“Yes. I can barely make it through each chapter without needing a cold shower. I saw Marly on Tuesday night, and she was already on her second read. She’s highlighting the best parts.”

Jules giggled. “I highlight the steamy scenes, too, but then I act them out with Grant.” Grant Silver was Jules’s fiancé.

“I bet he loves that.”

“You know it. Will you be at Chloe’s meeting? Daphne and I will be on the video chat.”

The book club had members all over the world, and although the forums were online, every month a member was chosen to host and pick a location for an in-person meeting. The member who was hosting this month lived on the West Coast, but since Chloe and Daphne had founded the book club, they also coordinated local meetings with themes that went with the books. The meeting was in two weeks at Skaket Beach in Orleans, and because the heroine in the story owned a gentleman’s club, the theme was sexy outfits, and every member had to wear or bring something leather.

“I wouldn’t miss it with a book this juicy. I hate to cut this short, but I’d better run. I’ve got a puppet therapy class at six thirty.” They talked for another minute, and after ending the call, Madigan put on her backpack, grabbed the keys to her Vespa and her helmet, and headed out. She worked part time at the Lower Cape Assisted Living Facility (LOCAL) and kept a case with most of her puppetry supplies there.

She was halfway to work when the Vespa started sputtering every time she accelerated. Damn it. She didn’t need another crappy day. She’d hoped to make it through work and drop it off afterward at a shop close to home, but she couldn’t afford to get stuck on the side of the road. She pulled into a gas station/auto repair shop on the next block and went to find someone who worked there.

In one of the open bays, she saw jeans-clad legs and scuffed work boots sticking out from under a car. “Excuse me.” She waited a minute, but the guy didn’t respond. “Hello?” She tapped the bottom of his boot with the toe of hers. “Hey. Are you awake under there?”

As the guy rolled slowly out from under the car, she couldn’t help but admire his thick thighs and the way his torso flared into a broad chest. Her day just got a little brighter.

Her hope deflated when his head cleared the car. It was the ex-star of her dirty fantasies. Well, he was supposed to be an ex, but she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head the last three nights, and he’d continued appearing in her dreams, his sexy voice coaxing her into all sorts of erotic things.