by Nikki Duncan
Her cheeks burned brighter. She really should stop thinking about him. “I have clients coming in.”
“Your nine a.m. rescheduled,” Jenny said.
“Fine.” Leigh sat her bag at her feet. “I was walking through Hearth and Home with Mark. He got called away and left me to look around on my own.”
Lori stepped out of her office looking stunning in pressed black slacks, a silk blouse and sexy heels. Trevor stood taller and his eyes brightened as he watched the woman he loved cross the distance between them. When she was close enough, he took her hand in his and pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth.
Trevor looked at Lori the way every woman wanted to be looked at. He was a proud man who could easily have turned into an arrogant ass. Instead, his confidence gave him the strength to be open and honest with his thoughts and feelings.
Leigh had seen a similar confidence in Burton, as if he did more than construction. He’d held himself, even naked beneath the robe she’d gotten for him, with a power that would fit in at Trevor’s boardroom table. Powerful. Honest. Dedicated to his job. Sexy.
“Why are you all staring at Leigh? Why’s she blushing?”
“She’s telling us about skewering a naked man this morning.”
“Sounds like the stories I might have had to share not too long ago.” Lori settled into the curve of Trevor’s arm and smiled. “What happened?”
“It really wasn’t that big a deal.” Big enough that fire licked more furiously at her cheeks. “I was looking at the clocks. Mark got called away. When he left, this man called out to me.”
“The naked man?” Lori asked.
“Yes.” It wouldn’t be long before the entire staff was huddled around for the story. She needed to tell it fast so she could move on to forgetting. She wasn’t sharing the details of what Burton looked like naked. Or how she’d caught a glimpse of him in the mirrored clocks on the wall opposite them. Or how she’d been tempted for half a second to finish what his date had started. Yeah, he was bigger than she’d thought, and it wasn’t all in regard to his muscles.
“He was cuffed to a toilet in one of the showroom bathrooms. I got him a robe and picked his cuffs so he could get free.”
“So you stole for him and took a kabob skewer to his cuffs.” Lori wiggled her brows. “I should have known of these inclinations before bringing you on here.”
Leigh ignored the smirk on Misty’s face and the wiggle of Lori’s brows. Her friends had told her time and time again she needed to break out of her shell, and take more chances and worry less about the consequences. They clearly thought the naked man should have been one of those chances.
“He couldn’t exactly go to his truck in his birthday suit.” Though his nudity hadn’t seemed to bother him. “And he’d bruised his wrists trying to get out of the cuffs on his own.”
“Why was he naked in a business that’s not open yet?” Trevor asked. Thank God somebody was being logical.
“He’s working on the build-out. There was an issue with the plumbing last night that he went to fix.”
“Seems natural,” Jenny said. “I’m always naked when I get my plumbing snaked.”
Trevor squeezed his eyes tight, like he was desperately trying not to think about Jenny’s plumbing. Seeing the man who defined businessman cringe because of Jenny’s humor was hysterical.
“He was on a date when the call came in.”
“And the date liked the idea of sex in public.” Misty nodded. “I’ve got to say, there’s excitement to having sex where you work.”
Lori and Trevor shared a smile that said they knew what Misty meant. Leigh blocked the images that came to mind. She worked there. She’d never be able to look at the place again if she was wondering where they had done it.
“Anyway.” Leigh shook her head. “She offered sex. He went along. She locked him up, took his clothes and left him there.”
Misty laughed. “I wish I could have seen you facing down a naked man cuffed to a commode.”
“Was it more embarrassing for you or him?” Jenny asked.
“Probably me if his attitude was any indication. And now, if you’re finished getting your entertainment at my expense, I have work to do.” Leigh pivoted toward her office and walked as briskly as she could without running.
She wasn’t sure it was her friends she was running from. More accurately it felt like she was running from the images of Burton that kept popping into her head. Images and the resulting thoughts. Thoughts like how his kiss would feel and taste.
Her trip to Hearth and Home hadn’t been just about seeing a new business. It was her chance to get a sneak peek at their pricing. Desperately hoping to distract herself from her thoughts, Leigh pulled her laptop from her bag and set to work updating her database. When clients came in to talk about their registry, she needed to know the best place—budget and product wise—to take them. Her database was how she did that.
It had taken her a long time to set it up just right, but all she had to do now was input some information into a form, run a report and she would have a list of retail outlets prioritized to suit each client.
Of course, she wouldn’t need a database to tell anyone where to find a naked man. Nope. He was waiting at Hearth and Home to show people the hazards of bathrooms. Talk about your full-service store.
As quick as that Burton was back in her head.
“Leigh.”
His smooth voice that bordered on suave called to her. Tingles traipsed along her spine as quick as a chill that made her shiver.
“Earth to Leigh.” Two fingers snapped loudly in front of her nose, breaking her from her trance. “You in there?”
Shaking her head, she widened her eyes to show awareness. Jace Nichols, the head of security for Trevor’s company, stood before her. Normally dressed in a suit with military perfect pleats, the jeans and snug T-shirt were a change. That the T-shirt was short sleeved was a bigger change.
