“I can’t see anything in this damn mask,” I explain as Krista looks at me with lusty eyes. I knew this woman had a familiar scent.

And her had body a familiar feel.

But I am still having a hell of a time processing the magnitude of this coincidence.

“Get Low” is over, and the next song picks up—a Ludacris number, making it impossible to talk without yelling.

Plus, having a conversation on a stage in front of everyone isn’t something I’m interested in.

She seems equally dumbfounded, her mouth agape and her eyes sparkling as she looks up at me.

I rest my hand on her hip, and speak into her ear so she can hear me.

“Follow me.”

Taking her hand, I guide her to the back of the stage and down the few steps into the back hallway of Midnight Ride.

Her hand is hot.

And I’m glistening with sweat from our little performance.

“I can’t believe Ax put me up to this, and I can’t believe you saw this,” I say as we walk down the hallway.

She clears her throat. “I’m still trying to process what this is, exactly. In addition to being a landlord, you moonlight as a male stripper?”

I take a deep breath.

“No, not exactly. I lost a bet.”

She furrows her brow. “Lost a bet so you did a dance at Chicago’s premier sex club?”

I chuckle as we get to one of the rooms at the end. It’s unoccupied, and I open the door and nod to Krista.

It’s a biggish corner room with couches on either side, and dim purple-pinkish lighting, a big bottle of unopened champagne sitting on the table in the middle.

“You’re going to give me a private dance?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

I smirk. “Honestly I was just thinking this would be the best place for us to talk for a moment.”

“That’s what you want to do in here? Just talk?”

Just then, she gets up on her tippy toes, breathes into my ear, and nibbles at my lower lobe. Her hand runs over my abs.

I wrap a fistful of her hair, gently pull her head back, and kiss her hard against the door as we cross the threshold into the private room.

“I want to talk,” I say. “But I also want to do this.”

I run my hand from her shoulders down her back, land it on her ass and palm the big, curvy thing, pulling her hips into me.

A throaty moan escapes her lips. “Damien. Damn I’m so turned on right now.”

“Are you?” I ask with a smirk. “It’s hard to tell.”

I interlock my fingers with hers and push her body into the wall, holding her hands above her head as her body beckons me to kiss her.

I obey the call, pressing my lips into hers as she explores my mouth with her tongue.

Her skin is flushed and hot to the touch.

I lay a chain of kisses down her jawline to her neck. I can feel her trembling.

Shaking.

“Damien,” she whispers my name again. “Oh God, Damien.”

“What?” I smirk, our faces inches from each other in the dim light of the private room.

“You haven’t explained yet. Are you a male stripper? How did you learn to dance like that?” She breathes desperately, her tone laced with desire.

I shrug. I don’t want to get into the whole song and dance about my past right now.

I want her.

“It’s really nothing,” I say, shrugging it off.

I return to her neck and trail kisses down her sizeable cleavage, pulling the top of her dress down slightly to reveal her skin.

“It’s not nothing,” she whispers as she threads her fingers through my hair. “It’s just...oh God. I love when you do that.”

Fondling her tits through her shirt, I press my warm mouth onto her upper breasts, licking her skin.

“But Damien. I’ve been thinking…” Her sentence trails off in a soft moan. I’m ravenous for her, and I don’t want to talk right now.

I want to taste her sweet pussy.

“Wait,” she breathes again, and I manage to peel my lips from her delicious skin.

I clear my throat. “You okay?” I arch an eyebrow her way.

“I’m fine, yeah. Can we sit down for a minute?”

“Yeah, of course,” I growl.

We sit, and I rest my hand on her leg.

“Something’s on your mind. Tell me about it.”

She takes a deep breath, lowering her eyes. “We’re moving really fast,” she says. “And I’m trying to process what all this means.”

I shrug. “It means we’re super attracted to each other. Which is normal, right? I mean you’re hot as fuck.”

“Well obviously,” she giggles, and steals a glance of my still-massive erection, the outline of which is easily visible through my briefs. She licks her lips, and I harden even more—if that’s possible—thinking about how her pouty lips would make me feel if they were wrapped around my cock.

She wants to talk, Damien. Stop thinking about it.

“But sure, this has been a quick twenty-four hours, you’re right.”

She takes a deep, yoga breath, and blows the air out. “I’m just going to say it. I’m not a big one night stand girl. And the sexual attraction part of whatever this is isn’t a problem. But one of my girlfriends said it’s a red flag, and that I should watch out for you.”

I nod, slowly, processing this information.

I think back to the conversation I had with Axel about red flags earlier today, and how he said I better watch out for a girl with such a crazy ex.

“So I’m a red flag,” I say as I caress her thigh.

“Yes. And this whole male stripper thing has me thinking. Is this just like...something you do a lot? Have one night stands with girls?”

I shake my head vigorously. “One night stands aren’t my thing, either. But you drive me crazy, Krista. I mean shit, this is what you do to me. Do you understand that?”

“What do I do to you?” she asks.

I bite my lower lip, take her hand, and place it on my big, hard cock.

“Oh wow,” she swallows. “That’s what you meant.”

“Yes.”

“You’re so hard right now,” she says as she rubs me through my briefs.

“I’m hard for you.”

“I’m so horny for you right now, too. But…”

She withdraws her hand, and I can tell she’s conflicted about something right now.

“You’re thinking a lot,” I say, watching as she darts her eyes back and forth around the room.

“I am.”

I want to fuck her so bad right now. I want to take her. But she’s hesitant for some reason—and I need to make sure she’s completely comfortable.

“I don’t know what this is, either,” I add. “I’m crazy attracted to you, Krista. Could something more come out of this? Sure, maybe. But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.”

“We kinda already did get ahead of ourselves last night though,” she points out.

“And one night stands don’t turn into relationships,” I elaborate.

She nods.

I lean back in the couch, and think for a moment. An insight comes to me in a flash. It’s a little crazy, but then again, so am I. “I have an idea,” I say.

“I’m all ears.”

“What if we take sex off the table?” I say.

She nods. “I’m listening.”

“Well, you’re worried about us being a one night stand. What if, for now, we agree not to have sex, and play some catch up on getting to know each other.”

Her eyes widen. “I’m still a little confused.”

“Ten dates,” I blurt out. “No sex for ten dates. I will wine you and dine you until you’re not a one night stand—you’re a ten night stand. Then we can decide what’s best for us.”

As I say the words, part of me can’t believe I’m being so patient.

But for a girl like Krista, I can wait.

I run my eyes over her curvy body. Those luscious tits I was just kissing. I lick my lips.

“You sure you can wait ten dates for another go round?” she asks, probably because she sees the need in my eyes.

“Yeah, for sure,” I say. “Pay no mind to the giant boner in my briefs right now. I’ve got this completely under control.”

“Do you?” she asks, moving her hand dangerously close to my cock, and rubbing my leg.

I put my arm around her and pull her into me for a kiss, and she laughs.

“Oh yeah,” I say. “I’m going to give you the full Dazzling Damien Experience. Do you work tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’m off Saturday, though.”

“Perfect. Saturday will be the first foray into this.”

“I can’t wait for the full Dazzling Damien Experience.”

My cock twitches a little bit at the way she says those words. And how those sexy lips move. I lean into her and kiss her again.

Ten dates without sex?

I’ve done a lot of hard things in my life, but something tells me this is going to be hard as hell.