I realize Dominique, the pretty tuxedo-clad blonde who greeted me when I entered Erotique, has stopped in front of a mahogany door.
âThrough here is the Tease room,â she says. âIf you have any questions or need any help, just look for one of the Erotique staff. Weâre all in tuxes, no masks, and we wear this pin.â She touches a gold pin on her left lapel.
Iâd thought it was simply jewelry, and now squint more closely through the eyeholes of my elaborate mask. Exquisitely styled, the pin shows nude male and female figures intertwined in intercourse.
Very fitting for a private sex club. âI love it.â
âMe, too.â She gives me a warm smile. âYou understand, Tease is just the first of the rooms? Theyâre all interconnected. You can move on to Seduction, Passion, Kink, all the way to the BDSM room, Dungeons & Dragons.â
Oh no, I wonât be going there. I love sex, but not things like bondage or infliction of pain.
I really do have to wonder about my boss, Carrie. After all, itâs because of her that Iâm here. I think back to our conversation a few hours earlier.
âYouâve worked so hard this week,â Carrie says. âWe couldnât have got the Harrington account without you, Jillian. Thereâll be a bonus on your next paycheck.â
âThanks.â I feel the tired, satisfied glow of a job well done. Our team of architects and designers has put in long hours for the last several days, designing a restoration and renovation project to turn a run-down historic hotel into a luxury one. Harrington Hotels operates more than two dozen prestigious hotels situated all around the world, and an hour ago they notified Carrie that our firm had won the contract for the latest gem in their multinational crown.
âIâm heading home to see if my husband and kids still recognize me,â Carrie says with a grin. âI hope you have something special planned to reward yourself. Like, having a drink with Sandro? I overheard him say he was going to ask you.â
âHe did, but I said no.â With sincere regret. That man is so seriously hot.
âWhat are you thinking? Thatâs one awesome guy, heâs single, and youâve been eying him all week.â
Crap. Has my interest been that apparent? I try so damn hard to be professional, but itâs impossible to keep my eyes off Sandro Rodriguez.
Yeah, heâs as awesome as Carrie says, and then some. Sharp, insightful, with a wry sense of humor, plus he looks more like the soccer player he once was than the vice president of public relations for Harrington. Picture a young Antonio Banderas: a lean, muscular frame, wavy black hair thatâs always a little tousled, and dark eyes and a flashing smile that often hold a hint of mischief. Add in a trace of a Spanish accent that makes his perfect English sound utterly charming.
End result, heâs one of those guys men like and women drool over. I havenât the slightest doubt heâs a killer when it comes to PR.
And when it comes to sex.
Every time I look at the man, all my erogenous zones zap to alert status. Itâs so bad that Iâve taken to wearing padded bras so no one will notice when my nipples bead up.
The thought of Sandroâs mobile, sensual lips sucking my nipple makes my breath quicken.
Firmly I tell Carrie, and myself, âWeâre going to be working with him. You know I steer clear of getting involved with colleagues.â I learned that lesson when I dated a coworker at my previous job and he told the entire office I was some kind of sex maniac.
Which Iâm not. I just happen to really, really love sex.
And thereâs absolutely nothing wrong with that. But itâs not information I care to have spread around my workplace. At work, I want to be respected for my skills, not ogled, gossiped about and lusted after.
âOh, come on,â Carrie says, âeveryone gets involved with colleagues. You work so hard, where else can you possibly meet someone other thanââ She breaks off, eyes widening. Her brows draw together the way they do when an idea is germinating.
âErotique,â she says.
âWhat?â
âYou deserve a special night. Iâll get you a guest pass to a private club I belong to.â
Iâm flattered. In the year and a half Iâve been working for Carrie, Iâve won her respect, and recently weâve been moving toward friendshipâgoing shopping or to an occasional chick flick together. âA fitness club?â
âNo. Purely social.â
Our budding friendship hasnât reached the stage of sharing much about our social lives, and Iâve let her believe Iâm a little shy and totally devoted to my job. The truth is that while Iâm definitely serious about my career, Iâm not all work and no playâand when Iâm in the mood for play, I donât have a shy bone in my body. I have no problem finding clubs, bars or men.