d white letters across the chest. The half-hoods the three men wore effectively concealed their identity but kept the lower half of their face visible. They were well over six feet and had just enough muscle to make a woman pant. The man on the left had midnight black hair and amber eyes that seemed to see clear to her soul. The one in the middle had sandy blond hair and a flirty half smile, while the man on the right had chocolate brown hair that curled at the ends. For some strange reason he looked familiar. As if she’d seen that curl before. They all three looked intimidating as hell.
“Clyde tells me you have a guest this evening. Care to introduce me?” The deep timbre traveled the length of her spine as the man with the chocolate brown hair spoke to Roni.
“Lydia, this is Apollo, Zeus and Poseidon,” Roni answered, as she gestured to each man in turn. “They own Kinks.”
Lydia quirked her brow and stared at the one called Apollo. There was something about that brown hair and those mesmerizing eyes. She’d seen him before, she would swear to it. “The names of Gods?”
“The nicknames are necessary to preserve our privacy,” Apollo explained. “What brings you to Kinks, Lydia? Are you new to the scene?”
“Very new.”
“Can I give you a tour of the place then? It might make you feel better if you know what we’re all about.”
Lydia looked at Roni. She nodded. Lydia started to step off the stool, but Apollo was quicker. He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her in the air, then set her on her feet, directly in front of him. This close she could smell his woodsy scent. “Uh, thanks.”
He started walking and she tried to stay in step beside him, but it wasn’t easy with his long strides. He slowed his pace and one side of his lips kicked up as he looked over at her. “That skirt doesn’t allow much room, does it?”
She laughed. “No, it really doesn’t.”
When he held out his elbow, Lydia stopped walking and stared at it, unsure what to do. His brown eyes seemed to be daring her. He leaned down and whispered, “Afraid I bite?”
“Around here, yeah,” she muttered.
Apollo laughed and she heard a few snickers coming from behind her. She turned, frowning at the two men. “Do you two intend to follow?”
The black-haired Poseidon shrugged. “What can I say, we like to watch.”
Lydia rolled her eyes and looked at the other man, who had yet to speak, he merely grinned at her. “You two are in for a boring night then, because I’m not all that exciting.”
Apollo asked, “If that’s the case, then why are you here?”
“I let my friend talk me into it.” Lydia pointed toward herself. “I’ve been having second thoughts since I put on this outfit.”
Apollo looked her over, his gaze resting on her breasts for several seconds. “You have a beautiful body, Lydia.”
Lydia’s face heated. “Thank you.”
“If you dress like this all the time you must hear compliments like that quite often. In fact, I’m surprised you aren’t here with a man.”
Lydia barely contained a snort. “Well, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment, and I can assure you this is not how I normally dress.”
“I see,” he said, then held out his arm once more.
This time Lydia slipped her arm through his. His expression turned darker, more wicked, as if she’d just accepted an invite to his bed. She tried to force herself to breathe normally, concentrating on not tripping and making a fool of herself. As they reached a staircase, he let her go ahead of him. Lydia grasped the railing and carefully made her way up to the second level, trying not to think about the three men following behind her, possibly seeing up her skirt. When she reached the upstairs landing, Apollo was right there, taking her arm again. “In this place it’s always a good idea to be with someone,” he explained. “Or at least appear that you are. A beautiful woman alone attracts a lot of attention.”
“I’m not beautiful,” she corrected him. “Please don’t let the sexy clothes fool you. I’m a slightly round and horribly near-sighted paralegal. That’s the real me.”
Apollo touched the edge of her frames with his finger, tracing them as he murmured, “The glasses and the way you wear your hair, it’s like something out of an adult fetish film. You look like a naughty librarian and it’s damn sexy, Lydia. Didn’t you know that?”
“N-no, I didn’t know that.” Lydia couldn’t move, could only stand there while Apollo touched her frames. When his finger stroked over the skin of her cheek she shuddered.
“Is your boss a man?”
“Uh, yes. Actually, three men.”
“I bet they’ve noticed. I bet they’ve even fantasized about you.”
Lydia shook her head, unable to catch her breath. “No, they’d never see me that way.” Well, it was just a little lie.