“Kelly Crossman? No fucking way.”
She stared ahead and hoped the ground would swallow her up. She recognized that slightly high-pitched voice. Just who she wanted to run into at Kink—an ex-boyfriend.
She’d dated Paul Grimes briefly in college. He also had the dubious distinction of being her first lover.
She hadn’t seen him in years. Naturally he’d show up tonight. Here.
“Paul.” She turned and gave him her brightest smile. Then the smile died. Holy fuck, who was this gorgeous hulking specimen? The Paul she’d known had been kinda slight and not fully grown into his body yet. His hair had been prone to sticking out at odd angles and he hadn’t been a great dresser. They’d been lab partners who became good friends. Then evenbetterfriends. Even if her first time hadn’t been spectacular, they’d had a decent time together. “Wow. Paul.”
He laughed and gave her a slow, thorough up-and-down look. The kind of look that told her he wanted to get onextremelyfriendly terms with her again. “Right back at you. Where’d you get all those curves?”
“Weight-on shakes,” she said without thinking.
He grinned. “Well, whatever the reason, you look good, Kel. Really good.”
“Thanks, you too.” She shifted forward as the line moved, her pleasure at seeing him transforming into distress. This wasn’t her new pal Gary from the other night. She couldn’t play games with him she didn’t intend to finish.
Maybe she’d misread his signals and he was only happy to see an old friend.
“So you here to meet someone?” His hand found her hip, about two inches from her ass.
So much for that hope.
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I sort of have a…lover.” Not boyfriend. That was a term Spencer would never wear comfortably.
“A sort of lover. And he lets you come here alone?”
“He doesn’tletme do anything. It’s not the 1800s.” Her ire comforted her as she slid out of reach of Paul’s groping hand. “But I usually meet him here.”
“I see.”
Did he? Moments like this reminded her why she found this whole situation so odd. It wasn’t normal to visit a sex club as casually as if you were going to the movies.
Maybe she just had too many hang-ups. Hell, it seemed like everyone and their cousin thought Kink wastheplace to be.
She lifted her hair off the back of her neck as the line moved. “What about you?”
“Single and loving it.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He smiled and his hand found her hip again, ostensibly to nudge her forward. “So this sort-of lover of yours. Does he mind sharing?”
Oh Lord.“I don’t know, truthfully.” He’d done it the other night, but he’d made it clear that it was a one-time event. “But I’m not into it.”
Liar, liar.
She almost asked how he’d changed so drastically since the last time she’d seen him but then she’d have to answer that question herself. Right now, that was the last thing she wanted to explain. If she even could.
“Have you tried it before?”
She glanced around the lot for Spencer’s car before answering. There were tons of people roaming about and she had no way of telling if he was already inside or at the back of the line. “Yeah, I have, actually. I’m not into it,” she said again.
Maybe if she kept saying it, the lie would become the truth.
If this line of conversation continued, she was going to whip out her backup phone and call Spencer. It wasn’t only that Paul was asking her questions unbefitting a man who’d once worn a pocket protector. It was that in this crazy environment, anything went. If she went inside and had a drink with him, she’d probably get drawn into the same sort of scenario she had the other night with Gary. And Dan.
That wasn’t what she wanted. At all. Not with a guy she knew. One she’d known pretty damn well, once upon a time.