...If it came to that, Melody knew she could prove she hadn’t written the damned memo. Now wasn’t the time, however, to argue the point. Not with her day-planner in Alex hands. She didn’t want her secret life used as fodder for office gossip.

That planner had long since become the catch-all for her personal life, with page after page of private notes. She’d never told anyone, but her sister and she were writing erotic romance, not the flavor with a happily-ever-after, but the kind with kink…and lots of it. She’d be a laughingstock if these men knew.

As she moved, her chains rattled and gave her another jolt of panic. None of her ideas and fantasies involved chains. She’d never fantasized about bondage. Besides, there was no way Alex could’ve read what she’d written and believed it was real.

No way!

“I know your deepest, darkest secrets,” Alex said.

“You think what I’ve written in there is…?”

Melody made a split-second decision to take another tactic. If a couple of her kinky ideas came to life, why not? If she went along with them, what could they do? They’d be chained to secrecy like Alex had chained her to the wall. She could say she went along with them because she feared for her life. They’d just messed with the wrong woman.

“I’m not involved in any deals,” John said. “It’s time to unchain Melody.”

“‘Unchained Melody.’” Alex giggled like a girl and began to sing what had been one of her favorite songs until that moment. He shot a smile in Maxwell direction and Maxwell started to sing with him. Good grief!

Idiots.

Alex stopped singing and glared at John. “We didn’t expect you to go along with this. Max, Carl and I decided to give Melody exactly what she wants. Then we’ll all be equal. She won’t ever hold our jobs over our heads, and we’ll never speak of what happens here today. Deal, Melody?” Alex turned away from John and awaited her response.

Right about then she’d agree with anything to lose the chains. Admitting she wrote erotic romance with her sister under the name Honey Dix would be small potatoes, really. It might even make her a little less the ice queen around the office cooler. And to be honest, she was curious to see what they intended. Very curious.

As if he wanted to hurry her answer, Maxwell slipped his sweater over his head. He bunched it in his hand and rubbed it over his muscular chest. After Maxwell allowed the sweater to drop, he reached for his zipper. Melody flashed to Carl, who smiled; Alex, who clapped his hands, and finally to John, who appeared horror-stricken.

Was she really the kind of woman who had the nerve to see this through? “Consenting adults?” she asked.

Maxwell nodded before his slacks fell to his ankles. He stepped out of them and toed them aside. It wasn’t fair for them to use Maxwell as bait. While she hadn’t asked him out or ever thought of him that way, it was hard not to now. His powder-blue boxers looked beautiful against his tanned golden skin. He had the hard muscular body of a male underwear model. Melody anxiously awaited the revealing of his junk. She couldn’t help it…she had a curious nature.

It shocked her, however, to see Alex approach Maxwell and feather his hand over Maxwell’s well-defined abs. When Alex moved his hand lower while he stared at Melody, she knew…

No way.

Of all the fantasies or ideas written in her day-planner, she didn’t expect this to be the one they’d demonstrate for her. John crossed the floor in a threatening manner.

“I’ll handle this,” she told him loudly enough that he’d get the message to back off. If only they’d remove the chains. The damned things gave her the creeps.