A Little Harmless Submission(17)

“I took her back to her hotel room.”

The partners shared a glance then looked back at him.

Aggravation inched down his spine. “What?”

“And what else happened?” Evan asked.

“Nothing. And if there had been anything, I wouldn’t tell you. I would think you would appreciate my discretion.”

Evan shook his head as his lips twitched.

“Let’s get back to the problem at hand. You’re worried she might not be able to handle it?” Micah asked.

At first, he thought so. Now that he knew she’d researched the situation, he wasn’t so sure. The way she’d handled herself the night before told him she was at least trained to handle situations like that. He shrugged. “According to her, she has done a lot of research.”

“What kind of research?” Evan asked as he wiggled his eyebrows. “Was it hands on research?”

A wave of heat rolled through Rome at the thought. She said she had done research, read books, but truthfully, knowing her, she’d been to clubs. The idea that she might have done something with a Dom had his temper flaring. He didn’t want another man to touch her. Just the thought had his anger heating to a dangerous level. And that thought had him worried.

“Ah, so you don’t know. Knowing the woman, she did. She seems pretty thorough. And she has something to prove,” Micah said.

“What are you talking about?” Evan asked.

“Father is that big serial killer hunter you always wanted to meet.”

“You wanted to meet Big John Callahan?” Rome asked.

Evan shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “I just thought it would be cool.”

“He was.”

“You met him?” Evan asked.

“Went to a few of his lectures when I was stationed in DC.”

Evan looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but Micah steered them back to the topic at hand again. “Y’all are going to start tonight? Got a plan?”

Rome wanted to curse. He hated that a lot of this could have been discussed the night before. Of course, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else beyond touching Maria. “No, but I’m sure she has one. She has no problem telling me what to do.”

“At least you get to reverse that tonight.”

Micah’s comment sent a rush of heat through his blood, had his body reacting before he could stop it. Rome knew it was all about undercover. But there was the problem of their attraction. She might try to pretend she wasn’t attracted to him, but he had felt the way she had trembled when he touched her the night before. Hell, he could still taste her on his lips. He’d never really had this kind of response to a woman before. Not since high school. It was as if he couldn’t control himself.

The thought that she would be in the club, dressed to attract, had him sweating. He wasn’t sure he would survive the night.

· · · · ·

Maria looked at herself in the mirror and blinked. The dress May had picked out clung to her curves and accentuated her hips. The push-up bra…well it did its job well. She blinked again. She didn’t recognize herself. Her face looked the same, but her body…she felt almost naked.

“Come out, we want to see.”

Maria frowned as she smoothed her hands over her hips. “I’m not so sure about this.”

The curtain opened, and Dee stood there. Her eyes widened as her gaze took in the way the dress fit Maria. “Wow!”

Horrified, Maria gasped. “I could have been naked.”

“If you were in here alone all this time naked, I would be wondering what you were doing,” May said. The woman had a sassy sense of humor that appealed to Maria. She seemed to say the things that Maria thought but didn’t have the nerve to say out loud.

“I say you’ll grab the attention of more than one guy tonight. Especially Rome,” May said. “He likes a full ass, doesn’t he Dee.”

“That really isn’t that important,” she said even as a tiny little thrill zinged through her. She shouldn’t be that excited that Rome apparently went for her body type.

“Sure it is. You want to attract men, right? Which, with this tiny waist and that rear end of yours, especially in this dress, you will. As I said, Rome likes some booty,” May said, giving hers a little wiggle.

Maria cleared her throat as her face burned. She was an adult, but she had spent little time around women. She was always mystified by the openness of their discussions, especially these two women.

Dee nodded. “Yeah, he does. I watch him watch women, and those are the ones he always goes for. He’s going to be dying when he sees you in this.”