Smirking, Greg started shuffling again. “All of the members have certain . . . tastes in common. Some are a little more hardcore than others. Some participate. Some like to watch. Damn, look at that. I think you’re blushing. How cute.”

Baz was having a hell of a time wrapping his head around this. Which was stupid. Baz had his own kinks. He got off on watching. Mostly watching Nik fuck women. One or two. Sometimes three. He’d watch and join in after Nik had worn himself out. Then Nik would watch. He and Nik had double-teamed women more times than he could count.

“I’m not fucking blushing. I’m just . . . fucking impressed. This place is amazing.”

And he couldn’t help but think about all the things he could do to Tru here. Like that bench in the back. What he wouldn’t give to tie her to that, and then fuck her until she passed out. And then he’d lay her out on that chaise in front of the fireplace and lick her pussy until she came again and again.

“You bring Bree here, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Does Tru know about this place?”

“Nope.”

“How many other people signed that waiver?”

Greg paused for a few seconds, eyes narrowed. “About twenty, I think.”

“Do I know any of them?”

“You’ve met them all, yeah. And they all liked you or you wouldn’t be here.”

Baz shook his head. “Damn, if I’d have known I was being tested I would’ve worn my good shoes.”

“It wasn’t a test.” Greg fanned the cards on the table. “It’s more like seeing if you fit.”

“So are you going to tell me who I made such a good impression on or do I have to guess?”‘

“Ah, good. You’re here.” Jared stepped through the wall, pushing a room-service cart overflowing with trays and grinning in Baz’s direction. “Glad you signed off, Baz. Food’s hot. Ty’s right behind me. I’m ready to play cards. Belle and Kate are huddled in our room making scrapbooks, and as much as I love my wife, there was no way in hell I was getting roped into making scrapbooks.”

“The truth is she didn’t want you there to screw anything up.”

Ty smacked his brother on the back as he and Dane Connelly followed on Jared’s heels. Both men came to the table to shake Baz’s hand, who then bowed in Ty’s direction.

“Dude, this place is fucking amazing.”

Ty laughed. “Yeah, well, I really didn’t have much to do with it. This was Jed and Dane’s baby from day one.”

Baz turned to shake hands with Dane Connelly, Jared’s best friend. “How the hell did you come up with this?”

Baz didn’t know Dane well. The guy was quiet and intense and had recently fallen for Talia Driscoll, who was good friends with Jared’s wife, Annabelle, and Ty’s girlfriend, Kate. The only times he’d met Dane, the guy had been focused on Talia.

But Baz figured the guy had to be okay if these men liked him.

“Long story short,” Jared said, “I developed an obsession with Victorian erotica in college and Dane and I started a secret society based on ones we’d read about in a few classes. When Ty and I built the hotel, Dane and I came up with the idea for the Salon.”

“Well, hell, man, you’re way more interesting than I gave you credit for.”

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment, coming from the rock star.” Jared laughed. “Come on, let’s dish up the food and get started. I’m feeling lucky tonight.”

An hour later, comfortably full of perfectly cooked Kobe beef, some kind of amazing dish with vegetables in a white sauce, and a slice of chocolate cake he was still working on, Baz was trying to keep his head in the game but had lost the last three hands. Luckily, he’d won a few of the first ones so he wasn’t out much.

Thoughts of what Tru was doing kept poking into his head, alternately pissing him off and making his stomach roll.

“Jesus, Ty, you have the fucking best poker face.” Dane tossed his cards on the table and gave Ty the finger when Ty just smiled. “Where the hell’s Cory? He can’t bluff for shit.”

“Not available.”

Something in Greg’s short answer caught Baz’s attention, and he looked up from his cards. But Greg had his gaze trained on his hand.

“Oh. Fu— Yeah. God damn it, Ty, don’t be so fucking smug.” Dane’s response pulled Baz’s attention that way, and there was something in Dane’s expression that made his gaze narrow.

“I can’t help it. I’m just that good. And you suck at cards, Dane.”

“Fuck.” Baz tossed his cards on the table. “That’s who she’s out with, isn’t it?”

Jared tossed his cards at Dane, who shrugged with a grimace. “I forgot you told me not to say anything. Sue me.”

Shit. It made sense. Cory had been all over her Wednesday night at dinner. Why the hell hadn’t he put that together sooner?

Maybe because he hadn’t wanted to think about her out with another guy.

Now he had four pairs of eyes watching him with varying degrees of “Oh shit.” But it was Greg he focused on. And it was Greg he felt most betrayed by.

Which was stupid, but still true.

Greg had the grace to grimace. “You really wanna do this? Now?”

No, he didn’t. He didn’t want to have a tantrum like a toddler but that’s exactly how he felt.

Fuck.

He took a deep breath. “Shit. I’m gonna get a drink. Anyone want anything?”

Pushing away from the table, he walked to the bar and spent a few seconds deciding against anything too hard. It was too easy to get smashed fast and that would just prove him to be unstable. He must have stood there for at least a minute before he felt Greg come up next to him.

“You want to tell me to mind my own business, do it now. Otherwise, we’re gonna have this talk. We can do it here or we can go in another room. Your choice.”

Baz turned to Greg. “You think I’m gonna go over the edge, don’t you? That I can’t handle this shit?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about you. But it’s not because I think you’re gonna wig out. I don’t wanna see you get hurt. I don’t want Tru hurt, either. Honestly, if you two decide to date, my life will be just as screwed as yours if it doesn’t work out between you. But I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see you with.”

Greg’s quiet words eased a little of the tension in Baz’s body but . . . “The only problem is I don’t think she sees herself with me. I think she thinks Cory is the kind of guy she should be with. A businessman who’s got his shit together. Stable and dependable and, hell, even I’d take a guy like that.”

Shit, he hadn’t wanted to spill that out there, and he glanced over at the table but the other guys were playing cards again and purposely ignoring Greg and him.

Christ, now he was the special case they had to make sure they didn’t upset.

“And why don’t you think you’re any of those things?”

“Because I’m not. I’m not stable. I’m constantly going off on things that piss me off. And when I get an idea, I can be out of commission for hours. Even if—” Shit, he didn’t want to talk about last night in the music room. It was still too fresh in his head. “I go out on tour months at a time and when we record, we hole up in a studio somewhere for weeks.”

“Maybe that’s what happened before, but that doesn’t mean that’s always going to be your life.” Greg sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to get you to drop your band and be a composer for me for the rest of your life, although the thought has crossed my mind. I think you’re fucking brilliant and I think you should do whatever the fuck makes you happy. And if Tru makes you happy, then I think you need to fucking tell her that, and then make damn sure you make her happy, too.”

“And what if I don’t think I’m the right guy for her?”

Greg’s mouth twisted. “Then I think you’re pretty fucking stupid because I think you’re an amazing person. That doesn’t mean I want to fuck you”—This made Baz laugh—“but you and Tru are two of my favorite people in the world and I think you need each other.”