Page 17 of Daddy's Naughty Bartender
She's everything his ex-wife wasn't. Warm where Melissa was cold. Real where Melissa was polished facade. Karen has substance, depth, the kind of strength that comes from surviving real loss.
And those glimpses of submission, of need? They call to everything dominant in him. The way she responded to "good girl," the catch in her breath when he takes control, she's perfect. Perfectly imperfect. Perfectly his, if she'll let herself be.
His phone rings. Dale Morrison, because apparently no one sleeps in Prairie Harbor. He thought the night life in Chicago was active.
"Bit early for business calls, Dale."
"Saw your light on. Figured you were up." Dale's voice is cheerful despite the hour. And apparently, there is no privacy either. He’d been shocked when he’d seen Karen’s clear as day from his room. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about extending your contract."
"Oh?"
"The winery project's ahead of schedule, but I've got three restaurants wanting consultations. High-end places in Lincoln and Omaha. Could keep you busy another month or two."
Jason's eyes stay on Karen's dark house. "I'll think about it."
"Think hard. Also... I know it's none of my business, but Karen Mitchell's good people."
"I know."
"Do you?" Dale's voice turns serious. "Because that woman's been holding this town together since Mark died. She doesn't need some city boy playing games."
"I don't play games."
"Good. Because half this town would cheerfully murder anyone who hurt her. She's Prairie Harbor's heart."
"Dale." Jason's voice carries enough authority to stop the older man. "I know exactly how precious Karen is. I have no intention of hurting her."
"Intentions and actions aren't always the same thing."
"No," Jason agrees. "They're not. Which is why I'm going to be very careful with her. Very... intentional."
Dale is quiet for a moment. "You extending that contract or not?"
"Send me the details. I'll decide by Monday."
After they hang up, Jason pours himself a scotch from the mini-bar and settles into the uncomfortable hotel chair. He has a thriving business in Chicago. A life there, such as it is. Empty condo, empty bed, empty existence filled with work and not much else.
Here, he has possibility. Challenge. A woman who needs what he needs, who calls to parts of him he buried during his marriage.
"Sometimes you have to choose between the life you planned and the life that's waiting for you." His therapist said that during the divorce proceedings. Jason didn't understand then. Now, watching the first hints of dawn creep across Prairie Harbor's sleepy streets, he's beginning to.
Monday. He'll decide Monday.
Or maybe he's already decided, the moment Karen Mitchell looked up at him from her bar floor, bleeding and defiant and absolutely magnificent.
Maybe some decisions make themselves.
Maybe some things are just meant to be.
CHAPTER 5
"Ladies, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Or should I say, the silver fox in the wine bar."
Elizabeth Miller, founding member of the Naughty Girls Book Club Prairie Harbor's chapter, raises her mimosa with a knowing smirk. We've commandeered the back corner of Barbara's Café for our Thursday afternoon meeting, supposedly to discuss this month's selection—some billionaire Daddy Dom romance I haven't even cracked open.
"I don't know what you mean," I lie, taking a sip of my own mimosa.
"Bullshit." Beth Cooper, high school principal and secret romance addict, leans forward. "Susie texted the group chat. Said your date made her need a cold shower just from watching you two talk."
