James, Flame, and I were lying in bed together. James had his arms around me, pulling me tight against him, but after several minutes I could tell from his breathing that he had fallen asleep, which left Flame and me smiling and looking into each other’s eyes. I spoke softly so I wouldn’t wake James. “Would you like to go into the other room?”

I watched as she silently nodded her head up and down, then turned and gracefully exited the bed. I very carefully slid out from under James’s arm and followed her out to the great room of the suite. Once there, I watched as she slipped her tank top back on, which came down just a bit below the cheeks of her ass. I looked around and saw one of James’s T-shirts draped over one of the chairs, and I slipped that on. As it passed over my head, I could smell his manly scent. I couldn’t think of anything that turned me on more than how he smelled.

I watched as Flame looked around, studying the large suite, and I instantly felt like a bad hostess. “Would you like something to drink?” I asked.

“I haven’t eaten anything since lunch; do you think there is a convenience store still open so I can buy a bag of chips?”

I thought for a moment; a bag of chips didn’t sound like a good meal. “I saw a menu on the table, what if we ordered something from room service?”

“I don’t have any money besides the hundreds that your boyfriend gave me; will they take cash?”

“Nonsense. You’re our guest, and we’ll just charge it to the room.”

I looked into her beautiful green eyes and saw a look that I couldn’t place easily. It was partly gratitude, but more than that. I got the feeling that it had been a long time since someone had done something nice for her or showed her any type of compassion.

I grabbed the menu off the table and we sat down on the large couch, our thighs gently touching. We both looked over the menu for several minutes, and then I spoke softly. “What looks good?”

“I think that cheeseburger would be perfect,” she said, pointing at the picture in the menu.

I wasn’t really that hungry because of the big meal I’d eaten at the gastropub earlier, but I thought it would be rude if I didn’t order anything and made her eat alone. I leaned over, picked up the room phone, and called in our order. Because James had put me on his hotel account, I was able to make purchases and charge them to the room.

There was a minute of awkward silence. How much do you pry and ask a dancer about her personal life? I thought. I decided to just treat her like I would anyone else I had just met. “Have you lived in Las Vegas long?” I asked politely.

“About two years,” she said hesitantly.

The way she replied made me think I might have overstepped the line with my question. “We don’t have to talk about that, it’s not my place to...”

“No, Melanie, it’s okay. Actually, it’s nice that you care enough to ask,” she said softly. “I moved here from Omaha with my boyfriend. He was older than me, twenty-four when we met, and we both dreamed of living in Las Vegas.” I listened intently as she continued. “I was waitressing and he was doing odd jobs in Nebraska, and we lived in his car a lot of the time, so Las Vegas seemed like the perfect escape. Once we moved here, he found some construction work, I was able to get a job in a small café as a waitress, and we were even able to afford a small apartment.”

A knock on the door startled me until I realized that it was our food. “One sec, okay,” I said, as I gently rubbed her thigh. She smiled brightly at me, making me feel even more comfortable. I walked to the door and opened it.  The room service waiter smiled and tried to keep his eyes on mine, but I could feel them start to wander lower as I signed the check, giving him a big tip like I knew James would. I didn’t have a bra on and my nipples were poking through James’s T-shirt, which I’m sure he appreciated. I smiled, thanked him, and quickly shut the door.

I brought the food over to Flame and we made a small picnic on the couch. Her cheeseburger looked delicious and it made me regret ordering a turkey-and-lettuce wrap. Between bites, she continued. “Things were really good for a while, until…” I could see the distressed look on her face and I squeezed her hand, reassuring her that whatever she wanted to tell me was okay, and she slowly continued. “He started using drugs, meth, I think, and began to gamble away our money. I would have stuck with him through that, until… until he hit me and I knew I had to leave.”

I squeezed her hand tight, seeing tears start to well up in her eyes. “I stayed in a women’s shelter for a couple of days and they helped me get back on my feet. I had just turned eighteen and I couldn’t make it on my tips from waitressing, so about six months ago I started to work at Sapphires. I know it’s not the greatest job in the world, but I make really good money and I’ve been able to get my own apartment and a car.”

I smiled sympathetically at her, happy that she was living life on her terms. She asked me about my relationship with James and I told her everything. Well, almost everything. It was easy to tell her about our financial arrangement because she obviously had experience with that sort of thing. However, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her how dominant and demanding he was, and honestly how comfortable I was with it. But how could I explain something like that to Flame when I didn’t fully understand it myself? The reality of my relationship with James was difficult to square in my mind.

