by Tori Carson
Sean arrived early to find Michelle had reserved his normal seating area. Only five people had RSVP’d, so it should go quickly. Of course, there was no telling how many would actually show up. He brought enough packets for twenty, just in case. Michelle was busy, but she looked as beautiful as always. No one would guess she was nearing the end of a twelve-hour shift.
“The usual, Mr. Jameson?” she asked, walking by with another order.
“Yes, thank you.” Why the hell didn’t she call him Sean? Did that mean she was going to turn down his offer? His stomach began churning and he realized just how much this meant to him. One way or another she was quitting this job. No way was he going to allow her to work herself to death. Three jobs and taking a full class load was too much for anyone.
Thirteen people ended up coming to the munch. Four couples, one threesome and two singles. He suspected seven of them would apply. Not a bad ratio, since his mind was completely focused on Michelle instead of the perspective members. This had to end. He looked at his watch. Eleven forty-five, so she was off in fifteen minutes. She’d been all business since he’d come in and he didn’t like it one little bit. A confident approach, he decided, was needed.
“Let’s go shopping as soon as you’re off, then we’ll run by the club and you can meet Steven. I know you need to get some sleep, so we’ll make it quick and then I can drop you back here so you can pick up your car.”
“I have one more table, then I can go. It should just be a few minutes.”
The relief he felt was all-consuming. She was at least willing to hear him out. He paid the bill, left a hefty tip and went outside to wait and check his phone. While meeting perspective members, he tried to give them the courtesy of his full attention by putting his cell on silent. However, there was little to be done about Michelle distracting him every time she came into view.
Sean was leaning on the fender of his Jaguar XK going through his messages when Michelle walked up to him. With her tight jeans, formfitting blouse and a leather jacket hooked on one finger over her shoulder, she took his breath away. She’d taken her hair out of the ponytail and allowed her auburn locks to cascade down her back. The whole package sent his cock twitching. He could feel his hand fisted in all that hair as he thrust inside that perfect ass of hers.
She was right about one thing—her horrible diner uniform left a lot to the imagination. Even his vivid imagination hadn’t envisioned her looking this hot. Oh fuck no. If he had known, he would have been more aggressive in his pursuit.
“Sorry I kept you waiting. It took longer to cash out than I expected.”
He noticed her voice quivered and that she was fidgeting with the strap on her purse.
“No problem. I’m glad you decided to give this a try.” He unlocked the passenger door and opened it for her.
“I don’t honestly know if I can do this, Mr. Jameson. I’ve never been to a fet club and I certainly never considered working at one. No offense intended. I’m sure it’s a very nice place.”
“No offense taken, Michelle. I’m well aware that my club isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak. Tell me this, how did you learn about the lifestyle?”
“I love to read. I’m always searching for new authors and new series. A few months ago, I bought a book without realizing it was a BDSM romance. The author was amazing, her characters were very real to life and I enjoyed the dynamics of the story. After reading that one, I checked out others in the genre.” She shrugged. “I’ve been hooked ever since.” She looked toward Sean and blushed. “Of course, reading is very different from seeing or especially from doing.”
“In your past relationships, you haven’t experimented…” He was feeling the gap between them widen. She was right that reading about it was very different from partaking in it.
“Nope. I’m a pretty boring person really. I can’t tell you the last time I even went out. It had to be over the summer. I haven’t had the time or energy for a relationship since classes started.”
That explained a few things. “Is that why you always ignored my attempts to go out with you?” Her shocked expression caused him to laugh.
“When did you ask me out?” Her scrunched face—with her eyes darting back and forth as if she were scanning her memory banks—was cute as hell.
“I left you my phone number every time I came in. You never called.” Damn, his voice echoed his hurt.
“I…” She shook her head. “I just thought you wrote that in case there was trouble with your credit card or something. A lot of older customers do that. I assumed it was a habit of yours too.”
“Older customers? Ouch! Now I gotta ask—how old are you, Michelle?” He was getting really worried now. What if she were under twenty-one? What the hell would he do then? Because he knew his obsession with her wasn’t going to just go away.
She laughed, causing his cock to strain against his pants. “I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t consider you ‘older’ and to answer your question, I’m twenty-three going on sixty.”
His heart began beating again. Thank God she wasn’t underage. Still, at thirty-two, he had no business considering a relationship with her. Not that the age difference would change his course of action. “Why sixty?”
“I’m not exactly living the college party life. I graduate in May and so far I’ve managed to make it through without any loans. I figured that would be more meaningful in the long run than hangovers and sketchy memories.” She gave another nervous giggle.
“Smart girl.” They drove in silence for a few miles.
“Oh, I forgot.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out some money, “I brought your change from this morning. You left before I could give it to you.”
“It was for you, hon. I didn’t want any change back.”
“That’s silly. It’s way too much.” She put the bills in the cup holder on the console.
“Take the money, Michelle. It was meant for you.”
She shrugged and left the money right where she’d put it.
