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“But he owns a sex club,” Zoey reminded her

Hazel said dryly, “Which is probably why he’s such an incredible lay”

“Seriously?” Zoey gawked

Hazel giggled “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? You caot mad skills Why not enjoy that for a while? You deserve all this and so ive you hot sex, and then you ?”

“Everything,” Zoey countered in haste “Absolutely everything could go wrong” Because it had

Elise gave her a soft, supportive look and reached across the table again “The difference here being that this is your choice Your say Your rules Maybe what he’s offering is exactly what you need Let him shake you out of your box, see the world with different eyes for a little bit then you can low that you deserve”

Zoey considered, sipping her wine, sood?”

Hazel’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully before she nodded “If I can give my two cents, you’re at a crossroad now You faced the one thing that terrified you The two men who assaulted you Now fate has tossed you a chance at so new Do you want to be that same scared woman you said you wanted to shed? Or are you this new Zoey who is doing life her way, on her terms, no matter how impossible it seems?”

It all made sense But… “It’s really scary for me to let anyone in like that, even if this is sort of like an arrangeh a new little voice in her head reo easily That maybe this wasn’t so scary after all And without a doubt, he’d stood up for her, protected her

Elise lifted her glass to her mouth Before she took a sip, she said, “Honey, life isn’t fun if it isn’t scary sometimes”

Zoey snorted “Yeah, that’s why I’ve lived very co side of life lately”

Hazel grinned, s the table with her hand “Well, now it’s titon’s sexy-as-hell backside”

“It is a pretty spectacular backside,” Zoey agreed with a laugh

“So,” Elise drawled, eyes dancing “Does thatmore of him?”

Zoey pointed to her wine and s that decision”