Free Bind (Manhattan Lux Book 1): Manhattan Lux by Olivia Devon

glanced down at Jinx.
    She was still gaping.

    * * *
    J inx was in a daze . As a rule, she didn’t do dazes, didn’t really believe in anything other than clear-headedness and control at all times…but yeah, she was definitely kind of—
    “Well you look out of sorts.” Jane, her partner for this evening’s show was waiting for her when she entered the dressing room. “What’s going on?”
    “Men!” Jinx hugged her friend, then went to the wardrobe, found her costume and began changing.
    Jane smirked at her, propped her foot on a chair, and began spreading a glittery moisturizer all over one leg. “Care to elaborate?”
    “New guy.” Jinx grumbled. “Head of security, completely immature. Loves to tease, totally inappropriate—”
    Jane switched legs. “And let me guess. Smoking hot.”
    “He’s…yeah…I mean…well…” Jinx slipped her arms through the sleeves of the skintight mesh and Lycra bodysuit and laced the front up halfway. This outfit always looked best with a lot of cleavage showing.
    “Oh my, he must be a Norse God , because you can’t even string together a coherent sentence.”
    Jinx sat down in the chair opposite Jane and ran a hand through her hair.
    “He’s completely beautiful,” she admitted. “Funny. Charming. Definitely sexy.”
    “So what’s the problem?”
    “We just made plans. For tonight. To fuck.”
    Jane laughed and pulled on what little there was of her costume for the evening—a simple G-string and a bandeau bra in nude. “Hot, funny, wants to fuck. I fail to see the problem.”
    “My dogs love him.”
    “Oh.” Jane stopped fussing with her outfit, and looked up.
    “Yeah, oh,” said Jinx. “If I was sure this was just sex, I wouldn’t be tripping. But…”
    “But it feels like more.”
    “I just met this guy,” Jinx said, shrugging. “I’m not looking for more.”
    “That’s when it happens,” her friend said, her eyes brightening with emotion. ‘When you aren’t looking for it. When you least expect it. One day you just meet someone, and it clicks. It just—”
    “Feels right,” Jinx finished for her. “When he touches me, it feels like…like—”
    “Home,” said Jane, smiling wistfully.
    Jinx sighed. “So what do I do?”
    “You go for it.”
    “I’m so tired of wasting time on men. It’s exhausting.” Jinx groaned with frustration, picked up her hair brush, and began aggressively tackling the knots in her hair. “What if it doesn’t work out?” she said. “He’s my boss’s cousin. That could get messy. I’m not sure it’s worth it.”
    “It is.” Jane’s gaze locked on hers. “Absolutely.”
    Jinx arched an eyebrow. She wasn’t so sure.
    “You’ll never know if you don’t give it a chance,” said Jane. “If it’s not meant to be, then at least you had a little fun. But what if it’s the real thing? You’d kick yourself if you missed that.”
    “Would I though? Plenty of dick out there. Is this one that special?”
    “You said yourself that it is just a second ago.”
    “Right.” Jinx sighed, set down the brush, and fluffed her hair in the mirror.
    “Do it,” said Jane. “Even if you end up with a broken heart. It’s still worth it.”
    “Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all huh?” Jinx scoffed. “Who was that? Shakespeare?”
    “No,” said Jane. “Lord Tennyson.”
    “Really?” Jinx picked her ropes and toys up from the props table and opened the dressing room door. “You sure?”
    “Positive.” Jane strode down the hall, stopped, and turned back. “Go for it,” she said. “I mean it. If you chicken out, if you give up what could be your one chance at happiness with the man that’s possibly the love of your life…you’ll regret it.”
    The look on Jane’s face, so serious, so pained, had Jinx closing the distance between them and embracing her friend. She knew Jane meant well, but this speech felt a little too based on personal experience. Love of her life?