“I’m out. Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow.” The others waved goodbye, and Brian walked out with him.

“So. You and the urban planner.”

“Yep.” His wide grin said what he hadn’t.

“Jesus. How do you do it? Didn’t you just meet her a few days ago?”

“Shh.” Rex glanced around the parking lot. “We didn’t do…everything. It was dark. She had no idea it was me.”

“That sounds familiar.” Brian chuckled, no doubt referring to the first time Rex had watched him and Faith, sitting in the shadows.

“Thanks for covering with Harper.”

“No sweat, man. Anything you need. Just ask.”

“Save me from the rich and ugly next week.” Where snobs like Darcy Stanfield would no doubt be in attendance. The bitchy woman had once tried to cut Brian’s girl down to size, but Faith didn’t take crap from anyone.

“Same back at you.” Brian shivered. “I need Faith to protect me. And speaking of my little woman, it’s time to get home. You missed the second part of the stage act. Jesus, I’m hard.”

Rex wanted to say something smart, but his mind stalled at thoughts of Natalie.

“Oh wow. She must have really gotten to you,” Brian taunted.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

Thursday night, Nat dressed with care for the gala. Work had gone as planned. She made her deadlines, barely, and Mike had been turning in his work on time, knowing he was one strike away from unemployment. Josh Jessup continued to be a fly in the ointment, especially with the sneering and leering he liked to do. But she’d been handling him for months. Another week of it hadn’t killed her.

Her anticipation for the evening concerned her. To her surprise, she actually looked forward to spending time with Rex Samson. Granted, he was a striking man. Handsome, charming, wealthy…and a friend of the mayor’s. Not a good thing, in her book.

Yet she continued to dwell on him at odd times, even going so far as to wonder how he and her mystery friend at Freddy’s club might have gotten along. The other man who refused to leave her thoughts. She hadn’t seen him, but he felt as real to her as Rex. She’d brought him to orgasm. Well, she’d guided him at least. And that fantasy made real had shown her just how much she’d been missing in her personal life.

But this date with Rex… Two sides dueled for dominance inside her. The working woman wanting a nice evening with a handsome man by her side warred with the passionate, sexual creature needing to take charge with her lover.

A lover she didn’t even have.

Ordering her anonymous friend to come had been fun, and it had teased at the dreams she still had of finding a man to satisfy that aspect of her. But she didn’t want to tell him what to do all the time. Finding the right balance was as difficult as finding a man interested in her particular brand of kink.

Disheartened at the thought of never discovering that special someone, she tucked her darker needs back under the superficial skin of pleasant efficiency she often donned, and finished applying her makeup.

She stared at herself in the full length mirror. With her hair upswept, exposing the vulnerable lines of her throat, and the artful mascara and eyeliner making her eyes appear a deeper green than brown, she thought she looked feminine enough. The simple black dress she wore showed off her lean lines. She’d never have ample cleavage, but she could wear a dress like a cover model. Her shoulders and hips allowed the dress to hang on her subtle curves while teasing at the shape beneath.

The dress ended just below her knees, and her favorite stilettos accented her calves and the delicate arches of her feet—her best feature, in her opinion.

“Sad that I think my feet are the most attractive part of me,” she murmured to herself.

The doorbell saved her from any more nonsensical thoughts. She grabbed her small clutch and wrap and went to answer.

Rex appeared on the other side of the door wearing a tux. Holy crap, he looks amazing.

He gave her a slow study, lingering on her hips, breasts and mouth. Nothing subtle about his scrutiny, or the pleased smile that darkened his eyes to an inky black.

“Well, well, sugar. You clean up nice.” He stared again at her chest, and she wondered what he really thought, because the shy show of skin didn’t scream do me any more than her small home yelled I’m rich.

“Okay. Can we go now?”

He chuckled and stepped closer to her, which had her taking a step back. Before she knew it, he’d closed the door behind him and was looking around.

“Nice place.” He nodded. “Cozy, neat, obsessively organized.”

So she liked to stack her books and magazines by height and color. So what? Nat liked order. She believed that everything had its place. Nothing haphazard about her.

