by Cara Adams
“They saw you last night, and that was enough for both of them to want a date with you.” Allegra smiled at Nerida, and Nerida found herself smiling back, even though she was still shaking her head. It sounded like miscommunication to her. Why would two men be interested in her? She was the absolute definition of ordinary.
* * * *
Gavan’s free afternoon was being spent pacing around his apartment instead of planning a sexy date with his woman. First, he hadn’t been able to speak to Allegra in person. He’d had to leave a message with her PA. He guessed that was reasonable enough. Likely she was in a meeting or even in court. But then, when she’d contacted him, she’d simply said she’d ask and get back to him later. The question was, how much later?
At first he left his cell phone on the coffee table in front of him so he could grab it the moment it rang. But he couldn’t sit still. Gavan channel surfed from program to program, but nothing on TV held his attention. And then he carried his cell in his hand and as he moved around his apartment getting ready for his shift at work that evening. Now it was back in his pocket as he paced up the hallway, through his living area, and back into the hallway again. Around and around until he forced himself to change the cycle and rotate in the other direction. Not that his cell phone rang then either.
He was working the next two nights, so he supposed he ought to be very relaxed about waiting for a response. Likely she wouldn’t agree to meet them until the weekend anyway. But Gavan couldn’t relax. He needed to know she would date them. Hell, he needed to know her name for fuck’s suck. He couldn’t keep thinking of her as “the woman in blue.” She had a name, and he wanted to know what it was. Right now.
“Climb down off the ledge. It’s not that bad,” he told himself. But that was a hell of a lot easier to say than to do. In an ideal world she’d be in his bed tonight. Fuck getting to know her. The most appropriate way to get to know her would begin with all three of them naked and in a bedroom. They could talk afterward. After he and Taj had given her a couple of orgasms.
That’s how he wanted to know her. Did she shave her cunt? Was she naked down below? If she wasn’t, would she let him shave her there? What color nipples did she have, and even more important, what would they taste like? And her cunt? What would it taste like? He could imagine how juicy she’d be as he and Taj brought her to a screaming climax and she came into his mouth.
Gavan sighed and tugged on his black jeans to ease the pressure on his dick and balls. He didn’t need to know her name to know that she fascinated him and he wanted her, but all this stress was getting him nowhere. He might as well go to work early. At least at The Dom’s Dungeon there’d be people to talk to and his restlessness could be put to good use restocking the bar.
* * * *
By the time Taj finally heard back about their woman, it was almost the end of his working day. He had ten seconds of hopeful joy when he saw the text was from Gavan and thought that maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to talk to her this evening.
Then reality bit, and he finished reading the text and learned she’d agreed to a very brief meeting at noon Sunday. What the fuck could they do at noon? Well, eat obviously, but nothing much else. Hell, there wasn’t even always dance music at that time of day. He’d thought for sure he’d get to hold her hand on the dance floor, if nothing better than that.
The good news was that she hadn’t said no. Not that he or Gavan would have accepted no as a final answer. It was more of an ambit claim to begin the bargaining process. So it wasn’t all bad news, but it could have been a hell of a lot better.
I’ll arrive early so we can talk first, he texted back.
Remembering she’d been wearing jeans when he saw her, Taj dressed neatly but casually in jeans and a button-down shirt. He arrived at eleven, wondering if that was much too early, and walked into the Stage Lounge, but Gavan was nowhere around.
There weren’t a lot of people in the area. It was maybe half full with the brunch crowd, but there were still plenty of vacant tables. The BDSM club didn’t get full until the evenings, although the food was known to be really good, so more and more people were coming just for a meal as well as for the nighttime shows.
I’m in the Stage Lounge, he texted Gavan.
Looking at the dungeons. Be there in ten.
I wonder if that means he’s already planning a scene for her. But we don’t even know if she likes BDSM. I guess a Dom just does plan things. It’s what he is and what he does.
Taj ordered a dark beer to drink while he waited. There was a two-glass limit on alcohol for anyone wanting to participate in a dungeon scene, but he couldn’t imagine the woman would agree to anything like that when she’d stipulated a half-hour meeting. They’d be lucky to finish eating in that time.
Besides, he needed something to do while he waited. He wanted this woman so much, and yet he didn’t know a single thing about her. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite right. He knew she knew Allegra. Or did she? Had Adelaide brought her to Allegra because they didn’t know each other? Otherwise, why not just let her into the Stage Lounge? No pass was required for entry to the Stage Lounge. Passes were required for the dungeons and the private rooms, but anyone could come in and eat, or watch a show, or just sit here. Well damn. He’d been right the first time. He knew absolutely nothing about his woman at all. That’s about to change. I’ll start with finding out her name and then move on to everything else about her.
He’d finished his drink and was idly looking around at the people in the room, not recognizing anyone, when Gavan appeared in the entryway from the dungeons. He lifted his hand in a small wave, knowing that Gavan would find him easily. Taj had deliberately chosen an exposed table near the dance floor so he’d be able to see their woman as soon as she arrived.
