Page 102 of Crossed Wires: The Complete Series

She considered returning to the guest room then changed her mind. According to Harper, Andrew was out of the country, spending the next three weeks on location in the South Pacific. Amy toed off her shoes then tugged off her blouse, jeans and panties. Stripping off her bra, she added it to the pile of clothes beside the bed and pulled down the sheets.

One night. She’d give herself one night between the silk sheets in the huge bed. Tomorrow, she’d move into the guest room.

Maybe.

* * *

Andrew Shaw pulled onto the road that led to the home he shared with his sister and released a long sigh. He was fucking wiped out. The last three days had been an experiment in torture when his shoot was cancelled due to a monsoon expected to hit the island he’d intended to be make number eight on his Best Kept Secrets show. He’d been in perpetual motion, hopping from boat to plane to boat and then another plane before his producer called to say they were scrapping the visit.

His phone rang, jerking him from his misery. “Fuck.” One glance at the screen told him he wasn’t going to enjoy this phone call.

“What?” Andrew said by way of greeting.

His best friend, Mike, chuckled. “Welcome home. Is it too soon to say I told you so?” Mike, a meteorologist, had been watching the progression of the storm and had told him not to bother getting on the plane in the first place.

“Yeah. It’s too soon. Besides, you assholes are never right. How did you know I was back?”

“Tom called a few hours ago. Gave me the flight times. I just dropped Mars off at his house and now I’m headed home.”

Mike served as dog sitter for his cameraman Tom’s mutt. Given the amount of time Andrew and Tom were out of the country, it was probably safer to say he and Mike were co-owners of the gigantic dog. Not that either man seemed to mind sharing.

“From the sound of your voice, I assume it was a shitty trip.”

Andrew switched on the windshield wipers and bit back a curse. All this rain was starting to piss him off. “It sucked. Did you call just to rub salt in the wound or did you want something?”

They had been friends too long for Mike to take offense at his sharp tone. “You on your way home?”

“Of course I am. Where else would I go?”

“Thought you might blow off some steam at the club. Wondered if you wanted company.”

Andrew had considered heading to Velvet Chains as soon as he got off the plane at O’Hare. In the past, it wouldn’t have even been a question. The private sex club was usually his and Tom’s first stop after a long trip. It helped ground Andrew, relax him.

Mike had introduced him to the BDSM scene shortly after Andrew’s twenty-first birthday. Mike’s father and uncle co-owned Velvet Chains, so his friend had grown up around the lifestyle. Andrew had not. His first trip had been an eye-opening, life-altering experience. Mike jokingly insisted he’d known about Andrew’s Dom tendencies since their freshmen year in high school, but he figured it was best to wait until Andrew was old enough to handle the news.

Lately, however, he’d found himself becoming bored with the action at the club. While the subs were quite pretty and more than eager to please, he struggled to find the same pleasure, the same sense of adventure he’d experienced in the early days.

“Thought you’d given up the club scene since settling down with Joanne. Married life already chafing, Mike?”

Andrew could imagine the goofy grin on his friend’s face at hearing the name of his wife. Since getting married, Mike had adopted the annoying theory that Andrew needed to take a walk down the aisle too if he ever planned to be happy.

“I’d just be going for a drink. Joanne trusts me. Although knowing my sexy girl, she’d probably insist on coming with me.”

Mike had met Joanne at Velvet Chains. There’d been no doubt the moment the two laid eyes on each other they were meant to be together. Though Andrew felt twinges of jealousy over his friend’s newfound contentment, there was no way he’d admit it.

Andrew released a weary sigh. “I’m not going out tonight.”

Mike was silent for just a moment. “Good.”

Andrew felt his temper spike again. Mike had subjected him to too many lectures about his bachelor status, insisting it was time Andrew gave up his one-night stands with strangers and started looking for a serious girlfriend. Mike could be relentless when he got an idea in his head. As it was, he’d tried to set Andrew up no less than a dozen times the past few months with friends of Joanne’s who would be “perfect for him”. So far Andrew had refused every date.

“Don’t start,” Andrew warned, well aware of where the conversation was going. He’d rather hear what a fool he’d been to hop on a flight headed straight for a monsoon than be subjected to more haranguing about settling down.

“Hear me out. There’s this friend of Joanne’s we’d like you to meet.”

Andrew gritted his teeth. “Mike—” he started.

“Before you start making excuses, I really think you should agree to a blind date with Amy. She’s exactly your type. Pretty, submissive, sexy as sin. You’ll love her.”

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