It hadn’t been too long ago that he’d only worn long sleeves in an effort to hide his prosthetic arm. Misty had wormed her way past his misconceptions and then slipped smoothly into his grizzled heart. She’d convinced him allowing people to see his prosthetic arm wouldn’t turn everyone off.
“Jace. What’s up?”
“You’re the go-to woman when it comes to knowing where to buy things.”
She pointed to a chair across from her desk. “I am.”
“Then I’m hoping you can help me.” He sat. “Misty and I just closed on a house.”
“She mentioned it a time or two.” Or three hundred. She’d especially mentioned the large backyard she intended to fill with plants and flowers.
“Well, one of the rooms is designated as her office. It looks out over the yard where she wants to grow some of her own product.” He looked around as if his fiancée might see him. “Before we move in next month, I want to find a way to bring some of that into her office.”
“Literally or visually?”
“Maybe both. I can hire someone to put in a bay window for her, but I’m not sure where to go from there. What would one put in the office to make it feminine and as pleasurable as possible to work in while keeping it functional?”
In her office across the Tulle and Tulips space, Misty had a glass wall that looked out onto the workspace where the arrangements were put together. She was constantly surrounded by her creations and Jace wanted her to have the same thing at home. For a man who’d first come across as a chauvinistic ass with a chip the size of Florida on his shoulder he was turning into a teddy bear.
“I want it to be a surprise for her though.”
“Let me think on it and see if I can feel her out for some things she might like. Do you already have a contractor?”
He shook his head. “I asked the guy who did this place, but he’s booked and is only taking on the bigger jobs.”
“You need someone with a smaller company. Good, but start-up.” Burton sprang to mind. He’d said he was the h
ead contractor. If that was true, it was possible he had played a part in how Hearth and Home had been put together. He may or may not have an eye for the kind of detail Jace was asking for, but he would have been in charge of the building, paint and wallpaper. “I might have an option for you. Let me do some checking.”
Certain he was Google-able, Leigh opened a new browser and got to work searching for whatever information she could find on Burton Anderson.
Chapter Three
Monday mornings had a reputation for sucking. Mondays in May seemed to be forming a pattern. At least for Burton.
A year ago, on a May Monday, his marriage of six years ended.
A week ago, on a May Monday, he’d woken handcuffed to a commode at work.
Now, on a May Monday, he was scrambling to buy supplies for a job because one of his subcontractors had failed to show up or verify the supply order. He might have escaped detection on the security cameras at Hearth and Home, but he couldn’t shake the idea that last week’s debacle was going to come back to bite him. Nothing was going to jeopardize his company again.
“Excuse me,” he called to one of the store employees who stepped into the aisle.
“Yes, sir.” The elderly gentleman smiled as he walked toward Burton. “Can I help you?”
“I need three more rolls of two-inch, reinforced, braided vinyl tubing.” He pointed to his cart that already held everything they had. “I’m hoping you have some in the back or at another local store.”
“Sure.” The man, Jack according to his nametag, smiled. “Let me check the computer.”
Burton followed him through a few aisles to the computer. A woman walking with another woman and a man captured his attention and flashed him back a week to Leigh. It was the bun that caught his attention. It was the woman’s flushed cheeks he remembered. Her bun, that he wanted to pull her hair free from, and the sultry way her voice caressed each word. Those were the things he remembered.
His body remembered her too. His temperature shot up. Heat tingled along his wrists where she’d touched him. The bruises were almost gone, but he still felt her skin against his. Hers was a touch he’d dreamt about and woken up missing for days.
“We have what you need in stock, but it’s split between two of our other stores.”
Burton nodded at Jack. “It’ll have to do.” Even if it meant he was going to spend the next hour driving around to get it all he would have what he needed. “Can you have them pull it to the front for me?”
“Your name?”
“I know BDSM isn’t new, but can you believe we’re doing this?” A woman’s question from the next aisle distracted Burton.
Jack too. The old man angled his head and listened to see what they’d hear.
“It’s a first for me, and I’ve been at this for a long while.” Another woman said with a chuckle.
“I’ve tied women up,” a man put in, “but never in public.”
“What is it about sex in public that excites people?”
The last question stopped Burton’s heart for a beat. His head snapped up. Sultry. Caressing. Sensible. He’d only ever heard one woman speak like that.
Leigh.
“You didn’t ask your naked man that?”
Her what? She’d told people about him? Shit. He was going to be ruined.
“No.” Leigh answered with a huffing laugh. “But if he ever returns my call I will ask him for you, Tabatha.”
She’d called?
“Wait.” The first woman who’d spoken jumped on the thought that popped into his head. “What do you mean ‘if he calls you back’? You didn’t tell us he gave you his number.”
“He didn’t. I Googled him.”
“Why would you Google him?”
Jack returned to work, asking Burton for his name and phone number. He didn’t seem to be as interested in the conversation anymore. At least not as interested as Burton.
“Misty,” the man slipped in. “Leave her alone.”
“I will not.” Misty laughed. “Maybe he could give us some pointers.”