I was supposed to be a strong, independent woman, capable of doing anything, setting lofty goals for myself and reaching for the sky to achieve them. In so many ways, I felt like I was doing just that. I was an honor student with a very high GPA, and my advisor told me that if I didn’t enroll in some type of graduate school once I had my degree I wouldn’t be realizing my full potential. That seemed to be such a juxtaposition to how I acted when I was with James. He controlled almost everything when I was with him, and, what was worse, I freely gave him that control.

I was also trying to mentally sort out how I felt about him spanking me. Part of me was afraid to do something wrong because I knew that if I did he’d punish me. But there was also another side of me that didn’t fear being spanked. I suppose, if I was totally honest with myself, there were times when I longed to be over his knee again.

I very quickly became disgusted with myself. I wasn’t a child anymore, yearning to be over my father’s knee. I was a grown woman and I had to be ‘sick’ for even thinking like that, so I quickly put that thought out of my mind. I also found it odd that no matter what he did, or what he wanted me to do, my only aspiration was pleasing him. Was it wrong for me to find so much pleasure and contentment in making him happy?

I looked into Flame’s sparkling green eyes and it broke me out of my thoughts. I wanted to know more about this beautiful woman sitting next to me. “May I ask you a question?” I said hesitantly.

“Ask me anything, Melanie.”

“What is it like to dance at Sapphires?”

She paused for several moments, thinking. “It was very difficult at first. I know you probably wouldn’t think it, but I was very shy growing up, so dancing in a G-string was very difficult for the first couple of weeks. But then I got regulars who come to the club only to see me, and you learn to adjust to it, so slowly I got comfortable with it.” I loved how open she was and that she was willing to share this part of her life’s story with me.  “Since you are asking about my life… what’s it like taking money from a rich older man?” she said, smiling as she gently teased me.

“We are kindred, aren’t we?” I said thoughtfully. “Sometimes it’s difficult. I told my friends about him, which I think now might have been a mistake. They say they are all right with it, but sometimes they look at me differently, and I guess I wonder what they say about me when I’m not there.” I thought for a moment. “He’s very generous with me and I’m not used to having money, at least not like this, not this much of it, so there’s some guilt, but I’m trying to work through it.”

“You have a very good situation going with him, and most women I know, or, I should say, who I work with, would jump at a chance for what you have, so don’t feel guilty about it.”

I pondered her statement. I wasn’t sure that I liked being compared to her co-workers. However, was I really any better than the girls she worked with? My relationship with James wasn’t as public as dancing in a G-string in front of hundreds of men. But there weren’t that many degrees of separation in how they were making money and how I was making mine. “Do you … ummm … do ... this very often?” I asked.

I felt embarrassed for even broaching the subject, but I was curious to know and she seemed very open about sharing her life with me. It felt like she was the first person who could relate to what I was doing with James and who I could actually talk to about being in this type of relationship.

“It’s all right,” she replied, “I said you could ask me anything. There is a casino executive that I see a couple of times a month, and a CFO from the East Coast that I spend time with when he’s in town,” she paused, “but I’m very selective.” I looked into her eyes, hanging on her every word. “Working at Sapphires, I always get a lot of offers, but most of them are from young guys who either want an actual romantic-type date or they say they have money when it’s obvious they don’t.”

“But you thought James was different?”  

She smiled. “The tea leaves weren’t hard to read. Older guys aren’t with women our age unless they have money, and he didn’t even blink an eye when I told him it was $300 for the VIP room.”

She had a point. I loved the first night I spent with James because it was something different and exciting. The next morning, however, I was ready to leave and the only thing that made me spend the weekend with him, at least initially, was his money. Of course, I had developed much deeper feelings for him now, but would I have given him a chance if it wasn’t for his money? The truthful answer was probably not.

She continued speaking. “I saw how he watched us while I was giving you lap dances at the club, so I wasn’t too surprised when he asked me to join you both, and honestly I didn’t see a downside.”

Our eyes met and I felt the sexual tension that was building between us as we ate and shared very intimate personal things that were happening in our lives. I leaned in and kissed her softly, our lips melted together, and then I could feel the urgency as she wrapped her arms around me, kissing harder, our tongues exploring each other’s mouths. We broke our hot kiss and I stood up and pulled her up with me. “C'mon, follow me,” I said playfully, taking her hand.

