I gave the woman a strained smile. “Thank you.” I backed away from the desk, and headed toward the glass entrance.
“You need an appointment to see Mr. Parr,” the receptionist shouted behind me.
Ignoring her, I walked out of the office and down the beige hallway to the elevators. Once I arrived on the thirty-second floor, I spotted the same glass entrance and logo I had seen on the floor above. Darting toward the entrance, I hurried inside.
This reception area was smaller and paneled in dark wood. The furniture consisted of two leather high backed chairs and one long sofa done in a plush beige material. There were no pictures on the wall in this modestly decorated room, and no reception desk. A pair of double doors stained in the same color as the walls stood at the far end of the room. Speedily crossing the rough stone floor, I grasped the brass handles on the doors and slipped inside.
The long corridor on the other side had thick beige carpeting and there was not a soul in sight. Creeping along, I had no idea what I was going to do. When I spotted a door up ahead, I decided I would peek inside and ask the first person I came to about Garrett.
Not paying attention to what was going on behind me; I was startled when I heard a man’s deep voice over my left shoulder.
“Can I help you, Miss?”
I froze and slowly turned around, only to be waylaid by a pair of striking gray eyes. With a wide forehead, sharply carved features, and thick, wavy dark hair, the man in front of me momentarily took my breath away. Remembering my mission, I nervously cleared my throat.
“I’m looking for Garrett Hughes.”
The attractive man stared back at me, grinning. He slipped his hands into the trouser pockets of his gray suit and rolled slightly forward on his toes. “Garrett Hughes runs our New Orleans office.”
“Yes, I know that,” I curtly answered. “The New Orleans office told me he was here.”
He raised his dark eyebrows, resembling Garrett in many ways. “They told you he was here? Really? I find that hard to believe.”
I bit my lower lip. The hole I was digging with my scheming was getting deeper. “I know he came to Dallas. I figured he was here since he works for Parr and Associates. I’m just trying to find him.”
“Why?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Look, can you just tell me where he is, or give him a message from me?” I begged. “I need to speak to him. It’s very important.”
“Is this about a house?” He sounded more amused than intrigued.
“A house?” I asked confused.
“Was Garrett working on a house for you?”
I tossed a hand up, feeling like I was getting nowhere in my search for Garrett. “No, he wasn’t building a house for me. We were working together on another project…a book. I’m, a writer and he—”
“You’re Lexie,” he interrupted, smiling.
The alluring man’s smile, coupled with hearing him speak my name, made me pause. “How did you know my name?”
He held out his hand to me. “I’m Hayden Parr. Garrett told me about you. I didn’t think we would be meeting quite so soon.” His grey eyes searched me over with a renewed interest.
I took his hand. “Garrett told you about me? When?”
“This morning.” Hayden Parr placed his hand beneath my elbow. “We had a long chat about New Orleans and your name came up…several times.” He ushered me along the hallway. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To Garrett’s office,” he declared, pulling my arm. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Umm, I’m not sure why I’m here,” I conceded, having second thoughts. “I’m not sure about anything at this particular moment.”
Hayden Parr sported a mischievous grin as we walked along. “Yes, that seems to be catching. I heard Garrett saying almost the exact same thing to me this morning. He was very confused about you, and his role here at Parr and Associates.”
“I don’t understand. How was he confused about his role in your firm?”
We halted in front of an office door and I noticed the nameplate, Garrett Hughes, Chief Architect.
“I sent him to New Orleans to help expand my business. Today, he comes back and says I picked the wrong man for the job. I don’t make mistakes, Lexie.” He put his hand on the doorknob. “I must admit I’ve never seen him quite so befuddled. You must be a hell of a woman, Lexie Palmer, to shake his confidence like that.” He pushed the door open. “Wait in his office while I get him for you.”
I remembered what Garrett had told me about his boss, and how they shared an interest in the bondage culture. “Tell me, Mr. Parr, are you one of those men who don’t like to use the word please, like Garrett?”
Hayden smiled, taunting me. “Please wait in his office, Lexie.” He placed his hand in the small of my back, encouraging me forward.
While Hayden closed the door behind me, I wandered into Garrett’s office. Done in different shades of brown with cream-colored carpet, the centerpiece of the office was a wide picture window with an unencumbered view of downtown Dallas. Set in front of the window was a long contemporary desk with a laptop computer and papers neatly arranged in small piles on each end. Even the pens had been stacked next to each other to the side of the spotless burgundy blotter. Along the walls on either side of the desk were framed undergraduate and graduate degrees, family photographs, and a few awards and recognitions for achievement. I casually inspected the photographs and was captivated by one large picture of an older couple, dressed in formal attire and holding up champagne glasses to the camera. The woman was petite, a little frail but had a warm smile and deep set brown eyes. The silver-haired man was an older version of Garrett. They shared the same cold eyes, well-defined cheekbones, and jaw, as well as the slightly protruding brow. The other portraits were of his sisters, and a few more of his nieces. I read over the awards he had won for design and recognitions for his outstanding work in architecture. None of the mementos on the wall gave me any more insight into the difficult man.