“OMG!” Tabatha, if he was keeping the voices straight, clapped her hands together. “You want to be the one to handcuff him next time. Or do you want him to cuff you instead?”
“You should only have to go to the customer service counter at the other stores,” Jack said. “If you need anything else, let us know.”
“Thank you.” What Burton really needed was to hear Leigh’s answer. Why had she looked him up? Why call him? Why hadn’t he gotten the message?
“Ladies,” the man injected again. He sounded calm and dominant. “Are we here to buy rope suitable for bondage games or are we here to pick on Leigh?”
“Can’t we do both?” Tabatha asked.
Burton’s admiration for the other man skyrocketed. If he could get three women who sounded like they were pretty good friends to agree to a four-way, and if he could control them, he deserved whatever they would do with him. And these women sounded like they were willing to do quite a bit.
Leigh was the shocking addition, though. She’d seemed so prim when they met. Damn if the contradictory information didn’t have him trying harder to visualize her with her hair down. Figuratively and literally.
When the image came into his head it was of her kneeling over a man while he ate out one of the other women and the third one caressed the softness of Leigh’s neck. Most men might find the idea sexy. It just pissed him off because if Leigh was going to let loose with anyone he wanted it to be him.
“He’s a contractor,” Leigh said softly. “I might have a job for him.”
“We plan weddings. Odd as they may be at times,” Misty said. “People don’t come to us for contractors.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean my clients never ask about other aspects of house planning. I’m there to guide them through setting up their home.”
If she’d called him for a job, he didn’t see a better time than now to return the call. Burton pushed the cart down the aisle and around the end. The woman he’d spotted earlier with the bun—Leigh—faced away from him. Each woman dressed with a completely different style. One in a short skirt and stilettos that made her almost as tall as the man with them and the other in a glittery top and jeans with bling on the ass pockets. None of them seemed like they would have much in common. That didn’t seem to stop them as they debated ropes and dished about the naked man Leigh had uncuffed.
The man said little. He seemed more content to stand back and watch the women. Not that he seemed overly interested in any of them other than the one in the short skirt.
Burton’s gaze was drawn to Leigh. She wasn’t as overt with her sexuality. In fact, the fat-legged slacks and sensible suit vest she wore were intended to hide her figure. It only succeeded in highlighting her narrow waist and making him wonder what other wonders she hid.
Even the swell of her ass was a treat for his eyes.
He moved closer, less than two feet away. He took in the three people with Leigh—the man with a hook instead of a hand and the two women who were stunning in their own ways. His eyes returned quickly to Leigh, though. To the satin smooth skin of her neck, the narrow dip of her waist and then the swell of her hips. Her slacks, like the skirt she’d worn last week, were fitted to showcase her curves.
She was a tempting mystery he wanted to solve.
“This one is soft.” Misty, the one with the short skirt, ran a length of rope between her fingers. “I could easily bend it in and around the flowers.”
“Soft is fine, but you want strength too.”
Tabatha nodded at what the man said as she took the rope from Misty. She smiled mischievously at Burton as she pulled on each end of the rope to test the strength. “This one is good. Soft. Sturdy. Not too easy to slip out of, but it won’t hurt either.”
Burton smiled back. She was trying to shock him. Willing to play her game, he stepped forward, reached around Leigh and picked up a roll of rope. “Try this one. It will give you soft
ness, strength and a little stretchiness.”
Tabatha oohed. “A man who knows his ropes.”
Burton shrugged. “I got an Eagle in the Boy Scouts.”
“So you know how to tie all those fancy knots?”
“Yes.” He smiled for Tabatha, but his gaze remained on Leigh, who hadn’t moved since he spoke. “Of course, it all depends on what you’re doing with the rope.”
Testing Leigh, curious to see if she would turn to face him, he brushed against her as he moved back. Sparks shot along his arm where his bicep brushed hers. She flinched the tiniest of flinches. If he hadn’t been touching her in that instant he might have missed it, but she reacted.
“Is this what you would choose if you were tying someone up?”
“I guess that would depend on why I was tying them up.” He nodded to the other man, who held himself like he’d had some military training. “For instance, if I were tying up an enemy I wouldn’t want any give and I wouldn’t give a damn if the rope hurt them or not.”
The other man grinned.
“Now, if I were binding a woman…” He hesitated a moment, looked at Leigh to see if she would look at him. She sent him a sideways glance and her cheeks flushed the same sweet pink as when she’d handed him the robe. “I wouldn’t want her to be hurt, so I would choose the softest cotton fiber rope.”
Leigh turned to more fully face him. Her friends faded into the shadows of his periphery when he looked at her directly. Tabatha said something, but he didn’t notice anything other than Leigh’s green gaze locked with his.
“You said you called?”
“What?”
“A few minutes ago you said I hadn’t returned your calls.”
“Oh. My. God.” Misty gasped.
“You’re the naked man?” Tabatha asked.
He heard them, but could only care about how Leigh reacted. She had talked about him, but until he knew what she had said, and to who, he couldn’t determine how damaging it would be to his business.
Her stare was just as distracting as before, almost hypnotizing, but at least his brain seemed to be working better. “Did you need me, Leigh?”