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“It is” a deep voice responds.

Noah and I turn and peer up at Beck. This close, he looks sharper than he did yesterday, his eyes hardened. Everything about him screams business, and I sit up straighter in my chair, pulling away from Noah.

“I’ve got a living area in my bungalow we’ll use for more intimate sessions,” he says.

Intimate sessions.

The heat coiled in my lower belly expands, and I suck in a breath to try to calm myself.

Noah’s hand lands on my back. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Am I sure? No. But am I going to follow through with whatever exercise awaits us today? Yes. I wouldn’t let Noah quit, so I’m not letting an inappropriate fantasy make me quit, either. I’m going to blame my wild thoughts on the fact that I’m hot and that Josie and Phil basically planted the idea in my head. Not hard to do after that breathing exercise yesterday, the way Beck anchored the three of us together.

“Yep, let’s go to the air conditioning,” I say.

Noah gets to his feet and holds out his hand for me to take. “As you wish, hotwife.” He winks.

Heat licks up my neck as Noah pulls me to my feet. He dips his lips toward my ear, his voice soft, and says, “Just for the record, I won’t ever let Phil touch you. So don’t get any ideas.”

I push at his chest and laugh softly. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Beck watches our interaction with the same burning intensity from yesterday. For a second, I wonder what he’s thinking.

I take Noah’s hand and lead him toward Beck’s bungalow, refusing to let the fantasy from earlier creep back in—or to dwell on the way Noah said he wouldn’t let Phil touch me but mentioned nothing about a certain dark-haired mentor, a man he had no problem letting touch me yesterday.

Or him, for that matter.

Chapter nineteen

Beck

“Come on in,” I say, opening the door to my bungalow for Noah and Quinn. “Head to the living area through that arch.” I point forward. Quinn smiles at me as she comes in, but Noah doesn’t, only dipping his chin in greeting.

Despite my annoyance over it, I’m grateful for his lack of excitement at seeing me. I told myself yesterday that I got the Ashcrofts out of my system in the shower, that I wouldn’t let them get to me, and I’m going to hold firm to that.

Before I came to retrieve them for today’s session, I gave myself a pep talk in the mirror. Okay, several. I meditated for an hour and did laps in the pool while everyone was in a group session at Hazel’s. My nervous system is calmer now, and I hope it holds during today’s session, which is much more intimate than yesterday’s. But it’s going to be fine—I’ve never had an issue with it before, and I’m not going to have an issue with it now just because it’s Quinn and Noah.

I close and lock the door for privacy. Nobody will barge into my space without knocking, but I do it on the off chance that someone does. With that done, I head in the direction I sent the couple, passing through the archway to the living area where I have everything set up.

Noah is holding Quinn’s hand near the yoga mat I have laid out in the center of the space, something I’ve observed he likes to do. There’s a kick of jealousy in my gut at the picture.

How many times did I wish Noah would hold my hand in front of others?

Fuck. I don’t have a right to be jealous, and I shouldn’t be thinking such stupid things, anyway.

“This is a sensory trust-building exercise,” I say, stopping near them.

“That sounds interesting,” Quinn responds.

“I went over the intake form you both filled out on intimacy.”

Noah’s skin pinkens, and Quinn presses her lips together.

“I need you both to understand: I form no judgment or give commentary on what you wrote. I simply go over every form to better understand how to help each of you while you’re here, and this is one exercise I think will help.”

“How so?” Noah asks. I stand up a bit straighter at the tone of his question. I used to call it his Captain Tone. He used it when our hockey team needed inspiring or a kick in the ass or when he tried to be the more dominant one in the bedroom—even if I always ended up on top the way he liked it.

I pick up a basket from the coffee table between my couch and the mat and hold it up for them to see. “In here are different items that create a unique sensory experience. Quinn, you’ll sit on the yoga mat with a blindfold, and Noah will be behind you. He’ll pick different items to use on your body.”