Three Simple Rules (Blindfold Club 1)

It was both sweet and dirty. A compliment with a sexual skew on it.

“I told you that you can tell me what you want, when you want to.”

His eyes warmed and then went serious. “April and I were together for so long, momentum took over. After we made it through the first year of college, we were stuck on a one-way street.” He took a sip of his drink, but his focus never left mine. “Our families went on vacation together, everyone was pressuring us to get married, even though we already felt like we were married. We fought like we were married.” He said it hesitantly. “I don’t like to fail. I thought I could make it work.”

My breath caught. I knew all about that.

“April wanted everything to stay the same. To live in the suburbs, to hang out with her family on the weekends. She likes to be in control, to have routines, to be organized. Everything always her way.”

“Uncompromising,” I whispered.

He gave me a bitter half-smile. “When I took the job in the city, an hour commute each way, after she’d told me not to . . . She was furious. There was an ultimatum.”

The memory spiked of how he’d said he didn’t respond well to ultimatums. I felt like it was okay to ask, like he wanted me to. “Which was?”

“Get down on one knee or get the hell out of her life. I don’t think she expected that to go the way it did. When it was over for me, it was over. I cut her completely out. Twelve years gone, like they meant nothing, and . . .” he struggled to finish, “that hurt us both.”

I couldn’t even imagine. I’d had a few bad breakups, but to burn twelve years? Both of them would carry scars from it.

He set his drink down and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it in the open closet by the door. His fingers undid the tie at his neck, and then left it open when he returned to his champagne.

“Since we’re doing all this sexy talk about exes,” he said, “Can I ask about the guy at the club? The one who showed up at your place?

“I told you, he was never my boyfriend.”

“But there’s more there.”

“Blake and I’ve been friends for years, and occasionally one of us would want more, and it always worked out that the other person was unavailable.”

“He said he loved you and that you told him you loved him.” His rich brown eyes evaluated me.

“I did, on New Year’s Eve when I was wasted and lonely.”

“Was it true?”

Why did it matter? “Maybe. Yeah, but it’s not true anymore. I think he only said it to stop me from going into the club.”

“I’m glad he wasn’t able to.” Logan’s face was intense and had a gravity I couldn’t resist.

“Me, too.”

He moved to the air conditioner and turned the temperature down so the unit kicked on, blowing cool air on us.

“You think it’s warm in here?” I was kind of cold.

“I don’t want to get you too hot again,” he said. “And I’d like to take my time being highly inappropriate tonight, if that’s all right with you.”

I felt my face heat. “I’ll allow it.”

But he moved back to where he’d been leaning on the desk, rather than coming to me. “Good. Strip.”

The temperature in the room rose. My breath quickened with his command. I stood on my feet and finished my champagne, setting it on the end table with a quiet thud. My hands went to the side of my dress and dragged the zipper pull down painfully slowly, my gaze fixed on his.

“The lights?” I was more curious than worried. The glass of champagne seemed to go straight to my head

“We’ll leave them on.”

I pulled the strap off my shoulder and the dress came down, exposing my bare breasts. I pushed it over my hips and it fell, the satin lining caressing me as it went. There was a steady rise and fall of his shoulders as his gaze wandered over my curves. I had on a simple pair of black cotton panties. Without a boyfriend for the last two years, sexy lingerie hadn’t made the budget.