going to scene tonight, pushing their relationship forward.If his subconscious was already balking at the idea of such a massive change in his life, it made sense that continuing to move forward would cause more resistance.There was nothing inherently special about Audrey other than she’d shown up at the exact right time—or wrong time—for his brain to latch onto.
Staying away from her hadn’t worked, trying his version of exposure therapy hadn’t worked… so, from here on out, he was going to stay away, even though it didn’t seem to change his reaction to her.Because that was better than being around her.It wasn’t fair to Yasmine.
Yasmine was now frowning at him.He pushed a smile onto his lips.