“Won’t we wake up your boyfriend, Melanie?”

“Let me give you the grand tour, which most importantly includes the second bedroom in the suite,” I said saucily.

I took her hand and led her to the smaller room in the suite. The large curtain that kept the sunlight out of the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window during the day was open several feet and let in some of the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip. We stood at the edge of the bed facing each other and once again pressed our lips together as we kissed passionately.

I opened my legs as she pressed her knee into my pussy and gently began to rub while her hands moved down James’ T-shirt. She then carefully pulled it up and over my head, removing it. I leaned in to kiss her again, but she playfully pushed me away and then looked into my eyes as she took off her tank top, exposing her beautiful large breasts.

As I sat on the edge of the bed, Flame began dancing seductively in front of me, moving her body to music that only we could hear. The muscles in her legs rippled as she swayed from side to side in front of me. Her eyes never left mine as I viewed the incredibly erotic display, her breasts swaying as she moved closer to me.

She extended her arms and I felt her fingers trace between my breasts, then down to my stomach, which immediately sent chills throughout my body. I opened my legs wide to let her step between them, her breasts level with my face.

I watched as she leaned in, her nipple moving closer to my waiting lips. I opened my mouth to receive the little pink bud, but just as it was about to enter she pulled away, teasing me. Then she leaned in again, and then pulled away again, milliseconds before her nipple would have entered my mouth. She smiled slyly, viewing the anticipation and frustration on my face.

Finally, she let her nipple pass between my waiting lips and I heard a moan escape her as I sucked greedily on the little pink nub of flesh. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight against my body, rolling her nipple around on my tongue, feeling it harden in my mouth. I gently bit down on the little piece of flesh and then pulled my head back slowly, causing her breast to go taut until I opened my mouth and released it.

Our eyes came together again as she held my face in her hands and kissed me hard, which seemed to spur both of us on. Then she playfully pushed me back on the bed, my legs continuing to hang off the edge, touching the ground.

I watched as she got down on her knees between my legs and started to slowly kiss the inside of my thighs as both of her hands moved up my body and rested on my breasts. She quickly found my nipples and started gently squeezing them between her fingers. I closed my eyes as I felt her mouth approach my pussy at an agonizingly slow pace. Then I gasped and cried out as she suddenly sank her tongue inside me. I looked between my legs, watching her head bob up and down at first and then move in and out, her tongue never leaving my wet core. 

She licked the walls of my vagina intensely as I lifted my ass up off the bed and ground my pussy onto her thrashing tongue. I felt her wrap her arms around my thighs, holding me tight, then extract her tongue from my wet sex and use it to lap at my clit, causing lightning bolts to shoot through my body. I tried to hold my orgasm back, but I felt it rapidly building. “Yes, baby, right there,” I cried out as her tongue flicked rapidly over my clit, causing my body to shake and spasm uncontrollably in orgasm. When I regained my senses, I felt her licking my wetness from the inside of my thighs. I looked down between my legs and saw that her face was covered with my secretions.

I watched her smile happily up at me. “Move back on the bed, Mel, until you’re touching the headboard,” she said hungrily. 

I wasn’t certain why she made this request, but after the amazing orgasm she had just given me I was up for anything and didn’t question her. I slid back on the bed until I was sitting up against the headboard, just as she had requested. Then she got up off the floor and joined me on the bed, sitting so we were facing each other.

I watched as she opened her long legs, revealing her pussy to me. I took a moment to drink in her amazing body. Her breasts stood up proudly as I watched her chest expand and contract as she breathed. She had a tight stomach and very well-defined abs. My eyes moved lower to her vagina. Her puffy pink outer lips were engorged and revealed just a hint of moisture emanating from her shiny, wet inner lips. Above her vulva was a little tuft of red hair. I wanted to taste her so much, and I was barely able to control my raging lust for this woman.   

Our eyes met and locked onto each other. “Watch me, Mel,” she said sexily. 

I surveyed her intensely erotic scene as it played out in front of me. She grasped her nipples and compressed and pulled them with her fingers, causing them to quickly regain their hardness. Almost unconsciously, I uncrossed my legs and splayed them out around her. I moved my hand between my legs and ran a single finger through the lips of my vagina, teasing myself. Her fingers moved down her body, using one finger to rub her clit while the other dipped in and out of her pussy. After only a few seconds, I could hear loud squishing noises emanating from between her legs as she worked herself up into a frenzy.

