Read Online Playing for Real: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 5 by Natasha Moore - Free Book Online Page A

lot they were pulling into. “Where are we going?”
    “That restaurant I told you about.”
    “It’s in the Warehouse?”
    “Yeah. I told you that.”
    “No, you didn’t.”
    “Well, we’re here now.” Stacey pulled into a parking space close to the restaurant where Julianne had run into Paolo and his family. “The food is good and the drinks aren’t too expensive.”
    Julianne glanced around. What were the odds Paolo would be there again? She couldn’t keep the boxes from getting messy if they bumped into each other.
    “Is something wrong? We can go somewhere else if you want to.”
    “No. No. This is fine.” She forced herself to get out of the car.
    “See the third floor,” Stacey said, coming up beside her. She pointed up to the shuttered windows that ran more than halfway across the building. “There’s a sex club up there.” Stacey’s stage whisper smacked of indignation. “Paolo’s Playhouse, it’s called.”
    Julianne swallowed to get rid of the sudden dryness in her mouth. “I heard that.”
    “Did you hear they do all sorts of perverted stuff up there?”
    Julianne had started to follow Stacey across the parking lot, but she froze with Stacey’s words. “Um, no.”
    Stacey frowned. “Come on. They won’t hold our reservation if we’re late.”
    Once they were seated, Julianne ordered her usual Chardonnay while Stacey said the Cabernet was better for her heart. Her friend gave her opinion on which items on the menu were good for her but Julianne didn’t let that affect her choices.  
    After the waitress took their order, Stacey leaned in. “So what did you hear about that place?”
    Couldn’t she leave it alone? “What place?”  
    “You know. The Playhouse.”
    Julianne hoped her shrug looked lazy and careless. “Just that it’s a place where people can safely act out a fantasy.”
    “Kinky fantasies.”
    Another shrug. “Probably.”
    Stacey’s gaze bounced around the room. “Have you ever seen him?”
    “Him?” Julianne refused to give in to the urge to look around.
    “Paolo. From Paolo’s Playhouse? He was in here the other night when I was here with Marla. You remember her from spinning class? She pointed him out to me.”
    Julianne took a deep drink of wine. “Really?”
    “He’s sexy, if you like dark and intense.” Stacey lowered her voice more. “But I heard he beats women up there. He ties them up and hurts them. Can you believe it?”
    Julianne’s head pounded. The boxes were going to spill into each other if she didn’t watch it. “Maybe they’re acting out a fantasy.”
    “What kind of woman would fantasize about getting hit? I don’t know how it could even be legal.”
    “It’s called consensual.” She held Stacey’s gaze. “That’s what I heard.”
    “Oh. Okay.” Stacey leaned back, took a drink of her dark red wine. “Enough of that then. Tell me what gorgeous house you’re working on now.”
     
     
    Finally it was Saturday night and she was getting ready for her casual dinner date with Paolo. Casual to him was probably a restaurant that didn’t require a tie. Julianne chose a deep blue sundress and flat silver sandals, then pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. Hopefully the look would work wherever he took her.
    She tried not to dwell on the things Stacey had said. The way she’d judged Julianne without even knowing it. The rest of their dinner conversation had been stilted and she realized that there might have been more than their differing views on sex that had caused them to drift apart.
    As soon as she buzzed Paolo in, her body went on high alert. Tingles of anticipation danced along her skin. During the last couple days, she’d told herself that she didn’t need to see him so often. That she didn’t need the hold he had over her. That she didn’t want to need so badly what he gave her.
    But as she stood at the door of her apartment, waiting for him to appear, she knew she’d been lying to herself. She needed him.