Page 127 of Exposed

“I’ll tell you, I was a little worried about it. I wanted tonight to go perfectly and it’s always iffy on a Friday in this part of the club. But reconstructing any other room so quickly would have been difficult.”

“Wait, this isn’t the whole club?”I guess Mason had mentioned some rooms…

Tanner laughed. “No. This isn’t really even where the real Club Onyx truly begins. The magic happens down that hall.” He nodded to an opening in the back of the room by one of the lion cages.

“And what exactly is down that hall?”

He smiled. “Well, aren’t you and Matt both curious tonight? He just asked me the same question.”

“And what did you tell him?” The hallway looked dark and empty to me.

“I told him he’s welcome to go through. And to take you into the room with a mask on the door. I have a feeling you’ll both enjoy it.” He pulled out an old-fashioned key and slipped it down the front of my dress.

Just the way James had slipped a keycard down my dress 16 years ago.

I looked back over at the hall. “So thisisa sex club?”

“Not at all. Is there sex in most of the rooms here? Of course. All good relationships need that foundation. Intimacy is a vital part of being in love. But look.” He pointed to the wall behind me. “See those portraits? Those are couples that met here.”

There were tons of happy couples smiling in the portraits. “You got all those people together?”

“Just like I got you and Matt back together. And got Kennedy and Felix together.”

“So you’re a matchmaker? Not a mobster?”

“If only.” He stared at the wall with a frown.

I didn’t know what that meant. But he was staring at the happy couples and he looked so…sad. I understood that feeling. “It’s going to be okay, Tanner.”

“Maybe one day.” He cleared his throat and looked back at me. “I also have an odd sense that your father and Kennedy’s mother may have a sexual connection.”

“Ew, what? Don’t tell me that.”

He laughed. “You’ll see.”

“I really don’t want to see that.”

“Everyone deserves happiness, Brooklyn. Life is so fleeting.”

I wasn’t sure my father deserved happiness. And I wouldn’t wish him upon anyone. Especially someone as kindhearted as Mrs. Alcaraz.

“Ah, and here comes your match runner-up.”

“What?” I turned to see James standing there.

“Match runner-up?” he asked Tanner.

“If Matt and Brooklyn weren’t a perfect match. It would have been you two.” He took my hand off his shoulder and handed it to James. “In another lifetime, I think.”

James laughed as Tanner walked away and looked down at me. “You and me in another lifetime? Do you think that’s true?” He put his hand on my waist and stepped forward so that I’d step back to the music.

“I honestly can’t imagine you with anyone other than Penny.”

“Well, you and I certainly would have fared better than me and Isabella.”

I laughed. “Definitely true. And you did propose to me.”

“I did.” He smiled down at me. “My first proposal. But not yours.”

---