“Unless you’re going to tell me you’re a man,” he said with a grin, “I’m sure.”

She smiled. “I thought I might have been too direct.”

“No way. Everything’s good. Lead on.”

Male certainty, she thought, resuming her ascent. Not that she was surprised. Nor would she have had even a moment of equivocation if any of this was even remotely normal.

Au contraire.

Her hots for Jake Chambers was unusual. She’d never been instantly turned on by a man-and she’d seen more than her share of handsome men on her world travels.

Although trying to figure out why this was happening wasn’t in the cards right now. Her carnal impulses were in charge.

And whether cause or effect was driving her, the goal was the same.

“Holy shit.” Arrested at the top of the stairs, she stared at a very large four-poster bed, its provenance India, if the voluptuous female nudes that figured as bedposts were any indication. The piece of furniture was set center stage in a large room that otherwise appeared to be a living room. “Some of Chaz’s usual subtlety, I see.” She shot a glance at Jake, who had come up beside her.

“You got that right,” Jake said, drily. “Is it too much? We could go somewhere else.” He liked that she hadn’t seen it before, her surprise obvious. That it mattered that she hadn’t seen it before, he chose not to consider.

She glanced at her watch, thinking, could she wait if they went somewhere else? Easy answer: no. Then her friends were waiting, too, so time was a factor.

“Are you on a tight schedule?”

“No,” she lied. “Sorry.” Although why was she even worrying about Shelly et al. at a time like this? Her mother’s courtesy-to-others mantra drilled into her in childhood was to blame.

“So-do you wanna go somewhere else?”

Back in the real, more selfish world, her gaze flicked down to his crotch, then up again. “I vote to stay here.” She smiled. “How’s that?”