S.E.C.R.E.T. Revealed (Secret 3)

“And the winner is …” he whispered, lifting the gold foil lid. “You.”

While he made the sound of a crowd going wild, I gently plucked out my Step Six charm, clutching it to my chest in an exaggerated display of gratefulness.

“For me? Oh thank you, thank you so much,” I crooned. “And I’d like to thank the Academy, and of course my agent, and all the lawyers you generally have to thank in these situations, and the little people, of course …”

“What about your co-star?”

“Who? Nah, I’m going to take all the credit for this one,” I said, playfully shoving him away from my imaginary spotlight, blowing kisses to my imaginary fans.

“As well you should, Solange Faraday,” he said, pulling me back into a giggly embrace. “As well you should.”

CASSIE

There were three reasons I agreed to help train Ewan for a threesome: 1) Matilda was right. I didn’t have the nerve to put “threesome” on my own fantasy list, despite the fact that it was something I’d always kind of wanted to try; 2) I was attracted to both Ewan, the redhead we’d be training, and Pauline, the S.E.C.R.E.T. member who would be the second woman in our triangle. She was gamine, lean and boyish. In fact, it was her flirty, sexy behavior with her husband at the Café that initially lured me into S.E.C.R.E.T., made me curious, made me want the sexual confidence she had; 3) I wanted to even things out with Jesse after his Step with Solange.

This was the biggest reason.

Juvenile, I know, and then Jesse one-upped me again by magnanimously offering to drive me to the Mansion the night of my training session, like it was no big deal to him, like a guy you’re sleeping with should be so generous as to drive you to a place where you’re probably going to have sex with someone else, maybe even with more than one person. He said he had to be at a “thing” in the Garden District anyway, so it was on his way. Ever since he walked in on Will and me sharing that intimate moment a few weeks earlier, Jesse had maintained his policy of waiting for me in his truck. The day of my threesome, I found him a half block over, in front of the bike shop.

“Hey,” I said, hopping into the cab.

We said very little on the way to the Mansion. I hadn’t given him much information about what was going on that night. I took S.E.C.R.E.T’s policies on gossip as seriously as he did. But when we pulled up, he asked if I knew whose Audi was in the driveway. I said that it could be my recruit’s.

“When did you recruit someone?” he asked, throwing the truck into park.

“Last year, at Audubon Park with Matilda. She had her eye on one guy, and I liked his friend.”

That’s when I saw it: a subtle hint of jealousy flashed across his face; his nostrils flared, his eyes darted to the ground.

“Well. You better get a move on,” he said. “Don’t leave Audi guy waiting.”

I leaned over to give him a kiss just as he turned his head to adjust his side mirror. In another life, my earlier one, I would never have left a guy pouting in a truck. I would have pressed and prodded and found something to apologize for.

This time I simply said, “Thanks for the ride,” before getting out, shutting the door of his truck and heading into the Mansion.

For fun, Pauline and I chose the Harem Room, with its arches and columns, dim golden lighting, oceans of throws and pillows, and mattresses the size of area rugs. Pauline was already in the dressing room off the Jacuzzi area when I arrived, a glass of champagne in her hand. The room was small but opulent; dozens of toiletries and perfumes lined the mirrored counter, and there were plush chairs and benches along the walls.

“You don’t mind if I sip?” she sai

d. “I don’t like being tipsy, just a bit loose.”

“Fuck no. Good idea,” I said, pouring half a glass from the bottle chilling in a bucket by the sink.

“You nervous?”

“Not at all,” I said. I waited a beat. “Yes, I’m nervous. You sure we shouldn’t go with Kit? Or Angela? I mean, we’re supposed to be training him, and I’ve never …”

She laughed and stepped towards me, the bathrobe gaping open to show her black garters. Her nipples were so pale they were almost invisible over the black lace demicups of the corset.

“Cassie, trust me. You can’t really fuck this up.”

I took a big gulp of champagne. Then another one. Pauline pried the glass from my hand.

“That should just about do it, Cass,” she said, handing me the white lace copy of her outfit. “Put these on. I’ll go in there and warm him up. Give me ten, then I’ll call for you.”

“Shouldn’t we both go together?”

“It’s his first threesome. If we both start in on him, it’ll be a bit overwhelming.”