Page 13 of Misbehaving

“Smarter, too, if he loved Claudia that much from the beginning.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy. The best guy. Hard to tell the guy who’s been your best friend throughout your entire college career ‘no’ to a simple request not to fuck his girlfriend’s baby sister.”

“I get it. I do. It’s for the best. You probably would have fucked me and forgotten me like Henry thought.” Beatriz grinned at him, a smile that said, “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“But I didn’t fuck you, and I’ve never forgotten you.”

Beatriz’s smile wavered a moment before returning full force. The combination of her bright white smile and her dark copper skin nearly blinded him. He wanted to see that smile a billion more times before the day he died. At least a billion.

“So…what are we doing here?” Ben asked. Beatriz closed her laptop and moved it to the bedside table.

“Getting reacquainted,” she said. “And having sex if you’re game. I’m sort of on deadline here.”

“You’re serious?”

Beatriz nodded. “As a heart attack. It’s no-strings-attached sex. I won’t even make you buy me flowers after. Think about it while I’m in the bathroom.”

She left him sitting alone on the end of her bed while she went to the bathroom.

Ben took a deep breath and released it slowly. Think about it, she’d said. What was there to think about? Sex with the most beautiful woman in the world? Yes, please. Then again…this was work, she’d said. Just work. Nothing more than work. Did he want to be work? Cock for hire? He’d sworn off women for an entire year, hadn’t he? Then again, he’d sworn off them because he knew he needed to get over Beatriz before dating anyone else. How was he supposed to get over Beatriz if Beatriz was under him?

“To do Bea…or not to do Bea…?” Ben asked himself.

Beatriz came out of the bathroom and stood in front of him. Her bathrobe was open just enough that he could see the curve of her breasts.

Who was he kidding?

“Let’s do this,” Ben said.

Beatriz grinned.

“Good. Thank you,” she said. “Let’s talk about the book. It’s calledTHE MANUALand it’s being billed as ‘The Joy of Sex for Millennials.’”

“What’s a Millennial?”

“Us.”

“Got it.”

“It’s a ‘hip’ sex guide,” she said, putting hip in air quotes. “Most sex position manuals use a lot of technical terminology—it’s all penis, vagina, cunnilingus, fellatio.THE MANUALuses the words we use—vadge, cock and dick, blow job, going down, et cetera. Chapter four is titledFingerbanging for Fun and Profit.It makes sexploration more approachable.”

“Approachable?”

“Do you want to try ligotage?”

Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “That sounds terrifying. Isn’t that something kings did to subjects who pissed them off?”

“It just means bondage. Rope. Handcuffs. Nothing scary. See how word choice can change the way you view a sex act?”

“Oh, bondage. That’s better. But I left my handcuffs at home.”

“Too bad,” she said and gave him a wink. That wink sent his temperature shooting up ten degrees. It wasn’t the only thing shooting up. “But we’ll stick to the basics this week. There are twenty-five positions in the book. We just need to try out about five of them to give a fair review.”

“Five?” Ben tried to mask his disappointment. As turned on as he was he could have tried out five tonight alone.

“Maybe more if we have time. I know you’re busy this week. I don’t want to impose on your cock.”

“Impose on it. Please.”

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