Heat by Jamie K. Schmidt Read Free Book Online Page B

vibrator on the bedside table kept catching her eye. It was her own fault. She should have left it in the box. But she was curious. The instruction manual was very informative. Mallory had tossed the vibrator in the drawer, but then decided it added to the room’s ambience. She even named it Winky—although it didn’t have one eye. She needed something to distract herself.
    The Hot Spot
.
    Safer to stay in her room, though maybe she should go and at least thank Happy Buzz in person for the welcoming gift. Or maybe she should send a card. Did Hallmark make one that said “Thank You for the Vibrator”?
    Hard core. If pleasuring two men while people watched wasn’t hard core, just what the heck was?
    When the headboard from the room next to her started to knock against her wall, Mallory jumped up. “That’s it,” she said, rifling through her shopping bags for the nice new jeans she’d bought. Was there a dress code in the Hot Spot? Heck with it. She was wearing her good bra and her underwear that didn’t have holes in it, so she was going for it. It beat sitting up here and wondering.
    Would Max be in the Hot Spot? Mallory felt a thrill of anticipation shiver up her spine. They’d had a nice time at the mall. He graciously let her take her time and even had an opinion on some of the outfits she tried on. He didn’t ask her any more questions about how she was reacting to the scene or about being tied up. Which was good, because she didn’t trust her answers. She had been turned on, that was the honest truth, but she could never have all those men touching her. Even in a fantasy, she would be too shy. No, she’d just want one man and shewasn’t sure if that was kosher around here.
    When he texted her about an hour later, her heart had leapt in her throat. She didn’t really expect him to come out and invite her to the Hot Spot, but it certainly was a letdown to see a detail of her schedule for tomorrow—including what to eat for breakfast. It wasn’t as if she had anything against an egg white, spinach, and feta omelet, but
screw him
, she was going to have bacon also. She didn’t want to be good.
    And that was exactly what was wrong with her life—well, aside from a drug-addicted ex-fiancé. Mallory had spent so much time trying to be the perfect girlfriend and the perfect employee that she never got the chance to do stupid stuff like the things Colleen based her career on.
    When Mallory was on Long Island studying to be a doctor, Colleen had been in Las Vegas taking her clothes off. When Mallory graduated cum laude, Colleen had just missed being busted for running an escort service for the “whales” at the Diamond Dreams Casino. While Colleen was dating football players and oil magnates, Mallory had been going steady with David, a lawyer from the Bronx who was understanding about her long hours at the hospital because he worked like crazy too. When Colleen’s romance hit the skids, she married up. When Mallory’s romance imploded, she ran for cover. She lived her whole life being the good girl, and what had it gotten her?
    “A broken nose,” she said, running her finger down the bump. David had pushed her and she broke her nose on the door. “A broken life.” She scowled at herself in the mirror. Well, no more. Who was Mr. Max “I have two black belts” Hottypants to tell her she couldn’t handle the Hot Spot?
    “I earned my shot at the Hot Spot.” Mallory pointed a finger at her reflection. “Right, Winky?”
    The purple vibrator didn’t respond, which was probably for the best because, as she got ready to lock up her room and head toward the forbidden place, Mallory wondered if she had lost her mind instead of her inhibitions.
    The last time she’d visited Colleen, Mallory had gotten arrested for soliciting. She had dropped by her sister’s condo and walked in on a bust. The charges were dropped once the cops realized she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It didn’t