The bartender cleared his throat, then spoke, his voice cracking like a teenage boy. “Maybe you should consider bringing home two men and letting your husband watch.”

Dominic narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you have a drink to serve? The waitress is snapping her fingers at you.”

“Don’t be rude,” Erin said, liking that the bartender was trying to find a compromise that worked for all three of them. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“Shane.”

She liked his brown eyes, but she loved the hot gleam in Dominic’s. “Nice to meet you, Shane. I’m”—she allowed herself only the slightest hesitation—“Laura.” Because Laura from the 1940s was one of her favorite movies, and the title character was elegant and sophisticated and all the men were in love with her. She tipped her head at Dominic. “What’s your name?”

Dominic smiled. It was a game. She didn’t know him so she didn’t know his name. “Nick.”

She traced his wedding ring, wondering if Shane noticed the match to the one on her finger. “Does your wife call you Nickie?”

Dominic’s grin threaded through his voice. “At the right moment, yeah.”

“Then I’ll call you Nickie, too.”

“Shane,” the waitress hissed. She’d moved down the bar, her face tarnished by tense lines, her hair a darker, unenhanced shade of blond. “I need drinks here.”

Shane shot Dominic with a finger pistol. “Don’t take advantage while I’m gone.”

Dominic merely snorted.

“He’s very protective,” she explained after Shane strolled to the other end of the bar.

“Proprietary is more like it. You must come here often.”

She shook her head, her hair feeling like silk as it caressed her bare nape. “My first time. How about you?”

He swirled the contents of his glass. He hadn’t drunk much of it. “I’ve entertained clients here.”

“Are you a lawyer or something?”

He shook his head. “An engineer.”

“Interesting.”

He propped an elbow on the bar, leaning his temple on his fist as he faced her, giving her his total concentration. “What about you? What’s your line of work?”

She thought of all the exotic careers she could pretend she had. And decided she was happy with what she was. “COO of a manufacturing company.” Chief operating officer. Dominic was president. The titles were meaningless, but they sounded good. “So, no more sex talk after our audience has walked away?”

It was a strange sensation talking to him as if she knew nothing about him, as if they were brand-new to each other. Even his aftershave smelled different, more tantalizing. Or maybe it had just been so long since she’d taken the time to notice. Her body reacted as if this weren’t a role-play, heating, getting wet and ready for the conquest of a new male. The way he smiled was like a caress, setting a tingle loose along her skin. She actually felt breathless.

“Oh yeah,” he drawled, “we’re going to have more sex talk. I just wanted to know more about who I’m talking to. How long have you been married?”

“Fifteen years.”

“You’ve got one very understanding husband.”

“He’s got one very understanding wife.”

“Touché. Not many men would be so lucky.” He didn’t touch her, but his look, his voice, everything about him was almost physical. “Can you test out the goods before the big date?”

“Of course. What if I found out my choice wasn’t properly equipped?” She winked. “Or didn’t know how to utilize his equipment effectively.”

“That could be disastrous,” he agreed, unbuttoning his suit jacket so she could assess his package through his pants.

She glanced down. “On the face of it, you don’t seem to have any equipment problems.” Obviously hard beneath the material, she didn’t have to touch to gauge how big he was.

Shane made his way back down to them. “What did I miss?”

Dominic tipped his head without moving his fist from his temple. “Equipment assessment. I passed.”

Shane guffawed, glancing over his shoulder when he realized he’d attracted attention. The piano player played louder—unless that was her imagination—and the only man still paying attention after that was the one who’d tried to buy her a drink. Shane stepped back then, legs slightly spread, hands at his hips, pelvis jutted.

“Oh my,” she murmured.

He beamed, shooting Dominic a triumphant smile.

“But size isn’t everything,” she said.

Dominic and Shane snorted simultaneously.

“Men.” She sneered gently. “It’s not the size; it’s what you do with it. And not just it.” She arched one brow. “But all the other stuff that goes along with it.”

Shane leaned in to brace both hands on the bar and dropped his voice. “I think she’s talking about foreplay.”

She leaned closer, too. “The term was invented by men. As if it’s before the real play. To a woman, it can be everything.”

Shane regarded her a moment, then looked pointedly at Dominic. “Well, Nick, I do believe we have to convince Laura here that she needs to make her husband watch, because it sure sounds like the man’s got a lot to learn.”

Erin felt her smile stretch. “Yes, Nickie, what do you think of that? Does my husband need some lessons?”

His mouth quirked. “Oh, I think you have a lot to teach your husband. I bet there’s stuff you’ve never told him.”

