“Have,” David corrected.
She did a double take. Was he mad? He didn’t appear to be and that kind of nonchalance scared the crap out of her, because she knew he had every reason to be. She was completely baffled by his demeanor as well. So much so, that all she wanted at the moment was for Joe to leave so she could explain things to David. You should have done that from the start. Taking a deep breath she let it out in a rush and turned back to Joe. “We kind of have a-a thing.”
Joe ignored her, which was very irritating, but not unexpected. Hadn’t he been ignoring everything she wanted in favor of his desires until she finally got wise to this and used his desires to her consumer advantage?
“Mr. Hollan, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
Lacy’s jaw dropped and before she could stop herself she let go of the robe and twisted right and then left so fast as she dipped back in a you got to be kidding me fashion, that her robe gaped open. Before she caught the sides up, she did manage to mentally fume, Kiss ass.
David continued to stare at her while he spoke to Joe, “I’m sure you didn’t. I’m also sure I’ll be in touch with you at a later date regarding things around here you do have an idea about and will apologize for, correct?”
“Yes sir.”
The second Joe left she spun around ready to force an apology if need be. “David, I—”
His scathing look caught her off guard and after a moment of deafening silence, that felt more like an hour under hot interrogation lights, he prompted, “I’d what?”
“I’d—I’m sorry.”
He casually shifted back, hooking a knee over the curved bolster on the couch, as if he were making himself more comfortable. “For?”
He may have been comfortable but she had to fight the urge to shuffle her weight from one foot to the other. “The Joe thing.”
“What is it with you and the word thing? What does thing actually mean?”
She gave in and transferred her weight from one leg to the other, hating that it made her look even more guilty. But seeing as how it was obvious he was going to make this as excruciating for her as possible, she wanted to be comfortable. “It’s an event.”
He smiled and the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. The longer he stared at her the more she felt compelled to act. Do. Say.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you.” She looked away as she hated being drilled by those eyes.
“Why?”
That was certainly obtuse. She toyed with the idea of telling him so, but decided to stick to staring at the ugly apricot wall paint instead. “Because it was the right thing to do.”
“There’s that word again.” His low tone of voice got to her almost as badly as his next words. “And why is it that you recognize it as the right thing to do only after you got caught doing the wrong thing?”
She winced both times he said thing, as now she knew with absolute certainty that he wasn’t mad. He was furious. People, or more precisely, men in general never got mad at her. She usually managed to walk through intimate relationships on an even keel. When the ship rocked she disembarked. Plain and simple. Right now, however, the vessel was capsizing and there were no life boats, preservers or rafts. Sink or swim was a phrase that came to her and she decided to do the latter. Only to do that she needed to defuse this rapidly deteriorating situation and there was only one way she knew how.
Straightening her spine, she mustered as much bravado as she could when she turned to him. Without pausing, she began to take off her robe. She hadn’t even shrugged a shoulder forward when he stood.
“Stop.”
She had no choice. Every muscle in her body froze with that deep command. Every one, but her tongue. “I thought—”
His eyes glittered. The hazel-blue shine assured her he knew exactly what she’d had in mind.
She didn’t know what to do. She barely breathed, waiting. When a full thirty seconds tick by, she couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“I…” His stare deepened and she gulped. This always worked for her. “I…” She licked her lips and swiped her dampened palms down the front of her robe. The look he gave her. The fire in his eyes. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why didn’t he move? Speak? React?
She wanted so badly to look away. No, to slink away. He made her feel like that. Cheap. No, accountable—her heart pounded with the shame of it until she remembered the chastity belt. That reminder gave her the courage to tackle him over it. He had no business covertly putting that on her. She narrowed her eyes and pointed directly at him. Ready to throw him on the defensive and demand he unlock it, when her newfound courage faltered. His quiet calm unnerved her so badly her whole arm trembled. With just one continuous look he was shattering her confidence. Annihilating her plan until she lowered her arm and that’s when she panicked.
An unreasonable panic that went into overdrive. Things like this never happened to her. To her friends? Sure. To her? Never. Maybe that’s why she lost it. Even when she lunged, snatching her purse off the coffee table and turned to run to her bedroom, she had no idea why she was doing it. She knew this was all wrong and so not her style and yet there she was. Locking herself in by jamming a chair up under the door handle before she rummaged through her bag to find her phone.
She needed help. Jo and Ted. They’d help her, but when she got Jo’s voicemail she wanted to scream. She did scream, right into the phone. The words tumbled out so fast she wasn’t even sure what she was saying or asking. She kept right on going until she heard—Jesus Christ—the buzz of a saw. Until she—oh my God—spotted—what the hell was that? Not a saw—she squinted until her eyes focused on the outline being made on the backside of door. A circle. That’s what it was as the disc burrowed its way through the wood.
She was stunned. He wasn’t really doing this, was he? Her quiet and charming David that wined and dined her once a week?
The wood piece fell and when it hit against the slats of the chair, she was pulled out of her daze. Either that or it was the sound of buzzing getting louder that got her attention. She wasn’t positive. All she did was stare in horrified disbelief as David’s hand fit through the newly made hole. He didn’t feel around and there was literally no hesitation as his fingers instantly closed over the chair back just before he pushed it aside. After it toppled he simply fit his hand over the knob, turned it and opened the door.
And there he was…
Without a thought she threw the phone at him and wanted to cry when he ducked to the left and it sailed right over him. It hit the hardwood beyond with a spectacular crash. Half the phone jumped right, a quarter went left and the remainder landed in a scattered mess under the coffee table.
She didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure she was breathing, even, when he shut off the machine and slowly lifted it so he could blow the sawdust off the back of his hand. When he was finished he tilted his head and calmly asked, “Are you done?”
She had no answer for him as the disc’s slowing rotation had her mesmerized. Enthralled and captivated, but then she looked up and really wished she’d stuck to getting dizzy watching the spinning metal because now she had another reason to be dizzy.
The ire she spotted shining in his penetrating eyes...
About The Author
I write sexy, humorous and emotional romances where a happy ending is guaranteed. An optimist, I believe life is awesome, people are complicated, but in a good way, and we should never stop learning. I live in Florida with my gorgeous husband. I have two wonderful kids and one very bossy English Bull terrier. When I’m not writing I enjoy reading, oil painting and getting to the Sunday crossword puzzle before anyone else does, so I can look smart by fill-in all the easy answers first. If I wasn’t a writer I’d be an international spy with top-level security so I could have a peek at Area 51 and decide for myself if those green guys are for real. Failing that I’d go with chicken sexer.
I love to hear from readers. Come and visit my website at www.AuthorRileyMurphy.c
om and say hello.
Other Works By Riley Murphy
Beguiling Enchantment
Reclaimed Surrender
Reluctant Surrender
Required Surrender
Stare Me Down (A Stare Down Novel #1)
White Lie Christmas
Requested Surrender
Coming in 2014:
Love Of My Every Lifetime (An Embrace Your Soul Novel #2)
Stare Her Down (A Stare Down Novel #2)
Reputable Surrender
Love Of My Only Lifetime (An Embrace Your Soul Novel #3)
Table of Contents
Copyrights
A Note From Riley
The First Date
Their Second Encounter
The Package
Their Second Dinner Date
The First Mistake
The Truth
The Lesson
Last Note from Riley
Requested Surrender
About The Author
Other Works By Riley Murphy
A Date With A Dom: Prelude to Requested Surrender Page 7
