Her chest tightened, an invisible band squeezing out all of her air. No, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to do that. Especially the kid part. But she’d never tell Daniel that. She sipped her coffee and turned back to the window. “I’m fine, okay? I think I’m just tired of being on the road. Let’s drop the whole thing.”
“You sure? You know you can talk to us about anything,” Marcus added.
“Then talk to me about today’s agenda,” she said, desperate to redirect the conversation. “Isn’t the first workshop about sex toys?”
Daniel snorted. “Well, that’s not exactly how we labeled it, but yeah, it’s for couples who are looking to spice up their sex lives. The guy we met with this morning is leading it. Should be a fun workshop if the couples can relax a little.”
“Hell, I’m only going so I can stare at the speaker,” Marcus said, the sound of him folding his newspaper half drowning him out. “It’s a damn shame that beautiful man is straight. Even if he hadn’t presented such a great proposal, I would’ve given him our business.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, maybe I’ll put in an order for a few toys for myself. Get myself a new battery-operated lover and solve all our problems.”
“And no sleeping alone tonight,” Daniel said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “You can share our bed. We promise to behave.”
She turned around in his arms, taking care not to spill her coffee on him, and smirked. “Thanks, that’s sweet, but last time we did that, Marcus snored like a chainsaw the whole night.”
A loud scoff came from behind Daniel. “I did no such thing.”
Daniel chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “We’re here for you, sweets. We’re all in this together.” He lowered his voice. “And all we need to do is roll him on his side after he nods off to shut him up.”
“I heard that,” Marcus called.
She couldn’t help but smile. “I do love you guys, you know?”
“Back at ya, buttercup.” He lifted his head and grinned. “Now let’s go learn how to spice up our sex lives and try to keep Marcus from ogling our guest speaker.”
* * *
Evan fiddled with the wire on the PowerPoint projector and cursed the damned machine under her breath for a second time. A few couples had already drifted into the meeting room, and she knew the speaker would be right behind them. Usually, she was pretty good at the technical stuff and had been successfully setting up the meeting equipment for all the workshops this weekend, but her pounding headache and lack of sleep had pureed her brain.
Plus, she’d discovered that the hotel’s wiring was a bit temperamental, so she didn’t want to overload the circuit again. Yesterday she’d nearly plunged the windowless room into darkness when she’d plugged the computer and the projector into the same power strip. For a few seconds the room had looked like a nightclub with all the blinking lights.
She kneeled down and scooted under the table to check that the surge protector was plugged in, making sure not to flash her backside to the audience while doing so. She never wore dresses to these things because she inevitably ended up doing dirty work of some sort, but the welts on her thigh were still too tender to have pants rubbing against them.
“Need some help with that?”
The sound of the familiar voice had her jolting upward, and she banged her head against the table’s underside. “Son of a—”
“Oh, hell,” Jace said, squatting down and peeking at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. You all right?”
“I think so.” She rubbed her head and took his offered hand so she could climb out from under the table, wondering for a second if she’d actually knocked herself out and was only imagining him here. Imagining him looking this dazzling in crisp black slacks and a polo shirt that perfectly matched his green eyes.
He smiled. “Do I need to render first aid again?”
She shook her head, still a bit dazed, although she was sure the lightheadedness had nothing to do with hitting her head. “What are you doing here?”
“You left before we had a chance to chat last night.” He crooked his thumb at the projector. “I’m today’s speaker.”
The words took a moment to line up in her head. “Wait, what?”
He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed over a business card. “Jace Austin at your service. Owner of Wicked which, as of this morning, is the recommended adult boutique and website for Dr. Dan’s loyal fans.”
Daniel stepped up behind Jace and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Jace, I see you’ve met my lovely fiancée. Evan was so disappointed that she missed our meeting earlier. Something came up that she had to take care of.”
Jace’s gaze met hers. “No worries. I’m sure she’s a very busy lady. I’m just happy that the both of you are staying on for the workshop today. Hopefully, I don’t disappoint.”
Daniel smiled. “Ah, I don’t doubt you’ll do great. Just be aware that some of these couples haven’t so much as touched each other in months, sometimes years. So, they may need to be eased into the topic in order to feel comfortable.”
“I understand. My plan is to have them do some non-threatening, sensate exercises with each other, make it fun and just a little sexy. Then hopefully they’ll be relaxed enough to ask questions after that.”
Daniel nodded. “Sounds good. I really want it to be a safe place for them to have an open dialogue. Plus, I want to normalize some of your products so that they feel comfortable to explore. I think beyond the emotional issues, a lot of couples just get bored with their routine in bed.”
“Well, we definitely have a lot of things to alleviate that last problem.” Jace smiled as he looked at her, then back to Daniel. “Hey, would you and Evan want to participate in the couples’ activity? It may help the group feel more comfortable if they see you guys are willing to do it as well.”
