Triple Stud by Tawny Taylor Page B

was wearing ragged hand-me-downs on the first day of school, she reclaimed her hand after giving his a single shake. She reached for Troy’s next.
    “ It’s not quite what you were expecting,” Troy stated, shaking her hand, his eyes taking a quick tour of her body.
    “ I am absolutely mortified,” she admitted, figuring she might as well admit it. When Troy released her hand, she wove her fingers together, palms flattened against each other to keep from crossing her arms over her chest. Everyone knew what message that position sent.
    “ Don’t be.” Troy took a second visual tour of her body, this time a much slower one. “I admire Kudo’s designs. Very much. You have excellent taste.”
    She could just kiss this guy for saying that. She had to believe he was telling the truth, at least about admiring the designer’s work. After all, she wasn’t wearing a label plastered on my chest. Nor did the dress have any kind of telltale marking or insignia on it. If the man could recognize a Kudo, then he knew a Kudo.
    “ No one else is wearing fetish wear,” she pointed out.
    “ Not in this room, but in some of the others your dress would be conservative,” Sergio said with that scrumptious accent of his. He inclined his head toward the corner of the room. “Can I get you something to drink?”
    “ Yes. Thank you. I’ll take a diet cola.”
    “ I believe it’s Coke,” he said.
    “ Whatever you have. Doesn’t matter.” God, she could come just from listening to that man’s voice.
    “ Very good. I’ll be back in a minute.”
    Still contemplating a quick getaway, despite Sergio’s scrumptious accent, and Troy’s broad shoulders, and Hayden’s picture-perfect face, Jan gave the room another quick scan before turning her gaze back to Hayden.
    “ Nervous, still?” Hayden motioned toward a grouping of four comfy-looking chairs circling a round coffee table.
    “ A little.” Catching the hint, she headed for the closest one. At least sitting she’d feel a little less conspicuous. That was a good thing. The only problem--she had to get there first. As she walked, she felt people watching. A shiver crept up her spine.
    Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing being so conspicuous. In the short time since she’d arrived at this place, she’d learned there was an odd sort of comfort to be found in social invisibility, blending into the background.
    Once settled into the chair, she slid one leg over the other and breathed a small sigh of relief.
    “ Better?” Troy asked, smiling as he sat in the chair next to hers.
    “ Yes. At least now I don’t feel like I’m on stage. Not such a good feeling. I guess I’m not much of an exhibitionist.”
    Hayden rested his elbows on his chair’s armrests and steepled his fingers under his chin. “That’s unfortunate.”
    “ I see you three have made yourself comfortable,” Sergio said, approaching them with hands full of drinks. He set them all on the table first then lifted hers, extending an arm. “Diet cola for the beautiful lady.”
    She swallowed a chuckle. Beautiful. He’d called her beautiful. She wondered what he’d think if he saw her on an average day, her hair rolled into a tidy twist, the curves he admired now hidden beneath a demur blue suit, a pair of wire-framed glasses perched on her nose. “Thank you.” Still nervous, but not shaking anymore, she watched the three men chatter about stock prices and the escalating price of gas and sipped her drink.
    They asked her questions, nothing too personal, and she answered, slowly relaxing as time crept on. As minutes turned to hours, she found herself growing more and more comfortable, until laughter came easy, and she was even able to lob a few flirtatious looks toward her charming hosts without becoming breathless and embarrassed.
    She slowly came to accept that she wasn’t going to play any naughty games tonight, that Sergio, Troy, and Hayden weren’t interested in playing with her after all. They were