“I don’t think I’d say obsessively.”

He stroked her cheek, shocking her with the intimate gesture. “You wouldn’t. I would.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, and she felt the heat of him through her thin dress and wrap. “You look gorgeous. Ready to go?”

She nodded, not sure how to respond to the compliment.

His satisfied grin annoyed her, and she decided to be overly effusive as well. “You’re pretty much a knockout yourself.”

“I know.”

She snorted, and he laughed, then crooked his elbow for her. “Shall we?”

“Why the hell not?” She put her hand on his arm and let him lead her from her home. After locking up, she followed him into his Beamer, not surprised to watch him drive with a quiet confidence that put her at ease.

“I’m really glad you decided to go with me tonight, Nat.” He didn’t watch her as he drove, and she appreciated his focus on the road. “Now I won’t have a nervous breakdown while avoiding my matchmaking parents.”

She studied his handsome profile, confused. “You don’t need anyone matchmaking for you. Why aren’t you already shacked up with some ex-cheerleader type with more breasts than brains?” That seemed more his type. Not that she’d paid too much attention to his press, but word was the man had dated every Double-D sized model in the greater Augusta area.

He gave her chest a slight glance and grinned. “I happen to like my women brainy first, busty second.”

“Yeah, right.”

“But I’m touched you’re so concerned about my type.” He turned in to the gala’s lot and pulled the car up to the valet. After exiting, he crossed to her side of the car and had to make do with shutting the door after her since she’d let herself out. “Couldn’t wait for me to do the gentlemanly thing, could you?”

“We Wielders take care of ourselves.”

“The commanding type, hmm?”

“You got it.”

But he smiled instead of accepting her unspoken dare. A take-charge kind of man like Rex would surely balk at the idea of following a woman’s orders. Too bad, really, because there was something about him, besides his looks, that struck her as a man she’d like once she got to know him.

As she walked beside him inside, she felt frail. He had her by a few inches, making him a bit over six feet. He didn’t seem imposing, yet he carried himself with the broad shoulders of a man used to getting his way. Confidence and intelligence made the package of Rex Samson positively delicious—a sentiment many of the other women in attendance apparently carried.

As they walked through the crowd, more than one guest gave Rex a onceover. He smiled pleasantly at everyone, the consummate gentleman, yet she thought a few of his smiles were warmer than others. And not all had been aimed at women.

Bemused at the brief fantasy of Rex and a male lover doing all sorts of wonderful things together, it took her a second to realize they’d reached the bar.

“What’ll you have?” he asked.

“A rich red wine would be nice.”

“Two,” Rex said to the bartender, then paid before she could reach for her money.

They walked to an empty spot at the edge of the gathering and sipped their drinks, watching the crowd.

She lifted her glass in a mock toast. “Thanks.”

“No problem. And don’t worry. I won’t expect you to work it off later.”

“Big of you.” After a moment, she felt the need to remind him, “But this isn’t a real date. It’s a social function between two people who have to be here. We just happen to be together.”

“Sure thing, sugar.” He grinned, and damn if he didn’t have a dimple.

This was going to be a long night.

“You know everyone here, don’t you?” he asked.

“Most of them. At one time or another they’ve come through the building to see the mayor. That or they wanted something from the office.”

“Tom says you’re very, very good at your job.”

“I am.” Said without conceit, but pride.

He smiled. “I like confidence in a woman.”

“Really?”

“Why the surprise?”

She frowned, considering him. “I don’t know. Most of the people the mayor considers friends are older, with old fashioned beliefs. I grew up in the Northeast before my parents moved down here. There’s a big difference between the North and the South. Hell, down here, they still think the Civil War is ongoing. And I know for a fact many guys still consider a woman’s place barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.”

“I’m down with in the kitchen. The rest is up to her.”

She shook her head, wondering how he made even vague insults amusing. “Very funny.”

“I thought so.”

They made small talk and met with various guests who stopped by for an introduction to Rex. Surprised by the number of people who wanted to talk to her as well, she hadn’t realized how much time had passed.