“It looks stunning.” I smiled.
Looking me over, Louisa said, “And so do you. I love those shoes. Very sexy.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Too much fucking estrogen in here. What is it about women that the moment they see each other, they have to compliment what each other is wearing, then talk about it for the next half-hour? When blokes get together, all they’re worried about is where their first beer is coming from.”
Louisa sipped her wine and smiled at him. “See, that’s where men are lacking. They can’t see past their own noses.”
Stirring my spaghetti, I watched in awe as the two started their war of the sexes with one another. It made me think a little about my ongoing battles with my stranger. No matter how many times he wanted me to call him Lotus, I still always reverted back to calling him “my stranger”. It somehow felt more real and darker in a sense. Even a bit sexy, if I were being honest.
“Tyler,” Ian’s voiced called out.
Jumping, I snapped my head to them. I didn’t even realise I was daydreaming.
“She’s off in tie me up world,” he said to Louisa.
She looked at me knowingly and smiled. “Has Brad been back over then?”
I had completely forgotten about Brad. Within an instant, Louisa got up and started inspecting my neck.
“Who’s Brad?” Ian asked as Louisa kept on looking.
“Oh, honey, what are you letting him do to you?” Louisa winked, but I saw a level of concern on her face. She didn’t need to be. Lotus never hurt me. Not yet, anyway. And I didn’t mean in a physical sense. I knew he would hurt me, but it would never be my body. It would end up being my heart.
“He never does anything I don’t want him to do.”
Ian gestured towards Louisa. “See, I told you she was a kinky bitch.”
I frowned, knowing I had completely missed something. “When did you tell her that?”
Louisa laughed and Ian shook his head. “Shit, you were just off in the land of tying up, weren’t you?”
I sighed and Louisa got up to rub my shoulder. “Oh, leave her alone, Ian. Tyler can’t help it if she craves a bit of a rough and tumble.” She winked towards Ian and he bellowed out his laughter.
“Oh, yes, very funny. Let’s all laugh at Tyler’s expense, shall we?” This was one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell anyone about it.
“I’m sorry, babes,” Ian pouted. “We’ll promise to behave. Who’s Brad, anyway?”
“He’s a hot police officer she met at a bar a few weeks back.”
I thought Ian would make another joke, but he surprised me when he raised his wine glass. “Well, as long as he treats you right, I have no complaints.” He frowned a little, then looked at me. “Hold up a sec. I thought you said you didn’t know his name?”
Louisa looked up, frowning. Oh shit. I should have realised Louisa would somehow get involved in the conversation, and I should have realised she would immediately think of Brad. I had been so caught up in the world of my stranger, and now Jeremy, that Brad was the furthest person from my mind.
“Is it Brad you’re seeing, or someone else? I didn’t believe Brad could do something like that.”
“Like what?” Ian asked, confused.
“When we stayed at the mansion, somebody who we thought was Brad snuck into her room, gave her the best two orgasms of her life, then bit her neck.”
“Louisa!” I shouted, unable to believe she was telling Ian this.
Louisa shrugged. “Just telling it like it is, Tyler. You two have known each other longer than I have.”
I felt a pang of regret. Did Ian hate that Louisa knew more than he did? I secretly hoped not. By the look on his face, he seemed rather calm and collected. I think I was the paranoid one.
“So if it isn’t Brad, who is it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know his name.”
“What does he look like?” Ian asked.
What does he look like? I had no idea. The thought made me chuckle a little. “He has a body to die for, he works out a lot, he is a black belt in Tai Kwon Do, and he has the most interesting tattoos on his back I have ever seen.”
That was true enough. I did know that much about him. I knew he was strong, I knew he was powerful and, judging by what I saw at the club—and by what the bouncer had said—I knew he was dangerous.
“He sounds delish,” Louisa said, wriggling in her seat.
Ian snorted. “And I thought it was only men who thought with a certain part of their anatomy. You haven’t once mentioned what he looks like, though. You just went straight in for the kill and told us about his rocking body.”