by Cassie Ryan
Maybe one of these days she’d get her feet under her and be able to buy one of these cars for herself.
“Did you eat something?” His deep voice held only curiosity and concern, so she forced her shoulder muscles to relax. She had to get past the automatic defensive reactions. They had no place in her new life.
She nodded and then realized Brent’s concentration was on the busy freeway in front of them and not on her, so she cleared her throat to make sure she could speak. “I had a quick English muffin an hour or two ago.”
He nodded, giving her a glance before returning his gaze to the road. “We’ll pick up some lunch after your meeting with Gary, unless he wants you to start right away. If you’re interested in the job after you two talk, that is.”
She tried not to fidget in her seat as nerves finally set in, but ended up adjusting the sleeves of the dressy button-down around her arms. She loved the feel of the soft cotton and the way the deep blue material gave her face some actual color after her long night. She smiled at the memory, and her body seemed to wake up at the mere mention of her time with Master Brent Saturday night.
She wrenched her mind back to the interview and what lay ahead. She’d known he was taking her to meet someone about a job, but now that he’d said it out loud, it felt like a suffocating cloud had closed in around her.
She blew out a slow breath and mentally shook off the odd sensation. “So what kind of job is it?”
“I gave Gary a quick rundown of your qualifications, and he told me he’d love to talk to you about a position he’d been trying to fill.” Brent signaled before he changed lanes and sped up to match traffic. “I’ll let you two talk and decide if this is a good fit or not. You’re under no obligation to take this unless it feels right to you.”
“Thank you.” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. She’d needed to touch him, to show how much it meant to have him care for her this way. “I appreciate you setting this up, and driving me out here.”
“No problem at all.” He sent her a quick smile before he returned his attention to the road, slowing as several people changed lanes to take the next exit. “I’ve known Gary for several years,” he continued. “He owns several successful international businesses and is always looking for good talent.”
“International businesses?” She cringed as she realized that had come out as more of a nervous squeak than her normal voice. She really hoped that didn’t happen during the interview. Sandra had always picked up new skills quite easily, but for some reason the thought of an international business loomed larger and more frightening than a fully domestic one.
“Don’t sound so nervous.” Brent reached out to brush a comforting hand over her knee. “Just because it’s an international business doesn’t mean you can’t handle it. You’re a smart woman. I’m confident you can easily pick up whatever you need to learn.”
His voice sounded sure and echoed her previous thoughts, so she pulled some of his confidence deep inside herself for strength. “I will,” she said with determination. “It just threw me off when you said ‘international’ for some reason. I’ve only ever worked for small companies that had fewer than fifty employees.” She thought back to the job she’d left in New York. She had enjoyed the challenge of organizing the office and keeping everything flowing as it should. But a much larger company that dealt with multiple countries would give her a lot to learn on every front. A sliver of excitement flowed through her and she laughed.
“Are you all right?” His voice held amusement, and she didn’t blame him. She’d been clearly scared a minute ago and now she was laughing. What a damned basket case she was lately.
“Yes, sorry.” She forced a smile onto her face, hoping it looked natural. “I gave myself an internal pep talk, and now I’m excited about the new prospect and ready to go.”
Brent chuckled, his sexy lips curving. “I’m glad. You really are a smart woman, Sandra. You always have been…”
His voice cut off suddenly, making Sandra frown. The statement struck her as very odd. He’d only known her for a few days.
She thought about asking about the odd wording but shook the thought away. She was most likely reading too much into his words, and she needed to concentrate on the coming interview.
He took the freeway exit and merged with the busy downtown traffic.
“Let’s get you to this interview, and then we can talk over lunch.” He sent her a quick smile as he pulled up to a stoplight, and several pedestrians scurried across the street in front of them.
His smile was genuine, but there was something there that made her pause. A tightness around his eyes that she wasn’t used to seeing. It was probably just something she’d imagined. She really needed to get her thoughts under control. She needed all her concentration to go toward getting this job and starting her new life.
After a few more harrowing turns onto one-way streets, which reminded Sandra why she hated to drive in downtown Phoenix, Brent turned into a parking garage and then slid into a spot with a “Reserved for Trask Industries” sign posted in front of it.
Sandra gave in to a quick bout of vanity and checked her hair and face in the small mirror on the visor. She made sure her cover-up makeup hid all the evidence of her long, restless, sexually frustrated night spent missing Brent. She couldn’t believe after the amazing orgasms she’d had Saturday night that her body craved even more, but crave it did.
Right now she needed to get her mind off her sex life. She pushed up the visor, turned to him, and smiled. “All right. Let’s do this.”
—
Brent stood as Sandra and Gary came out of a conference room down the hall. Two hours in the waiting room chairs hadn’t been comfortable, even interspersed with pacing.
As Sandra turned and their gazes met, he sucked in a breath. For the first time since he’d seen her on the monitors at Club Desire, she looked happy. The dark shadows that always lurked in her eyes had been vanquished, and on Sandra, true happiness made her breathtaking. Literally, in this case.
“Brent.” Gary walked forward and held out his hand. “I’d like you to meet my newest employee.”