Watching her pleasure herself was so amazingly erotic for me. I slowly ran my fingers over my clit, keeping myself on the edge without going over it while witnessing the sensual display in front of me. As she moved her fingers in and out, harder and faster, I knew she had to be close to coming. I watched, anticipating her climax, wanting to experience my own with her, when she suddenly stopped.

Our eyes met, and a wicked smile came across her face as she slid in closer to me. I watched as she grabbed my foot and pulled it closer to her vagina. I had no idea what she planned on doing until I saw her rub my big toe against her clit.

My mouth opened in amazement as she began moaning and writhing on my toe while she caressed her clit with it. I had never seen anything like this and I have to admit I was mesmerized watching her pleasure herself in this way. After a couple of minutes, she stopped rubbing herself against it, and with my help, she gently inserted my toe into her vagina and let go of my foot, giving me complete control.

Very cautiously, I gently began to move my toe in and out of her. I watched as she started rubbing her clit when I picked up the pace with my leg, working more of my toe in and out of her at an increasingly fast pace. I felt as if I was being hypnotized by this amazingly erotic display. Her moaning and writhing goaded me on as I moved my leg quicker. I listened to her gasp and cry out as my toe sank deeper into her. I watched as she lifted her ass up off the bed several inches and began meeting my thrusts with her pelvis. She was so into it, and that got me even more enthralled. I watched her climb the mountain as her body began to shake and convulse until she cried out and gasped in orgasm.

As she was coming down, I slowly moved my foot back, extracting my toe from inside her. It amazed me how much she got into it.  One of my former boyfriends in high school had an extensive foot fetish, and he always seemed to incorporate some type of foot play into our sexual routine. But this was the first time I had ever experienced it with a woman, and I have to admit that I found it to be incredibly erotic.

Once Flame had recovered from her orgasm, our eyes met again, and we smiled sexily at each other. I watched in amazement as she grasped my foot and brought my big toe up to her mouth to suck and lick her juices from it.

I was so worked up from her display that, as soon as she released my foot, I playfully pushed her back on the bed and dove between her legs, taking her by surprise. She reached down between her thighs, wrapped her arms around her knees, and rolled back, lifting her ass up off of the bed and giving me perfect access to her pussy and asshole. 

I extended my tongue and made it long and flat as I pushed it inside her ass, causing her to cry out. Wrapping my arms around her thighs to hold her still, I pushed my tongue deeper inside her bottom and used my thumb to gently rub small circles over the hood of her clit. After only a few minutes, I heard her breathing change and I knew she was close to coming.

Just as she was about to release, I withdrew my tongue from her ass and latched onto her clit with my mouth, licking and sucking with reckless abandon. This added sensation was all she needed; I felt her body tense up and then start to shake in orgasm.

Over the next several hours, we continued to have sex over and over until both of us were exhausted and could barely move. Just as the sun was coming up and light began to enter the room, we fell asleep in each other’s arms, thoroughly worn out from the hours of almost non-stop passion.

- - - - -

When I started to awaken, in my drowsy state, I reached over to Flame’s side of the bed to snuggle with her like I’d done all night, but my hand felt nothing. I opened my eyes and realized I was in the bed alone. Slowly, I started to really wake up, stretching and yawning as I looked over at the bedside clock. Oh, my God, it was four in the afternoon!

Instinctively, I pulled the sheet back up to cover myself, even though I was the only one in the room. Then I sat up on the side of the bed and noticed a piece of hotel stationery on top of the clock that had been folded into the shape of a heart. I unfolded the note and read it.

“I had a wonderful time last night and I’d love to see you again. You’re the first person I’ve met in Las Vegas who I felt I’ve made a connection with, and I’d really love to get to know you better. Please call me. Megyn.”

For the first time since I’d met her, I realized that I didn’t even know her real name until just now when I read it on the note. My thoughts turned to Gianna, and they brought back what I’d done the night before with Megyn and James. Even though he didn’t mean to, and was most likely unaware of it, James was complicating my life.

I knew that, realistically, I’d had no choice in what I did last night because there was no way I could have ever talked James out of bringing Megyn back to the hotel with us. However, I knew that I wasn’t blameless either. I could have made Megyn leave after the three of us had sex and James had fallen asleep. Instead, it was my choice to talk to her, get to know her, and then spend the rest of the night having sex with her again.

