Jackson groaned. “God, I hope not. Damn. That would be like Abby and Sam without me, only worse. At least Abby can take charge when the occasion calls for it. Those two are true subs. I’m not surprised he hadn’t slept with her. He isn’t aggressive enough. I bet the women he has slept with took charge, or he was ordered to sleep with them by his Dom.”
“He didn’t sound like he’d had a Dom.”
Jackson sat back. “I didn’t say he knew he’d had one, but any relationship that worked for Finn had to have a dominant partner there. He’s one of Lucas’s friends. Lucas likes the hell out of him, but he thinks Finn’s fooling himself. He’s been trying to get Finn to go to The Club with him.”
Julian toyed with his glass. He thought about how angry Finn had been. “He didn’t seem submissive to me.”
Except something inside him sparked off the younger man.
“Lucas is sure, and I’ve seen the way his eyes slide down when I stare at him,” Jackson was saying. “He knows instinctively who could master him.”
Yes, he could believe that. Finn had a certain air about him. If Finn was a sub, then it had taken a lot of love and no small amount of bravery to stand up to him. He admired bravery. “If he is, then he’ll need to change. Or Danielle will. Otherwise the entire world will walk all over them.”
He didn’t mention that they would always be missing a piece of themselves that went beyond sexuality. They might be happy, but they would never be complete.
“Or they could find a Dom,” Jackson said. “That’s why Lucas has been trying to get him to The Club. I know he was planning on asking you to match up Finn. He’d even mentioned that he thought you and Finn would get along. Lucas said you were taking applications.”
He felt his lips curl slightly at the admonishment in Jackson’s voice. His protégé had never understood the screening process. Of course, now that Julian thought about it, Samuel would never have made it through his screening process, and he was the only person he’d ever offered a permanent contract to. Danielle wouldn’t have made it, either. The thought of finding Danielle another Dom caused a knot to form in his stomach.
“I thought it was time,” Julian said.
“Maybe it’s time to try something else. Give Dani a call tomorrow. See how she’s doing. Look, tell me honestly you’re not worried about her and I’ll back off.”
There was something about the way Jackson said it that warmed Julian. Jackson truly gave a damn about him. It wasn’t that Jackson needed him. He’d passed that long ago, and yet he continued to come back. He’d known Jackson Barnes for almost twenty years. He’d been Jackson’s mentor, his patron, and at one point his partner in crime, but now it really hit him that Jackson was his friend.
That revelation made it much easier to be honest. “I am worried about her.”
A slow smile spread across Jackson’s face as he poured another finger of the fine Scotch. “Then call her. I have her number right here in my cell. If that ex of hers is causing trouble, then we can take care of it. And if Finn comes with her, well, maybe you can see if you can help him, too.”
He slid the phone across the bar, but at that moment, the door flew open, and Julian realized he wouldn’t need to call to find out how Danielle was doing.
She was already here.
* * * *
The door practically slammed back into his face. Finn had to quickly put a hand out in order to keep his nose in the right place. Dani was pissed, but he wasn’t backing down. If she felt the desperate need to dance, then he was going to dance with her. Well, he would watch from someplace safe. She definitely wouldn’t let him dance with her.
Hell, she wouldn’t let him get near her. She’d slammed the damn door in his face more times than he could count today. And when she’d finally smiled sweetly at him and asked if he could retrieve a CD from his car because she really needed to hear a song, she’d locked the door and not let him back in. He’d sat on the porch texting her until she’d finally walked out wearing a ridiculously short denim skirt, cowboy boots, and a shirt that had to be two sizes too small. When he’d opened his mouth to mention the fact that she’d put on some Barbie doll clothes instead of real actual human clothes, the look on her face had had his mouth closing. She’d announced she was going to The Barn, the only honky-tonk for miles, and that he could drive her or she would walk.
She had not said a word in the car. Now she marched across the smoky, loud bar like a woman on a mission.
