He had plans. After he’d realized she’d left with Tiffany the previous night, he’d known it was time to set some ground rules.
He had six weeks to convince her. They’d made a great start the night before. It might not be as hard as he’d thought it would be.
The door swung open and the object of his affection walked in. She was in jeans and a T-shirt that hugged her breasts. There was zero chance of him forgetting how pretty she’d been at the club, despite what he’d warned Javi about. The minute he saw her, a picture of her gorgeous ass floated across his mind. And stuck there.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Deena frowned. “Please don’t call me that. It’s not professional.”
Javi backed toward the door to the dining room. “I’m going to go do something else now. Good luck with all that.”
Deena looked over the bags. “Is this everything?”
She wasn’t looking at him. She hadn’t even taken off her sunglasses.
“Deena? Should we talk?” It looked like he’d spoken too soon.
“No reason to talk if you’ve done your job. I’ll do mine and get out of your hair.” It appeared the sexy kitten from the night before was gone and in her place was a Deena he’d never seen before.
“Is there a reason you’re being so rude?”
Her head finally came up, her mouth a little O. “I wasn’t being rude. I’m in a hurry.”
“You’ve got thirty minutes and McKay-Taggart is only fifteen minutes away. And I’ve called you sweetheart before.”
“Only yesterday.”
“Fair enough. What’s really going on? Is this about last night?”
She flushed, her face turning the sweetest shade of pink. “I don’t think we should talk about that at work. Other people could hear. It’s why I was shocked to see you and Javier last night. I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix work and play. Things can get confusing.”
“The club is owned by the man you’re about to deliver food to.” He felt the need to point out a few facts she was overlooking. “Chef is a member of that club. For that matter, Macon and Ally go there, and you’re in a class with Tiffany. So I must assume it’s only the lesser male employees you object to.”
“I don’t object,” she argued. “I simply think it’s going to be weird.”
“Do you find me so distasteful?” He was confused. She watched him and not with wary eyes. She doodled his name when she thought no one was looking. What was the problem? He knew she’d been burned, but the training class seemed like the perfect way to bring them together. Unless he’d misread her. “Is it my face?”
He didn’t think about it much. He’d gotten torn all to hell during a firefight in South America. His team had been extracting a high-value target when they met with resistance. They’d saved the target but he’d thought for a while he would lose half his face. His whole team had called him Frankenstein for a good six months. Now the scar was simply part of him, but it put some people off.
He thought she’d seen past that. He ached at the idea of Deena thinking he was a freak.
She softened immediately, taking her sunglasses off. She stepped in, her hand drifting up to almost touch his face before she seemed to realize what she was doing. “Don’t be ridiculous. The scar is nothing. You’re gorgeous and you know it. I’m talking about the fact that we have to work together.”
“So we shouldn’t play together?” He eased a bit because he believed her about the scar. She wasn’t repulsed by him. Anything else was workable. “We’ve been going out together for months. We go to dance clubs. We’ve gone to movies. We’ve hung out.”
She shook her head, dark hair moving across her shoulders. “I didn’t know that was dating. That doesn’t count.”
He couldn’t help but smile. He moved into her space, happy when she held her ground. “We were hanging out in a group. We’re all friends. We work odd hours so it’s only natural we would all play together. And when I take you on a date, there won’t be any question about what we’re doing. I promise.”
Now she took a healthy step back, her hand coming up as if to block him. “See. That’s what I’m talking about. We can’t date. People who work together shouldn’t date.”
He followed her, paying no attention to that hand. He let her raised palm hit his chest. “Like Chef and his wife? Like Macon and Ally? I won’t even go into the very inappropriate relationships at McKay-Taggart.”
“They’re different.”
He put his hand over hers, holding it to him. “How?”
“They’re not me.”
It was time to reassure her. He told himself he wasn’t lying. “This isn’t dating, Deena. This is a training class that lasts six weeks. We were paired up because the people who run the place thought we would be good training partners. I think we’ll be good together, too. I think we proved it last night, but this is only about the six-week training period. This isn’t about dating or getting married. It’s not that serious.”
It wasn’t for her. It kind of was for him, but he was a gambling man. If he sat her down and explained to her that he intended to be her only Dom, to be the last man she ever slept with, she would definitely run. Slow and easy was the way to catch this girl. Ease her into a relationship. Get her into bed and show her how well and thoroughly he could please her and then one day she would wake up with a ring on her finger wondering what the hell had gone wrong.
Yeah, that was a good plan.
“It felt serious last night.”
He let go of her hand. “So that was why you scampered away after class.”
Her chin came up. “I did not scamper anywhere. I left with Tiffany.”
“New rule number two is I pick you up and take you home after class.”
“I can get a ride with Tiffany,” she argued.
“Tiffany is not your Dom for the next six weeks. I am and I will take care of you getting to and from class. Unless you can give me a real reason why you need to ride with Tiffany. Does she have narcolepsy and needs you to wake her up when she falls asleep at the wheel?”
Her lips turned up. “No. Of course not.”
“Does she forget the way?”
“You know it’s nothing like that.” She stared at him as though he should easily know the answer.
The truth was he did know the answer. He simply wasn’t sure she was ready to admit what the real problem was. “Then tell me why you don’t want me to drive you.”
“Because I think you might get handsy at the end of the day.”
“Well, maybe I’m afraid you’re the one who’ll get handsy.” He was a little insulted, but he kept his cool. Her fear wasn’t about him assaulting her. It was about something else altogether. “I wasn’t the one who begged for a spanking last night.”
She flushed again. “That is so untrue. I did not beg for a spanking.”
“All I’m saying is I can handle myself around you, sweetheart.” He moved in close again, backing her up until she was against the metal door of the freezer. She looked like she could handle a cooling off period. He moved in close until his chest almost brushed the curves of her breasts, until his mouth was over hers. “I can spank you and not fuck you. I can top you without ever touching you in a sexual fashion if that’s what you’re afraid of. If you don’t want me to, I’ll never kiss you.”
“You don’t want to kiss me?” The question came out in a husky tone.
“Oh, I want to, but I have control over myself and I want you to think about that. We’re together for the next six weeks. We’ll sign a contract tonight. We can spend those weeks blandly learning the ins and outs of the club or we can spend them figuring out if we work as sexual partners. I’m lonely, Deena. It’s been a long time since I had a lover. I would very much like to spend this time getting to know you in every way I possibly can, but I won’t take you if you don’t want me back. I can be your Dom and not your lover. I can control my impulses. Hell, I’m always in control, and you should think about that. You should consider the fact that I would use every ounce of that control to bring you pleasure, to take you as high as I can.” It was time to pull back. He pushed off the door, having never once touched her. “But it’s your choice. In the end, it’s always the sub who chooses.”
“Why? Why would you want me?” All her arrogance was gone.
“Because we’re friends and I like you and you’re gorgeous. I’ve wanted to sleep with you from the moment I saw you. That might not be what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. I think we could be good for each other. Neither one of us has had a lover in a long time. Am I right?”
“You’re right,” she replied. “I haven’t even dated anyone since my divorce.”
“Then why not try? If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to being friends.”
Her head shook. “That never happens.”
“I don’t know what kind of douchebags you’ve been dating, but I’m still friends with almost every woman I’ve ever dated. It doesn’t have to end in either happily ever after or hate. Especially if we’re both honest. The contract is for six weeks. I can promise you right now that I’m still going to like you after six weeks. You be honest with me. Were you planning on experimenting with your training Dom if you’d had chemistry with him? Before you knew I was the Dom. Would you have given that Dom a chance?”