Brent shook Gary’s hand. “Congratulations, Gary.”
“Hey!” Sandra was looking at him with a mock frown. “What about me? Don’t you think I deserve some congratulations?”
Brent shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. “I was just congratulating Gary on stealing another great prospective employee from me.”
Sandra laughed and waved him away. “You couldn’t handle me as an employee anyway.”
Brent found he really enjoyed this new, bantering side of Sandra, and hoped to see more of it. “Oh, really? Why do you say that?”
She shared a conspiratorial look with Gary before turning back to Brent. “After some discussion, Gary and I have agreed you couldn’t handle me.”
That startled a laugh out of Brent and he wondered what they had talked about. Gary knew about Club Desire, but as far as he knew tended toward vanilla, so it couldn’t be in that arena.
Gary slapped Brent on the shoulder surprisingly hard, especially as the older man was a good four inches shorter than Brent and a great deal less solid. “Well, my boy, you brought me a firecracker here. She’s smart, and from everything I can tell she knows how to run an office. We need to train her up a bit on the international aspect, but it sounds like she can wrangle the toughest office into shape.”
He cast Sandra an expression of pride and anticipation. “I even took her out to the cube farm and let her try out her skills on the programmers and support staff. After several minutes of their trying to frustrate her with misinformation and double talk, she sweetly and swiftly put them in their places and got them to not only get back to work, but promise to have the office straightened up and organized, and even have their equipment fully inventoried and documented for her by the time she comes in tomorrow.” Gary cast Sandra another gaze of glowing approval. “And that was even before I offered her the
job.”
Brent laughed. “Congratulations, Sandra. I think.” He sent her a quick smile. “Although I’m not sure I did you any favors subjecting you to this crotchety old man every weekday.”
“Hey now. Who are you calling old?” Gary shook his finger at Brent as if he were scolding a naughty pupil. “I’ll accept the crotchety, but just because I’m older than you doesn’t make me old. Speaking of old, have you heard from Valerie lately?” His tone was light, but Brent knew how much pain lurked beneath that subject.
“We lost touch,” Gary added simply, his expression giving away nothing to anyone who hadn’t known him for several years.
Brent remembered when he’d first met Gary. The London branch of Gary’s business was failing, which caused him to spend most of his nights and weekends in the office or on conference calls. He and Valerie had been dating for several years at that point, and she’d finally gotten fed up and left him.
Brent had gotten Valerie a consulting job with another local firm doing the same thing she’d been doing when she’d first met Gary. But then he’d lost touch with her too until a few years ago, when she’d shown up at Club Desire to petition for membership.
Brent motioned for Gary to step off to the side of the lobby with him. “Sandra, excuse us for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
When they had stepped out of earshot of Sandra, Brent smiled at his old friend. “I have heard from Valerie.”
Gary’s head snapped up, and unmistakable hope and longing filled his gaze. He was obviously still madly in love with Valerie, and she with him if Brent was any judge.
“She’s doing well. Been promoted several times over, and looking fantastic, as usual.” Before Gary could interrupt to ask how to find her, or if Brent had her current number, he pressed on. “I would suggest you come by Club Desire this Saturday night. About seven thirty or so.” He let silence fall for a long moment while Gary fidgeted. “I’ll give you a tour of the place, and…introduce you to some of the regulars.”
Gary stood looking stunned for a long moment until he finally cleared his throat. “The Club. Okay.” He met Brent’s gaze squarely. “What should I wear for this tour?”
Gary’s voice was strong and even, but Brent had known him long enough to tell he was uncomfortable with this topic. He thought about messing with Gary and telling him to wear a Catwoman outfit, or to dress up as Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but he took pity on the man. He knew Gary’s view of what a fetish club looked like wasn’t accurate. “Just wear whatever is comfortable.”
Gary nodded woodenly and then darted a glance across the lobby, where Sandra sat reading something on her phone. “Give me an example. What do you wear at the Club, Brent?”
Again, Brent bit back the temptation to mess with his friend as all kinds of interesting answers spilled through his mind. In the end he settled on honesty. “When I’m not participating, I tend to wear something very much like what I’m wearing today.” He gestured toward himself. “Comfortable dress slacks and a button-down shirt. And comfortable shoes are a must for me since I do so much walking to oversee everything.”
Gary’s gaze panned down to Brent’s Armani loafers. “What about when you are…participating?”
Brent smiled, unable to resist the temptation any longer. “You know, assless chaps, nipple rings, a leather Catwoman costume—things like that.”
Gary paled and cast another glance toward Sandra.
“She can’t hear us, and she isn’t even paying attention,” Brent reminded Gary.
Gary looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Brent took pity on him again. “I’m kidding, Gary. You seem like you’re about to pass out.”
Gary blew out a long breath as relief flowed across his features, and he shook his head. “All right, Brent. I deserved that.” He laughed as the tension finally left his face. “I know when you were a newbie in the industry I played quite a few jokes on you. All in good fun, I assure you, but I was quite merciless at times, even more so when you looked green in the gills.” His expression turned slightly sheepish and he shrugged. “So I suppose I had it coming.” He met Brent’s gaze squarely. “All right, for Valerie I’ll break through my misgivings and step foot inside Club Desire.”
