The Arrangement

Our faces were inches apart now. I nodded slowly.

“And what about Burke?” she asked. “Think he’ll want in on this too, or is he going to want more of an individual one-on-one thing?”

“Actually, we’re not sure,” said Nathan. “Maybe yes, maybe no. Burke’s…”

“Weird,” I finished for him. I laughed. “Brilliant but weird.”

Kayleen’s eyes studied mine. She was so close, I could reach out and kiss her. Kiss her the way I had last night. Take her into my arms and do unspeakable things to her. It would be a fantastic way to start the day.

But the morning was already slipping away and I had work to do.

“I want to hear more about Dana,” Kayleen said breathlessly. “Who she was. What she was like.” Her eyes shifted to Nathan and then back to me. “What you guys did to her.”

I swallowed hard. “Nathan can fill you in,” I said, cutting into my omelet. “I uh, should probably wolf this down and get back to writing.”

I regretted the words even as I said them. It would’ve been so easy to break protocol, so simple to just put things off for ano

ther hour.

But it was Tuesday. And Tuesday was my day to write.

“Kayleen,” I said carefully, “is everything still okay after last night?”

She batted her blue eyes at me one more time before leaning back in her chair. “Yes. Why?”

“Because you’re asking an awful lot about past stuff.”

“So?”

“So I’m just afraid…” I hesitated. “Afraid that we went too fast, or pushed too hard. That maybe we’re scaring you with too much of this all at once.”

She stared back at me impassively for a few seconds, her full, pouty mouth looking sexy and adorable. Visions sprang to mind without warning. Scenes of last night — of those pouty lips dragging themselves slowly up and down my cock while Nathan drilled himself into her from the other side.

“Sorry if you think I’m asking too many questions,” said Kayleen, without a hint of apology. “But I’m not scared, or frightened, or whatever it is you two are thinking.”

Whew.

My shoulders slumped visibly in relief. Then I stiffened, as Kayleen stood up, leaned in close, and put her lips right up against my ear.

“I just wanted to make sure we’re doing that again.”

Fourteen

KAYLEEN

“So what exactly is your book about?”

I asked the question on the way through the gallery, passing frescoes of colorful landscapes that blended seamlessly with the rest of the villa’s decor. For the first time, I wondered whose place this actually was. Which one of them had the money to afford such a lavish home, or whether they might just be renting it.

“Not book,” said Nathan. “Books. Three of them, remember?”

He carried several boxes of my things, stacked high against his chest. They looked heavy, but he wasn’t straining.

“They’re thrillers,” he continued. “Military suspense. High drama stuff.”

“Contemporary?”

“Yes.”