Page 41 of The Dark Before Light

“It was a shock,” she says dryly.

“I bet. So, what? You heard about tying people up and got a tingle?”

She glares at me, which only makes me smile wider.

“I’m messing with you. I know I’ve given you shit about it, but I’m not totally ignorant. Even been to that club down on Wilshire a few times.”

“Crossroads?” she asks in a strangled voice.

I nod, eyeing her. Then it clicks. “You worked there?”

“Yes, as an educator. Until two years ago.” She finally sits back but looks unbelievably tense.

“Relax. I probably won’t remember any of this tomorrow, anyway.”

I’m lying. She knows it. To my surprise, however, she blows out a breath and melts into the cushions, crossing her arms over her chest. It hits me that she’s probably naked under my clothes since she wore her underwear in the jacuzzi.

Jesus Christ.

I lower my arms and shift to face her, hiking a knee up to create some breathing room in the crotch of my pants. Given the topic, I have a feeling I’ll need it.

“Paint me a picture—you went to the seminar and decided you wanted to be a dominatrix?”

“Ha. No. But I did trade contact information with the woman who spoke, Charlie Rhodes. She became my mentor a few months later.”

“Took you that long to get the nerve to call, huh?”

She huffs a little laugh. “Sure did. Anyway, she took me under her wing. She had a space where she saw her clients, and I ended up working there with her while I got my PhD. Then she and Dominic Cross opened Crossroads.”

“Yeah, I know Dom. I’ve met Charlie a few times, too.”

Her eyes widen. “What?”

Damn, I love surprising her. I might be slightly obsessed with seeing that look on her face. “Dom’s a friend of a friend. He’s actually who connected me with Sven after—” My teeth click as I snap them shut.

I thank my lucky stars that Stirling’s so tired she doesn’t notice my almost-slip. She frowns thoughtfully, her eyes soft and unfocused.

“That makes a lot of sense, actually, given Dom’s military background and Sven’s, uh, extreme competency.”

I smirk. “I’m gonna tell him you said that. And then I’m going to get him a keychain that says ‘Extremely Competent Bodyguard.’ He’ll treasure it always.”

“Very funny.”

I grin. “Thanks. I thought so.”

She shakes her head at my childishness, then looks me in the eye. “I never saw you there. At Crossroads.”

I can’t read her tone. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was disappointed. “It was only a few times right after they opened. I didn’t participate in any of the… festivities.”

She smiles.

Eyetooth.

“Do I sense an undercurrent of squeamishness, Mr. Hayes?”

I chuckle. “I won’t yuck your yum, but I haven’t been back since I saw a naked woman tied to a cross and whipped while fifty people watched. Granted, I did enjoy watching her come repeatedly afterward.”

A haughty brow cocks. “Is this more of that ‘women should be treated like porcelain’ mentality?”

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