But after I’d tapped out three different versions of a rejection text and deleted all of them I started to wonder if Adam was the answer. If he could be my ticket to finding Elise. I’d hit a dead end. And even though Adam was not a member of the club when Elise disappeared, he was a member now. He might know something. He might’ve been invited to a soiree I didn’t know about.

Maybe the club’s owner, Marco Kelly, had a secret coordinator that catered to higher-level members. Maybe there was a membership I was unaware of. Maybe Adam was one of those members and if I could charm him, I could get access. If not to secret parties, at least to his home. I could win his trust and negotiate my way into his bed.

That was my new plan.

I didn’t have it all worked out, but I was good on the fly. I’d figure it out. The only hiccup would be the public sex but thankfully it didn’t appear Adam liked to engage—sexually, that was. He liked to watch, not indulge in the act.

I could do that.

Maybe.

I could finagle my way into his bed and convince him I liked to watch, too. We could watch together.

My stomach started to get queasy at the thought and it was at that inopportune moment while I was second-guessing my plan that Adam walked into the restaurant and stole my breath.

From my seat at the bar, I watched him approach the hostess stand. I watched his mouth open, his perfect lips form words I couldn’t hear, then my gaze went to the pretty young hostess. I instantly wanted to claw her eyes out. Unwelcomed and unwarranted jealousy reared itself nauseatingly fast. My hand shot out to the edge of the bar for no other reason than to keep my ass on the stool, which served as a good reminder I was way too possessive to ever belong to a sex club. But Adam would never be mine, he’d be a means to an end. There would never be anything to be possessive of. Yet I still wanted to shove my way through the crush of patrons waiting for their tables to be called and do something ridiculous like stake my claim.

It would seem luck was on my side—before I could embarrass myself Adam’s gaze skidded through the crowd until it landed on me. Without a backward glance at the very beautiful hostess, Adam started in my direction. Perhaps it was his height, maybe it was the badass aura he gave off, or it could’ve all been my crazy imagination, but the crush of people seemed to part as he made his way into the bar area. He crossed the room with his eyes attached to mine. He looked like a well-groomed, finely dressed hunter stalking his prey.

In an alternate universe, the one where Elise was home safe and happy, and Adam didn’t belong to a sex club, he wouldn’t need to hunt me. He wouldn’t need to stalk or steal or loot. I would happily, gladly, gleefully throw myself at him. I’d greedily take that hungry look in Adam’s stare and covet it.