She enticed them both with a low, husky voice that didn’t sound like her at all, yet felt so right. “Maybe it’s time for him to find out.”

“What do you want us to show him how to do?” Shane kept his voice low. His body vibrated with sexual tension, but his eyes danced with humor.

Her skin was flush, her heart racing, and her nipples peaked against the Lycra. This was new and exciting and the slightest bit frightening. But God, she loved the banter. “This is still only hypothetical, remember,” she warned.

“Of course,” they recited in unison.

She thought about what would make them crazy. Oh, for sure, this was going to be fun. “So do you want my fantasy. Or do you want my husband’s?”

“I want yours, too,” Dominic agreed.

Erin’s eyes widened slightly. Dominic figured she’d been expecting him to say he wanted it from her husband’s point of view, but it didn’t matter how long they’d been married or how often they’d fantasized, he knew there had to be something she hadn’t told him. Some dirty secret, something she wanted but had never revealed.

The waitress growled through gritted teeth. “Shane.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her, then turned back. “She’s a spoilsport. I’ll be right back.” He pointed at Dominic. “Do not get her to talk without me.”

“Don’t hurry on our account,” Dominic answered. Although he did want Shane to return. The other man seemed to up the ante for Erin. He heightened her interest, her pleasure, her excitement, if the light sparkling in her eyes meant anything.

“So tell me, have you done anything naughty like this with your husband yet? Or has it all been fantasy?” Sure, he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her describe Miterberg’s party, her feelings about it.

Her lips curved in a sexy, sultry smile, setting his libido buzzing. “If I’d met you a week ago, the answer would’ve been no. But . . .” She left the word hanging.

“Then I assume something very interesting happened this weekend. How did you feel about it?” It wasn’t what a guy trying to pick her up in a bar would ask, but this was no ordinary pickup.

She sat straighter, drew in a deep breath, and put her hands behind her neck, her breasts thrust out, as if she were working out a few kinks. “It was marvelous. I felt . . .” She hummed lightly in her throat, thinking, deciding. “I felt free. So alive.” She brought her hand down, sliding it along her thigh. “And so in charge. It was exhilarating.”

It was the last that surprised him, being in charge, as if that was something new for her. Erin never really gave up her control. “So you like a little dominance?” he queried.

She shook her head, her hair shifting over her shoulders, the light glinting in the red. “I didn’t mean it like that. More like being in charge of the situation, of what you’re doing. Not having people depending on you to make decisions when you know they’re not going to do what you tell them to anyway.”

He should have realized that, but it wasn’t something he’d really thought about. Despite the fact that she gave orders at work, kept everybody going, she’d been in charge of nothing, at least not in her own mind. She couldn’t control anyone’s actions; therefore, she was not in control. Her control had been stolen from her over a year ago. He didn’t know how to help her with that. Christ, he didn’t even know how to help himself. All he could do now was file the knowledge away for later.

He wanted her to tell him what she and her “husband” had done, but the recitation would be so much more effective if the bartender were there to hear it. Dominic glanced down the bar where Shane was setting the last of five drinks on the waitress’s tray. He shot Dominic a devilish smile as if he assumed they were a team, working Erin together, which was certainly the impression Dominic had given him.

What if he invited the bartender home? What would Erin do? He didn’t want to lose her by pushing the night too fast. For now he wanted to know what she’d say in front of Shane, wanted to test her, find out how explicit she’d get. It had been different with Winter; she’d never acknowledged him. They’d talked over her, about her. She’d been the observer. This was different. Shane was bound to ask questions, egg her on.

Then Shane was ambling down the bar, a towel in one hand, three clean glasses on the fingers of his other hand. He set them upside down to drain. “What did I miss?”

“I was about to ask”—damn, what had she called herself?—“Laura what naughty things she’s done with her husband.”

Shane dried a glass slowly, painstakingly, keeping his hands busy should anyone be watching. “Hell, glad I didn’t miss that answer. But what was Laura’s biggest fantasy? That’s what I walked out on.”

Erin bit her lip, her gaze floating from Dominic to Shane and back again. Dominic gave her a nearly imperceptible nod. “Don’t mind us,” he coaxed. “Get as explicit as you want.”

Shane smiled, nodded.

Erin leaned an elbow on the bar, propped her chin on her hand, and fell into the game. “Well, my biggest fantasy was what happened this weekend.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Dominic said. Was she going to make something up, revealing her fantasy that way? Because what they’d done in Orlando hadn’t been her idea; it was his.

“We went to a party.”

They both looked at her. “And?” Shane prompted when she didn’t continue in the very next moment. The guy was impatient, but Dominic figured Erin liked his intent interest.

