“You don’t need to have a conversation. All you need to do is find out if he’s into what you’re into, and if he is and you think he’ll flip your switch, you give him the green light.”

She gulped a little and fidgeted with the empty shot glass in front of her. “Doesn’t that make me easy?”

I lifted both my eyebrows at her and indicated the tight, black leather pants I had on and the deep red bustier that was barely containing my chest. “Do I look like the type to judge? And what’s easy? You had to buy a membership, work up the courage to come in here, and find the right guy. That all sounds like work to me. Besides, what happens in this club stays here. That’s part of the fantasy. No one else should ever get a say in the kind of sex you choose to have as long as it’s between consenting adults.”

She considered me thoughtfully for a few seconds and then moved away from the bar. “You’ll help me?”

I nodded. “Sure, and if I can’t deliver, then you always have the option of taking one of Nassir’s guys for a spin.” I pointed to a beefy-looking young man that was obviously checking her out. She put a hand up to her neck again and turned wide eyes to me.

“Holy shit.”

I laughed a little and took her elbow to guide her toward a table of guys that were just a few feet away. “He has good taste.”

“Who? Nassir or that guy?” She had some sass. That made me like her even more.

“Both. Now let’s go get you what you want.”

The first table of guys was a bust. They were too young, and as soon as we approached they couldn’t tear their eyes away from my boobs long enough to pay attention to my new friend. A guy at a second table had more potential, but when he tried to talk to the blonde, she really did clam up and the situation got awkward fast. I struck out with guy three as well. Turned out he was much more interested in the handsome bartender than he was in what we were offering, and I could feel the woman’s confidence and enthusiasm starting to waver with each failure. I told her not to give up even though I was starting to wonder if I was going to be successful in my plans when an older gentleman caught my eye. He was standing off to the side of the crowd watching the circus with amused eyes. He had dark hair with a liberal sprinkling of silver woven into it and a strong jaw with a bit of dark scruff along the edge. He was very, very good-looking in a mature kind of way, and as I started to make my way toward him his gaze skimmed over me and landed solidly on my charge.

“Hi.” I smiled up at him and was floored by the blinding-white smile I got back. Oh, this guy was good and he didn’t even have to try.

“Hello.” I noticed that the lock around his neck was very much open and signaling that he was unattached as I grabbed the blonde and wheeled her around in front of me.

“This is my friend . . .” I trailed off, realizing I hadn’t even bothered to ask the other woman her name.

I nudged her until she offered up, “Clare.”

“This is my friend Clare and she’s looking for someone special.”

His dark eyebrows shot up and that smile kicked up a notch. I thought I heard Clare whimper next to me.

“Is that so? What kind of someone special is Clare looking for?” Direct and charming, he was the perfect guy to give the little blonde what she needed for the night.

“Tell him, Clare.”

She couldn’t have been any redder if she tried. Her mouth opened and closed like a guppy and I thought she was going to blow it again when the man reached out and touched a finger to her lips.

“If you can’t tell me, can you show me?” She shot wide eyes to me and then back to him. I took a step back as she nodded slowly. “Good girl. You want to give me that key?”

Without a word, she unhooked the necklace and handed it over to the silver fox. He put the end in the lock that dangled around his own neck and clicked the lock shut. Watching this, I realized how symbolic the action was. Her key into his lock: it was so sensual and a metaphor for so much more than sex. She owned him for the night, and that had to make her feel like a million bucks.

She mouthed “thank you” over her shoulder as the man led her away and I wanted to give myself a pat on the back. I had always been solidly secure in my own sexuality and it looked like instead of projecting that out and getting others to lust after me, it was time I helped others find their inner stripper and comfort in their own wants and needs.

I mingled some more. Gave Chuck a quick hug when I passed him, did another shot at the bar, which somehow led to me having the bottle of tequila in my hand and encouraging a rather dowdy-looking woman to do body shots off the bar, and generally worked the crowd like a pro. I was totally getting into my groove, finally starting to understand what Nassir meant about giving the club life, when I found a man standing in the shadows off the dance floor while he watched a pretty boy dressed in nothing but a leather G-string gyrate to the EDM blasting through the club’s sound system.

He was shifting uneasily from foot to foot, his eyes locked on the show the other man was putting on. I put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“Go talk to him. What could it hurt?” Only I should have paid closer attention because the man had his lock around his neck firmly clicked closed and it wasn’t the designated color that indicated he was there for some same-sex action.

He puffed up and sputtered at me, “I’m here with my wife!”

I lifted up my hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, friend. I just thought . . .”

“You thought what? Who are you? Get away from me.” The man stormed off in a huff and some of my good cheer dissipated. I wondered what he was doing here with his wife if he wasn’t in search of an opportunity to explore his obvious desire to be with another man. Sad for him and really sad for his wife. I decided I needed a little break. I could only play sexual-fantasy fairy godmother for so long.

There was a break room on one of the floors, but the person I wanted was in his office on the top floor. I hadn’t seen much of Nassir since I walked away from him after that kiss. My stuff had shown up at the house and the housekeeper that obviously hated me had made sure it all got delivered up to my borrowed room, but Nassir wasn’t around. He hadn’t even come back to the house last night, and when I asked the chilly woman in charge of his home about it, she just muttered that he often stayed in the city when he had business.