Vicki jerked her attention to Mal, with a brilliant smile to match the dazzle in her eyes. “Oh! A new dress!”
“Will you have time?”
She dug into her purse and pulled out a small sketchbook and pencil. “That’s a silly question. This is the perfect way to pass the time. Let’s see…”
And she was right. The soft scratch of lead on paper, watching a fanciful dress unfold, was the perfect distraction. Mal lost track of time, watching her friend sketch out several dresses, page after page. But one in particular caught her eye. “Go back. Yeah. That one.”
Vicki gave her a Cheshire cat smile. “I thought you might like it the most.”
Mal tilted her head a bit, letting the vision unfold in her mind. Vicki’s notes said antique cream with heritage lace. Lace wasn’t usually Mal’s taste, but the long, elegant lines of the dress were enhanced by soft falls of lace. It looked old fashioned, vintage, and yet perfectly her. Except for one thing. “It seems very… bridal.”
Vicki laughed as she wrapped an arm around Mal’s shoulders and hugged her. “Exactly.”
Marriage wasn’t something she’d thought about, not for a very long time. The Mistress of Dallas flirted as she wished, breaking submissive hearts left and right. It’d been fun, a long reign of play and casual relationships that had been exactly what she needed as she established her career at VCONN. Whips and chains, latex and collars, the club life had made her into the Mistress she was today. The Mistress who’d been ready and able to help a mentally wounded soldier overcome his issues. The woman who couldn’t wait to take her wounded cop home and help him heal once and for all.
Whether he wore her collar or not, Colby was hers.