Blaming it all on James would ease my aching conscience, but, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was complicit in this act and I dreaded facing Gianna on Monday. I tried to put the whole complicated mess out of my mind as I rose up out of the bed. I found James’s T-shirt that I had been wearing, put it back on, and walked out into the great room of the suite. I looked everywhere, but James was nowhere to be found.

Even though it was late in the afternoon, coffee sounded good and I walked into the kitchen to brew a small pot. I had long since stopped being upset at the exorbitant price of half-and-half in the minibar.  Almost without thinking I retrieved it and poured a couple of tablespoons into the mug.

As I sipped my coffee I saw a note on the table and picked it up. Today was the day for notes, I guess. The note read:

“Melanie, I have several meetings that I have to attend today, so I thought it would be best to just let you sleep. When did Flame leave? What did her note say? You can tell me everything tonight at dinner. Be at the valet station at 7:00 p.m. The dress you’ll wear is on the bed in the master bedroom. J.”

The day is just getting better, I thought sarcastically. I had hoped to destroy the note so James wouldn’t see it, but now I’d have to share its contents with him. If I chose to see Megyn again, I wanted it to be on my terms. However, I knew that if James wanted to see her again with me there would be no way to talk him out of it.

I picked up my phone and sent a text to Gianna, telling her I was doing fine. I had sent her a couple of other texts yesterday as I had promised I would. She had also sent me several texts telling me that she had a relaxing night in my apartment and had completed the majority of her homework.

Gianna loved spending time in my apartment and I loved having her there. I just hoped she’d understand what I was doing with James. She had a boyfriend and I had James, so, even though that caused a little friction from time to time, we accepted it as part of the parameters of our relationship, if relationship was a good way to describe what we had. Aside from that, there was an unspoken agreement between us that we would be exclusive to each other where other women were concerned. James and Megyn shattered that agreement this weekend, and I had no idea what Gianna would say about it, or if I should even tell her.

I had just finished my coffee when my phone vibrated, telling me that I had a new text message. I read the screen; it was from Gianna. She told me that she was at work getting great tips and that she’d text me again once her shift was over.

Was she at work? I pushed several buttons on my phone, bringing up the calendar function, and realized that tonight was Saturday night. I had lost track of time by staying up all night and sleeping in so late.

I looked down at my watch. I had nearly three hours before I had to meet James and I was getting bored already. Now I wished I had awakened earlier so that perhaps James would have allowed me to accompany him when he went to his meetings. 

Since I had some time to kill, I decided to hit the gym for a run; that always seemed to help relieve some of my stress and I definitely had a lot on my mind with James, Gianna, and now Megyn at the center of my thoughts. After stretching, I got on the treadmill and began my workout. While I ran, my mind drifted and I began to reflect on my life since I graduated high school. I was getting close to completing my second year of college and I thought back on my experiences up to this point.

Las Vegas, of course, was not a typical city, so it stood to reason that students at UNLV would not have a typical college experience. I lived in a city that was world-renowned for partying and gambling. Because of the almost weekly conventions and trade shows, the clubs were packed with women of all ages who came here to get away from their boyfriends and husbands and relive days that had long gone by.

Moreover, vacationing college girls from California packed the clubs by the thousands. As my grandfather used to say, it was like catching fish from a bucket, and although I had slowed down since I met James and Gianna it was nothing for me to hook up with three or four different women a week.

My thoughts then turned to the important people in my life: my family, my three best friends, James, Gianna, and now I added Megyn to that mental list. I marveled at how much James had changed my life. I had been very successful at avoiding romantic entanglements since I started college, but now, because of James, I had met Gianna and now Megyn. It seemed much easier to hook up with girls and then leave the next morning than it was to try to navigate through relationships with them.

Winded, I hit the stop button on the treadmill. I had run nearly nine miles and sweat was dripping off my body. I collapsed on the mat and began to stretch and cool down. Mentally, I felt a little better after my run. My main concern was Gianna; once I had a chance to talk to her and somehow explain how things were with James, I hoped she would understand and together we’d find a way to move forward.

I returned to the room and took a hot, relaxing bath. Between the run and the long soak in the tub, I felt invigorated and ready for the evening. I looked at my watch and found I had about forty-five minutes until I had to meet James, so I began applying my make-up and styling my hair. Since I had put my hair up the night before, I left it down for tonight, styling it loose with gentle curls around my face. I didn’t want James getting bored with the way I looked, I reasoned. In reality, I was pretty sure he didn’t care one way or another, but it mattered to me.

