by Faye Avalon
Chapter Two
Mitchell took the card from his jacket pocket and stared at it for the hundredth time.
Gina McKenzie, Fitness and Lifestyle Instructor.
That figured. A woman with a body like Gina’s shouldn’t let it go to waste. It would be a disservice to mankind, bordering on a criminal offense. He couldn’t quite forget the moment last night when he’d turned and looked into those sultry brown eyes that spelled out trouble…and sex.
If he didn’t know better, he’d think she’d been coming on to him. For some damn reason, back in college, she’d always knocked him back. She’d preferred the troublemakers, the guys who treated women like shit. The one time he’d tried to give her what she wanted, it had backfired big time, and he’d ended up relieved of his pants and the butt of his friends’ jokes.
While she’d always had a keen intellect, for some reason she never allowed herself to let her brain rule. Maybe, with a body like hers, she’d known even then that she’d hit pay dirt.
He thumbed the card in his hand. There’d been a moment at the bar when she’d brushed against him slightly, so slightly he doubted she’d even been aware of it. But he was. His cock had sprung to vibrant life while his blood heated from more than the shot of whisky he’d imbibed.
What the hell did she want with him after twelve years? She’d been a year behind him in college, which made her barely thirty. He knew her mother was in the running for mayor of one of the London boroughs, but he’d never taken the opportunity to find out what happened to Gina. Some things were best left forgotten. She’d never been interested in someone as steady and careful as he was, so why torture himself with might-have-beens?
He fingered the card for one last time, then popped it into his jacket pocket.
Mitch leaned back in the leather chair and thanked the formally dressed waiter who brought him coffee. He stared at the dark liquid steaming from the china cup. Who was he kidding asking Gina to meet him here? Maybe it was a pitiful attempt to have her see him as a force to be reckoned with. The sort of man who could offer her what she wanted. The excitement. The recklessness.
He’d invested in many things in the past, but a BDSM club had to be the most interesting venture. Not that it was the usual in-your-face type of establishment. The Whitemead Club was to any innocent eye a men’s club, one of several to be found in London’s Mayfair.
Earlier that morning, he’d met the club’s owner who’d been thinking about expanding out to the provinces, and Jake Malone had allowed him to use the club’s lounge in which to meet Gina.
He’d considered taking her on a tour of the more interesting parts of the building, but feared she’d see his actions as a cheap attempt to prove himself as liberal and primitive as the next man when it came to sex.
According to his lovers, he didn’t have to prove anything.
He drank his coffee, made a few phone calls, then grabbed the financial newspaper and sat back to wait for Gina.
Right on time, the concierge showed her in.
She kept her eyes on his as she came toward him, accepting the offer of coffee.
“Thanks for meeting me.”
He folded his newspaper and placed it down on the side table. “I don’t have much time to spare.”
Her gaze flicked over the opulent surroundings. He wasn’t quite sure if she was nervous about where she was or what she’d come to ask him. Deliberately, he kept quiet and waited for her to continue.
The silence hung for long moments and just as she was about to speak, her coffee arrived.
She grabbed the cup and took a sip before looking around the room again.
Mitchell tried to see it through her eyes. At first glance, there was nothing to suggest this was an adult playground. The furnishings were opulent and luxurious, the furniture antique and classy, the clientele at this time of day mostly businessmen—like himself—taking time out of their busy schedules for some extracurricular activity—unlike himself.
Mitchell shared a healthy interest in what Jake had built, but the lifestyle wasn’t for him, especially not considering some of the clients were keen to let others view their activities. He had enjoyed some of the implements connected with the lifestyle and hadn’t been averse to some light bondage and other more adventurous pursuits, but at heart, he was a strictly one man/one woman, sex in private kind of guy.
Unbidden, an image of Gina tied up, her wrists and ankles tightly bound, her eyes covered, filled his head. He’d caught a glimpse of her breasts once, when along with several other guys at college, he’d snuck into the girls’ shower rooms and caught himself an eyeful. The image had been burned on his retinas and now he wondered if the sight of any other woman’s breasts had compared to that sensual feast Gina’s had afforded him.
Across from him, she took a long slow breath which pulled him back from his happy meanderings. “As you probably saw from my card, I run a fitness studio. I’m looking to expand and I wondered if you might give me some advice.”
Since her eyes flitted around the room and didn’t alight anywhere, he knew that wasn’t the real reason she was here. Besides which, unless she’d had a major personality transplant, he doubted she was remotely interested in developing business opportunities. But whatever, he’d play along. “What sort of advice?”
She shrugged. “Whether you think it’s a good idea, especially in the current financial climate, or whether it would be best if I wait until a better time. That sort of thing.”