“Michelle, I want you to work at my club, and I’d also like to see you on a personal basis. The job isn’t a factor in us dating. Whether you want to go out with me or not, the job offer still stands.”
“Sean…I don’t date people I work with. If it gets messy, it impacts too many others. Maybe we should forget the job and try just going out a time or two and see how that goes.”
He should take it and run, but that wasn’t the type of person he was. He wanted it all. “You said yourself that with your current schedule you don’t have time to date. If you accept my offer, you’d be quitting your other jobs and thereby freeing up time for more enjoyable pursuits.”
“You make it sound so easy, when I’m sitting here practically hyperventilating at the idea of just dating you. I can’t imagine working in a kink club. It’s more than I can wrap my mind around.”
Sean knew what he had to do. At the next intersection he made a U-turn. “Let’s go to the club. No one will be there right now and we can have a serious conversation and hopefully put some of your fears to bed.”
“Okay.” She kept twisting her fingers, obviously nervous.
Sean reached over and laid his hand over hers. “Why are you so afraid of me? Have I done something to scare you?” Everybody had hidden triggers. Had he somehow touched upon one of hers?
“No, you haven’t done anything. Your manners are always top-shelf. I just…you’ve been coming into the diner for months now. You’re very handsome and a little mysterious. I had no idea who you were meeting with or why.” She laughed. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you were a club owner.”
“For many generations, the men in my family have been businessmen. It was expected of me from the time I was born.” He grinned, remembering the look on his parents’ faces when he told them what type of club he had opened. “After I graduated, I looked at my options and went my own way.”
“Did you go to the University of South Carolina?”
> “No, I went to school in Boston.” He left his answer vague, not wanting to widen the gap between them any further by pointing out his Ivy League education. After pulling into the drive, he went around back to his office entrance.
“Cat Tails. That’s a cute name. I’m probably showing my ignorance here, but how did you come up with the name?”
“A cat- o’-nine-tails is an impact toy some people enjoy playing with.” He gestured with his right hand as he spoke, trying to draw a connection to the words. “Cat, pussy, tails, ass, I don’t know. It made sense at the time.”
“Ahh, I thought it was something like that.” She should have figured that out for herself. Come on, Michelle, engage the brain before he thinks you’re a virgin. Not that she was terribly far from it, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Wait here and I’ll get your door.”
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had opened her door. Oh now she remembered…never. A girl could get used to this. After getting the door for her, he held out his hand and helped her from the car. His mannerisms brought out her femininity and made her wish she had paid more attention to her grandmother’s etiquette lectures.
Sean unlocked the door, turned on the lights and punched a code into a keypad beside the back door. He locked it again and if she read the lights on the panel correctly, he’d reset the alarm. “My office is through here.” He led her down a short hallway and to the right.
Michelle was surprised and impressed by his office. It was furnished in light woods and steel, just like what she hoped to own one day.
“Why don’t we sit on the couch? We can talk easier there.”
She looked in the direction he’d pointed and fell in love. The couch was low and made with a linen-colored fabric. “Your office is beautiful. I’m jealous.”
“Thanks, I’m glad you like it. I spend entirely too much time here, so I wanted it comfortable and homey. Have a seat.”
Michelle put her purse on the floor beside the sofa and sat near the armrest. Her heart was pounding. She was alone with the man of her dreams, in a kink club that he owned. Good lord, what was she doing?
Sean sat sideways near the middle. “Come on, Michelle, meet me halfway.” He patted the cushion beside him.
She smiled and slid toward him.
He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Is it me or the job you’re so nervous about, hon?”
“Good question. Bartending is a breeze, but tending bar in a club where people are having sex a few feet away and clothing is optional, that’s a different story. Dating you, I’m cool with, but knowing that if we hit it off—” She shook her head. “You’re way out of my league, Sean. I might be able to handle one at a time without feeling like I’m following the yellow brick road, but not both.”
Sean tipped his head back and laughed. The sound made her happy and she started to relax a little. “Everything that goes on in this club or between us is consensual, Michelle. I suppose I’m being greedy, because I want it all. I can’t force you to take the job or to give us a try, but I will do anything I can to persuade you.” He shrugged. “Short of lying. I want honesty between us.”
She’d never known a man capable of communicating honestly before. It was a novel concept. In the books she’d read, the Doms were always big on talking and knowing what the sub was thinking. She wondered if that was what he was getting at. “I’d like that.”
“I want to make sure you understand my intentions before we go any further. If you take the job—and I certainly hope you do—I want you to quit your other jobs. Consider it a conflict of interest requirement. I don’t like you working twelve-hour shifts. Is the pay enough to replace your current income?”
“More than. I’ve been thinking about the offer and if I take it I would quit the diner and the bar, but I’d keep the campus job. It fits with my classes and wouldn’t interfere in any way.” She needed to make sure she didn’t just roll over and give in to him on everything. It would be so easy to do that. Michelle had fantasized about him taking command of her many times. She kept pinching herself to make sure this was really happening.