After I had completed my hair and make-up, the only thing left to do was to get dressed. Hesitantly, I walked out of the bathroom into the master bedroom and looked on the bed. I knew James had picked out the dress he wanted me to wear for the evening, and honestly, I was a bit shocked by his choice.   

James had picked a bright neon-yellow scrunch halter dress. Like the corset dress, it had a plunging neckline that displayed quite a bit of my breasts, but that didn’t really surprise me. Also like all the other dresses he had purchased, it was very short, but aside from that it actually covered more of my body than the dress I had worn the night before. I slid into it and studied how it fitted in the mirror, and I surprised myself by actually approving of his choice. It had a very tight fit, hugging the curves of my body, but it was a club dress and that was to be expected. The only thing that gave me cause for concern was the color; the bright yellow could probably be seen from space. But other than that I was happy with James’s choice.

It was a few minutes before 7:00, so I grabbed my purse and left the suite. I tried to look confident as I walked through the casino, but I didn’t feel it as the butterflies were churning in my stomach. I noticed quite a few eyes on me, but I tried to ignore them and look ahead as I made my way towards the valet station. I felt so much better being at James’s side when I was dressed like this. He had a calming presence when we were together, and I sorely missed that now. I cursed myself again for sleeping so late and not being with him.

The automatic doors opened for me as I stepped out into the warm spring evening. I heard my heels click against the ceramic pavers as I approached the curb. I started scanning my surroundings for an SUV, as I remembered James telling me that’s what he had rented for this trip instead of the usual sports car. Unfortunately, the only vehicles in my sight were taxis and limousines that were loading and unloading the people who were busily entering and exiting the casino.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two older gentlemen who were drinking me in from head to toe and talking under their breath to each other. I tapped the toe of my heel nervously against the pavers and looked at my watch, ignoring the gawking men. It was a couple of minutes before seven, so technically, James wasn’t late. I scanned the valet area again as both of my ogling admirers approached me.

“You waitin’ for someone, darlin’?” one of them asked in a thick southern drawl. I could smell the alcohol on them from several feet away.

“Yes, I am,” I deadpanned back without looking at him.

“Who you waitin’ on, sweetie?” the other man said in a southern accent even stronger than his friend’s.

“My boyfriend,” I replied without looking at either of them.

“Why don’t you come inside with us and we’ll buy you a drink?” the first one asked.

“That would be precarious,” I replied as I kept scanning the area for James.

“Precarious how, honey?” one of them said, slurring his words.

I looked directly at both of them. “My boyfriend works for Blackwater and he goes crazy when I talk to other men.”

Both of their eyes got wide and one of them was starting to stammer out some form of retort when a large black Cadillac Escalade pulled up in front of me with the passenger’s window down and James giving both men a deep scowl. I tried to hide my smile as both men instantly started backpedaling towards the casino door. I opened the door and slid into the front seat with James.

“You’re making new friends, I see,” he said with a sarcastic smile.

“My boyfriend likes to leave me at the mercy of drunken hicks,” I said teasingly.

He smiled warmly at me, and we shared a few minutes of comfortable silence as we pulled onto the Las Vegas strip. “How late did you and Flame stay up?” James asked, breaking the silence.

I didn’t want him to ask me about last night, but I knew he would. “I’m not sure what time it was exactly, but the sun was up,” I said quietly.

“It sounds like I missed a lot when I fell asleep. You obviously enjoyed being with her, didn’t you?”

I looked down shyly. “Yes, I did, James.”

He paused for a moment while he waited for traffic to clear the intersection so he could make a left-hand turn. “It was the most sensual and erotic thing I’ve ever witnessed,” he said, looking directly into my eyes. “You were so passionate with her, just like you are with me.”

It was embarrassing, the way he was talking about me. I felt very conflicted about what I’d done with Megyn last night, especially because of my relationship with Gianna, and calling me ‘passionate’ wasn’t helping my guilty conscience. “She was an amazing lover and it’s easy to feel passion when you're with someone like that,” I said hesitantly.

“I know that feeling,” he said, giving me a sly smile. I looked down as I felt my face glow red in embarrassment. “You voiced concern about the three of us being together last night when we were at the club; are you okay with everything that happened?”

“There were times when it was difficult,” I said honestly, “but maybe it wasn’t as bad as what I had originally envisioned.”

“I’m glad you’re comfortable with what we did.”

I forced the best smile I could, trying to reassure him that I was comfortable with last night’s events, or, more accurately, trying to reassure myself.

