The Gallery_A Reverse Harem Romance Read online

  That was one of the ways to spot a newbie. They stared. Sex party etiquette dictated you could look around, of course, but you had to be discreet about it so as not to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Most people at sex parties, when they were butt naked and getting it on, enjoyed being watched—why else would they be there?—but they didn’t want to be creeped out by someone with no game.

  But that was okay, because most people caught on pretty quick, and those who didn’t weren’t invited back. Pretty simple.

  So even though the beautiful Avril was still fully clothed, and would probably remain so the entire night since she was only scoping out our business proposition, I didn’t let her catch me staring. In fact, when she finally did meet my eye, I waved and moved on to another room.

  I’d made the mistake—at least, I think it was a mistake—of inviting the cute blonde server from the Hamptons party, as our guest. She came with an equally cute friend, and they were throwing themselves at a well-known city council member. He appeared to be enjoying himself, but they were really pounding the booze, and I wasn’t sure things were going to end well.

  Sometimes I felt like a damn babysitter, but I was well paid for the effort. All of us guys were. We just needed a new venue.

  Time to chat up the lovely Avril.

  On my way over to her, I ran into Gio and Chase.

  “Hey, that’s Avril over there with Blu, right?” Chase asked.

  Ash joined us. “Oh yeah, that’s Avril. Amazing, isn’t she? I went to see her at her gallery.”

  All heads whipped in Ash’s direction.

  “Yeah?”

  “Nice space?”

  “Good art?”

  He smiled quietly as he always did. “The place was awesome, in fact perfect, and exactly what we are looking for,” Ash said. “I bought a nice painting and got a sweet kiss on my way out.”

  “Ah. She is a bella signorina, for sure,” Gio said.

  “Sum, what the fuck is wrong with her husband? He needs to have his head examined,” Chase said, frowning.

  I shook my head. “No idea. He’s crazy to let someone like that get away. Speaking of which, Chase, Gio, let’s go meet a potential business partner. We’re gonna go chat her up and see what she’s thinking of our little proposition.”

  “That’s not our only proposition,” Ash called after us.

  “Sum!” Blu called when he saw me approaching.

  Blu helped Avril to her feet, and she held on to him tightly.

  What was that all about?

  But I didn’t have to wonder for long.

  She teetered in her high heels. “Hi, I’m Avril!” she exclaimed, grasping my hand in both of hers, then introducing herself to Chase and Gio.

  “Hey there girlie, don’t knock my brothers over.” Blu gave her a stern look and straightened her up.

  She shook her head, which seemed to slightly clear the cobwebs. “Sorry. I guess I’m a teeny bit buzzed.”

  I ran my hand across her shoulder and reached for the long hair behind her back. She watched me pull a handful of it to her front, where I strategically let it drop, fanning over her left breast. When I let go, her gaze floated from my hand up to my eyes, where we stared at each other for several seconds. I hadn’t seen dark eyes that beautiful since—well—ever.

  Blu watched the whole thing, unsure of what to do. He was usually happy for us guys to pursue a beautiful woman, but he was clearly protective of this one. I could respect that. I sort of felt the same way, and I barely knew her.

  “What do you think of our club, Avril? Do you like it so far?” Chase asked.

  She looked down for a second, then back up at us. “I do. It’s kind of shocking at first, but then you get used to it. It’s beautiful to see people enjoying themselves like this.”

  Yes. She got it.

  “Right?” Blu asked. “I mean, I could give a shit about straight sex. In fact, it’s kind of gross, if you ask me. But there’s something so sexy in the air at these parties.”

  “Not to mention the money to be made, right Blu?” I added quietly.

  He nodded.

  “C’mon, let me show you around.” I extended my arm for her to hold. “Guys, do you mind excusing us for a bit?” I asked.

  “Not at all Sum, you crazy kids go have fun. I have some meeting and greeting of my own to do.” He blew us both a kiss and scooted off, followed by Chase and Ash, totally comfortable leaving Avril in my qualified hands.

  “We’ll catch up later, Sum,” Gio said, amused, watching Blu skip off into the crowd.

  Avril and I walked to the second floor of the venue where Kink Lab was being held for the last time.

  “It’s a shame you can’t use this place again,” Avril said. “It’s just perfect.”

  “It is. It really is. But the building’s being turned into condos.” I turned to her, holding her arms. “But Ash told me he visited your gallery, and that it was the perfect alternative.”

  Even in the dark, I could see her turn several shades of pink.

  “Oh. Ash told you he came by?” she said, like she’d been caught doing something nasty.

  I had to nip any concerns like that in the bud, and quickly. “He also told us he bought an amazing painting. And that he kissed you.”

  She pulled out of my grasp and started to walk away.

  “Avril, please. Wait.”

  She whirled around. “Yes, Sumner, I kissed him.”

  “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “I just don’t appreciate him telling you that. I’m going through a lot right now, and I don’t like being gossiped about.”

  “He likes you, Avril. So do I.”

  “Huh?” she asked.

  I led her to a sofa in a quiet corner.

  “Ash would like to date you. And I would too.”

