Denys, Jennifer - Friendly Seduction [Friends and Acquaintances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free

please.”
    Lissa blew a sigh of relief to herself at the respite and hurried into the kitchen to get them some drinks while Matt settled down at the table, examining the cover of one or two of the books she had put out. It was suddenly embarrassing to have him see the types of books she was reading. Somehow it would have been less awkward if the others had also been present.
    “So how many of these do you read?” he called out, not looking up.
    “A week or a month?”
    “Say, each week.”
    “About eight.”
    He did glance up then with a surprised expression on his face. “A week !”
    “Yeah. I like reading.” She shrugged and turned away, embarrassed, then finished making the drinks and brought them over to the table.
    “Okay—so clearly I’ve picked the right person to discuss what you like about them then.” He looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
    She was startled by his direct stare and felt herself going red again. “I guess.”
    After she sat down, he handed her one of the books he had picked up. “This one looks vaguely sci-fi. Tell me about it.”
    Glancing at it, she giggled, glad he’d stopped his assessment of her. Taking the book he held out, she confidently summarized it as it was one of her favorites. “Okay—this is a fairly typical plot whereby most of the women on this planet have died off, so the remaining men are desperate for female company. Sometimes in these stories a woman lands or crash-lands on a planet. In this one she comes looking for her kidnapped sister from another country on this world and is taken hostage. Of course, the person taking her hostage is a prince—as they usually are—that or a king, or leader of some sort. You never have the man cleaning out the sewers getting the girl.”
    Matt laughed loudly. “Typical. I might have known it from what you all told me the other day.”
    Pleased she had made him laugh, Lissa smiled, her previous stutters over now they were bantering. “Quite often the woman is expected to be in a ménage relationship in this situation.”
    He goggled in surprise, his humor gone.
    Noticing his expression, she stated, “Well, there are hardly any women left remember.”
    “I know you mentioned this previously, but we didn’t go into it fully. What happens if she doesn’t like one or more of the guys? Surely that must happen.”
    She sighed. “I have clearly failed to explain that all of the guys in a ménage have to be extremely good-looking and muscular or manly at the very least.”
    He chuckled. “What about other virtues—kindness, compassion, gentleness, generosity, et cetera?”
    “Oh, the hero shows those as well but throughout the story. In the first instance she is attracted by his or their looks and their ability to dominate her. And don’t forget the importance of chemistry. Also, he never shows negative attributes like cruelty, laziness, picking his nose, having a hairy back, and so on. Those are reserved for the bad guys .” She finished the last three words with great emphasis.
    Matt fell about laughing. “Okay, I can see there is no hope for the human race if women have such a high standard. We men won’t be able to supply it.”
    Lissa giggled and, leaning forward to cup her face in her hands, said with a melodramatic sigh, “I’m afraid so. World population levels will fall.”
    “So you’re telling me you like reading about ménage?”
    That comment was unexpected, and Lissa jerked back, her hands dropping to the table. “Yes. Actually, Jessie is the lover of those books. She’s the person who gave that book to me.”
    “Jessie!”
    “Yup—surprising, huh?”
    “How does Sam take that?” Matt wondered. “I can see I need to have an in-depth conversation with him.” He shook his head bemusedly.
    “As I understand it, he is amused but refuses to let her have a ménage in real life. Not that I think she’d ever do it.”
    “Hm. I will never look at her again in the same