“I noticed she left you a note,” his voice breaking me out of my thoughts, “what did it say?”

I took a deep breath. “She told me that she wanted to see me again and she gave me her number,” I said cautiously.

His eyes widened as he looked at me with surprise. “You must have really made a connection with her, then.”

James was right, we had made a connection. However, we may have made more of a connection than I had originally wanted. “We got along really well, and there was chemistry between us. I think we both felt that last night.”

He looked at me approvingly. “I like this side of you, Melanie, when you’re wanton and wild.”

“You just bring that out in me,” I said teasingly.

Thank God that ended the conversation about last night. I didn’t quite know yet how I felt about everything we had done together, and talking about it with James made dealing with my feelings that much more difficult. I was anxious to change the subject and put last night behind us. I could figure out how I felt about Gianna and Megyn later.

We pulled onto the freeway and started heading west and my heart skipped a beat. Oh, God, please don’t tell me we are going where I think we might be going. “So what’s on the agenda for this evening?” I said nonchalantly, trying to hide my nervousness.

“We are going to eat at my Italian restaurant in Summerlin.”

My nervousness quickly turned to panic and my stomach felt like it was being tied in knots. Gianna is working tonight and her shift won’t end until nine. There’s no way James and I won’t run into her. I looked down at my dress and started to panic even more. This bright neon-yellow club dress. It will be far more risqué than anything any of the other women there are wearing, and how will I explain that to Gianna? Maybe there is a chance I can get him to change his mind.

“James, I’m not really in the mood for Italian tonight; do you think we could go somewhere else?” I said hesitantly.

“This is a working evening for me, Melanie. My executive chef is retiring and David has been interviewing candidates for the last week. You and I are going to taste some food so I can hire a replacement,” he said sternly. He thought for a moment and then gave me a puzzled look. “Since when do you care what type of food we eat?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that question, so I looked down. He had caught me, and we both knew it. “Look at me, Melanie,” he said. I sheepishly looked into his eyes. “What is this really about? It feels like you are trying to keep something from me.”

I had no choice now, I had to come clean. “When we ate at your restaurant last month, I met someone,” I said slowly.

He thought for a minute. “That waitress. I remember her, vaguely.”

“Yes,” I said softly.

“Tell me about her,” he demanded.

I couldn’t reply immediately, as I was trying to collect my thoughts. Then I said slowly, “Her name is Gianna and she’s a nursing student at the College of Southern Nevada. She’s working full time at your restaurant, putting herself through school.”

His hard stare softened somewhat. “That’s admirable.” He paused as he thought momentarily. “Is she just some girl you are seeing or is it more than that?”

It was my turn to think for a moment, trying to find the words to explain my relationship with her. “It’s complicated, James; she has a boyfriend and I’m ... and I see you.” I paused. “She spends several nights a week at my apartment.”

“I see, she’s a multi-tasker,” he said, smiling. “She has a demanding college program, a full-time job, a boyfriend, and she still has time to get between your legs several nights a week.” I looked down, blushing. “So what’s with all the subterfuge concerning us seeing her tonight?”

“This dress, mostly,” I said as I looked down, my face once more glowing red in embarrassment.

“There has to be more to it than just that dress.”

“I ... I … I don’t want tonight to turn into a repeat of what happened with Megyn last night, James,” I said hesitantly.

“She told you her real name?”

“Of course she did,” I said, still looking down.

“I can tell you have feelings for Gianna. So what we did last night must not have been easy for you, was it?”

How do I even begin to answer that? “I knew it was what you wanted,” I said. I paused for several seconds, then continued, “She had me so worked up by the end of the night, it would be a lie to say I didn’t want her too.  But it’s not something that I’m particularly proud of now,” I said softly.

It was quiet for a minute or so until his voice broke the silence. “Melanie, nothing will happen with Gianna. However, we do have to go to Summerlin tonight and taste food so I can get a new executive chef hired. There is no way around it and this is something that I have to take care of; do you understand?”

“Yes, James, I do,” I said reluctantly.

As we drove the rest of the way to Summerlin, James told me how David, the manager of his restaurant, had interviewed over fifty candidates and had narrowed the large field down to just three. Tonight we’d be tasting dishes from each of the three chefs so a decision could be made concerning who to hire. I tried to concentrate on what James was saying, but I had little success. I couldn’t get my mind off of Gianna and how tonight would play out.