Denys, Jennifer - Friendly Seduction [Friends and Acquaintances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Chapter 1

One week later

The doorbell rang. Gina looked up in surprise, and she glanced at the women lounging around her apartment.

Her flat mate, Lissa, was sitting on the floor in her usual relaxed manner, her back to the armchair in which Jessie sat with feet tucked under her. On the sofa next to Gina was Rebecca, while the latter’s sister, Kat, was in the kitchen getting a drink and Rebecca’s friend and business partner, Ellie, was in the bathroom.

It was Friday night—Champagne Night. Well, actually any drink would do, but they called it Champagne night. And they were all here.

So who on earth was at the door?

As she rose to answer the doorbell, Rebecca stopped her. “Hey. If that’s Jon, tell him we’ve barely started,” she called, talking about her fiancé, a Dom who kept close tabs on what she was up to, but only because she did outrageous things. Rebecca might come over as indomitable to some, but Gina knew Jon was deeply in love with her. She grinned in response and continued to the front door.

Jessie laughed. “Well, there’s no chance of it being Sam. He’s out with Matt tonight.” The rest of the women were unattached.

Gina opened the door. “Oh.” She was surprised to find Matt on her doorstep—particularly after what Jessie had just said. She looked around him, expecting to see Sam, too, but it was just Matt. “Not that I don’t love seeing you—but what are you doing here?”

He kissed her cheek lightly and walked into the apartment, breezily asking, “What sort of welcome is that?” Stopping suddenly when he noticed the women inhabiting the room, he turned back to Gina, his previous lightheartedness gone. “Ah. Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

Gina glimpsed Lissa sitting up straight, her face flushed, and Gina stifled a knowing grin. She knew her flat mate had a crush on her cousin—a huge crush. She and Lissa had shared this place for three years. Both of them were in their mid-late twenties but very different in personality—Lissa being a little on the shy side while Gina flirted outrageously with any man. She sighed. It didn’t mean she could find her Mr. Right, though.

“Hey, Matt. Where’s Sam?” cried Jessie, clearly bemused by his lone appearance.

“What?”

“You know, Sam—my husband.” When she didn’t get a response, she continued slowly and patiently, “You’re out with him tonight doing guy things. Or at least I thought you were.” She finished this with a frown.

Gina watched Matt go pale as he cried, “Oh shit!”

The women laughed hilariously at his exclamation as they suddenly realized he had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.

Jessie rummaged hurriedly in her bag. “Oh God. I’d better ring Sam.”

“Hell—it’s Friday night, isn’t it?” Matt queried to Gina as he ignored Jessie’s call to her husband explaining that Matt had turned up there instead.

Gina looked bemused at this comment and smiled. “Yup, all evening.”

“Sorry about this, but I need your help and was hoping to talk to you alone.” He lowered his voice on the word
alone
. She frowned. He was clearly not worried about letting his best mate down, but anxious about something else altogether.

“What’s up?” she asked. She knew Matt had a tendency to get distracted when he was working on a story.

“Um.” He looked in despair at the women who pretended that they weren’t trying to listen in. Gina snorted to herself—she knew them better.

“We can go into the other room if you like,” she offered. Ellie, who had appeared from the bathroom by now and was listening in, too, stuck her tongue out at her.

Unaware of what was going on behind his back he ignored this offer and, running a hand through his disheveled hair in need of a cut, Matt continued, “Well, my editor has told me to write a different kind of story, and I’m stuck. I was hoping you would give me inspiration. But you’re busy, so I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

She grabbed hold of his arm before he could leave, jerking him to a halt. Her cousin was like a brother to her. She knew him well, and it didn’t sound like a personal problem, only a writing one. She also knew he’d never think to ask Lissa out, so she tried to put them together whenever possible, and this seemed to be a good time. “So—ask us,” she suggested, waving a hand at the others but looking in Lissa’s direction. “We can be your muses.”

“
What
!” He blanched and glanced nervously around the room. Gina felt sorry for him—he looked like he was in a lion’s den. She turned to the others, who all waited excitedly for his response, one more nervous than the others, she noted wryly.

“Why not? I’m not the only person in the world that could help you, surely.”

“It’s not like that. It’s different. Oh hell.” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it even more as was his usual wont when anxious.

“What’s different? I’m confused,” asked Gina, crossing her arms and frowning.

“My book’s different. That’s what. My editor has told me to write sex into the story. And I don’t know how.” He closed his eyes in embarrassment as he blurted it out.

Peals of laughter suddenly burst out around the room as the women laughed uproariously at his predicament. Gina was the first to recover. “Um, sweetie. Are you trying to tell me you are a virgin?” she teased him but knew full well he wasn’t.

“No
no
. It’s just, I tried to write sex into my last story, and it didn’t go well. In fact, the story bombed, so I’m trying again. Sam suggested I read a few women’s erotic romances to give me some ideas, which I did. But I’ve still no idea what works in them for people like you. Women that is.”

