Ruby gave a frustrated sigh. “Ash was only into bondage. There was never any… spanking.” She felt her neck heat, which was ridiculous considering she and Meg used to share everything, including the details of their sex lives. But that was before Meg married, before Ash. With a start, Ruby realized they hadn’t talked like this in months.
She touched Meg’s hand. “Hey, honey. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah! Definitely.” If Meg’s smile was a bit too bright, Ruby ignored it for now. “I was just, you know. Curious.” Meg shrugged. “We’ve been married a while now. It’s normal. Right?”
“What’s normal?”
“To want to spice things up in the bedroom.”
“Sure. Absolutely.” Ruby nodded furiously, but what did Ruby know about being married?
Still, the idea that Meg’s marriage was less than perfect made Ruby uneasy. Not quite sure how to reassure her friend, she said, “Ash never spanked me, flogged me, paddled me, or anything like that.” The words came out in a rush. She inhaled. “He just tied me up.” Secretly, she’d wanted Ash to do those other things to her, but she’d never been able to voice her desires and she couldn’t bring herself to tell Meg now, either.
“So he tied you up and then had sex with you?”
The sound of glass breaking whipped Ruby’s attention to a bartender who had just picked up, and obviously dropped, their empty glasses. With a scowl, Ruby grabbed Meg and led her to a small round table in the center of the room. “Listen. To be honest, the sex itself was pretty vanilla.”
“Vanilla?”
“Traditional.”
Meg’s shoulders drooped. “Oh.”
Bizarrely feeling as if she’d let her friend down, Ruby wanted to say more. But just then the first of the guests came through the door, and she gave Meg’s hand a squeeze. “I promise we’ll talk more about it later. But this is a big night for Emmett, and I want everything to be perfect.”
For tonight’s party, Ruby had booked a monochromatic bar across from the building where Emmett and Meg lived and where Emmett had his recording studio. For the food, she’d selected an array of Mexican-Vietnamese-Italian fusion appetizers, and the bartenders had been instructed to keep everyone happy with the latest rage in cocktails, the chocolate martini. Ruby’s connections in L.A. had told her ’80s hair bands were back in style in a retro-kitsch way, so she herself had created a play list that lent an absurdity to the whole event.
Or maybe that was just her perspective.
Regardless, it was her job to make it work, and she’d done her job well. She always did.
Ruby followed Meg’s gaze to Emmett. He was walking through the door with a small group of people. Two men, one gorgeous redheaded female. The detached air about them shouted “rock band,” and Ruby barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Why did all artist types have to be so aloof? Was it in their DNA?
Whatever. Luckily, this was an early event, and she could be home in a few hours with nothing but a nice bottle of wine to keep her company. Heaven. But now she had to work.
And reassure Meg about her sex life.
Her friend was still staring at her husband, the tallest, lankiest one in the room. “Emmett really wants to record the Riders. Says they’re amazing, the most talented group he’s seen in a long time. He’s become good friends with Mark, the head of the band, and says he’s not just a good guy, but one of the most talented musicians he’s ever met.”
Ignoring the amazing band, Ruby focused on her friend. “Emmett’s the best at what he does. I can’t imagine they’d choose another producer.”
“This could take him to the next level, not to mention make him happy. I really hope this happens.” Meg did a quick wave around the room. “Anyway, you did a fabulous job with the pre-party. As usual.”
Compared to the productions Ruby had been planning lately, this was a small party. But it was for her best friend’s husband, so Ruby had put a lot of extra energy into it. After all, they were selling San Francisco itself because if the band did choose to record with Emmett, they’d be living here for as long as it took to make the record. She wanted tonight to be flawless, hip, and cool.
But more than that, she wanted her best friends to be happy. “Listen, sweetie. If you want to know more about kinky stuff, I’ll help you. I’ll tell you everything I know.” Which isn’t much. “I’ll take you to the sex store. We can look at floggers, paddles, whatever your little heart desires!” Ruby beamed and nodded in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, despite the fact that she really had no idea what she was talking about.