“We met an extremely handsome man.” She tipped her head. “In fact, you remind me a little of him.”

Shane pumped the air with a fist. “Score one for me, dude.” He grinned at Dominic.

“You’re slowing the pace of her story, man.”

Erin crossed her legs the other way, giving them a view of her shapely thigh, then flashed Shane a sultry smile. She obviously liked the tug-of-war for her attention. “As I was saying,” she went on, “he was a handsome man with some gray in his hair”—hell, Winter was all gray, but Dominic wasn’t going to quibble with her description—“and he seemed . . . interested.”

“Interested in what?” Shane wanted to know.

“Duh. What do you think he was interested in?” Dominic muttered. “We’re talking to a very attractive woman here.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Erin sipped her wine. She was drinking slowly now, with more than half a glass left. “Anyway, I think he was interested in sex,” she lowered her voice for the last word.

Shane finished drying a glass. “With you or your husband?”

Dominic laughed out loud and slapped the bar with his hand. “Man, you are insane.” Several pairs of eyes turned their way, but the audience was dwindling. It was after nine, and as Shane had said, the bar was starting to clear out.

“Sorry.” Shane smiled sheepishly. He zipped his lips. “I’ll shut up now, promise.”

Erin liked him and his little interjections. He made things fun, and she didn’t have to be nervous. “He was interested in me,” she said.

“I knew that,” Shane answered.

Erin leaned over and put her fingertips to his lips. “Shh.”

Shane deliberately licked her fingers. A rush of warmth spread through her, then Dominic put his hand on her knee and slid it up her thigh. She was suddenly hot everywhere.

“Tell us what you did,” Dominic urged. “Everything.”

She subsided into her seat. Shane’s gaze on her was scorching. Dominic’s touch made her wet. Her breath came faster, sharper. She skipped the in-between stuff and went for the only thing that mattered. “My husband invited him back to our hotel room to watch me touch myself, make myself come. A performance.”

“Shit,” Shane breathed. “Did you do it for him?”

“Yes, I did.” She put both hands on the bar, leaned closer, voice low because this time she didn’t want anyone to overhear. “And I loved it. Every moment. The way he looked at me. How hard he got. I’ve never been so wet. I’ve never come so hard.”

As she spoke, Dominic’s hand slipped up her thigh, to the edge of the skirt’s slit and beyond. She moved, and the slit rose higher, almost to her crotch. She felt his heat through her panties. He rubbed her thigh, the edge of his pinkie caressing her pussy right through the material.

Shane dropped his gaze. He knew what Dominic was doing. “Did you fuck him?” he murmured.

She flexed her fingers on the bar, breathed deeply, trying to maintain control, but God, Dominic’s touch, Shane’s gaze, her own voice, the moment Dominic had told her he wanted Winter to watch, how badly she’d wanted to; it all threatened to overwhelm her. “I wanted him to fuck me.” She moved her hips, bringing Dominic’s touch closer. “My husband did it instead. He fucked me right in front of the man after I was done masturbating for them both.” If she hadn’t been afraid, that’s what she would have done. Everything she described.

They could have been alone in the bar, her, Shane, and Dominic. The waitress no longer hissed her orders at Shane, there were no greedy eyes drinking in everything, and the piano was nothing more than music drifting on the air. There was only her, her husband, and another sexy man.

“Was he too jealous to let the other guy do you?” Shane asked with a kind of reverence for her story.

“No. I don’t know.” She couldn’t remember what she’d wanted, Dominic’s jealousy or his desire. Maybe both all wrapped up together. “I don’t think I told him he could let the man do me if he wanted to.”

“But that’s what you wanted, isn’t it.” Dominic’s fingers pressed harder against her, his voice insistent.

“That’s what I wanted,” she said, her voice sounding breathless and excited even to her own ears. “All of it, exactly as I told you.”

Good God, she was letting Dominic touch her in public, even if the lighting was dim and his moves were below the bar and out of sight of everyone except Shane. Her ears buzzed. Her body vibrated. She didn’t care about what she should do, she only cared about what she needed. Here, now. His fingers slipping into her panties, testing how wet she was, playing her, stroking her, circling her clit until his heat became her heat. That was having complete control, taking what you wanted no matter what.

Shane’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Some day he’s going to let it happen. He’s going to sit back and watch while another man does all the things he’s done, tasted you, sucked you, fucked you.”

Then even his voice was silent, only his lips moving, talking dirty, mouthing how much he wanted to be that man. And Erin came so hard, her head seemed to burst.