All In (Casino Nights #2) by Melanie Jayne

fidgeting with the cuff of her sleeve.
    “You’ve got my word. This is between us only.” He took her hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze. Then he put his sunglasses back in place and faced forward.
    Francesca swallowed. Okay, now the more difficult part... “Remy has a lot more sexual experience than I do.” God, her mouth was dry. “I’ve read about stuff so I’m not totally stupid. But he’s into things that I’ve never tried. I sort of freaked out a little.” She felt sweat trickle down her back.
    Rico’s mouth pursed. “Maybe you need to pick a starting point and begin there. You’re jumping around in your story.” His voice was calm, no hint of his thoughts. He made a turn that would take them away from the city.
    He wasn’t going to let her make this quick. “I’m sorry, if this is a bad time, we can talk later.” She knew she was chickening out, but talking about this was difficult. Her feelings for Remy were hers; she wasn’t sure that she was ready to share them with her friends.
    “Frankie, if we don’t have this talk, you might never have the courage to bring it up again. Plus, if it can get that haunted look out of your eyes, I’ll drive all day and night to help you work through this.” He headed toward the desert.
    How had she earned such a great friend? Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “I like him a lot, Rico. I might even love him,” she blurted. He didn’t respond, so she continued. “We were in bed Friday, and he wanted to do, uhm, anal play, and I freaked.” She glanced at Rico. Damn those sunglasses—she couldn’t read anything.
    “I take it that you didn’t want to do that.” His tone was neutral, and he kept his head faced forward.
    “I don’t know. I mean, no, not then, I didn’t. I’ve done it once before, and maybe the guy wasn’t doing it right. I wasn’t prepared. He hurt me, and I just wanted that to end.” She felt like an idiot as she kept on. “I know a lot of people do anal so they must enjoy it. You do stuff back there, right? And like it, I mean?” Now she was babbling. Her face burned with embarrassment.
    He chuckled. “Yes, Francesca, I enjoy penetrating men and women anally, but I’m the top—the fucker, never the fuckee.” He continued, his words tinged with pride. “I make sure my partner is ready, and there are ways to assure they enjoy it.”
    “Uhm, gotcha.” Of course he would be in charge and the dominant. She didn’t know a lot about the dynamics between men during sex, but in reality, she couldn’t see Rico letting anyone have control. In the office, there were times she could see him struggle with his need to be in charge. His effort and respect meant a lot to her.
    She was a little curious about the ways he mentioned. “Like you touch her clit and finger her, right?” She felt like she was in back in school, having whispered discussions about sex. It wasn’t like Rico wasn’t cool or very open. He would gladly over share.
    He grunted. “That’s one way. What I really want to know is how Cooper handled your feelings?”
    “He was fine. Well, he wasn’t fine. I mean, we were in the middle of things, and we stopped abruptly. But we talked, and I know that he would’ve liked to have done it. I told him we needed to work up to it. He seemed okay with that.” His acceptance was another of the ways he showed that he cared about her. He didn’t ever force her or humiliate her.
    Still, her face was on fire, and it had to be fire-engine red. God, she sounded so idiotic explaining all of that.
    “So are you saying that you’re okay with waiting or how he handled your feelings, or both?” he asked, his voice gentle.
    “Yeah, to all of it. I’ve done research, and I know there are things I can do to, uhm, condition those muscles, to prepare them.” She was stammering and blushing like a virgin, not a divorced woman who had grown up in Sin City. She’d browsed several websites and looked at anal plugs. The thought of