I stood in front of her door like an idiot. I was an idiot. An idiot about to totally humiliate himself.

Except she’d already done that, hadn’t she? She’d thrown my flowers into the pool, and I couldn’t believe what she’d done to my chocolates. She’d likely done something horrible to the card, too, but I had yet to discover what. Maybe pieces of it were also at the bottom of the pool.

I knocked on the door one final time, and it pulled away from under my knuckles. Phone in her hand, Jade had her wild dark hair tied back, showing off her fresh face and those cherry-red lips I wanted to devour.

“Oh.” She frowned. “It’s you.”

She started to close the door, but I blocked it with my body. She had a peephole and had probably known it was me. I had a sneaking suspicion that slamming the door in my face was some kind of performance.

I kept one hip on the door, holding it open as she pushed from the other side. It took zero effort on my part, so she wasn’t pushing back hard.

“Let’s have it,” she said. “What’s your pathetic offering this time? Balloons? Fruit basket? Mini muffins? Cupcakes?”

“Maybe I should get you more chocolates,” I said. “Something happened to the first box.”

She winced.

“Whoever got ahold of your chocolates has serious anger issues.” I fought a grin. “I’m still trying to scrape chocolate out of the grout.”

Jade had melted the chocolates, smeared some of them on my door, then somehow squished the rest, in the flattened box, under the threshold. I was going to have ant issues for months.

Her expression hardened. “It’s too bad you don’t have a slave to scrub your grout.”

“Speaking of slaves.” I leaned forward. “I have a proposition.”

She eased up on the door a little, curiosity taking over her adorable face.

“Come on, Jade. You’re not even going to let me in?”

She backed up, and I followed her inside. As always, her place smelled fantastic—this time of garlic and cheese.

“What are you cooking?” My stomach growled, even though Mac and I had shared two huge pizzas not an hour ago.

Hands on her hips, she turned back. “I’m not your servant, Nick. Not anymore. I don’t need to cook for you, remember?”

“Believe me. I remember. And I get why you’re angry, but I think I’ve figured out a way to make it up to you.”

“I don’t know…” She leaned on the arm of the sofa, squeezing together her braless tits. “I’m not a very forgiving person.”

“How about we turn the tables?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Turn them how?”

“Turn them so I have to do anything you ask.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes widened. “Anything I ask?”

“Yes. Anything.” I emphasized the word to make my meaning clear.

“For how long?” She bit her lower lip.

My balls tightened. I hadn’t thought through the details. “Let’s say, twenty-four hours?”

She folded her arms over her tits. “A month.”

“A month! Come on. I owned up to you in three days.”

“But you were lying. I was your servant under false pretenses. That makes it way worse.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Jade Cuoco. How about a week?”

“Sold.” She extended her hand to shake.

Laughing, I took it. “A pleasure doing business with you.”

“A pleasure?” After dropping my hand, she rubbed her palms together like an evil cartoon villain. “Are you sure about that? You have no idea what I plan to make you do.”

“What do you have in mind?”

A devious look came over her face. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I backed toward the door. “Well, when you’re ready, you know where to find me.”

“Wait a minute there, mister. Did you hear me dismiss you?”

Trying not to laugh, I shook my head. I’d never treated her like a servant, not really. Still, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to worry about details like that. This wasn’t going to be a straight quid pro quo. Jade planned to make me suffer.

“We’re going shopping,” she said. “Furniture shopping.”

Jade

Nick waved over a handsome man who’d entered the store. Having a personal servant sounded fun, but I wasn’t sure what to demand of Nick, and felt guilty that he’d dragged one of his brothers into the mix to help carry the huge sofa I’d picked out at the thrift store.

Nick had already carried two chairs and a dresser up and down the steep hills between here and Shady Oaks with relative ease, and I’d even made him take one of the chairs back and chose another—not because I cared, but because I wanted to make him do it. But I should have realized there was no way he could take home this extra-large sofa without help.

Although… If Nick lifted it above his head and balanced it right… I sucked in a breath. His strength and power would never stop turning me on.

“Hey, I’m Dillon.” The tall man barely looked at me as he shook my hand, his eyes partially hidden by a long flop of dark hair.

“Thanks for helping.” I patted the leather sofa. “I really appreciate it.”

“No sweat.” Dillon grinned.

I finally recognized the family resemblance. With the same boyish smile, Dillon was a leaner, more brooding version of Nick.

“Anything for my little brother’s sex slave,” Dillon said.

“Sex slave?” I turned toward Nick.

His cheeks turned red, and he glared at his brother.

I turned back to Dillon. “Is that what he told you?”

“No! I never…” Nick punched Dillon’s arm, then turned to me. “Honest, Jade. I never said that—ever.”

“Yup.” Dillon was laughing. “Sex slave. Pretty sure that’s what he told us.”

I shot my best glare at Nick, even though it was pretty clear Dillon was teasing.

“I never once said that, Jade. Honest. Dillon, don’t be an asshole.” Nick was bright red and looked like he might pound his brother.

“Don’t worry, Dillon.” I shrugged. “You guys got the sex slave part right. Just backward.” I turned to Nick. “On your knees and call me Mistress.”

Nick’s brow furrowed, and his eyes opened with questioning alarm.

“Don’t worry, sweet cheeks.” I slapped his ass. “I’ll let you off the hook. For now. Sofa moving is a higher priority. But as soon as we get home, put on your dog collar and assume the position.”

