Read Online Playing With Pleasure by Erika Wilde - Free Book Online Page A

voluptuous model wearing the form-fitting lingerie and cringed in disgust. “I hope you don’t plan on including this shot in any kind of promotional material or ads. Nobody is going to buy your corsets if they see a picture like this. This woman looks like a walrus in a tutu.”
    Paige’s temper flared at her stepsister’s insulting comment, and it took effort for her not to snap at Ashley. Nor would she dignify that rude statement with a response, because her opinion had stopped mattering to her a long time ago. She’d been the brunt of Ashley’s criticism for years, and Paige refused to listen to her stepsister’s derogatory remarks about her designs or her models.
    Before Ashley could look at any more of the photos, Paige swept the pictures back into the folder and picked it up. “You need to go. I have a few appointments I need to get ready for, so I’ll see you next week at the dress fitting.” As a dismissal, it was irrefutable.
    “I need to get going, too,” Ashley said as she adjusted the strap of her Gucci bag on her shoulder. “I’ll see you then.”
    Ashley left the back room, and Paige waited until she heard the front door chime before sinking onto a nearby stool, feeling mentally exhausted. Undoubtedly, between the dress-fitting appointment and dinner with Sawyer next Saturday, it was going to be a very stressful day.
    *     *     *
    Paige parked her car in front of the upscale bridal shop in La Jolla at 3:10 Saturday afternoon. She hated that she was running late, which only added to the anxious feeling she’d been dealing with all day. Yeah, she was nervous about tonight’s dinner with Sawyer, and it didn’t help matters that she hadn’t spoken to him all week long. But that hadn’t stopped her from constantly thinking about him and their time together at The Players Club—and she’d laid in bed every single night since, aching for more of the erotic pleasure he’d introduced her to.
    She just needed to get through this dress fitting, then tonight with Sawyer was all about closure , she reminded herself. It was about putting the past behind her, moving forward with her life, and opening herself up to the possibility of love again.
    Yet her traitorous thoughts kept looping back around to the one question she hadn’t been able to answer…how could any man compare after the effortless way Sawyer had commanded her body at The Players Club? She’d loved the feel of those ropes wrapped around her wrists and lightly chafing her skin, and even now, just thinking about being tied up and restrained for Sawyer’s gratification made her nipples peak hard and tight and the muscles down below clench with desire.
    “You’ve turned into a certified hussy,” she said and deliberately banged her head against the steering wheel to knock some sense into her brain, just as her phone alerted her to a text message.
    “Shit,” she muttered as she dug through her purse for her phone. She fully expected to find a text from Ashley asking where she was. Instead, she saw Sawyer’s name, and her heart skipped a beat.
    I’ll be at your place at six.
    His message was short and succinct, but a dozen butterflies hatched in her stomach at the thought of seeing him again.
    Damn, damn, damn him , she silently cursed, frustrated by her inability to truly hate him for shattering her heart. It would be so much easier if she could be cold and indifferent to him, but she wasn’t one of those women who could treat anyone with contempt or disdain, regardless of their transgressions. Her father had always told her that she was tenderhearted just like her mother, and sometimes Paige believed being so forgiving and accepting was more of a curse than a blessing. Especially when a bit of scorn would come in handy for tonight’s dinner with Sawyer, to help her keep her emotional distance.
    She exhaled a deep sigh. If she hadn’t been able to shore up a wall of outrage and resentment against Sawyer at The Players