Finn felt his whole body sag. He’d fucked up and had no idea how to fix it. He only had a few days before he had to get back to work, and somehow, he had to convince Dani to come with him. He was pretty sure if he didn’t break through to her soon, he never would.
“Excuse me,” a familiar, though unwelcome, voice said.
Finn sighed when Val started to walk past him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Her skirt was even shorter than Dani’s, though she had sticks pointing out of it instead of real legs. Dani’s denim skirt hugged her luscious ass, and he would swear if she bent over, those sweet cheeks were going to pop out. Val’s skirt was flat against her body.
“It’s a free country, isn’t it? I told some of my friends I would be here.” Her cold eyes slid around the room like a predator seeking prey. When they narrowed, it seemed to Finn that she’d found it. “Wow, who the hell is that? Damn, that man is fine.”
He looked around Val, who tottered on what had to be five inches of stiletto. He caught a glimpse of a dark-haired man sitting at the bar. Even from here, he could see the man was dressed in an expensive shirt and slacks. Then he turned as though looking for someone, and Finn got a look at his face.
Damn it. Julian Lodge. Why did he have to be here?
Finn felt his face flush and averted his eyes before Julian could catch him gawking. This was the reason he’d stayed away from Dani all these years. A man like Julian walked in and Finn couldn’t help but want him. He didn’t want to admit it, but maybe Lucas was right. Lucas went on and on about how submission was in Finn’s nature and how attracted he would be to strong Dominants. Julian Lodge was proof of that.
This morning, it had taken every bit of courage he had to face the man. When Julian had opened the door, the first thing Finn wanted to do was stare and maybe drool a little. He’d stood there in the doorway wearing nothing but a pair of black slacks, his elegant face a mask of irritation. He’d taken one look at Julian’s muscular chest and his perfectly defined abs and wanted to ask if Julian would take him, too.
Dani would have loved that.
“Oh, now that is one gorgeous man. And he looks rich, too.” Val was practically licking her chops.
“He’s a billionaire.”
Val turned, her mouth dropping open, eyes wide. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” A kernel of evil joy lit in his breast. “He’s my firm’s richest client. He’s also the man Dani ran away with. That was his car she hopped into.” And his bed. Damn, but Finn wished he’d been there.
Val was spewing some serious venom about how lucky Dani had always been, which was pure bullshit, but he was thinking. Dani was attracted to Julian, no question about it. He’d talked in length to Lucas as he’d sat on Dani’s porch, and he’d found out a bit about the infamous club owner. Julian Lodge liked it both ways. Lucas had explained that Julian liked to keep a male and female slave. Slave. He wasn’t sure he liked the sound, but that was the word Lucas had used.
Finn had to wonder how far he would go to stay close to the woman he loved.
He might not be the most aggressive man in the world, but he would be damned if he didn’t do everything to get what he wanted.
“Oh, wow, he’s coming this way.” Val patted her hair and pulled down on the neckline of her shirt. “Introduce me.”
He gasped, the breath shocking into his system. Julian was walking his way, and there was no question who he was coming for. There was an almost gritty look to the man’s face that had his who
le body vibrating with anticipation.
“Finn,” Julian said, not an ounce of friendly greeting in his voice. It was a challenge.
“Sir.” Finn did what came naturally. He allowed his eyes to slide away. He gave the man in front of him the greeting Lucas warned him he required. If this afternoon had taught him anything, it was that if he wanted Dani, he was going to have to go through Julian. When he’d come up with the plan during the long, lonely hours of waiting for Dani, he’d realized he wasn’t going to be sacrificing much. Getting into Julian’s bed alongside Dani would be a pleasure. And a way to make damn sure he was there to clean up the mess Julian was sure to leave behind.
Julian leaned back as though regarding him seriously. “A different approach? Well, this one is bound to work better than attempting to decapitate me.”
Val elbowed him.
“Oh, uhm, this is Val. Val, this is Julian Lodge,” he managed to mumble. His eyes darted between Julian’s muscular chest and the dance floor where Dani seemed to be trying to grind some redneck asshole to dust. “Julian, this is Valerie Bay, Dani’s sister.”
