"Of course." Daphne settled back and fastened her seat belt. "In some ways, it's probably a good thing.

You take my breath away, Jack, in more ways than one. I could use a little time right now to...sort of get used to the idea. Do you understand?"

He smiled as the car rolled smoothly out of the lot onto the street. "Yeah. But I like the 'take my breath

away' bit.""Well, heck. You don't hear me complaining, do you?""Would you?" He shot a quick glance at her before returning his attention to the road.Hmm. Interesting question. Daphne considered it. "You know, I think I would. With you, I would.

But...and it's a huge 'but'...I can't imagine anything to complain about. Not between us. You've opened a new world for me, Jack. One I'd read about in novels, or seen in movies, but couldn't begin to think of being in myself. And yet here I am..." She squirmed slightly. "Sitting bare-bottomed in your car, and not shrieking in horror. I even gave you my thong."

He laughed. "Yes, you did.""Um...you don't have a wall of those hidden away someplace, do you? Or an alb.u.m or something?""Daph." He frowned at her. "I meant it when I said you were the first-theonly -woman I've ever asked for her lingerie. Please believe me on that.""Okay." She sighed in contentment as they pulled up in front of her apartment."I'm sorry our night has to end like this, babe.""Hey...I had a great time. The Wildwood, Casablanca and...and you. And chocolate mints, too."Jack chuckled. "Look, let me make it up to you. You free tomorrow? It's Sat.u.r.day. Let me plan a special treat for us, okay? Something that may even help in your research."She tipped her head sideways and frowned at him. "My research?""Mmm hmm." He narrowed his eyes. "This is my 'man of mystery' look."She giggled. "Good thing you explained it. I thought it might be indigestion."He snorted indignantly. "Well, h.e.l.l, babe. Guess I'll have to ditch that expression. So what do you say?

Tomorrow?"As if she'd say no."When and where?" Daphne was long past the point of obeying any of the "rules of dating". No "I don't know, Jack..." or "Well, I did have plans, but I guess I can change them..." None of that stuff.

She wanted to be with Jack. And that, quite simply, wasthat .Chapter Eleven Jack seethed as he flashed his pa.s.s at the night guard covering the studio gate. Of all the times for a

problem with the audio they'd recorded during the week to screw up...this had to be the worst.

He should be up to his neck in Daphne right now, not issues of some ill-defined buzz spoiling the soundtrack of his just completed movie.

He pulled into his designated spot and killed the engine, muttering imprecations against the G.o.ds of AV equipment.

"Jack. Sorry, dude. Just caught it."Chuck's apologetic voice greeted him as he strode into the sound studio. A phalanx of monitors flickereda welcome at him, which he ignored. "What the f.u.c.k is it?"

Chuck shook his head. "Near as I can figure out, it's either some chopper noise from overhead or anodd echo of the biker movie they're filming over on Lot 14. I swear, Jack, we had it all blocked. It nevercame through our earpieces. Not one little murmur."

He twisted dials and hit b.u.t.tons, and a crackling sound heralded the last bit of soundtrack recorded at the

end of the movie.

Sure enough, there was a hum...a distinctly noticeable hum, and there wasn't one fricking thing anyone could have done about it at the time.

Jack sighed and pulled out a chair. "Okay. Let's pull it up on the editing software and see what the h.e.l.l

we've got here."

For the next three hours, the two men worked side-by-side, isolating various portions of the soundtrack, accentuating some, deadening others, and finally producing a mostly clean audio.

"G.o.d f.u.c.king d.a.m.n, Jack, you're good."Jack sat back and sighed. "Good and p.i.s.sed. I had a date, for chrissake."Chuck glanced down. "So I noticed."Jack followed his gaze to where a slip of white lace protruded from his pocket. He quickly stuffed it back out of sight. "Yeah. Well."

Chuck laughed. "So was it Donna with the beautiful t.i.ts? Or Maxine...you know, the one who comes forhours and shudders like a force five earthquake?""Neither."Chuck blinked. "Really? Oh...wait. I'll bet it was one of those newbie wannabes, right? The tall redhead? She looked d.a.m.n hot at the auditions last week. And she sure knew who to play to, as well."

"No."