“What have you got planned for our half-hour with her?” he asked as soon as Gavan at down.
“Step one is to make sure she stays with us for a hell of a lot more than thirty minutes.”
“I like the way you think. What’s step two?”
“Yes, well, I’m still working on that. It’s just that it’s close to impossible to plan a date she’ll enjoy until I know something about her.”
“Don’t look at me for inspiration. I have three brothers. No sisters.”
“Three brothers? I knew you had one or two, but three? What happened? Did your parents like kids, or were they trying for a girl?”
“According to my mother, they only planned for one of us. The rest were accidents.”
“Always remember to wear a condom. The one piece of advice every man needs to take to heart. But getting back to our woman, all I can think of is engaging her in conversation to learn as much as we can about her today so that our next date can be designed to please her properly.”
“What’s her name?” asked Taj.
“I don’t know.”
“How did she tell you she’d meet us here at noon without you knowing her name?”
“Allegra passed me her work e-mail which is ‘researcherforhire.’ If she normally uses a sig line, she’d blanked it out.”
“Damn. I wonder what she researches. Maybe that’s why she spoke to Allegra. Maybe she works for Bailey and Bond.” Taj leaned his elbows on the table, and he and Gavan talked about everyday things for a while, but he wasn’t paying a lot of attention. He could tell Gavan wasn’t either. They were merely killing time until their lady arrived.
Chapter Three
Nerida was intrigued by the thought that two men—two men she didn’t know and had never met—wanted to get to know her. Ordinarily she’d have never responded to them. Only the fact that Allegra vouched for them, and that they’d approached her via the attorney, had convinced her to agree to meet them.
The Dom’s Dungeon was the perfect meeting place though. The security there was excellent, and the bus stop was almost outside the front door. Half an hour would be enough time for her to decide if they were serious or if there was something underhanded going o
n. Even though Allegra said they were all right, Nerida still couldn’t understand why they were interested in her. She was very ordinary.
However, she had to remind herself that the last little while of her working life might be making her a fraction paranoid. After all, no one had ever attacked her, and the threats she’d received had been more along the lines of schoolyard jibes than serious nastiness. Which didn’t mean she’d be telling anyone her address, not even which state she lived in, anytime soon. But she would meet these men in a public place in the middle of the day. Likely, after half an hour with her, they’d completely have lost interest in her anyway.
Nevertheless, she still dressed to blend in, wearing her jeans as usual but with a pretty, pink, thigh-length top. If things went wrong and she needed to hurry away, simply tucking it inside her jeans would give her a slightly different look, she hoped. Not that she expected anything would go wrong. It was just that she didn’t trust the people who were determined to pass the blame for the misappropriation of the money onto her sister.
As she walked to a more distant bus stop just to make her journey less predictable, and changed buses twice on her way to The Dom’s Dungeon, Nerida kept mulling over the situation with Lacey. The money stolen was not a huge amount. Thirty thousand dollars was not peanuts, but it wasn’t enough to retire on either. She could comprehend the guilty person trying to avoid discovery, but why all this fuss over a comparatively small sum? If it had been a million dollars, she could understand it. Or even half a million. But not thirty thousand. This had to be the key to a door that would unlock a much bigger fraud. Otherwise, nothing made sense at all.
A redheaded woman was on the reception desk when she arrived at the BDSM club this time, not her former roommate Adelaide, who’d taken her to Allegra last time. But she knew the way into the Stage Lounge now and walked there confidently. Since the men wanted to get to know her, Nerida assumed they’d approach her. She certainly didn’t know them, although maybe she’d recognize them if she saw them. Allegra said the barman had a beard, and likely there wouldn’t be a lot of bearded men around. Not that she’d glanced at the barman when she came here last time. This was all truly weird.
She walked through the room, noticing that, this time, the music was recorded, not live, although there were signs that a band was about to set up on the stage. Even though it was the middle of the day, the large space was maybe half-full of people all talking, eating, and drinking together. She’d heard people speak about lazy Sunday brunches and guessed this was what they looked like. When she’d worked for a company, Sunday had been the day she’d slept late and then done her share of the chores. Now it was just another workday.
Nerida walked slowly across the empty dance floor toward the bar. When she was maybe halfway there, a couple of men who’d been sitting at a table beside the dance floor stood up and smiled at her. The older one had dark hair and a full-face beard. That was unusual these days. The younger one’s face was almost split in half by a blinding smile. His hair was also brown, but much lighter in color.
Both men stepped forward, and she stopped and waited for them to speak.
“I’m Taj. Please sit down and join us.” That was the younger one. So he was the one with the unusual name. The beard meant the other one was the barman, although clearly not on duty right now.
“I’m Gavan. Thank you for accepting our invitation to join us.” He held out a chair for her, and she slid into it, murmuring, “Thank you,” to both of them.
Before any of them could speak, a server was at the table handing out menus. “Would you like to order a drink, ma’am?”
Of course. The barman was likely the server’s boss, so they would get excellent attention. “Diet Coke please.”