“It’s during the day while you’re already on campus?”
“Yep, it’s very convenient. The pay isn’t much, but I’m also getting office experience and that will be handy when it’s time to get a real job.”
“That’ll work. I realize you’re taking a big chance giving up your means of support and I appreciate your concern toward dating someone you work with. Just to make it clear, you’d be reporting to Steven, but in the spirit of total disclosure, I’m the sole owner and Steven does answer to me. I started thinking about the risk you’d be taking, so I spoke with my attorney. He came up with a unique employment contract. It is a cross between a prenup and a trust fund. How long do you think it would take you to replace those jobs?”
Sean had spoken with a lawyer already this morning? “A few weeks, a couple of months, at the most.” Where was he going with this?
“I wanted to take the risk off you. My attorney will create a special account in your name only. If for any reason you find it necessary to quit or if you were fired, you would automatically be given ten thousand dollars from the account. I figured that would give you three-and-a-half months to find a new job.”
“I’m not comfortable with that, Mr. Jameson. I don’t want, nor do I need, your money.” She grabbed her purse and started to leave, but remembered he’d locked the door and set the alarm.
“Whoa.” Sean shackled his hand around her wrist, a light touch but unbreakable. “Michelle, please sit down and talk to me. I’m trying to protect you, not scare the hell out of you.”
She looked down at his hand. He instantly let go and raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Sit down, please.” His voice dropped an octave or two.
Michelle sat back on the couch, her knees weak. The outrage over being bought ran headlong into her hormones when he used that tone.
“Tell me what I did wrong.”
“I’m not for sale.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m not into the buying and selling of submissives, even for charity purposes. Too dangerous. If I thought you were after money, I would never have set up the fund the way I did. You only get the money if we part ways. You don’t get a dime other than your bartending salary—which, by the way, is the same pay we were giving the last bartender—if you keep working here.”
She didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry. I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.” After a calming breath, Michelle wiped her palms on her jeans. “I’m really not comfortable with taking your money. “
“Good. Then we both have a reason to make this work.”
“Sean, I’ve seen the women who come to breakfast with you. Some of them are gorgeous and they’re into kink. Why are you offering this to me?”
“Why are you considering it?” he countered. “I’ve told you I find you attractive, that I keep coming to the diner to see you. You haven’t shared anything with me.”
He was right. She’d been very closemouthed about her feelings. It wasn’t fair to leave him in the dark. “I’ve started looking forward to your visits and I make sure I always work the third Saturday of each month. I trade shifts if I have to,” she admitted.
“You’ve invaded my dreams. I think about you all the time.”
If he was willing to admit it, she would too. “I’ve had a few dreams about you too.” She felt her face flaming.
Sean was quiet for a few moments. He appeared to be studying her. “What kind of dreams, Michelle? Were they erotic? Maybe one of the hot scenes you’d read about?”
“Now that would be telling. I don’t think I’m ready to do that just yet.” She smiled as he laughed.
“I’d be happy to tell you some of mine, but maybe I should take you on a tour first.”
Sean left the couch and opened his office door, then waved her down the hall. He pointed to a door across the hall from his. “This
is Steven’s office, but he rarely uses it. He spends most of his time in the arboretum.”
“Arboretum? Aren’t gardens outside?” She was intrigued now.
Sean gave her a prideful smile and swung open the door at the end of the hallway.
“Oh my God, Sean, this is beautiful. How did you accomplish this?” The roof was warehouse height and they needed every inch of it. Huge trees and plants of every shape and size filled the space. Off to the right was the bar. Straight in front of her was an amphitheater of sorts and beyond that was anyone’s bet. It was impossible to get a feel for just how large the space was. There were skylights in the roof and indirect lighting, which she suspected used grow-specific light bulbs. “Are all these plants real?”
“Most are live plants. I pay a landscape crew a small fortune to keep this area as pristine as possible. I’m very proud of the club and I want you to enjoy it here.” He put his arm around her waist and walked along a path, pointing out certain plants and features.
“This isn’t what I expected at all. In the books I’ve read, they always talk about dungeons. I thought I’d find flickering lights, lots of black and red and chains everywhere.” She laughed self-consciously. Maybe she could work here. If she just blocked out what was going on and focused on the drink orders and the beautiful landscaping, she might be able to do this.
“Oh we have the requisite dungeon. It’s in the basement. You don’t need to go down there for work and since you haven’t played before, it will be a long, long time before we’d venture there together. If ever…”
Now her curiosity was piqued. If she decided to take the job, she’d be sneaking a peek before long. “You make it sound ominous.”
“For someone who won’t tell me a single fantasy, it could be a little daunting. We’ll ignore that part of the tour.” As they walked along the path, Sean stopped near a secluded spot. “Have you read about a St. Andrew’s Cross?” He was pointing to a wooden structure with ropes, vines and manacles hanging from it.