He was completely satisfied with the disinterest Julian showed in Val. His eyes held no heat as he glanced over her and dismissed her entirely. His focus immediately came back to Finn, and there was nothing bland about the look Julian gave him.
“You allowed Danielle to leave the house dressed like that?”
The forbidding tone in Julian’s voice had him standing up straight. “She didn’t give me a choice.”
Julian’s arms crossed, his eyes flaring. “Your choice should have been to pick her up and tie her down if she chose to disobey you.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Val asked, hand on her hip. “Why does he care what Dani wears? I mean, she looks like a stuffed sausage, but that’s her damn choice. The girl never did have a lick of fashion sense.”
Now Julian was interested. “You’re Danielle’s sister?”
She shrugged but inched closer. She thrust her chest out, and her voice took on a breathy, little-girl quality. “She’s my older sister. Much older, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t. I didn’t ask Danielle for her birthday, much less yours, before I went to bed with her.” Julian turned back to him. “Does Danielle live with…this? She’s around this all the time?”
It took everything he had not to laugh. “Yeah.”
“She needs to move.”
“Yes, Sir.” He believed that more than anything. She needed to leave Willow Fork. If Julian Lodge could get her to pack her bags, Finn was good with him.
“You slept with my sister?” Val’s shrieking could be clearly heard over the loud country-western music.
Julian’s gray eyes became positively arctic as he turned his attention to Val. Finn watched as she lost her seductive posture and shrank back.
“Go away.” The words were deep but there was nothing sexy about them.
Val took a sharp breath. Her well-shaped brows came together in a V. “Well, I never.”
“I couldn’t care less what you have or haven’t done. Leave my presence.” Julian’s eyes found Dani on the dance floor. His mouth turned down sharply. “I don’t like what she’s wearing. She’s showing too much skin. Her breasts are going to fall out of that shirt. Damn it, is she wearing a bra? She better be wearing a bra.”
Val huffed and stomped off, her body vibrating with a rage that gave Finn a deep satisfaction.
“I tried to get her to change, but she ignored me.”
The world seemed to flow around Julian as though he had his own plane of existence and the rest of reality moved to make way for him. People walked all around him, moving through the small area, but hugging the walls as though in deference to his space. Finn himself was jostled and shoved, but Julian remained unmoving, untouched.
“And you expect to take care of her in this manner?” Julian asked. “By allowing her to dress as a hooker and ignore your reasonable requests?”
He wasn’t sure what Julian expected him to do. “She’s not a child. She’s an adult. I can’t just tell her what to do.”
Julian shook his head, all that dark brown hair waving like handfuls of silk. “Can’t you see that is exactly what she wants from you? She is not behaving as an adult should. She is acting out. I’m not questioning her intelligence. I’m not saying she’s immature. I’m pointing out that most of us act out when we want attention. Even the most rational human will push the boundaries to test the people around us. Danielle was given a harsh blow today. She’s going to push you away in an attempt to see if you will go. She will shove and fight and scratch at your soul to see if she can get you to leave her because she would rather hurt now than later. Are you going to allow her to do that?”
Finn felt Julian’s words like a physical blow to his body. “No. I won’t leave.”
An almost soft expression came over Julian’s gorgeous features. His hand came out, cupping Finn’s left shoulder. “It’s all right. I can teach you how to take care of her. You might not like how I do it, though. Are you willing to learn?”
His head was nodding before he could get the words out. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Let’s start now.” Julian turned and began to walk toward the dance floor.
Finn hurried to follow.
Chapter Nine
Dani tried to let the music guide her, but mostly she wondered what she was attempting to accomplish. Her hips swayed to the country-western beat, and her partner led her around the floor, his eyes almost never leaving her chest. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on the cowboy’s hat. It was way safer than doing what she wanted, which was to look around to see if Finn was watching.