The server disappeared silently without asking the men. Taj’s glass was empty, but Gavan’s was almost completely full. She wondered if Taj would be brought another drink as well as her.
“You know our names. What’s yours?” asked Gavan.
That was interesting. She’d told Allegra she could tell them her first name, but apparently Allegra hadn’t done that. “Nerida. Why did you want to meet me?”
“I saw you the evening you came to speak to Allegra and was instantly drawn to you. I followed you out to the front of the club, but you’d disappeared. How did you do that?” asked Taj.
“I wasn’t aware you wanted to speak to me.”
The server brought across her drink and placed a carafe of ice water on the table. Nerida had heard the food here was good so skimmed the menu quickly. There really were a surprising number of choices, far more than she’d have expected. It was more like a restaurant menu than a list of bar snacks. Since the men had invited her for lunch, she assumed they’d be paying for her meal. But Nerida didn’t want to be beholden to them in any way so quickly chose one of the cheapest items on the menu.
“Just the garden salad, please.”
“What? No meat?” asked Taj.
She caught Gavan frowning at him before he said, “There are pasta dishes suitable for vegetarians or gluten-free meals available.”
“I’m not a vegetarian, and I don’t have any special dietary issues.”
Taj was smiling again. “In that case you’ll have all your calories left to enjoy several amazing desserts. I can recommend the brownies and the cheesecake.”
She smiled at his enthusiasm but shook her head. “You were about to tell me why you invited me here today. I’m guessing this isn’t a business appointment?” She raised her voice in a query, wondering if maybe it was about work after all.
* * * *
Taj was almost grinding his teeth in his efforts not to grab her and kiss her until she collapsed into his arms. She smiled, was perfectly polite, and dexterously deflected every single question he asked her, no matter how carefully he phrased it and how much he told her about himself first. Their half-hour was almost up, and the only thing he knew about her that he hadn’t known before was that her name was Nerida. If that really was her name.
He didn’t even know if she genuinely liked salad or not. Fuck, this was annoying. His only hope was that Gavan would come up with some brilliant move, although she hadn’t answered his questions either so far.
Taj put his hand over hers. He did it gently, not gripping her or anything. She could have easily pulled away, but he hoped she wouldn’t. He picked her hand up and turned it over, gently stroking her wrist and then massaging each of her fingers, one at a time. Only when he was sure she wouldn’t pull her hand away and slap his face was he brave enough to hold her wrist to his nose, inhale her very faint scent, and press a kiss to her wrist.
“We’d like to take you out on a proper date. Where would you like to go? What would you like to do?” Since trying to ask questions about her hadn’t worked, the only thing left to do was ask her outright. Unless Gavan could come up with a better plan.
She pulled her hand away and shook her head. “I’m sorry if I’ve misled you. I’m not looking for a relationship right now, but I did enjoy meeting you both. Thank you so much.”
She stood up, but this time, he had his gaze fixed to her face and sprang to his feet as well. “I’ll escort you to your car.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
Taj dropped back into his chair. He wanted her so much, but she didn’t seem to understand. What the fuck am I doing wrong here?
“Nerida, please, we want to get to know you better. We promise we would never hurt you or frighten you. What do you need from us to prove to you we’re genuine?”
She stared at Gavan as if she was measuring him or something. Taj held his breath. Instinctively he knew this moment was the turning point. If she rejected them now, they would never get to know her at all.
“Give me your full name and address and date of birth.”
“Huh?” Now he really didn’t understand. Taj was an unusual name, but he’d met other people who had it. Just not all that many of them. Didn’t she believe it was his nam
e?
Gavan pulled his wallet out of his hip pocket and opened it to display his driver’s license, and then he clicked his fingers in the air. The server appeared beside them only seconds later.
“Yes, sir?”
“Please bring some paper and a pen for the lady.”
“Yes, sir.” The server tore a couple of sheets of paper off his order pad and handed them to Nerida with a pen out of his pocket and then left.
Taj watched while she wrote down Gavan’s address and driver’s license number and then hastily stood up to get his own wallet and give her his paperwork.
After she’d transcribed his details, Nerida tucked the sheets of paper into a pocket of her jeans and handed Gavan the pen. “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”
Everything in Taj wanted to go with her, to follow her out, to follow her home. Hell, better yet, to grab her and hold her and never even let her off the dance floor let alone out of the building. But he didn’t. He stood perfectly still and watched her leave, his heart pounding so hard he began to wonder if he’d be sick at the fear of losing her forever.
* * * *
Gavan walked over to the bar, handed back the server’s pen, and ordered two dark beers and a plate of nachos. He’d eaten a light meal to fit in with Nerida, but now he needed some fuel to think.
Taj was watching him. As soon as he returned to the table, he said, “There has to be a reason why she acted as she did. Nerida doesn’t seem to be the kind of person to be easily frightened. But she managed to talk perfectly naturally with us both for forty minutes without telling us a damn thing about herself. Fuck, we don’t even know what foods she likes to eat.”
“She drank the Diet Coke, so likely she does enjoy that.”