Paige’s smile brightened. “Well, come on in, I’ll show you the very best we have.”

I relaxed my hold on Kiera as we started following Paige, but Kiera didn’t relax her hold on me. Knowing I owed her…something…I glanced down at her inquisitive eyes. I opened my mouth, but no good explanation came to mind. Lying was something I was very comfortable with, but Kiera and I were trying to be honest with each other. Smoothing this over with a half-truth wouldn’t help anything. And besides, Kiera knew all my lines, when it came to this particular matter, at least. I couldn’t say she was a friend, couldn’t say we used to hang out, couldn’t say anything except the truth. Being a former manwhore had consequences.

With a sigh, I gave up trying to think of something nonconfrontational to say. “We can go somewhere else,” I told her instead.

Kiera’s lips pressed together as I confirmed what she’d probably suspected. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and that made me a little nervous. She glanced at me, back to the girl, then at me again. Finally, when the curiosity was almost too much for me to bear, she shook her head. “Here is fine. And honestly, she’ll probably give us an outstanding deal because you…know her.”

Her voice was sullen, unhappy that we were running into yet another one of my dalliances. Hoping she wasn’t too upset, I made myself smile. This couldn’t be easy for her. I only had to deal with one man in her past, although sometimes, just that one was way too many.

Trying to lighten the mood, I asked her, “How do you know she’ll give us a deal? She could charge us more.”

Kiera rolled her eyes and shook her head again. “I’ve slept with you, Kellan. We’re getting a deal.”

It shouldn’t have amused me, but yeah, her comment made me grin. Because of the tender age I’d started, and my proclivity for finding companionship, I had a lot of…experience. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, I knew exactly what I was doing when it came to the female form, and everyone left my bed satisfied.

Kiera laughed when she noticed my expression, and I took that as a good sign that she was letting this go. It probably helped that Paige was clearly invested in someone else, and that she wasn’t eye-fucking me at every opportunity. I think those were the girls who really bothered Kiera—the ones who made it obvious that they wanted another taste and would do just about anything to get it. But truly, those girls were few and far between. Most women used me up and moved on, never to think about me again. I just don’t think Kiera realized that.