“Who is Master Storm?” a low voice asked.

She shrieked like a five-year-old girl. Jake Dean had somehow gotten into her bedroom and behind her when she wasn’t looking. “You have to stop that! God, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“He’s good at that. It’s one of his great life skills.” Adam leaned negligently against her doorframe. Mojo sat beside him, their enormous bodies blocking her escape route. Mojo’s tail thumped and his mouth hung open, tongue panting. At least her dog found them amusing.

They were both here in her small bedroom. It was the most straight-man attention this bedroom had gotten in years.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that.” She forced herself to look at Jake. Between the two of them it was obvious Adam would be easier to deal with. Jake was the hard-ass. She didn’t deal well with hard-asses.

A single brow arched above his model perfect face. “I didn’t sneak up. You weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. You were far too busy telling your agent to fire us.”

Adam’s face fell. “What? But we just got here. Look, sweetheart, I know the whole breaking-in thing was scary, but we did have a point. Your security system sucks. And, in our defense, we did call and ring the doorbell. We can’t do our job standing on your front porch waiting for you to finish with the dancing thing. That was adorable by the way.”

She flushed. God, she hated the fact that a part of her wanted to believe he wasn’t insulting her. His teasing tone was soft and cajoling. When he smiled, the most gorgeous dimples showed up on his face. Adam Miles was just about everything she could want in a boyfriend. He was charming and smart, and he came with a built-in alpha-male partner.

Stop right there, Serena Brooks. Your imagination is running wild. The world doesn’t work that way.

“I don’t think this is about the break-in. She said we were making fun of her.” Jake’s brows drew together in a serious expression as though he was working through a problem. “I didn’t make fun of her. I told her to stop yelling. I have excellent hearing. I can’t stand yelling.”
And he apparently thought she was dense. “You know I wasn’t talking about you.” She turned to Adam. It had really hurt coming from him. She’d expected someone like Jake to think less of her for what she wrote, but Adam had seemed more tolerant.

“What? Me? Are you serious? How did I make fun of you?” He seemed to really struggle with the idea.

“You obviously read some of the titles of my books. Look, I get that you wouldn’t read a book like that, but I won’t listen to anyone denigrate the choices I’ve made in my lifestyle. You might not understand or accept it, but I will demand that you respect it.”
Jake actually laughed. “The little sub thinks we have problems with BDSM.”

Adam’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, uhm, you do have some problems, sweetheart. How long have you been in the lifestyle? Or are you a little tourist who likes to rage against the machine?”

“I had to take off my leathers to come here. I was at a club called Sanctum.” Jake’s face had softened a bit. “Adam knows my limits. I don’t like pretty subs spouting filth at me in anger. He has a smart mouth, but he would never ridicule you. Lightning would strike.”

Adam smiled at her. “And the earth would shake. Seriously, we don’t think that way. We’re far too odd on our own. And I haven’t read any of your books, but I would like to.”

Jake’s whole body went on wary alert. “We actually need to. From what I understand, this is about your books, correct?”

She was caught between relief and a dangerous joy. She believed them. They really didn’t care. In fact, Jake seemed to be involved in the lifestyle. She didn’t know many men outside the lifestyle who would use the term leathers when talking about a pair of pants. The thought of Jacob Dean in a pair of leathers, his cut chest on display as he nodded to the floor, silently requesting that she kneel at his feet, made her heart pound. About a million questions popped into her brain, but she forced herself to keep to the questions asked.