Silence fell for a moment as Chuck stared at Jack. "Whoa, dude. Wait up a minute here. You're dating af.u.c.king civilian? You? Big John Johnson's boffing a freakin'civvy ?"

Jack swallowed. "So what? None of your business who I date, Chuck. Let's get that straight right now."Chuck held up his hands. "Sorry, dude. You're right. Just sort of a surprise, that's all. Of course, itmeans more p.u.s.s.y for the rest of us. I ain't complaining."

Jack stared at Chuck, feeling an odd kind of emotion welling up behind his eyes. "I'm also sincerelyhoping you ain't talking, either,dude ."Chuck gulped.

"Because my private life is just that. Private.Capische ?"Chuck nodded. "I gotcha, Boss. Nothing to do with me. I guess working around all this...s.h.i.t..." Heglanced over at the writhing bodies now silently f.u.c.king on the nearest monitor. "Kinda makes a manforget there are real women out there."

"Yeah. Well, I happen to have found one. Let's leave it at that, okay?""You got it."Jack couldn't help noticing the grin on his friend's face. Well,f.u.c.k ."Chuck, I'm closing the set tomorrow.""Huh?""You heard me. I'm closing the set tomorrow. Day off for everyone. No tweaking the special effects, no re-recording, we're on target, film's in the can, and the rest of the post-production stuff shouldn't takemore than a week. We've all earned a break. Pa.s.s the word in the morning, would you?"

Chuck eyed him cautiously. "Uh, sure. This is a pleasant surprise.""It just came to me."You lying sack of s.h.i.t. You've been planning this for a couple of hours now.Ever since you decided that Daphne might enjoy seeing the inside of the studio.

"What about Sunday?"

Jack glanced over. "What about it?"

"You shut the set down tomorrow and a lot of folks are gonna take that as a blanket invitation to disappear for the weekend."

Jack ran his hands through his hair. "You mean go get truly blitzed and not surface until Monday morning?"

"If then." Chuck grinned.

"Sure. What the h.e.l.l. We all need a break. We've been pushing ourselves to get this one in on time, meet those f.u.c.king exec deadlines. We've d.a.m.n near done it." He sighed. "Okay. I'm officially declaring this weekend a holiday. No personnel need report until Monday, but they'd better show up at some point during the day. We need to finish off the post-prod stuff. I'll be glad when this is done."

"You sound...tired, Jack."

He stood and stretched his spine. "I am, Chuck. Very tired. Of everything."

Chuck's eyes narrowed. "That's a pretty profound comment."

Jack snorted. "Chalk it up to the late night Friday blues, okay? I'm outta here." He grabbed his jacket and waved a casual farewell to the engineer.

Chuck watched him leave.

Jack Foster had been d.a.m.ned good to him, and Chuck had known him for years. They'd met as interns, gotten drunk together, gotten laid together, and Chuck realized this was the very first time he'd ever heard the word "tired" come out of Jack's mouth.

He began to close down the equipment, shutting off the software, setting up the lab for the new workweek, and doing tasks he could have done with his eyes closed. And, in fact, sometimes had. All the while his mind turned over what Jack had said.

And most especially how he'd said it.

In Chuck's experience, Big John Johnson hadnever been tired. He'd been filled with enthusiasm for his art, involved himself in the films with a pa.s.sion that had led them all into money and glory, albeit within the field of p.o.r.n. He'd won awards for all of them and shared the credit unstintingly. His staff liked him a lot, and recognized his talents for what they were. They'd all ridden his coattails for the last few years, and it had been one h.e.l.l of a ride.

But Chuck wondered now if Big John andJack might well be heading for a parting of the ways. If Big John the moviemaker would always be there, but perhaps Jack Foster was a man who had reached his limits.

And perhaps if the owner of that little sc.r.a.p of lacy lingerie might have something to do with it.

He grinned to himself. Jack was a h.e.l.luva guy with a seriously perverted sense of humor that had resulted in some cla.s.sic pranks over the years. Perhaps it was time for a little payback. If Jack was doing some serious thinking about his future, Chuck might not get another chance, and he still owed him for the business with the transvest.i.te hooker and the goat.

He knew very well what "close the set" meant. It meant Jack was bringing a special guest over to show her around and impress her. Probably Miss Sc.r.a.p-of-White-Lace. It had been Chuck's experience that outsiders were always seriously impressed and turned-on at the thought of seeing the inside of a p.o.r.n studio.