More shrieks of laughter followed this comment as they all fell about in various states of abandonment. He turned to walk out, clearly humiliated, when Gina held him back again. It wasn’t easy as she was little, and he was fairly well built. She saw he was getting flushed with anger.

“Ladies, please. We’re embarrassing him,” she commented sternly as he struggled in her grip. As the women fought to hold back their giggles, she said firmly to Matt, “Sit down. Come on, sit down and we’ll fire some ideas at you.”

Looking at her as if she had suggested he run naked up and down the street, he stood unmoving and stiff. But she smiled at him encouragingly, indicating that he sit on a dining chair. As he hesitatingly sat on the chair, he pulled out a notebook. The women all looked at him enthusiastically. He let out a deep breath of resignation. “Christ! Okay, I’m here, so throw those ideas at me.”

Silence.

He looked at them expectantly. They glanced at each other with perplexed faces.

“Um, what exactly do you want to know?” asked Rebecca, the first to broach the subject.

“I hoped you could give me an insight into what you like in those types of books. I’m guessing you all read them? Sam said Jessie did.”

There was a moment’s silence when no one denied this. Then Ellie piped up, “You expect
us
to tell you why we’d rather read an erotic romance than go out on a date.”

“Speak for yourself,” retorted Kat, throwing a cushion in Ellie’s direction in derision. For the next few moments some cushions got thrown around the room before they settled down.

“Chocolate.” This came from Lissa in the following calm.

“I beg your pardon?” queried Matt, looking at her with a mystified expression.

“She’s right. Food must be included in any erotic story, in particular, chocolate. It’s a really important part of any erotic romance,” came another comment.

“You’re kidding me!” He stopped writing to stare at the women in astonishment. Gina chuckled at his expression.

“Actually, she’s right. Chocolate came in very handy when Sam and I were starting our relationship,” said Jessie. They
all
turned to look at her in amazement, not just Matt. She grinned and shrugged.

“I’m not even going to ask.” Rebecca shook her head. “As for me, I like cuddling.” The girls giggled. “Well, I do. I love it when Jon takes me on his lap. So intimacy is really important. And I mean
cuddling
on his lap, not sex!” she emphasized loudly when they made rude noises at her statement.

“It’s all right for you two girls, you’ve got guys,” said Kat with a despairing note in her voice. This was despite being drop-dead gorgeous.

“So what about those of you who don’t have a partner, what do you look for?” asked Matt, writing furiously, his previous embarrassment seemingly forgotten in his quest for information as Gina knew it would be.

“Apart from tall, good-looking, and hunky?” she asked.

“You mean short, ugly, and fat guys don’t get written into stories,” he responded jokingly.

“Exactly.”

“What!” He turned from his notebook to look at his cousin, who was lounging on the arm of the sofa. She giggled at his expression of surprise.

“I haven’t read one erotic book yet where the hero is short, ugly, and fat,” replied Gina, looking around at the other women for their agreement. She was rewarded with emphatic nods.

“That’s prejudice,” he replied.

“
That’s
erotic romance for you.” She chuckled. “The guy has to be alpha male.”

Comments of “hear, hear” and “too right” followed.

A quiet voice came from the girl on the floor. “D–Don’t forget he also has to have emotions and feelings. And I am not talking m–masculine emotions of anger, fighting spirit, dominance—unless he is d–dominating the girl. He has to be caring, gentle, kind, protective.”

Everyone turned to look down at Lissa in wonder. She blushed at their sudden attention and ducked her head.

“She’s right,” responded Ellie after a moment.

Matt cleared his throat and seemed unable to tear his eyes away from Lissa.

Gina saw him swallow nervously and grinned at his discomfort. Maybe things were picking up and he was finally noticing Lissa. She turned to see how Lissa was taking his deliberation and caught Jessie’s eye as she did. Jessie raised her eyebrows briefly in response. The two women shared a silent look of understanding.

Frowning as he finally looked back at his notebook, Matt continued, “What about the women in these stories? What are they like if the guys are George Clooney look-alikes?”

The response was immediate. “Beautiful.”

“Gorgeous.”

“Stunning.”

“Even if they don’t think so themselves as long as the hero does and tells her. He has to do this often.” Everyone nodded, agreeing with Kat’s analysis.

“Christ, do I have to?” he groaned.

“Yes,” was the loud reply from all of them.

He wrote this down hurriedly and then paused, nibbling the end of his pen as he considered his next query. “This is probably a stupid question, but I am sure you lot can answer it.” He took a deep breath.

They all looked at him expectantly. Gina chuckled to herself—they were all enjoying this.

“Um. What about the sex in these books? What is that like?” He got the question out but was somewhat flushed as he did.

“Apart from always fabulous?” Rebecca queried.

“I was thinking more along the lines of positions and technique.”

After the initial giggles, replies came thick and fast from all the girls. The word missionary was never mentioned, Gina noticed, but bondage was, as were sex toys, butt plugs, nipple clamps, unusual positions, outside the bedroom, on the table, in public, spanking, whipping.