Daniel’s gaze drifted to Evan, and she gave a slight shake of the head. He tucked his hands in his pockets, a mischievous glint flickering behind his brown eyes. “Actually, I’m going to be in and out. I have a conference call I have to take in the middle of it, but Evan can help you out. You can do the activity with her.”
She clenched her jaw so it wouldn’t drop open and sent Daniel a what-the-hell-are-you-doing look. “Daniel, I don’t think—”
“I don’t want to put anyone in an awkward position,” Jace said, his eyes shifting toward Evan, his own discomfort evident. “I don’t mind managing on my own.”
“Don’t be silly,” Daniel said. “Evan will be glad to help, won’t you, sweets?”
She pasted on a smile and vowed to kick Daniel’s ass later. “Sure, no problem.”
He probably thought he was doing her a favor—letting her have a little fun with a hot guy, but he had no idea how hard it was for her to even stand next to Jace without stirring up an old ache she’d rather keep dormant.
Jace eyed her in that way he’d done the night before, like he wasn’t buying her bullshit, but his tone was bright when he spoke. “Great. We’ll get started in a little while.”
Twenty minutes later, Evan was ready to slip out the back door and bail on the whole thing. After introductions and a general overview of what he hoped to accomplish in the workshop, Jace had instructed the couples to ditch their chairs and get comfortable on the floor. The attendees were murmuring among themselves as everyone got settled—a little edge of anxiety zipping through the group.
Jace had assured them that these would all be simple exercises, but as he handed out gift bags that contained a number of sexy items—blindfolds, feathers, scarves—the mellow energy of the room had shifted into nervous anticipation.
Jace finished distributing the bags and circled back to the front of the room where she sat on the edge of the stage, bumping her knee up and down in time with her out-of-control heartbeat. He gave her a wary smile before hopping up on the stage and turning toward the audience.
“All right, guys and dolls, the lovely Ms. Kennedy has agreed to be my willing victim to demonstrate the exercise, so I’d like to thank her for her bravery. And hopefully we won’t make the good doctor too jealous.” Jace winked in Daniel’s direction and the audience laughed.
Jace put out his hand and helped Evan to her feet. “Now since Evan’s up here on stage and has a dress on, I’m going to have her sit in a chair for this, but for everyone else, I want one person lying on the ground and their partner sitting next to them. So first I need each couple to decide who is going to be leading the exercise and who is going to be the recipient.”
The crowd began to hum with conversation again as each couple decided who would play what role. Jace turned to her and lowered his voice. “You sure you’re okay with this? I know your fiancé over there kind of threw you to the wolves—or me, in this case. If it’s weird that—”
“It’s fine,” she said, probably a bit too emphatically, then shrugged in an attempt to appear casual. “I’m a big girl, Jace. I can handle a blindfold and a feather.”
His eyes darkened, an unreadable expression crossing his face. “Right.”
He left her alone for a moment, giving her a chance to catch her breath, and headed to the far side of the stage. The lights dimmed slightly and for a moment she thought they’d tripped the circuit again, but then soft music started playing and she realized Jace was setting a relaxing mood for the group.
When he returned to her, he had a chair in tow. She sat down and faced the very attentive audience. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as a paradoxical combination of dread and anticipation came over her.
Jace circled her chair and braced his hands on the back of it, his knuckles grazing her bare shoulders. “All right, everyone, the first thing we’re going to do is establish a safe word. This is something that’s typically used in more serious sexual play, but I think it’s useful in this context as well. If your partner does anything that you are not comfortable with, you say ‘red’ and everything will stop. Understand?”
The audience members bobbed their heads, and Evan resisted the urge to bite her nails.
“This is all about establishing trust with your partner. Once you feel safe with him or her, you’ll find you’re able to let go and have more fun in the bedroom. So, let’s get started by taking out your blindfolds.” Jace bent and grabbed the little black mask from the bag next to her chair. “You want your mate to focus on the sensation of your touch, not everything else going on around them. So slip this over his or her eyes.”
Jace touched her shoulder, and Evan nearly jumped out of the chair.
“Easy, Ev. I’m just going to put this on you.” He walked around the front of her chair, blocking out her view of the audience, and leaned toward her. His hulking presence hovering over her should’ve made her more nervous, but it somehow eased her hopping nerves instead. Their eyes met for a moment, and she thought she saw worry flickering in his. But before she could examine his expression further, he slid the black material over her eyes and blotted out the view.
She took a deep breath, the loss of vision disconcerting her. Darkness was not her thing. She gripped the arms of the chair and strained her ears to get an idea of where Jace was moving. As if sensing her need, Jace laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, grounding her. The tightening muscles in her body loosened.
His voice was soothing when he spoke again. “Now, the only rule is that you can’t touch the person anywhere overtly sexual—arms, legs, head, and face are all in play. Start with soft, easy touches above the neck. Like this.”