Rex sank lower in his seat, keeping an eye on Nat while keeping himself half-hidden behind a menu he’d found on a nearby table. When Brian returned with Freddy, Rex filled her in on what he wanted.
“Sure thing, Rex. Let me see what I can do.” She winked. “On the house.”
Nat glanced around the club with interest. When Harper had invited her out to have a drink with him and Dylan downtown, she hadn’t expected this place. A big old Victorian that had been repainted and refurbished, the place looked like a million bucks. Antique wooden flooring, wainscoting, detailed scalloped ceilings and light fixtures… She didn’t even mind signing the weird legal form at the entrance. In order to be a guest of Harper’s, she’d had to agree to not disclose what went on at the club. Harper had told her to expect it, that some important people gathered at the place and wanted anonymity.
How interesting. She’d gone to a place with a similar vibe in Aiken a few months ago, drawn to something different and secluded. Nat liked letting her guard down, but she couldn’t afford to do it around people who knew her. She had peculiar tastes in entertainment, and the traditional mores inherent in her job would never pass public scrutiny.
But after her week—one that hadn’t ended yet—she needed a break. Especially since Harper had promised she’d be safe to let down her hair here, so to speak.
She still wore it in a ponytail, but she’d eschewed her slacks for shorts and her work blouse for a silk tank. The summer heat could be killer outside her air conditioned office.
“Can’t believe you took me up on the offer,” Harper said and nodded to his girlfriend tending bar. “Freddy, bring us…” He paused to look at Nat.
“A screwdriver.”
He frowned. “Such a girly drink. Fine, fine,” he said when she smacked him. “Screwdriver for the girl. I’ll have a beer.” Next to him, Dylan nodded for the same.
Some might find it strange that she didn’t find Harper’s relationship weird. But Nat had always been open and accepting of differences. She had two brothers currently in and out of relationships and a gay sister fully committed to her partner. Her own parents had divorced when she was six. They’d made poor spouses to each other, though her mother had successfully remarried. Her father was on wife number six, and she doubted that would last.
From all that Nat had seen of relationships, conventions could be damned. The only thing that mattered was love. Something she seemed doomed never to find.
Freddy returned with their drinks, and Nat took a sip and sighed. “What can I say, Harper. I was bored. Figured a night on the town might lift my spirits.”
Dylan grinned. “Me too. That’s why I agreed to come tonight.”
Considering Dylan’s status as a prominent psychiatrist in town, she knew she’d be safe enough. He had a sterling reputation. As long as she stuck by him, she’d be protected from scrutiny.
Harper muttered something to his lover she couldn’t make out but made Dylan turn red. Harper, the huge, sandy-haired contractor with muscles, and Dylan, the streamlined looker who wore sophistication like a second skin. The pair fit. Then to add in Freddy, the cute blond who flittered about like a fairy behind the bar, and the threesome made one hell of an attractive group.
Nat forestalled Harper’s next comment. “I don’t even want to know what you said to him. So feel free not to share. Thanks for the invite though. I needed the break.”
“I’ll say.” Harper frowned. “You work too hard. Is Josh breathing down your neck again?”
She hadn’t realized he’d noticed the mayor’s snotty son bugging her. “Not for a few days at least. He’s busy on the south side housing project I gave him.”
“Good. I don’t like him.” Harper didn’t hold back.
She grinned. “Me either.”
Dylan chimed in while Freddy danced away again, waiting on someone else. “What’s this I hear about you bullying my brother?”
“His budget is way out of control.” She started in on Derrick’s modified proposal, arguing points Harper brought up as well. Knowing Harper always had her back, she didn’t mind him playing devil’s advocate.
Before she could really get going, Freddy returned and whispered something to Dylan.
“Harper, we have something to do. See you later, Nat.” Dylan left, pulling Harper away with him.
But she wasn’t alone. Freddy hovered behind the bar, then leaned over the counter toward her flashing a pixie-like smile. “So, Nat. First time here?”
“Yep. Nice place, though.”
Freddy’s smile grew. “You do know what kind of bar this is, don’t you?”
Nat played dumb in case she’d misunderstood the visual cues. “One that serves alcohol?”
“We serve more than that. Look.” She nodded to the stage. The lights around them dimmed, so that the lit stage stood in prominence.
The band had begun playing a sultry jazz number. They were soon joined by a woman dressed in a frothy dress that became smaller and smaller as she removed pieces.
“Oh good,” Freddy murmured. “Janie’s up tonight.”
Well, well. That vibe Nat had gotten earlier was playing out. Right in front of her. “She’s good.” The woman stripping down had a sensual lushness to her, so that the striptease was less slutty and more arousing. A burlesque, except the performer on stage was going way past the pasties and panties.
“You don’t seem too put off by tonight’s performance. I knew I’d like you from Harper’s description. But you’re even cooler in person.”
“Thanks. I think.” Nat could only imagine how Harper had described her. A ball buster of a boss. A pain in his ass. A woman with no life well on her way to having an ulcer the size of Mars.
Freddy smiled. “Welcome to the club. Where sex is welcomed, and anything you want can be yours.”
Nat turned to Freddy—pixie-like, cute-as-a-button Freddy Thompson. Harper’s girlfriend. “So this is a sex club.” Why she should be surprised to be in a pleasure palace in Augusta, she didn’t know. But she’d never expected the town to have such a sophisticated place for private play…run by her assistant’s girlfriend.
“Yep. But don’t worry. We’re a very private, very exclusive club. Harper told me you might be the type to have concerns about being here. No one will say anything.”
In the crowd, a few couples started making out, fondling, but nothing overtly sexual in public. Yet. Holy shit, she really was at a sex club. In her own hometown.
“There’s no such thing as privacy,” Nat murmured, absorbed by the sensual scene being played out before her.
Freddy leaned closer. “There is here. Come on. Don’t tell me you’ve never had a fantasy. Buttoned-up Natalie Wielder, hard ass in the office.” Freddy winked. “Harper respects the hell out of you. Not just anyone can come into my club, you know.” Freddy owned the place? Well, damn. “We’re all about privacy. So tell me, Nat. If you could have any fantasy, anything at all and no one would ever know about it, what would it be?”
Chapter Three
Nat didn’t know how or why she’d gotten so lucky, but she didn’t want to second guess it. She’d been sexually frustrated for what felt like forever. Her short-lived attempts at relationships fizzled because she could never find what she wanted. Men always seemed to want to take charge during sex, and none of them had been very good at it. When she’d try to correct them, to help them help her reach satisfaction, they’d take her critique as overbearing and inevitably leave.
So she made do with toys and fantasies and the occasional foray into a club she’d found away from home. Away from discovery. Four months ago had been her first session with a partner in a long time. She would have waited longer, but she’d needed to connect with another on an intimate level. The sex had been okay, but she’d appreciated just touching a man, kissing and hugging even more. Honestly, she found it easier to handle her own orgasms than instruct a bumbling date to do it.