I slip behind the front desk. “Sorry I took so long,” I say to Danica. “Thanks for holding down the fort.”

“How’d it go?”

“Great. We just talked and talked. It’s so weird. We have these great conversations, but there’s no sexual chemistry at all. Lucas says he really appreciates the chance to talk with a woman without any sexual undertones. I don’t think he’s used to having many female friends.”

Danica’s facial expression tells me she’s buying everything I’m selling, without question—which kind of pisses me off, actually. “That’s so sweet,” she says. “Why is the front of your hair wet?”

My chest tightens. Obviously, I can’t tell Danica I took a quick shower in Lucas’s suite before heading back down to work. “Because I had to wash my face before I left,” I say smoothly. “Lucas was so excited about a new song he wrote, he shook up a bottle of champagne and opened it and it sprayed all over me.” I roll my eyes. “I was actually annoyed with him.”

Again, Danica looks completely convinced. “So he wants you back again tomorrow night?”

“Yup. Same time. Okay with you?”

“Sure thing.” She smiles sheepishly. “Okay, so don’t be mad at me, but I didn’t even start working on the P and R reports yet. Sorry, I got distracted. I was hoping you’d start working on them while I take my break and grab some food?”

“Of course. Take as long as you need. Thanks so much for covering for me for so long.”

“You bet.” Danica pinches my butt as she moves around the front desk, her fingers squeezing an inch away from the spot where Lucas bit me so unexpectedly mere minutes ago. “See ya in about forty-five?” Danica asks.

“Great.”

Danica leaves and I begin dutifully working on the P&R reports, but about ten minutes into my work I’m interrupted by an incoming call on the main board from Penthouse A.

“Why, hello there, Mr. Ford. Or should I call you Count Dracula?”

Lucas chuckles. “How’s your tasty ass?”

“It hurts.”

“Sorry about that. Got carried away. Is that why you left so damned fast?”

“Of course not. I just had to get back to work.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to bolt outta here like the place was on fire. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not freaking out?”

“Not at all. I’m great.”

“Good. I thought maybe you left like that because you were freaking out and wanted to quit the game.”

“I’m not freaking out at all,” I say. “And I don’t want to quit the game in the slightest.”

I can hear his smile across the phone line. “Good.” He sighs. “God, that was hot, wasn’t it? Damn, Abby.”

Heat spreads to my core. “Yeah, it was pretty hot.”

“You’re a savage beast, woman. I’ve done plenty of threesomes before—although always with two women—but holy mother of God, they’ve never been anything close to as hot as what we just did. Camden and I were talking about it after you left, and we both agreed it was because of you. You come off as this sweet little virgin, which is pretty sexy in itself, not going to lie, and then bam! It turns out you’re hiding a devil underneath your halo and wings. Best of both worlds.” He chuckles. “I honestly hadn’t even thought about throwing a threesome into the mix for our game. You definitely ambushed me with that—” He abruptly stops talking and inhales sharply like he’s been stuck with a needle.

“Lucas?”

“Holy shit. Hang on. I just had an epic idea for a song. Holy fuck! Hang on, baby. I’ve got to write something down before I forget it.”

There’s silence on the line for a full minute.

“Sorry about that,” he says when he gets back on the line. “What were we talking about?”

“You were saying I ambushed you with the threesome.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Holy fuck, I’m bouncing off the walls right now. I feel high. God, that was incredible.”

Crap. I’m beginning to think maybe I’ve miscalculated here. I introduced the threesome element into our role-play with the goal of breaking the seal with Lucas, so to speak, thinking he’d get a taste of me and immediately want me for himself. But, unfortunately, Lucas doesn’t sound at all like a man who wants to claim me as his girlfriend. He sounds like a man who just had a hell of a great time in a threesome and wants to do it again. “Well, glad you and Camden had so much fun,” I say flatly, my stomach clenching.

Lucas pauses. “But you did, too, right?”

I don’t reply.

“Oh, shit. You’re pissed?” he says.

I remain mute, but only because I don’t know what to say. I’m not pissed, actually. I’m…vaguely disappointed my little scheme didn’t work. But I don’t know how to explain that to Lucas without sounding like an extremely manipulative little bitch.

“What are you pissed about?” Lucas asks. “You obviously got off on what we did every bit as much as Camden and I did. I mean, either that or you’re a porn-star version of Meryl Streep.”

I can’t help myself. I chuckle. “Well, yeah, obviously I got off on it. No acting skills, no matter how masterful, could make a woman shoot cum out her cooch.”

Lucas guffaws at that.

“Lucas, the truth is, I only suggested the threesome to light a fire under your ass. I did it to make you want me for yourself, not to make you want to blurt, ‘Hey, Camden, let’s make Abby our penis pincushion again!’”

Lucas laughs. “Yeah, I already knew that’s why you did it. I’m not stupid, Abby. And don’t worry. It worked like a charm.”

“It did?”

“Of course, it did. Why do you think I bit your ass? I was claiming you, baby. You’re all mine now.”

My heart leaps. “I am?”

