“Thanks. I’m pleased with how it turned out,” Luke said. He was pretty sure his reno crew had been under the impression this was some kind of burlesque club or something; as the only one in his company to sign a non-disclosure agreement, he’d been the only one to know exactly what they were building. Which was why, after his crew was done with the main work, he and Andrew had added all the kinky finishes. Like the chains and cuffs in every alcove tucked into the seats and special notches in the tables.

Walking further into the room, Ellie trotting along to keep up, Michael started examining every inch of the place with the same intent interest Luke had been. His lips twitched. He didn’t doubt that when the third member of their partnership arrived, Patrick would be just as thorough. Maybe more so.

The manager of Marquis probably would be too, and just the thought of her had Luke shifting his stance a bit uncomfortable as his pants tightened. Just a little. It happened a lot when he thought about the sexy red-headed Domme. He’d had a definite thing for Olivia Williams from the moment he’d met her.

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to feel the same way about him. Sometimes it seemed like she might be attracted to him too, but even then it felt like she didn’t want to be. Which he got, since he was kind of going to be her boss, but that hadn’t stopped him from lusting after her. Hard.

“This is gorgeous,” Ellie said, letting go of Michael’s hand to further explore one of the alcoves. She sat down on the bench and smiled impishly at Luke, who was standing on the other side of the room from them now, across the stage. “Oooo I can just imagine sitting here and watching a scene! It’s gonna be so hot. I mean, voyeurism isn’t really my thing, but with this set up I think I want to give it a try.”

“You’re going to see it from the other side too,” Michael teased her, leaning his shoulder against the outer frame of the alcove, tucking his hands into his jeans as he watched her. “We’re the opening act, remember?”

Ellie just shrugged, smoothing her hands over the leather on either side of her, completely unperturbed at the notion.

“What about you, Luke?” she asked. “Think you’ll end up performing?”

He blinked, a little taken aback. “I hadn’t actually considered it.”

“He has to take the newbie class first anyway,” Michael said, his grin widening. Even Ellie smirked and she didn’t know the half of it. Michael and Patrick were very insistent that Luke not tell anyone of the ladies exactly which newbie class he was going to be a part of. Apparently they were looking forward to Olivia’s reaction and didn’t want to ruin the surprise.