The bell above the store’s entrance tinkled, and Nick nearly jumped out of his skin.

Dillon grinned. “I cannot wait to tell the other guys about this.”

“She’s kidding,” Nick told his brother. A young couple passed us, and Nick leaned in to whisper to me, “You are kidding, right?”

“Am I?” I gave him a seductive look. “Guess you’ll have to wait to find out.”

I suspected Nick would enjoy whatever I thought up in the sex-slave arena, so the longer I tortured him with worry, the better. I wasn’t interested in humiliating Nick, but he didn’t need to know that—yet.

Back when I’d thought I owed him, he’d never once asked me to do anything I hadn’t done with pleasure. And looking back, it had been me who’d initiated the sex between us, also the cooking and cleaning. He’d never used his falsely obtained power for sex, but I wasn’t going to let that limit me.

It was he who’d lied, after all.

Leaving the two brothers, I haggled with the shop owner about the price of the old sofa and got more assurances that it was bug- and rodent-free. My apartment-decorating shopping spree would eat up all of my tips from the past week, but it was worth it, and soon I’d be earning dancer-level tips. According to Melodie, I could make enough on one Friday night to cover everything I’d bought here today.

With a smile, I realized I was putting down more roots in Shady Oaks than at any place I’d ever lived.

“Ready?” Nick asked when I returned.

“All set.”

“Maybe you’d like to sit on your throne as we carry it?” Nick gave an exaggerated gesture toward the solid wood-and-leather sofa, already heavy on its own.

“Dude!” Dillon said.

I laughed. “Don’t worry, Dillon. If I get tired, I’ll just hop on Nick’s back.”

One side of his mouth crooked up, Nick shook his head. He was onto me and willing to play along with the game—so far, anyway. If I really wanted to make him squirm, I’d have to up the stakes.

I held the glass door open as the men carried the sofa through, then we started down the crowded sidewalk.

I fell into step beside Dillon, who was walking backward at the head of the sofa. “So, what do you do?”

“This and that.”

“Interesting.” I guided him around a post. “I’ve always wanted to do ‘that.’ Tell me, do you need a college degree to get started?” I touched his arm to make sure he avoided a woman passing by with a stroller.

He chuckled. “To get started in the ‘this and that’ business, what you really need is a graduate degree in ‘the other thing.’”

“This, that, and the other thing. Ah. Very helpful. Thanks.” It was clear Nick’s brother didn’t want to tell me what he did for a living, but he did have a sharp wit.

Dad had warned me that many of the residents of Shady Oaks were criminals. Did that extend to Nick’s brothers? Because of Dad, I’d been around criminals all my life. Nick’s brother didn’t seem the type.

We rounded a corner that led to a steep hill, and Nick bounced the sofa to adjust his hold. “Dillon fixes things. Everything. Cars, clocks, computers.”

“Everything that starts with a C?” I laughed.

“Yup,” Dillon said. “Except cabbages. That’s right at the edge of my skill set.”

“Well, luckily, I’m pretty handy with a cabbage, so if you ever need one fixed, I’d be happy to return the favor.”

“Favor?” Dillon asked.

“For carrying my sofa.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” he said. “Happy to do the bidding of Nick’s Dungeon Mistress. I wouldn’t want him to get any extra lashes on my account. We Downeys have each other’s backs. Always.”

Nick and Dillon shared a look.

“All for one and one for all?” I asked.

“Got that right.”

“Car.” I touched Dillon’s shoulder as we reached the curb, then checked both directions. “All clear.”

“You’re older than Nick, right?” I asked Dillon, wanting to fill the silence.

“Yup. Three years.”

“The next oldest?”

“That’d be Shane. Mac and I are next. We’re twins. And Keagan’s the old man.”

“Identical twins?”

“Ha!” Nick said. “Wait until you meet Mac, then ask that again.”

I looked over my shoulder toward Nick. “Who was with you by the pool?”

“You were watching.” He grinned, his whole face lighting up.

“I wasn’t watching, I just…”

His knowing expression let me know he wasn’t fooled. “That was Mac and Shane.”

I nodded. So at this point, I’d at least seen all the Downey brothers except Keagan. The one Angel suggested was “the best,” while warning me to stay away from Nick.

“Speaking of Shane,” Dillon said. “You’re in, right?”

“Nope,” Nick answered.

“He’s not going to take no for an answer.” Dillon checked over his shoulder to make sure his path was clear.

“Who gives a shit.”

“What this about?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Nick said. “Some harebrained scheme my brother Shane cooked up.”

His evasion seemed suspicious, especially combined with Dillon not telling me what he did for a living. I worried my lower lip. Was my spidey-sense wrong? Were Nick’s brothers into illegal shit? Nick, too?

I shook my head. What did it matter? It wasn’t like I was going to get involved with Nick beyond the sex. It’s not like I planned to start a relationship. That ship had already sailed its short single voyage and wasn’t going to leave shore again.

Not with Nick. Nothing worse than a liar.

As we started up the final steep hill toward Shady Oaks, I thought through my plans. I wasn’t ever shy about getting what I wanted in bed, but I’d never been fully in charge of sex before. And I needed to cook up something good to pay him back.

Hmmm… Maybe we should stay tonight after the club closed. Maybe I’d make him strip for me? Was that enough? Not really.

Surely I could find some props in the dancers’ dressing room to inspire a plan. Whatever happened, tonight was going to be fun.