“Hey, Dani, you might want to go easy on the bump and grind there.”
She turned, startled at the familiar voice. Sam Fleetwood had his hands all over his wife. Abby grinned at her and nodded.
“Yeah, sweetie, you really should behave. Julian’s here. I don’t think he’s going to like you dancing like that with someone else. Sam and I know what we’re talking about,” Abby managed to shout over the loud music.
The cowboy, who Dani seemed to recall was named Brett or Brad or something, tried to whirl her away, but Sam followed easily.
“You gotta understand, there are rules to be followed, and the first one is don’t play around with other dudes. I think Julian is going to be inflexible on that one.” Sam two-stepped with a light smile on his face.
Dani searched the bar frantically. Julian was here? What the hell was Julian doing here? But, yes, there he was. She couldn’t mistake those broad shoulders or the lush, dark hair pulled back in a sexy ponytail. She remembered what it looked like when it fell around his neck and past his shoulders. When he’d leaned over her, his hair had fallen around her face, making an intimate world where there had only been the two of them.
“If you don’t watch it, Julian’s going to tan your hide,” Abby said with a cheerful smile. “That’s the good part. The bad part is when he doesn’t let you have any fun, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t push him that far. You’ve done what you set out to do. You absolutely have his attention.”
She stopped in the middle of the dance floor to the obvious chagrin of Brad whatever-his-name-was. The cowboy frowned and threw his hands up before stalking off in search of a less distracted partner. Dani allowed Sam and Abby to move her off the dance floor to the far end of the bar.
“I don’t understand. He doesn’t care about me.” She wasn’t sure why he was here, but he wasn’t here for her. He’d made that clear this morning. Craning her neck, she tried to see through the sea of dancing couples. Julian looked like he was talking to Finn and a woman. Her heart ached as she realized who was standing so close to Julian, batting her heavily mascaraed eyes up at him. Her sister. Val was trying to sink her perfectly manicured claws into Julian.
“Don’t worry about that,” Sam said, passing Dani a longneck. “Julian likes boobs on his females. If he’s in the m
ood for some manloving, he’ll find a guy. That sister of yours doesn’t stand a chance.”
Sure enough, Val turned from the two men, her chest heaving with obvious anger. She shot Dani a cold stare before marching to the bar where she met up with Cecelia Smith, her cool, blonde BFF. Cece was a terrible gossip. The tall, willowy twenty-four-year-old was already whispering behind her hand to her equally skinny blonde cohorts. The former cheerleading squad of Willow Fork High School might no longer wear tiny red skirts, but they stuck together, and they loved to cause trouble.
“See. I know what Julian’s into,” Sam said with that easy confidence of his.
A secret smile played on Abby’s face. “I wouldn’t mention that to Jack if I were you.”
“Mention what?” Jack slid an arm around his wife’s shoulders.
“Not a damn thing.” Sam winked at Dani. “I was explaining to Dani here that perhaps she should have thought about actually wearing the other half of her skirt to this particular establishment.”
“Yes, that might have been smart. I do believe Julian took exception to Danielle’s wardrobe choices this evening.” The words were a lazy threat coming out of Jack’s mouth.
She was righteously confused. Finn was upset. She understood that, but Julian had dismissed her as though he couldn’t have cared less whether she stayed or went. Why should he care that she was wearing a skirt she’d bought as a part of a Halloween costume? It was one of the only things she’d left behind when she’d moved her things to Jimbo’s house. “My skirt has nothing to do with Julian Lodge. And from what I understand, he shouldn’t care either way. I talked to Lexi a couple of hours ago and she told me all about his club. People run around there naked.”
When Lexi had explained exactly what kind of club Julian ran, Dani had been shocked, amused, and very, very interested. It wasn’t like she didn’t know places like The Club existed. She wasn’t that naïve, but she’d never met someone who went to one. Except she had. Abby went to Julian’s club with her husbands. Lexi went there with Lucas. Lexi said it was one of the only places in the world where she felt truly comfortable.
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