When she texted me just after ten-thirty, I was ready. I turned off all the lights, pulled all the blackout shades, and left the handcuffs on the counter.

I was going to push her boundaries tonight.

Fourteen

Meg

“What’s with you? Got a hot date later?” Chloe poked me in the side and gave me a knowing look.

“Huh?”

“You keep checking your phone.”

“Oh.” Heat rushed my face, and I glanced around the table, where everyone was still finishing up dessert. “Yeah, kind of. Noah is coming to pick me up and I can’t figure out how to get out of here. He’ll be here in like fifteen minutes.”

“Say you’re tired and want to turn in.”

“You think?”

She shrugged. “Why not? Is your bedroom door closed?”

I thought for a second. “Yes.”

“Perfect. When they get home, they’ll just assume you’re already asleep.” She glanced around the table. “You start. I’ll back you up.”

I flashed her a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I put my phone away, waited about sixty seconds, and yawned dramatically, stretching my arms for good measure. “Wow, I am beat. All that food and wine did me in. I think I’ll head back and hit the hay.”

“Me too,” said Chloe, pretending to stifle a yawn of her own.

“Really?” my mother asked, eyeing us both a little suspiciously. “It’s not even eleven. I thought we’d go back to the house for coffee.”

“Sounds nice, but I’m really tired,” I said, jumping to my feet.

“Same, and I’ve got a bit of a drive home.” Chloe stood too.

“It’s the same drive I have,” April pointed out, one brow arched. She had to know something was up.

“I know, but I’m a baby about my sleep. I’ll walk out with you, Meg.” Chloe grabbed my elbow and tugged me toward the door. “Thanks for dinner, Mom and Dad. See you guys tomorrow. Night, all.”

We hurried through the restaurant, which was fairly empty at that hour. Hitting the lobby, we burst out laughing. “God, that was so bad,” I said, cringing.

“It was,” Chloe agreed. “We are not very good actresses. You’ve got zero chill whatsoever.”

“You’re no better! And I can’t help it. I’m excited to see him.”

“I can tell.”

We said goodnight to the evening desk receptionist, walked down the back hallway past the executive offices, and used the employee exit. “I mean, I knew it was going to be good,” I said once we were outside. “But it was more than that. It was the best I ever had.”

“Wow.” She looked around, but Noah’s car wasn’t there yet. “Want me to wait with you?”

“No, you can go. I’m fine.” I glanced at April’s car in the employee lot. “I just hope I’m out of here by the time April leaves. She totally suspects something.”

“You’re not going to tell her?” Chloe pulled her keys from her purse.

“There’s not really anything to tell. We’re just . . . messing around for the fun of it. And because we kind of always wanted to.”

She smiled like she knew something I didn’t. “Right.”

“What? What’s that face?”

“It’s nothing.” She headed toward the parking lot, calling over her shoulder, “Enjoy, sis. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do . . . which really isn’t much.”

I laughed. “Night. Drive carefully.”

Noah pulled up just a few minutes later. My heart raced as he reached over and opened the passenger door. I jumped in and pulled it shut. “Hi.”

“Hi.” The smile he gave me could have melted butter, he was so fucking hot. “You ready?”

I nodded. “Let’s go, before my parents catch me.”

He laughed as he drove away from the inn. “You snuck out?”

“Kind of. I told them I was really tired and wanted to go to bed.”

“How was dinner?”

“Good. But I wasn’t that hungry. I was too excited to eat.”

“Excited about what?”

I poked his shoulder. “Being with you.”

“Ah.” He gave me a crooked little smile and ran a hand up my bare thigh. “I like your outfit.”

“Thanks.” I’d hoped he would. I was wearing a light brown suede skirt with tall brown boots and an off-the-shoulder sweater in ivory.

“So what color is your skirt? Is that cinnamon?” he asked, his hand inching higher.

I laughed. “No, I’d say this is more like . . . gingerbread.”

“Mmmm. And the boots?”

“The boots are definitely chocolate.”

“You’re making me fucking hungry.” He slid his hand between my thighs, his fingertips rubbing me through my panties. “I want to taste you.”

I opened my knees a little more. “Good.”

He growled and hit the accelerator as his fingers edged inside my underwear. “Fuck. You’re already wet.”

“Told you I was excited.” I grabbed the edge of the seat, my mouth falling open. His touch had me breathing hard and wanting more. “You’re going so fast. Won’t you get busted for speeding?”

“The only one of us getting busted tonight is you—for bad behavior.”

“Bad behavior?”

He slipped a finger inside me. “Don’t play innocent with me.”

“But I—”

“No excuses. Just sit there and think about what you did.”

“What are you going to think about?” I asked, struggling for words as he slid his finger inside me.

“How I’m going to punish you for it.”

He teased me with his hand all the way home. I was so hot and bothered by the time he pulled into his garage, I hoped he’d fuck me right there in the front seat.

But he had other ideas.

“Don’t move,” he told me.

I stayed where I was, and he came around to open the passenger door. Then he grabbed me by the arm and yanked me out of the car. “You’re coming with me.”

His grip was tight, and he moved with long, quick strides toward the house, almost like he was angry. I could barely keep up. He unlocked the back door without letting go of me, pushed me inside, and slammed it behind us.

Then he let me go.

It was pitch black inside the kitchen. I couldn’t see a fucking thing. From the spare bedroom, Renzo began to growl. “Noah?” I whispered, moving deeper into the room, my skin prickling with a mix of uncertainty and anticipation. “Where are you?”

Suddenly I found myself being spun around to face the wall, my arms being twisted behind me, and something being snapped around my wrists.

Oh my God. Handcuffs.

He pressed close behind me and spoke low in my ear. His voice was deep and commanding. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything on my body can and will be used against you.”