Kimber made a soothing noise and waved her hand at me.

“You’ll be glad you came back,” she replied. “If nothing else, now you’ll have me around to babysit for you. I promise—no drinking when I’m watching your kid. Scout’s honor.”

“They kicked you out of Scouts.”

“Only the Girl Scouts,” she mused. “Those boys always found room for me in their tents. Seriously, though, Noah’s a great kid, and it’s not like I get to go out and do anything these days anyway. Not that I mind—I’ve had my fun.”

I snickered at that. She didn’t even blush. I wasn’t entirely sure she was joking about the scouts and their tents.

“Speaking of fun …” she said slowly, swirling her drink. “I need to tell you something.”

I glanced over at her, and for the first time since I’d known her, Kimber looked embarrassed.

“What?” I asked, a little nervous.

Nothing embarrassed Kimber.

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to spit it out,” she replied, swallowing. “I slept with Ruger three years ago. It was a one-night thing, nothing special. I figured you should know, since I might want to come and hang out at your new place sometime. Full disclosure.”

I gaped at her.

“Why did you sleep with Ruger?”

She cocked a brow at me, eyes knowing.

“Seriously?” she asked, and I flushed. Of course I knew why. “It was before Ryan, so it’s not like I did something wrong. You were still living in Olympia and could hardly stand him long enough to let him see Noah. I thought I was in the clear.”

I looked away from her, trying to process. The thought of her and Ruger felt wrong. In fact, it made me kind of angry. And that was ridiculous, because it wasn’t like I had any business being upset. Not only that, it’d been three years ago. A full year after things fell to shit here, and not even Kimber knew all the details on that one …

Strong or not, I took a big gulp of my margarita, which blazed a nasty, fiery trail down my throat. My lungs spasmed in protest.

“You aren’t planning to do it again, are you?” I asked once I stopped coughing. She burst out laughing and shook her head.

“Of course not!” Kimber sputtered. “For one, I’m married. Remember? You were in the wedding, dumbass … But even if I wasn’t, he’s not a return-trip kind of guy. I mean, I’d have done him again, because he’s that good—trust me—but he’s definitely not the type to stick around. He’s fucked half of Idaho. It was fun, but I don’t get off on being one of many.”

“Do we have to talk about this?” I asked, squirming.

“No, not really,” she said. “But I wanted you to know, just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“Well, just in case I come over. It seems weird not to tell you, now that I know you have a thing for him. I didn’t know that when I fucked him, though. I swear. I thought you hated him as much as you hate Zach.”

“I don’t have a thing for him,” I said quickly.

“Don’t bother denying it,” she replied lightly, giving a theatrical shudder. “I can see it in your face when you talk about him, and I get it. He’s one of those guys you just want to shove down and lick all over. Which I did, actually. He’s nasty in bed, too, never tried some of that shit before. Pierced dick. I shit you not.”

My eyes widened and I took another gulp of my drink.

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “Does that mean—wait, no. No. I don’t want to know.”

She burst out laughing.

“The answer to your unasked question is yes,” she said, leering comically. “But you need to stay away from him, babe. No kidding on that one.”

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to be annoyed with Kimber, but you just couldn’t. She was too sweet and crazy to get pissed at.

“I live with him,” I said dryly. “I can’t stay away.”

Her smile faded.

“I guess that’s my point,” she said thoughtfully. “But you can keep your distance in other ways. You need to build your own life and cut out any fantasies of messing around with him, because it won’t end well. If you guys fall into bed one night, you better be ready to wake up and clear out before the next chick shows up. And the next one and the next one and the one after that. That’s just how he is.”

“I know. Pisser, hmmm?”

“Well, it’s not like you have to give up on sex,” Kimber said. “Like I said, I’m stuck at home all the time anyway. Might as well watch Noah so you can go out and get some. You’re hot—guys’ll be crawling all over you. In fact, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

“I don’t do setups,” I told her.

“You will,” she replied knowingly. “Trust me, when you see his picture you’ll be all over him. His name is Josh, he works with Ryan, and he’s loaded.”

She turned on her phone, flipped around until she found what she wanted, then handed it over.

Damn. This guy really was hot, in a pretty, clean-cut lawyer kind of way.

