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She’d regretted
leaving him. His interest had caused her to research and understand
him better. The more she looked into it, the more regret she’d
had.
    “You never called.” He leaned back in his
chair. “What part of you was intrigued by the bad boy side, but
couldn’t bring yourself to come back to me? You just didn’t feel
safe, did you,” he stated.
    “I almost called a hundred times.” She
gripped her wine glass. “But, you jumped into a relationship with
Brittany Larson right away. I figured it would not last long, and
then two years later you were engaged to her. At that point, I
wasn’t going to call and tell you I couldn’t stop thinking about
you.”
    “I wished I’d have known.” His dark eyes had
a seriousness about them. “I would have called. Brittany was nice,
but she wasn’t you.”
    Thoughts of Zach with Brittany made her heart
hurt. “I imagine she was into that stuff with you.”
    “I think she put up with it,” he said. “She
loved me and knew ‘that stuff’ was part of the package deal. I love
introducing people who haven’t tried it, bringing them along
slowly, and watching them get into it. With her, it never quite
worked. It isn’t the same when the other person doesn’t share the
same passion.”
    “So, you are still into it?” She asked, then
realized it was a dumb question. While talking with him she’d
fallen back in time and forgot where she was and the fact that he
was wearing one of the pins.
    He gave her that crooked smile again.
“Probably more now than at that time. I won’t change.”
    She moved her fingers up and down the stem of
her wine glass. “It isn’t something you hear about every day.”
    “It can make a relationship challenging.” He
picked up his wine glass and swirled the golden liquid. “It’s hard
enough to have regular every day interests match up. When you add
that certain component to a relationship…well, lets just say some
pretty special ladies, like yourself can get eliminated, or
eliminate themselves.”
    She leaned forward and put meaning behind her
words. “I don’t want to be in the eliminated category anymore, Zach
Nikas.”
    His intent gaze took her in. “How did you end
up here?”
    She settled back in her seat. “It took some
time, but I got over being freaked out by what I saw—the pictures
of the women you had on your computer.” She swallowed, not sure she
should be spilling everything like this. “I started to look at all
of that stuff online.”
    He looked intrigued. “And?”
    “The more I read and looked at it, the more I
liked it and I thought about you. It gave me a better understanding
of all of it and what you like and why.” She glanced down then back
at him. “It actually drew me more to you. By then, like I said, you
were involved with Brittany and I didn’t know what happened to you
after that.”
    He continued to study her, like he was trying
to figure her out. “You’re here, but it doesn’t sound like you’ve
actually tried it.”
    “Only in my mind… Every night before I fall
asleep.” Warmth traveled through her at the thoughts of her
fantasies. “I haven’t had anyone to try it with.” She shook her
head. “I can’t believe I am telling you this.”
    He leaned closer. “I had a feeling you had it
in you. The way it happened was a bad introduction, finding the
pictures and some of the equipment. It was too much before you were
ready to know about it.”
    Zach studied her. “Take off the pin.”
    “Why—?” she started. For some reason the look
in his eyes had her taking off her pin without question.
    A voice came over the sound system. She
looked in the direction of the podium where Garth stood with a
microphone.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the
ballroom,” he said. “The auction is about to start. Bachelors and
bachelorettes, please meet behind the stage. Everyone else find a
seat and we’ll get started.”
    “We were supposed to mingle with