This was so far out of her comfort zone, she wasn't sure she was still the same Katya anymore. Her Eros profile had come to life and body snatched her. The words coming out of her mouth, the tone of her voice, were completely foreign to her. Yesterday, Katya would have gotten embarrassed. Blushed at the way he talked about her, apologized for taking up his time – even though he'd been the one to stop her.
This new-Katya, though, refused to be embarrassed. He had come there for a reason, to ask her out, so she had nothing to be sorry about, and hell, maybe she would move onto another man. She'd certainly gotten a lot of offers from the website. She squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes, praying her bravado held out for a few more minutes.
“Club house thingy, huh,” he mumbled, his eyes wandering over her form again.
“Are we done? I have some messages to catch up on,” she said, then she went to step around him. He reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Alright, alright, calm down. You want to see my club?” he asked. She noticed he kept putting emphasis on that word, club.
“I don't know, now. You've made it weird. Am I going to show up and it's some football club? A One Direction fan club? I'm not so into those things,” she said.
“How about a sex club? You into that?”
She almost swallowed her tongue. A sex club? He owned and operated a sex club? Did those even exist in real life? And the way he'd said it. A perfect stranger, talking about a sex club with her. In broad daylight.
Maybe I never really woke up this morning and this is all a dream.
“I'm sorry,” she cleared her throat. “Are you saying you want to take me to a sex club?”
“Yes.”
“Is that where you take all your first dates?” she asked, still thinking he might be joking.
“No. Usually I keep it a secret. Freaks most girls out – just like I thought it would you, until I saw that Eros profile,” he explained.
“So let me see if I have this straight. Whatever you saw on my profile made you think I'd be interested in going to a sex club with you,” she spelled it all out.
“Yeah. Clearly, I was mistaken. It was nice meeting you, Katya.”
She was having a moment. A tidal pull on her conscience. This was a bad idea on an epic level. Going to a sex club with a man she'd just met? That's how women ended up on Dateline. Not to mention the fact that Katya simply didn't do things like that – she was more of a museum or opera house kind of girl.
But new-Katya, the woman from the profile, she bristled against old-Katya. Got mad at the way this handsome stranger was looking at her, as if she couldn't possibly be brave enough to try something new and daring. Something sexy and a little dangerous.
“Nine o'clock,” she blurted out.
“Excuse me?”
“I'll need more time,” she explained. “I can meet you down here at nine o'clock.”
“C'mon now, this isn't like truth or dare. No points for trying, it's okay. We can just pretend this didn't happen, go back to avoiding eye contact when we pass each other on the sidewalk,” he suggested.
“Awww, see? You're such a good little girl, trying to look out for me,” she spoke to him in a baby-voice. His smile finally reappeared and she had to will away the blush she felt creeping up her neck.
“Alright, angel cake. Let's see how far you'll take this cute little act. Nine o'clock,” he said, then he finally let her go. She nodded her head.
“I'll be down here,” she assured him, then she started for the elevator.
“Oh! And a suggestion,” he shouted after her. She turned as she stepped onto the lift and saw that his grin was stretching from ear to ear.
“Yes?”
“Don't change your clothing. What you're wearing is perfect.”
Reception (The Kane Series Book 5) Page 11