His eyes were gorgeous. Blue tinged with purple. That elusive indigo color they say is in the rainbow, but I’ve never seen it. Stunning. He smiled and I forgot about everything around us.
The speed-dating for pervs, the interview process, and for a moment—just a moment—my dominant behavior.
“I’m William Gentry,” he said.
No, you’re flawless.
“Cerise by day,” I stumbled out, and straightened my shoulders. “Mistress Cherry by night.”
His small smile spread into a broad grin. “I like the pun.”
My jaw fell even lower. “You know that cerise—” I stumbled.
“Means cherry in French, yes. Clever,” he said, voice lowering dangerously, “and very sexy.”
Pull yourself together and stop ogling him. He’s going to be your sub.
“E-mail me to schedule a time to get acquainted and exchange checklists. I expect us to engage in this scenario tomorrow or the next day,” I said stiffly, trying to maintain my best possible poker face.
“I look forward to serving you,” he said, and walked away.
I politely took the paper coaster from beneath my Coke and dabbed away the drool.
Was I up to this?
Of course, when you are trying to seem nonchalant, that’s when you are the clumsiest, right? There I stood, fumbling with the keys to my meek but eco-friendly hybrid, as William eyed me from across the parking lot. He hopped in his new SUV gracefully, pretending to check his mirrors. He was staring at me pretty obviously, and I began to dampen my skivvies thinking about the things I was going to do to him.
“Um, Chilly Willy?” a tall brunette said to me, appearing out of nowhere, arms crossed beneath her breasts sternly.
“Erin!” I meeped. “You scared the shit out of me!” The keys dropped into a puddle.
“You are scaring the shit out of me, my dear,” she said, waggling her pointer finger at me accusingly. “Did I see you give your card to Chilly Willy back there? What happened with Roy?” She bugged her eyes and her head cocked in William’s direction.
Oh.
I took a deep breath and shrugged my shoulders. “Roy didn’t work out,” I said quickly, and then gestured toward William. “And as for William—have you seen him? He’s gorgeous. Plus, he’s actually agreeing to my terms,” I said casually. Erin was a killer Domme—really stern when she was in the zone, even with her friends. A plain-Jane administrative assistant by day, a fierce conqueror by night. We didn’t really socialize with each other at community functions—normally she and I just shopped and drank tea and talked about tying up men.
Like all girls, right?
Erin continued giving me the evil eye. “That guy has issues, Cerise.”
I leaned against the car, pretending not to care. “Are you going to offer details, or are you just going to give me the creeps?” I took out my lipstick and slicked on another coat of Red Velvet.
She shook her head and looked lost in thought for a moment. She was trying to find the right words. “He,” she began, finally settling on an answer, “he’s just not normal.”
“Hey, Erin, try being more vague. That would help.”
“You really haven’t heard of him?” she asked, uncrossing her arms and placing them on her slim hips. “Look him up on the Flog Blog or FetLife. Before he lived here, he had a few encounters in Philly—I guess he lived there for a while before he moved to Portsmouth. His Dommes all say the same thing—they couldn’t get anywhere with him. His cold hands were such a turn-off.” She lifted her thin eyebrows at me, waiting for some shocked expression.