Counting off the minutes, I began to dread that Garrett wasn’t coming. As I peered out the window to the cloudless blue sky, I imagined him upset with his boss for allowing me into the sanctuary of his office.
The blinking red light atop a tall skyscraper, not far off in the distance, distracted me. I thought back to all the things that had happened to me over the past two and half weeks, and I was bowled over by the devious designs of fate. Crafty bitch, fate. Without my knowing she had changed my life, making it damn near impossible for me to return to the existence I had known prior to Garrett. What would happen to my world if he did not want to give us a chance?
“Lexie?”
The smooth voice behind me resonated in every molecule of my being. I knew that voice so well, and had missed it shouting orders at me over the past two days.
“I can see why you came back, Garrett.” I did not turn around. I was trying to summon the courage to face him. “Hell of a view.”
I heard the office door softly close behind me, and within seconds he was standing in front of me. Decked out in a perfectly pressed beige suit and deep red tie, his dark eyes lingered over my features. The desperation I saw in him enlivened my hope.
“You want to tell me what you’re doing here?” He sounded calm. I knew better.
“I came to see you. I think we need to talk.”
“How did you get to Dallas?” He went around me and rested his hip on the corner of his desk.
“I flew in about an hour ago. My mother paid for my ticket.”
“Did she?” His eyebrows went up. This time I knew it wasn’t because he was angry. “I thought you and your mother didn’t get along?”
I folded my arms, maintaining my aloofness. “We don’t. She has her sights set on you, as her new handyman, and insisted I come to Dallas to find you. I called her after I went to your office and your apartment yesterday, looking for you.” I paused, anticipating a heated re
action to my next disclosure. “I even went to Mabel’s,” I proclaimed.
His eyes shrunk into two fine slits. “Why did you go there?”
“She wanted to see me; requested to see me, actually. Mabel wanted to know if my resigning from the club was what I wanted, or what you wanted for me.”
“She had no right to ask you that,” he barked.
“I think she was concerned about you…and me. She’s the one who told me where to find you.”
“Well, you’ve found me.” He went to the front of his desk. “Now I suggest you go home. We have nothing left to say to each other. It’s over.”
Furious, I stomped up to him. “That’s bullshit, Garrett, and you know it.”
“Don’t curse, Lexie.” He wiped his hand over his face. “You never understood me. Believe me, ending this is better. I’m just trying to save you from a lot of disappointment.”
I was aghast. How could I be disappointed in him? “After everything I’ve gone through, everything that you’ve done to me, do you honestly think I could be disappointed? Pissed off, shocked, outraged, embarrassed, mortified even, but never disappointed, Garrett.”
He impatiently ran his fingers over his forehead. “I was talking about the future with me, Lexie, not the past.”
The emptiness in his voice surprised me. I had never heard him talk that way. My anger retreated, and I moved closer to him. “So was I. I think we both deserve a chance at a future together.”
His eyes nervously darted about the office, and an unbearable silence settled between us. He picked up a few papers to the side of his desk, avoiding my gaze. “I have a meeting in ten minutes, so just tell me why you’re here.”
“I want to know when you’re coming back to New Orleans.”
He shuffled the papers in his hands, never glancing up. “I’m not. I came back to tell Hayden to send someone else to New Orleans. I’m done there.” He quickly walked to his office door.
“What was it, Garrett? Me?” I called to him. “Or was it what happened that night between us?”
When he spun around, his face was void of all emotion. “Go home, Lexie.”
“Not until you tell me why you ran away.”
“I didn’t run away.” He waved the papers in his hand to me. “I just can’t give up being what I am. If I stay in New Orleans…. It’s better for both of us if we end this now.”
I held my head up. “I’m not ready to do that. Whatever you want to be, my master, my partner, or even my mother’s handyman, I’m in.”
“You’re in?” He angled his head downward, his brown eyes hooded over by his wide brow. “What does that mean, exactly?”
I stood before his desk, figuring this was my last chance with him. I either told him exactly how I felt, or walked away. “I’ll do whatever you want, be whatever you need. I just want to be with you.”
“Be with me?” He went back to his desk and threw the papers on top of it. “As what, Lexie?”
He stood next to me and the smell of his cologne, blended with the steamy allure of his eyes, was spellbinding. “What do you want me to say, Garrett? Do you want me to submit to you? Fine. I submit to you, utterly and completely. I’ll be your slave, your sub, whatever you need me to be.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He turned away. “Jesus, do you know what you have done to me? Do you know what you have done to my life?”
I went up to him, and hesitated only briefly before resting my hand on his shoulder. To my amazement, he did not flinch, did not appear to wither under my hand. I rolled my fingers along his shoulder, encouraged by his acceptance of my caress.
“Tell me what I’ve done,” I whispered.
He slowly faced me, and when his eyes met mine, I saw it. The same warm affection I had sensed from him that night when he had made me his. “Fine.” He tossed his hand up. “I spend every waking moment thinking about you. I speculate about what you’re doing, whether you’re eating right, if you’re writing, sick, drunk, picking up strange men at parks, or if there is some remote chance that you’re…thinking of me.”
