Page 15 of The Reluctant Siren
Leah’s sweet expression went distinctly sour. “You can’tthink she’s hot. She’s ten kinds of chunky.”
He glanced over where the young woman they were talkingabout stood with her friends. “She’s gorgeous.”
Leah’s eyes rolled and not in a sweetly bratty way. In a “Idon’t want to be around her” bratty way. “You all say that about every sub.Come on. You gotta be authentic. We connected the other day. You can be realwith me.”
His crop had connected to her ass. It wasn’t like theytalked a lot. He gave her the aftercare she required, and it did not includeany sex at all. He hadn’t even taken her to a privacy room because the lastthing he wanted was for Harlow to hear he was hanging out with subs in privacyrooms. “I am being real with you. She’s lovely, and I enjoy her company. She’ssmart and funny, and if I wasn’t interested in someone else, I might pursueher.”
Honesty. He’d made the decision to be open and honest. It’swhat the whole damn lifestyle was about. Being open about what he wanted. Hewanted Harlow. He was being honest about that.
It was just the whole why he was here and who he knew hewasn’t being entirely honest about.
“I do not get this place,” she said under her breath. Shestepped back and then she sighed, and when she looked at him again there was apout on her face. “Niall, come on. I was hoping we could play tonight. We had agood time last weekend.”
“Whoever you are, he’s not like most of the other Doms. He’san actual working dude. He owns a gym, and not the fancy kind,” a husky voicesaid. Harlow. She stood there with her fists on her hips and those gloriousgreen eyes narrowed. Now she did sound like a sexy brat. “His monthly fees arelike forty bucks, and he lives in a studio apartment. If you’re looking for atrust fund, Gabe is in the back. You are barking up the wrong tree with thisone. He drinks protein shakes he buys at Costco.”
They were pretty good.
“And he doesn’t even have a freaking Costco membership. Hegoes with whoever’s on a run that week and pays them back. With cash.” She saidthe last like it was a bad thing.
Leah looked like she’d heard the most horrifying gossip shecould have heard. “Eww. He doesn’t even have an app?”
“Like his phone is smart,” Harlow finished.
Leah ran as fast as she could.
Such a brat. The kind he wanted to spank and then fuck andthen cuddle up with. “Just to clear a few things up, I do have a smart phone. Ilike to keep my gym fees low. My studio is above the gym. It was part of thelease.”
“Is it crappy, Niall?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much. And the Costco thing, they let methrow in the protein shakes because I help carry everything. I like cash.What’s wrong with cash?”
Her lips curled up. “Nothing. Did I interrupt an interactionyou were enjoying, Sir?”
Oh, he liked it when she called him Sir. He fucking loved itwhen she looked at him with that challenging gaze. “No, I was not. She wasbeing quite rude. I don’t think I want to service her anymore.”
“That’s an interesting word. I would think you would use theword play.”
This was definitely something he’d learned over the lastcouple of months. He was surprised how often the tops sat around and talkedabout what went on here on the dungeon floor. He would have expected them tobrag about the sex or complain, but what they did was discuss the subs andtheir needs and how to provide for them. He was rapidly discovering beingaround people who genuinely cared about each other and were open aboutthemselves made him want to be more open, too. He was kind of over the masculinebullshit that said he shouldn’t talk about his feelings—shouldn’t have feelingsat all. “Play is something we mutually enjoy. I have never enjoyed my sessionswith Leah. I don’t believe she’s here for the right reasons.”
“She’s looking for a rich boyfriend,” Harlow surmised.“There are always a few. They’re usually allowed in by dumbass men who can’tsee through the mask. I’m glad you did.”
“Oh, her mask is not firmly in place,” Niall replied. “Butwe should talk about shaming other people for not having a trust fund, daughterof billionaires.”
She managed a pretty flush, and her eyes turned slightlydown. “I wasn’t shaming you. I like your gym. You’ve got some trainers therewho actually know how to work with women.”
He made sure of it. “So the reason you never play with meisn’t because you find my blue-collar status distasteful?”
Her eyes came up, flashing a little fire. “Of course not. Ididn’t say those things because I believe them. I said them so you would seewho Leah is, though now I get that you already knew. How was I supposed to knowyou’re the smart one? I certainly don’t care how much money you make as long asyou’re working hard and trying to be a good person. Which you do.”
He knew this was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. Theirchemistry… He never felt anything like it. Never wanted any woman the way hewanted Harlow. Maybe he could ignore it if he thought for one second she didn’tfeel it, too. He could absolutely ignore it, could sacrifice for Jensen if hethought she didn’t need him. But she did. The truth of the matter was they bothneeded him. “So why don’t you play with me, Harlow?”
Those gorgeous eyes stared at him, sexy bottom lipdisappearing behind her teeth. “You know why.”
He reached out and touched her, running his fingers over herjawline and then brushing the pad of his thumb over her lips. “Because you’reafraid of me.”
Her eyes rolled, and he was reminded how much he wanted toslap her ass a couple of times and get her to cry for him. “I’m not scared ofyou.”
Little liar. She was absolutely afraid of what was betweenthem. “You are, but you have a question for me. You’re going to be brave today,and I might finally get what I want.”