A hundred other people could give her that kind of advice. No way in hell would she deliberately seek him out. He had to admit he was more than intrigued. “What sort of expansion are you considering?”
She crossed her legs beneath a short skirt, displaying those fabulous limbs. Shit. The sight of them always had the power to make his mouth go dry.
“My studio is doing really well. I have a full-time staff of two and the classes are almost always fully booked, sometimes with a waiting list. I thought it would be a good idea to think of moving things ahead now. I was considering maybe opening another studio, and going from there.”
Mitchell pursed his lips. “Sounds like a plan. What’s your profit margin?”
Her eyes went wide for a moment, and he knew she hadn’t a clue. “Well, I make a good profit. If you’d like to see my books I can arrange it.”
Again, he bit back a smile. He’d like to see a whole lot more than her books. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
She shuffled in her seat, sending that skirt farther up her thighs and taking his blood pressure along with it. He felt his cock twitch.
With a huge sigh, she sank back against the chair. “Asking your advice about my business was only one of the reasons I sought you out last night.”
He merely raised his eyebrows.
“I saw you and thought it would be a good opportunity to come over and sort of make amends for what I did to you in college. I’ve always regretted it and I wanted to see if you’d forgiven me.”
Any more layers of bullshit and Mitch wondered if Jake would need to have the whole place fumigated. “Haven’t given it much thought, to tell the truth. But just for the record, what sort of amends did you have in mind?”
Her face flushed a little, pleasing him no end. He struggled to keep his eyes on hers as she shifted in her seat again. “Well, an apology for starters. And maybe I could buy you that drink.”
Seeing as he was intrigued beyond measure and more than a little turned on by her delicious body, Mitch pursed his lips and nodded. “Apology accepted, as is the offer of a drink.”
The relief that shone in her eyes and the way her shoulders sagged, alerted him to the fact there were even more layers to this chance meeting than investments to be considered and amends to be made. Just what was the little witch up to?
“Would tonight be okay? Or are you busy?”
; “Nothing I can’t rearrange. Where?”
At her hesitation, Mitch wondered if he’d ever been quite so intrigued by a woman.
“Legressi’s. Do you know it?”
He nodded. He knew the trendy West End bar, but had never frequented it.
“Would eight be okay? I have a class tonight, which ends at seven. I could meet you there.”
“How about I pick you up? Say, seven thirty? It would give me a chance to take a look around your studio.”
Her eyebrows lifted and her eyes went wide, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Why would you want to do that?”
“You wanted my advice about expanding,” he reminded her, his suspicions now confirmed. “I’d need to have a look at what you have before making a decision as to what you need.”
She nodded absently. “Of course. Come to the studio then.”
Again, she retrieved her coffee, sipped, then replaced it to turn and look over her shoulder as the door opened and a man and two women came in and headed for a table opposite them.
The two women, glamorous and well dressed, remained attentive to the suited man as they took their seats.
“It’s good to see that these clubs have moved into the twenty-first century,” Gina said, looking back at Mitch. “I thought they were still antiquated.”
“In what way?”
“Allowing women in. I thought men still wanted to keep women out of your hallowed halls. You know, clubs where men can be men away from the distraction or demands of women.”
“Some of us have moved on, I can assure you,” he said with a smile, wondering what she’d do if he led her out and along the corridor to one of the private rooms with their whips, belts and restraints. Or better still, if he showed her to one of the viewing rooms, where even at this time of day they could likely be assured a good show.
She glanced over, as he did, to where one of the women had her hand on the man’s thigh and was letting her fingers slide higher toward the bulge in his trousers, while the other woman took the man’s hand and placed it on her thigh.
“Is that allowed in here?” She leaned forward so only he could hear.
He moved toward her and whispered conspiratorially, “There’s a whole lot allowed in here.”
She shifted back. “Don’t tell me. There are rooms upstairs for that sort of thing. What is this, a knocking shop in disguise?”
“Things are rarely what they seem.”
Her face flushed. “What makes you say that?”
“No reason. Just that people and places can often surprise us.”
“Ain’t that the truth?”
He smiled at her complaint. “You sound as if you’ve had experience of a surprise or two.”
“You could say that. You could also say that my days of being an idiot are past.”
Mitch could only imagine the sort of escapades she’d likely gotten herself involved in. “Amen to that.”
“I’ll say.” Gina flicked at her skirt. “It’s all very well pushing the boundaries a little, but it’s not so funny when they push back.”
“You always were one to knock the rules.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe. I always thought it was safer that way. But my reckless days are well and truly over.”
Bang went his plans to show her around the club.
“In what way was pushing the boundaries safer?”
She looked at him, her eyes so serious, so sad that he wanted to reach across the space that separated them and take her in his arms. Except he’d tried to do that once before and he still bore the scars.
