The Naughty List by Jodi Redford Page B

at Jana. “What am I supposed to do? Announce to my mom and dad that I’m sleeping with two men? Gee, that’d make a great Hallmark moment.”
    “I don’t just mean your folks. What about the rest of your friends? The people here.” Jana waved an arm toward the doorway.
    “It’s nobody’s business. Besides, it’s only a little sexual fling. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
    Jana kept giving her that shrewd, probing look that was more penetrating than an X-ray machine. “Are you sure about that?”
    “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “Because you’re not the kind of woman who indulges in casual, kinky affairs.”
    Out of nowhere, Olivia Barnam’s scornful words from the other day raced inside Lacey’s head. “You’re boring. A goody-goody who doesn’t know the first thing about how to please a man.” An icy chill crept over her, followed by crushing uncertainty. Struggling to pry free of the negativity threatening to hold her hostage, she glared at Jana. “Well clearly you’re wrong, because that’s precisely what I’m doing.”
    “I’m not trying to pick a fight with you.” Lines of worry bracketed Jana’s forehead. “It’s just that after everything that happened with Dan…I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
    “I won’t.” She’d learned her lesson about opening her heart to that kind of pain. It wouldn’t happen again. No damn way.

Chapter Nine
    “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Ry took his eyes off the road long enough to glance toward the passenger seat, where Lacey sat huddled in her oversized down coat.
    “It’s on my list, isn’t it?”
    The backseat creaked as Bram leaned toward the console. “Yeah, but we sort of assumed you’d want to gradually work up toward going to the sex club.”
    Lacey’s chin adopted a stubborn slant. “No, I want to do it now. I’m fully capable of handling it.”
    Ry returned his focus to driving, but he continued to mull Lacey’s behavior. She’d been edgy from the moment he and Bram picked her up at her house. Maybe she was nervous about the upcoming night. If that was the case, he didn’t know why she insisted on doing the sex club so soon. Still, he knew better than to argue with her when she was in this kind of a mood. Better to go along with her wishes and soothe her back into the uninhibited, sensual frame of mind she’d been in earlier this morning.
    The reminder of the sexy adventures the three of them got up to in Bram’s bed only served to make Ry’s cock painfully hard behind his fly. He never would have imagined that sharing Lacey with his best friend would be something he’d be okay with, much less enjoy.
    Enjoy? Hell, who was he kidding? He fucking loved every second of it. Sure, at first a spark of jealousy ignited in him when he’d watched Bram kissing Lacey in the entryway of the house. But for some odd reason, the moment all of their clothes came off, everything changed. Bram had ceased to be a threat, or competition, and instead became an ally in making Lacey’s wickedest fantasies come true. Plus there was no denying that Ry got off on being in charge. Maybe it had something to do with the fact he’d had so little control over his life while growing up and now he hungered for that aspect. Who knows? The only thing he could say with any certainty was that he’d gotten a taste of how things could be for the three of them. There was no way he’d settle for less.
    The exit he needed popped into view, and he maneuvered into the far lane. Seconds later, he took the off-ramp and drove into the city limits. Traffic was light, cutting the drive time significantly. Less than fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the relatively empty parking lot of Club Arabesque. The small amount of cars didn’t necessarily mean anything. There were plenty of club patrons who preferred a low profile and parked their vehicles in one of the lots farther down the street and hoofed it over on foot. Still, he