“Okay,” I told her.

She burst out laughing and I chugged the rest of the margarita. Ava squawked over the baby monitor and Kimber groaned.

“Fuck my life …”

As Kimber went inside to check on her, I pulled off my sarong and slid down into the pool, considering Kimber’s cute friend. Unfortunately, when I tried to imagine him kissing me, I thought about sucking on Ruger’s lip ring instead. Then I thought about sucking on other things, which wasn’t productive at all.

What exactly did a pierced dick look like, anyway? And how would it feel inside?

I shivered.

Kimber finally got Ava settled and came back outside, jumping into the water with me.

“So, have you started job hunting yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I replied. “Ruger wants to see if there’s something I can do with the club. I’m on the fence about that. Not sure I want to get involved.”

“Well, if your goal is to make good money, the best place to work is The Line.”

“The strip club?” I asked, widening my eyes. Everyone knew about The Line, of course, but I’d never been there.

“Yup. Totally paid for my degree that way,” she replied, leaning back into the water to wet her hair. I gaped as she came back up.

“You worked at a strip club? Stripping? Seriously?”

Kimber laughed.

“No, I worked there valet parking,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I stripped. Made really good money, too. I only had to work two nights a week. It kicked ass.”

“But wasn’t that kind of … icky?” I asked, intrigued. She shrugged.

“Define ‘icky,’” she replied. “I mean, sometimes it was really fun. I liked dancing on the stage and all the flirting. The lap dances weren’t quite as much fun, especially if the guys were old or something. But they aren’t allowed to touch you. At least, not unless you go back into the VIP rooms. All kinds of things happen back there—but only stuff you decide to let happen. Nobody forces you to do anything.”

I turned this information over in my brain, stunned.

“So did you?” I asked, knowing it was rude but completely incapable of not asking.

“What?”

“Go back in the VIP rooms?” I asked, unable to help myself. She giggled.

“Yeah, I did,” she replied. “You don’t have to, but that’s where you earn the most money. Security keeps a pretty close eye on things. It’s not dangerous or anything.”

I stared at her. She stared back, smirking.

“Wow,” I said finally. “I didn’t know that.”

“What? Are you going to get all judgy on me?” she asked. “Fuck that. I’m not ashamed. Ryan knows all about it, too. That’s where I met him.”

“And it didn’t bother him?” I asked, even more startled.

“It would be pretty damned hypocritical if it did,” she said, laughing. “First time he came in, he paid for me all night, and I gotta tell you, we had a damned fine time in that little room all by ourselves … I swear, I fell for him on the spot. He didn’t like the idea of sharing me with any other guys, so I quit the next day. I didn’t want to fuck things up between us, you know?”

“Wow,” I said. “I know I keep saying that, but I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. I hate to be too nosy, but how much were you making?”

She leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Holy shit!”

“No kidding, right?” she asked. “Now, I worked hard at it, took it seriously. And I didn’t get into drugs. A lot of the girls blow their money on drugs and stupid shit. But the smart ones? They save their cash and retire early. I covered our wedding, our honeymoon, and the down payment on this house. Ava’s got a college fund started, too.”

“Damn,” I murmured. “That’s amazing.”

Kimber laughed.

“Well, it’s not a long-term career,” she said. “But think about it. A regular job keeps you away from Noah forty hours a week, at least. Maybe more. You start stripping, you’re only away from him two nights a week. What’s better? A mom with a lily-white reputation, or one who’s actually around to take care of her kid?”

“Hell of a good point,” I answered, bemused.

“No shit,” she replied. “And consider this—you start making good money, you’ll have your own place in no time. I don’t care how nice Ruger’s house is. So long as he’s living there, you’re up shit creek.”

Hard to argue with that.

PORTLAND, OREGON


RUGER

“I’ve never seen a town with so many damned strip clubs,” Picnic muttered, sipping his beer. Ruger glanced over at his club president and shrugged. It was Wednesday afternoon, but they’d only been awake for a couple hours.

Last night Ruger had found a hot little blonde who’d done her best to make him forget all about his new roommate. Unfortunately, he’d fucked himself over by pretending she was Sophie the entire time he’d pounded her slick pussy.