I stood at my front door until I heard Max in the corridor. I waited until he got into his apartment, then gave him another seven minutes before I went to knock on his door. He opened it and I wanted to swoon. Nobody should look this good at six o’clock in the evening.

I flashed him a bright smile.

He crossed his arms. “Did you bring the five hundred bucks?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you here to ask for my help, to go with you to the party?”

“No,” I lied. “I told you I’m not going to that…event.”

Something flickered in his eyes. He narrowed them. “So what do you want?”

Fine. He wanted to play it that way. Then he deserved everything he got. I looked at him from between my lashes. “I was thinking. Well, I was thinking…should we be bad? Should we do something sinful together?”

His eyes gleamed with the kind of wickedness that made me want to put it in a safe so I could take it out every now and again to look at.

“You sure you want to go there,” he asked. His husky voice had dropped an octave.

“Baby, I’m already there.” Wow, I was on a roll.

His eyes widened with surprise. “What were you thinking of?”

I smiled seductively. “Let’s eat chocolate cake together.”

To my surprise, he didn’t react at all. I had led him down the garden path, but he was playing it cool. “Sure,” he said softly.

“I’ll bake it and bring it over. It’ll take me no more than an hour in total. Is that okay with you? Will you still be around?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said dryly.

“Good. See you soon. I was wearing my pencil skirt and I did have a good ass on me, so I swung it for all I was worth on my walk back to my apartment. I smiled to myself. I must have done a good job because I never heard his door close until I reached mine.

Once I was inside I didn’t waste a minute. I made cupcakes using a recipe for a pound cake and just halved all the ingredients. Once I had put them into the oven I started on the icing. As soon as the cakes were ready I took them out transferred them to a plate and stuck them in the freezer for a few minutes.

While they were in the freezer I applied a layer of gloss and fluffed up my hair. When the tops of the cakes were cool, I took them out and iced them. I put them on a decorative plate and carried them to Max’s door. I knocked and waited.

“Hello,” he said, his eyes sliding to the plate of cupcakes I was holding.

“I come bringing peace offerings,” I said with a sweet smile.

“I didn’t realize we were at war.” His voice was even.

“You know how competitive some New Yorkers can get during a bet. I just wanted to let you know that I’m not like that.”

“Bright colors,” he commented.

I snickered. “Yeah, artificial food coloring. I know you’re a sucker for artificial things.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He had a very, very nice chest. “Is that some kind of dig at the women I bring home?”

I’d seen women go into his flat. Women with big breasts. I smiled brightly. “While we’re on the subject of bringing women home, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

He stepped aside and I sailed in. I went straight to the kitchen and put the cakes on the highly-polished granite island top. Everything in his kitchen looked brand new. It was clear the man never cooked. I opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of milk. I poured it into two glasses and sat on a stool. He took the one opposite. I pushed the plate towards him.

“It is poisoned?” he asked.

I didn’t dignify that question with an answer. Instead, I reached out for the cake that was closest to me and was about to bring it to my mouth, when he leaned forward, caught my hand, and took that cake himself.

I bit my lip. “Very well,” I said and took one of the other cakes.

He waited until I bit into my cake before he sank his perfect teeth into his. “Why this is delicious,” he said, sounding surprised.

“I know. It’s a secret recipe.” I licked the icing and his eyes watched my tongue. When I finished my cake I stood. “Right, I should be going.”

He eyed me suspiciously, but said nothing, as he followed me to the door. When I got back home I changed into my jeans and then sat on my toilet seat and waited. Twenty minutes later I heard his toilet flushing. Bingo. I went back to my living room and let the sound of Adele fill the air, but not too loud that I wouldn’t be able to hear anyone knocking on my door. Less than ten minutes later I heard not a knock, but a banging.