They'd all done it at one time or another-it was sort of an unspoken perk. h.e.l.l, bankers probably showed off their vaults, and he'd bet his last dime that retail store stockrooms had probably seen plenty of action too. Guys used what they could. They were guys.

With a laugh tickling his throat, Chuck decided to help his buddy along a little. The harem set was still in place, and he quickly tossed in some extra pillows, a few lengths of exotically colored silk, and some flavored ma.s.sage oil. The good stuff.

They were all props that had been used recently, and Chuck doubted Jack would notice they'd been rearranged a little. He made sure the sound system was clean, the lights set up just right, and the large screen positioned so that whoever was on the huge bed could see the image filmed by camera one. It was a big help to the actors and actresses, not only helping them get their positioning just right, but also turning them on.

Not that it required much, of course. Most of them loved their work.

Nodding, Chuck looked at the scene-an odd blend of Middle Eastern decadence and state-of-the-art video technology.

Then he went back to the control room and flicked one small switch.

In the ornamental frame of the bed, a small red light flickered to life, all but invisible within the heavily

carved decorations and jewels of the Sultan's bower. As was the motion-activated high-powered lensbeneath.Chuck left the building satisfied. He'd give Jack a memento of whatever was going to happen tomorrow.

It would be his parting gift.

Because deep inside, Chuck knew that this was probably Big John Johnson's last film. In an odd,bittersweet way, Chuck envied him.He shrugged off the feeling and headed out for a beer.* * * * *Daphne dithered all Sat.u.r.day afternoon.Standing in front of her closet, she stared at the array of conservative clothing, and wished for once she'd actually been brave enough to buy something-s.e.xy.

She'd showered, shampooed, conditioned and shaved herself darn near raw. She'd done all those pre-date things the magazines said were essential to a good time, and it had been rather exhausting.

But nothing was worse than standing and looking at a rack of outfits that could all have easily been

cla.s.sed under one word. "Neutrals".

They were...practical. They matched. They coordinated and fit into the lifestyle of a sober-minded librarian. Most of them were washable. And not one of them looked in the least bit seductive.

In spite of herself, Daphne blushed.

Yes, she wanted to look seductive tonight. To go out on Jack's arm and not look like his pity date for the

millennium. Not that he'd ever made her feel that way.Au contraire. He made her feel like...like themost s.e.xual woman, the most desirable woman...okay, Daphne, get real.

He makes me feel like a wanton s.e.x G.o.ddess and I love every second of it.

And tonight was going to be for him. Or them. Hopefully both. Now if only she had something in her wardrobe suitable for a wanton s.e.x G.o.ddess, rather than an efficient librarian, she'd be all set.

One of the biggest problems was that she had no idea where they were going. He'd gone all mysterious on her, teased her with a promise of help for her research, and kissed her goodnight. Her toes curled at the memory.

She shook her head at herself and reached for her cla.s.sic shirtwaist...suppressing the thought that it might not be the most flattering color in the world, but at least it was easy to get out of.

Daphne, you're a s.l.u.t.

She made herself a cup of tea and grinned, and the grin was still firmly in place when she slipped intoJack's Corvette that night."You look lovely.""Thank you." She smoothed her skirt. "I wasn't quite sure what to wear, since you wouldn't tell me where we're going?"He snickered. "Nice try, honey. But if I had, it wouldn't be a surprise, now, would it?"She tried to frown at him, and failed. How could she frown at someone who looked so d.a.m.n-yummy?

His hair was soft and silky and just brushing the collar of his pale green shirt. He had no tie, and his khaki pants were pressed and smooth. But one look into those green eyes, and he could have been wearing year-old flour sacks for all she cared.

"Good point." She let her eyes feast on the delectable picture he presented. "It's probably inappropriate,

but may I say that you look very nice too?"Actually, you look like my every dream come true.Oh heck. This man was big trouble. Her heart thudded as he grinned at her and thanked her, a littleawkwardly. And that was funny, too, since she couldn't imagine a man like him not being used toreceiving compliments.

She had no idea where this relationship was going, and at this moment she didn't care. She was in his car, by his side, and he was smiling at her.