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head bartender at Risqué. She'd shown up for her shift just
    as Karl had pulled out his phone to dial Val to let him in.

    "Oh! I need to talk to her before the club opens," Samair said. She leaned
    down and gave Val a slow lazy kiss before heading for the door. "Maybe I'll
    see you later, Karl?"

    "Maybe." He nodded.

    Both men watched her leave, and Karl stretched his legs out in front of him,
    trying to get comfortable. "So, how's married life?"

    "We're not married," Val replied.

    "May as well be."

    Karl felt his friend's gaze on him and he stood. He walked to the window and
    looked down on the empty club. The lights were on, the music was on, but
    the club was empty. Sometimes he felt like that.

    Giving his head a shake he kept his back to Val. "Not that marriage would be
    a bad thing for you two. I think you've caught yourself a good woman,
    buddy."

    "There are a few of them out there, y'know."

    Normally he would just shrug off Val's comment. They both knew he wasn't a
    true believer when it came to love and happy endings.

    There had been a time when he was. He'd been a hell-raiser from the time he
    could walk, but his parents had always loved him, believed in him, and each
    other. Even when aunts and uncles, teachers and counselors, had all told
    them he was going to end up in jail or dead by the time he was twenty.

    He'd been serving a year in juvenile detention for stealing a car when they'd
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    decided to go on a second honeymoon—and their plane had crashed and
    burned minutes after taking off.

    Realizing how much he'd taken for granted, when he turned eighteen and
    was released, to honor his parents and the faith they'd always had, he'd
    straightened up and worked to make something of his life. But somehow,
    after that, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see love anywhere.
    What he had seen were too many marriages turn very ugly very quickly. But
    this time, he didn't want to shrug off the comment, or his thoughts.

    He turned from the window and met Val's gaze. "Did you know when you met
    Samair that she was a good one? I mean, I remember you wanted her the
    minute she walked in the club that first night, but it was just lust, right?"

    They'd been friends a long time, but the men rarely talked feelings. They
    didn't need to.

    But now, he needed to.

    Something in him had shifted, and he was feeling like he'd been caught
    flat-footed.

    "It was more than lust." Val steepled his fingers under his chin and stared at Karl. "It was curiosity, attraction, desire. I was… drawn to her."

    "You fucked her on the desk that night because you were curious?"

    "No. I did that because she asked me to, and by the time I was zipping my
    pants, I was hooked. I just hadn't known it then."

    That was a scary thought. "She's totally different from Vera."

    Vera was Val's ex-wife, and a true-blue rich snotty bitch. Completely
    mercenary in going after what she wanted, like most women Karl knew.

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    Sasha White
    "You're right, Samair's nothing like Vera was."

    "But she's a lot like the women you used to date before Vera?"

    "Karl, what's going on?" Val stood and walked over to him. "One of your subs giving you a hard time?"

    "Nah, it's nothing." He gave his head a shake. "Just feeling a little restless, wondering if a change might be a good thing."

    "Change can be good." Val took the hint and shifted the subject. "Samair and I like to change things up all the time."

    Karl laughed, ignoring the slight twinge of jealousy he felt at his friend's
    happiness. Val had fought for his happiness, and he deserved it. "Yeah?
    Does that mean you're going to be my guests at The Dungeon again
    sometime soon? And maybe play a little this time?"

    "I don't think so. We like to keep our games private."

    "Yeah, right! Don't try to tell me you two haven't had gone at it in every room
    of this club."

    "Okay, I won't try to tell you that." He clapped a hand on Karl's shoulder.
    "Let's go shoot some pool before