  “What?” Confusion muddled her pretty face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  A couple partygoers floated by, completely naked, nodding as if the were just passing us on the street.

  “The four of us, actually—I’m including Chase and Gio—we share. We like to date the same woman.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Share? One woman? What? I don’t get it.”

  “It started when we were in college. Gio and I always like the same girls, so we would date one if we found she that was into it. It worked out great. And over the years, Chase and Ash realized they liked the same women we did.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think I understand.”

  “I get that. There’s a lot going on. I mean, here we are at a sex party.” I gestured toward a woman on her knees, servicing a very happy man.

  She looked around the party. I’d thrown her off, and I felt a little bad about that. But anyone would be thrown off by a night like the one we were having.

  “No pressure, Avril, about hosting Kink Lab, or anything else. But I do hope you’ll consider the gallery as a place to host.”

  She looked down at her hands, so I hooked my finger under her chin to meet her gaze.

  “It’s your party, beautiful. You decide whom to invite.”

  Chapter 11

  AVRIL

  It’s my party, Sumner had told me.

  He was right.

  My fucker of a husband had dumped me for my whoring assistant. All our friends acted like I had the plague. My credit cards had been cut off, and I was going to be out of money pretty soon.

  The only reason the limo driver was still coming around was that he felt sorry for me. And I knew that was going to end soon.

  No time like the present to change things up.

  “Yes,” I blurted, before I could change my mind.

  Sumner tilted his head just the smallest amount, his dimples flashing, then disappearing again into the gorgeous planes of his face.

  “Yes, what?” he asked.

  “Yes, you can use the gallery. I mean, let’s try it once, and see how it goes.”

  He nodded slowly. “Okay.
We’ll give it a shot. See what happens.”

  I looked around the room at the beautiful people milling about. Some were dressed, some were naked. Some were having sex, and some were politely watching. The woman who’d answered the door earlier in the evening, wearing with the circus-type makeup, flitted by us. She was holding the hand of a man and woman and looked like she was on her way to someplace very important.

  Well.

  Hosting Kink Lab at my gallery might just work. The guests didn’t seem the types to get out of control, so I wouldn’t have to worry about my artwork. Of course, it didn’t hurt that there were several burly bouncers walking around, discouraging any sort of bad behavior into oblivion.

  “I can see you’re tired,” Sumner said.

  Busted.

  I’d tried to stifle a yawn, but apparently wasn’t as sneaky as I’d thought.

  “I’m sorry, Sumner. That was so rude of me. I haven’t been sleeping well. I have a lot going on, and I probably had too much champagne.” I reached back to rub my neck, stiff from multiple nights of tossing and turning.

  He nodded while his sultry gaze studied me. It was unsettling. In a good way.

  “Yeah. I guess everyone knows my business these days,” I sighed.

  “People know some of your business. But not all of your business.” He stood and extended his hand.

  I let him pull me to my feet. I was amazed at how my fatigue had suddenly weighted my arms and legs. Funny how that sort of thing sneaks up on you.

  “Let me take you home,” he offered.

  “Okay.”

  I wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but I figured I’d find out pretty quickly.

  I’d sent my driver home long ago, so it was nice to have someone hail a cab for me. He followed me into the backseat.

  “Oh, I forgot to say goodbye to Blu,” I said, reaching for my phone to send a text.

  Sumner glanced at his watch. “He usually heads out about this time. He has his own social circle to catch up to.”

  I gave a small laugh. “Isn’t that the truth.”

  He turned to face me. “Avril, you are so beautiful tonight,” He brought my hand up to his mouth and ran his lips across my palm.

  Good lord. And the way he looked at me. If I wasn’t careful, I might melt right there on the backseat of the cab.

  He smoothed his fingers across my cheek to reach my hair, letting them tangle in and out of it. Devon had done that when we were first married, but I could no longer remember the last time he had.

  Sumner’s hand, expansive and strong, was warm, actually hot against the back of my neck. I let my eyes flutter closed and dropped my head against him.

  When I turned my face to look at him, he brushed a light kiss over my lips. And almost before I could register what he’d done, he was already looking out the cab window again, the streetlights flashing over his face as we passed each one.

  That was all I was going to get?

  I screwed up all my courage. “Would you like to come in with me?” I tried to sound bold and worldly, but I think it might have come out as more of a squeak.

  Holy shit, had I really just said that? I immediately regretted it.

  But the evening had been so sexy, and Sumner was so damn gorgeous.

  And it had been so long…

  He ran his hand through his black hair and sighed before looking back at me.

  “Yes. I would like to. Actually, I’d love to. But I’m not going to.”

  Geez. Way to make a girl feel good.

  “I will, however, come in with you another night, after I’ve taken you for a proper evening out, when you are not on the brink of falling asleep, and when you are not already buzzed by several glasses of champagne. I make it a practice to never go home with women under the influence.” He smiled down at me.

  Goddamn. Where had this man come from?

  And he was right. It wasn’t the right time. It melted my heart that he respected me enough to want it to be a special evening. We pulled up in front of my building, and he walked me to the door.