Brent knew how hard that one act would be for Gary. He had never been to any club as far as Brent knew. Valerie had always tried to get him to accompany her, but he had always adamantly refused.
Brent didn’t think Gary was morally or ethically opposed to it. He was most likely more concerned about who would see him there. If Brent could coax Gary out, he would do his best to safeguard his privacy as much as he could. That was business as usual at Desire, but since Gary was a close friend, Brent would go out of his way to try to ensure his first visit was memorable in a good way—especially considering how difficult he knew it would be for his friend to even show up. It was the least he could do for one of the men who’d helped him make his name as a successful business consultant. He would never be where he was today without Gary and a handful of others like him.
He nodded toward his friend. “Gary. If you’re worried about being seen at the Club, don’t. It is very discreet, and to steal a movie line, ‘What happens at Club Desire stays at Club Desire.’ And anyone you might see there will also be visiting a kinky sex club, so it will even out.”
Gary blew out a long breath. “Thanks for pointing that out. It really does help to think of it like that. Working too much, and me worrying about appearances,” he said wearily, making Brent wonder where this was going, “that’s what eventually drove Valerie away, and now that I’ve found her again I refuse to let a little fear about the unknown keep me from her. So be straight with me, Brent. If I show up planning on participating, what should I wear?”
Surprised by the sudden breakthrough, Brent took a slow breath and answered honestly. “I wear leather pants and a comfortable black T-shirt. But there are several Doms there who wear dress slacks, jeans, or even shorts. It’s whatever you’re comfortable moving around in. Why don’t you bring a few things with you in a bag on Saturday and we can talk more specifics then? If you come early, we can talk before Valerie arrives. In fact, you can stay at the Club if you like. We have terrific rooms upstairs.”
“Thank you, Brent.” Genuine gratitude shone in his expression. “I’ll see you on Saturday.” He walked across the lobby and held out his hand to Sandra. “Welcome to the team. I think Trask Industries will be an excellent fit for you, and that you’ll be a wonderful addition to our team. I’ll see you first thing in the morning.”
—
Fifteen minutes later, still bubbling with excitement over her new job, Sandra walked beside Brent toward the front of the Different Pointe of View restaurant. It was a very nice, romantic restaurant inside the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort.
Sandra had always wanted to eat here, but with her finances, or lack thereof, hadn’t thought she’d ever get to, let alone step inside the resort for a look around.
A strong breeze swirled the ends of her hair into her eyes. Now and then a few small leaves would fly by, and she would brush them off her clothes or out of her face. But since the breeze was a welcome respite from the hot day, Sandra smiled and enjoyed it.
Brent slowed and turned toward her, causing her to stop short. “I should have asked. Do you like the Different Pointe of View restaurant?”
She nodded, trying and failing to keep what would most likely be a sappy smile off her face. “I’ve never been here. I’ve always wanted to, but just never…got around to it.”
She bit her tongue to keep herself from diving into another ramble, or even worse, revealing too much about her upbringing. Especially her abusive mother, their constant lack of money, or how horrible the punishments were when her mother caught her daydreaming about having a better life. Alice Barry didn’t like Sandra to have any escape from her control, not even a temporary mental one.
Brent smiled at her and then raised his hand.
&n
bsp; Sandra instinctively reacted, flinching away and taking a small step back.
Her brain kicked in, reminding her that this was Brent and not her mother.
She was usually better at covering those instinctive reactions, but since she’d been thinking about Alice and that old way of life, when Brent raised his hand…
She firmed her spine and forced herself to look up and meet his too perceptive gaze. Except he was probably thinking of Diego and not her mother.
Or at least she hoped so.
“I’m sorry, Sandra.” His expression was concerned and gentle. “I was just going to pick a few leaves out of your hair. I should have warned you.”
She reached up and ruffled her hair, watching a few small leaves flutter off into the wind again. “It’s not a problem.”
She saw the knowledge in his eyes of what he’d thought had caused her instinctive reaction, but she tried to smooth it over. She didn’t like to talk about that time in her life if she could help it. And she definitely didn’t want him always treating her with kid gloves.
“I’m starving. How about you?” She smiled at the comfortable, playful tone that she had successfully infused into her voice. Maybe they could move past this without incident after all.
Brent nodded, but she wasn’t sure if he had accepted her dodge of the situation or was biding his time until he could bring it up again. In either case, she really was hungry.
“I called ahead while you were in the restroom at Gary’s, so they have our table ready.” He held out his hand, a gallant gesture that warmed her heart.
She placed her hand in his, a thrill of connection running through her at the skin-to-skin contact as they continued to make their way toward the front of the resort.
Since the entire property was perched on a hilltop, she shouldn’t have been surprised when they were seated next to a window that gave them a breathtaking view of the city below. Somehow when she had imagined herself in this place back in high school she had never quite envisioned sitting here, enjoying this spectacular view while a sexy man across from her ordered wine and appetizers.