The rush of emotion that overwhelmed me at that moment made me feel almost giddy. Like characters I had written about in my novels, I felt the same glow of happiness. He was no longer the resolute Dom I could not understand. He was simply Garrett; the man who had captured my heart.
“Say something,” he directed.
“What do you want me to say, Garrett? That I’m happy I finally got you to admit that I mean something to you?”
“No.” He moved closer to me. “Tell me that you love me, Alexandra Palmer.”
Love? I couldn’t believe he had used that word. Of all the things I had heard from him, of all the things he had done to me, none had shocked me more than the word he had just uttered.
“What makes you think this is love?” I stoically returned. “Maybe I’m just learning how to be a good sub.”
The light trace of a smile shone on his lips. “You would never have been a good sub…too stubborn.” Taking my purse from my hands, he dropped it on his desk. “This is love, Lexie. It took me a while to figure it out. After our night together, I knew. That’s why I ran away. Oddly enough, you’re the one who still needs convincing.”
I twisted my hands together. Oh, this was not good. “I’ve made enough mistakes in the past with men to doubt my judgment. Can you blame me?”
“Mistakes aren’t meant to hold us back; they’re meant to propel us forward.”
“So what do I do? How do I move forward, Garrett?”
He eased up to me. “Well, the first thing you can do is give in to another.”
I chuckled, relaxing a little. “I think I’ve already done that with you.”
“Next, you have to let go. Let go of the past and the pain.”
I sighed and nodded in agreement. “Then what?”
He shrugged, “If you’re lucky, love will find you.”
Until that instant, I had not really comprehended the concept of handing oneself over to another. Sometimes being at our most vulnerable gives us the greatest clarity. Only in the arms of someone you trust completely, can you finally open your heart. Sighing, I released all the pent-up pain I had carried around since my childhood. Pushing all my fear aside, I decided to take a chance.
“I guess you’re right. I know that I haven’t been the easiest person to get to know, and opening up is difficult for me. With time and some patience, I think—”
“Say it again?” he cut in.
I was taken aback by his question. “Which part?”
“The part where you admitted that you love me.”
“I never admitted that,” I loudly refuted.
His arms went around my waist. “God, I’ll never tame you, will I?”
I slid my hands around his neck. “Who says I need to be tamed? I thought you liked me this way.”
“No, I never liked you this way.” He pulled me to him. “I love you this way, Lexie.” He touched his forehead to mine. “But I get to call the shots in this relationship, all right?”
“Since when have you been in charge of our relationship?”
“Never.” He grinned. “I’m hoping that will change.”
His lips came down on mine. For the first time, I gave myself to him without reservation. There were no more doubts. I trusted him, and realized that I loved him, too. Funny, how it sneaks up on you like that. One day you are just living your life, and then a stranger comes along…and changes everything.
6 Months Later
The early fall sun was pouring in through the wall of windows in Garrett’s penthouse apartment when I walked in the front door, my arms laden with grocery bags. Shuffling to the kitchen, I made it to the breakfast counter, where I hoisted the heavy bags up and then caught my breath.
“Damn man would have to live on the top floor,” I muttered.
Removing my heavy leather purse from my shoulder, I eased around the breakfast bar and went to the refrigerator.
“Did you get toothpaste?” Garrett asked, walking into the living room from his bedroom.
Wearing only his jeans and nothing else, my frustration with my long trek up in the elevator immediately disappeared, as I took in his wide chest, ripped abs, and thick, muscular arms.
He came up to the countertop and began rummaging through the bags. “I put it on your list.”
I watched in fascination as he went through the grocery bags, inspecting every item. When he found the bottle of champagne, he held it up.
“What’s this for?”
“I got it to celebrate the release of my new book,” I explained, easing around the bar to his side.
“Ah yes, Taming Elise hits stores today.” He set the bottle on the counter. “Have you finished the other one, yet?”
“You bet. Taming Candice just went to my editor, Cary Anderson. She said Donovan Books wants to put it out in time for Valentine’s Day.” I paused and sheepishly smiled. “You have to finish telling me about June. You know, the race car driver who liked to be chained to the bed?”
He hid his grin behind his hand. “I think we should wait until April to finish that story.”
“Why do we have to wait?”
“Because then I can spend our honeymoon showing you exactly what I did to her.”
“Very funny.” Snuggling against him, I marveled at the feel his body. “How’s it going? Are you making any progress?”
“It’s coming along.” He put his arms around me. “I’ve just got a few more details to add. The contractor will have what he needs to start construction next week. I was also thinking of making variations of this design to show some new clients we picked up. I think word is getting out about Parr and Hughes Architecture. I’ve gotten a ton of referrals.”
“I like the sound of that…Parr and Hughes Architecture.”
“Me, too.” He kissed my forehead. “I can’t believe Hayden made me a partner in the New Orleans firm.”
“You deserved it. After all, you’re the business.”
“Perhaps…at least I’m earning enough to build our house.”
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