  “I’d like to have dinner with you this weekend,” he said, waiting for me to turn my key in the lock. “And I want to give you a heads up that Chase may be calling you, too. Actually, all the guys probably will.”

  I still didn’t get it.

  But I was too tired to belabor the point. I’d try to figure it all out later, when I wasn’t so pooped. I had plenty of time on my hands now that I was persona non grata in my old community, so what was the harm in hanging out with gorgeous men who were all friends, all wanted to date me, and who all knew about each other?

  Okay, that was just crazy talk. But at least I couldn’t get in trouble for being deceitful. Unlike some people…

  And the way Sumner had kissed, his lips soft but confident. Like a man who knew who he was, and what he could get done…

  After our good-nights, I walked as quickly as I could through the lobby to the elevator. I was afraid if I didn’t move fast enough, I wouldn’t make it to bed. As it was, once inside my apartment—the one I used to share with a husband—I threw my clothes on the floor, climbed under the sheets completely naked, and pulled my fluffy down comforter up to my ears. My mind turned off almost immediately.

  Unfortunately, my dreams did not.

  Since she’d left me, Lisette liked to visit my dreams. Whether she was really there or my imagination had just conjured her because I missed her so terribly, I’d never been entirely sure. But the dreams alternated between comforting and disturbing. I never knew what I was going to get and consequently, they were a constant source of worry.

  In my dream that particular night, which was the same as in so many others, we were driving, laughing, talking, and I was trying to fix her hair—just as we had been on that fateful day. The problem was, I was also driving the car.

  As we did our usual sister thing, I flew through a traffic light. All I know about what followed was that we collided with something big, heavy, and loud.

  Lisette didn’t make it. I almost didn’t, but I managed to survive with several broken bones and a closed head injury.

  But in my dream, Lisette did live. And instead of her dying and my being severely injured, when we crashed, the car spun several times. It bounced off other things in the road, exactly what, I wasn’t sure, and when we came to a stop, she looked at me.

  “Holy shit. That could have been bad.”

  I was so scared, I was shivering, and we held hands until our knuckles turned white. But we were okay, and we were together.

  If only.

  I woke with the morning sun elbowing its way into my room as if it were my own personal, torturous alarm clock. Thank goodness my dreams were behind me—well, they were never really that far behind me—and I could dive into the distracted busyness that daylight brought. I threw on my clothes and called my car for a ride down to the gallery.

  Funny thing was, the driver didn’t answer.

  So I called again.

  Guess he was gone. Fucking Devon. Didn’t even have the balls to tell me ahead of time. How was it I married someone who turned out to be such a piece of human garbage? It was so puzzling, not to mention downright painful.

  I’d had a husband whom I thought loved me. He’d been nice, kind, and supportive. What makes a person change on a dime?

  But I pushed those thoughts out of my head. I needed a break from the shitty days I’d been having, and I was going to make this a good one if it goddamn killed me. As soon as I was dressed, I ran out in front of my building and caught a cab.

  Twenty minutes later, as I was unlocking the heavy door to my gallery, I heard the phone ringing from the other side. I got to it just in time.

  “Took you long enough,” Blu said, his voice full of sleep.

  “Blu! Good morning, sweetie,” I said, really laying it on. I knew that would irritate him to no end. “How late were you out last night?”

  “You don’t want to know, Av. But I can tell you, it was wo
rth it.”

  “Well then, I’m happy for you.” I locked the gallery door behind me. I had two hours before opening, and I had a ton of office work to catch up on now that my whoring ex-assistant wasn’t around to help.

  He yawned in my ear. “Enough with the pleasantries. Tell me what you thought of the club.”

  I chose my words carefully. It was his business and his livelihood, after all.

  “I gotta tell you,” I said, “it was…it was incredible. I mean, it was weird at first, but when I got used to watching people—you know—”

  “Av, say it. F-U-C-K-I-N-G. People were fucking. You’re thirty years old. You gotta start using the F-bomb like you own it,” he said.

  “Okay. Okay, then. I liked watching the fucking. It was hot as hell.”

  “There’s my girl. I knew you weren’t born yesterday, even if you’d spent the last three years of your life married to the biggest tight-ass in Manhattan.”

  “Okay then. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck. Are you happy now?”

  He cackled so loudly that I had to pull the phone from my ear.

  “I knew there was hope for you, Av. I will teach you to be a dirty girl, just like me. You’ll be whoring around before you know it.”

  “Um, well, I don’t really think so—”

  “Anyway,” he interrupted, “what about the guys?”

  Ugh. I knew he was going to go there.

  “What do you mean?” I asked to stall for time.

  “You know what I mean,” he said slowly.

  Yeah. I guess I did.

  “Sumner told me a bit about their particular…tendencies,” I said.

  “Mmm hmm. I bet he did. So what are you gonna do?” he asked.

  “Blu, if you knew these guys were into this stuff, why didn’t you ever say anything to me? You know, give me a heads up?”

  “Oh. I see. It’s my job to give you a heads up that a harem of men might be interested in you? Well, I tell you what, missy…”