“Fuck yeah. Just like you planned. Now that I’ve had you, there’s no going back. You’re a diabolical genius, babe.”’

I want to shriek with glee but I somehow manage to contain myself. “So it’s going to be me and you from now on, then?”

“Well, yeah, you’re mine now, for sure. But if it’s all right with you, I was kind of thinking it’d be fun to do the threesome thing with Camden once more—but with me in charge of my girlfriend’s pleasure. How about we use Cam as our human dildo and I get my girl off even harder next time?”

I consider that idea for a moment. Truthfully, it sounds hot as hell. The devil on my shoulder is nodding profusely. But the angel? That little bitch keeps hearing Dr. Carlson’s voice whispering in her ear.

“You still there?” Lucas asks.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking about it.”

“Hey, no thinking allowed.”

I remain mute, still lost in a tug-of-war inside my own mind.

“Hey, how about you come up here and talk this through with me?” he says. “I think this is the kind of conversation we should have face-to-face.”

“I wish I could, but I’m all alone down here. Danica took her break.”

“There’s no one in the lobby but you?”

“It’s just little ol’ me.”

“No guests?”

“Nope. The first checkouts won’t start happening for another thirty minutes or so, I’d guess.”

“Okay, cool. Hang tight. I’m coming down to see you to help you figure this out.”

Before I can reply, the line goes dead. Four minutes later, one of the elevators opens and Lucas strides out in all his rock star glory, his face positively glowing. “Hello, Angel,” he says brightly when he reaches the front desk.

My heart leaps at the sight of his gorgeousness. “Hello, Mr. Ford,” I reply. “Wow, you look happy.”

“I am.” He leans his elbow on the counter and shoots me a boyish smile. “You know why I’m happy? On the way down here in the elevator, another killer song came to me. I can’t wait to race back upstairs and write it.”

Oh my gosh, he’s absolutely adorable right now. “Is it another ‘Shattered Hearts’?” I ask hopefully.

“Nope. I’m not even close to writing that motherfucker yet. This one’s going to be a pretty love song for my pretty, perverted girl who looks like an angel and fucks like the devil.”

I look around to confirm nobody’s entering the lobby. “How about you kiss your pretty, perverted girl for an extra jolt of inspiration?”

“Nope. I’m dying to kiss you for the first time, don’t get me wrong, but when I do, I want to do it right. Kissing’s a much bigger deal to me than fucking, actually. That’s why I didn’t kiss Camden’s girlfriend. It means something to me.”

“So does that mean I won’t be kissing Camden again?”

He nods. “Damn straight. Only me.”

“And yet you still want another threesome?”

“With me in the driver’s seat and Camden as our toy.” He shrugs. “But like I said before, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, you say so and we stop. I just figured you’d be up for it, since you’re the one who suggested the threesome in the first place.” He looks at me sideways like he thinks he’s calling my bluff in a game of poker.

I consider my reply for a moment. “Frankly, I’m up for doing anything with you, if you genuinely want it. And as long as you’re genuinely feeling inspired by it. That’s what we’re here to do, right? Help you feel again after so many years of being shut down?”

Lucas smiles broadly. “You’re amazing, Abby, you know that? An angel. I’ve never met anyone who looks so innocent on the one hand, but who’s—” He abruptly stops talking. His face lights up. “Oh, shit. I just had another song idea! Oh, Jesus, I’ve got to get back upstairs and start writing. I’m a volcano erupting! Ha! I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay, baby?” He blows me a kiss. “See you tomorrow.”

I wave. “Happy songwriting.”

Lucas takes a step away from me but abruptly whirls around to face me again. “Hey, by the way, I don’t want you bolting away again tomorrow night, okay? It freaked me out. I know you’ve got to work but I truly thought you hated me when you left.”

“Hated you? What part of me gushing fluid out my cooch made you think I hated you?”

He rolls his eyes. “Well, not that part, obviously. Just the part when you ran away. It felt like, I dunno, maybe you were…ashamed?”

I consider that idea for a long beat and realize it’s true. “Yeah, I think I was a bit ashamed,” I admit. “But not in the way you think. I think I felt ashamed by how much I liked what we did. Not by the fact that I did the deed in the first place.”

Lucas’s beautiful smile broadens. “Now see? I couldn’t have come up with a sexier response than that in my hottest fantasies. Ha! That’s why you’re my muse, baby. Because I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried. Who else but you could possibly bring a sexy meaning to the word ‘ashamed’?” His face lights up again. “Oh, for the love of fuck! I just got another song idea!” He lurches forward across the counter like he’s going to leap across it and kiss the hell out of me, but he stops short and cups my face in his palms, smiling like a lunatic. “Never feel ashamed of who you are. You hear me? So you’re a girl who likes to fuck and does it well. So what? You think Camden and I feel ashamed of what we did? Not for a minute. So, start thinking like a dude and own who you are. You’re perfect just the way you are. And don’t let anybody tell you any differently.” With that, he releases my face, slides off the counter, winks, and strides with breathtaking swagger toward the elevator bank, leaving me standing alone behind the front desk with my knees weak and my heart in my mouth.