“If you don’t play by the rules, you won’t get hurt.”
He frowned. “I don’t see the logic.”
She shrugged. “Stay within the accepted boundaries and people think you’re a pushover, flaunt the rules and they’re too busy keeping up to try pushing.”
It was a flippant response, yet Mitch wondered what was at the heart of it. “But now you’re done with all that?”
“I am. From now on it’s safe and straight for me. That’s why I want to focus on building up my business. I have plans to make my studios the best in London.”
“Good plans.” He hesitated for a moment, then asked the question that had slowly been burning through his gut. “No man on the scene?”
Her shoulders went tight, her chin shot up a few inches. “None of note.” She raised her eyes to his, almost defiantly. “What about you?”
“No men of note either.”
“Funny. Not married? For some reason I thought you would be.”
“Because I’m staid and boring?” he queried, throwing another of her past accusations back at her.
“Sorry I said that, but you have to admit you were always Mr. Establishment. I thought you’d be married with a couple of kids, a dog and a villa abroad.”
“I prefer keeping my relationships easy and unfettered by expectation of permanence.”
“How about the woman you were with last night? She seemed keen.”
“We see each other occasionally. It’s a mutually acceptable arrangement.”
“So you have nobody special? Nobody who’d be hurt if you ever found someone else?”
He shook his head. What the fuck was going on here? Did she have some sort of plan that they hook up? When his cock grew larger, he realized the thought didn’t have him searching for the nearest exit. He’d come a long way from the besotted youth she’d been able to pull along by a ring through his nose. He’d have no problem enjoying her for as long as they both found it mutually satisfying, before going their own way with no regrets.
“Nobody special,” he confirmed. “And the only long-term, permanent relationship I have, or want, is with my business.”
That seemed to please her and she sat back again, taking the time to re-cross her legs. He glanced down at the expanse of flesh, not sure whether to be happy or frustrated that her skirt slid up another measly inch. When he dragged his eyes back to hers, the cat smile she gave him confirmed she was thinking along the very same lines as he was.
They both looked over when one of the women opposite laughed, and watched as the man took both women’s hands and led them out the door. Since they turned right instead of left, Mitch guessed that one of the private rooms was about to see some action. While Gina was distracted, he took the opportunity to look down at her legs again. The dark tunnel her skirt made as it rode up her legs directed his gaze nearer to paradise, and his cock responded with a violent jerk that almost stole what little breath he managed to suck in.
He wrenched his gaze away but only made it as far as her breasts. Encased in a red blouse with the top button sexily undone, the faint outline of her bra showed through and he searched in vain for the dark rosy bud of a nipple. Her breasts had been rounded and firm when he’d glimpsed them that day in the girls’ shower room. He imagined they’d be fuller now, but no less firm. He could imagine his hands cupping the soft, ripe flesh and knew without doubt that they would sit perfectly in his palms. He imagined rubbing his thumbs across those tempting nipples. He’d rub until they hardened beneath his touch, until her moans of pleasure sank into his consciousness and pushed him to the brink of madness.
When she cleared her throat, he looked up. Her brown eyes held his with a glint of pleasure darkening their depths and she gave him that feline smile again.
“Did you see me that day? In the shower?”
“Yeah.” Shit. His voice sounded gravelly.
“Everything?”
Since she didn’t seem too affronted, he nodded. “Pretty much.”
Uncrossing her legs, she shifted them to the side. “What did you think?”
That he’d died and gone to heaven. “I was eighteen. What do you think I thought?”
She laughed. “My breasts weren’t very big then.�
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“They looked perfect to me.”
She smiled, almost poignantly, then dropped her gaze to her lap. “I could always count on you to make me feel better.”
His sensual haze faded and he was thrown back across the years to the vulnerable girl who had pulled something in him. To the rare glimpse of frailty that had driven him to want to protect her. “Did your mother ever remarry?”
“My father was the love of her life. When he walked out it broke her heart.” She raised her head and her mournful look made Mitch’s breath hitch. “She’s seeing someone at the moment. He seems very nice, but mum’s focus is on the mayoral elections.”
“I heard she has a good chance of winning.”
“She really has.” A steely look moved into her eyes. “And I’ll do anything I have to do to make sure she has the best chance possible. Whatever it costs, whatever it takes.”
Mitch wasn’t surprised at the directness in her tone. Gina had been shattered when her father walked out on her mother, but Gina’s mother had slid into a deep depression and rumor had it that she had actually attempted to take her own life.
He always wondered if Gina’s recklessness and her determination to push the rules was a kick back at the hurt her father had caused and the worry over her mother. From what he’d learned about people since, he knew it was probably true.
The waiter came over and asked if they would be staying for lunch, compliments of the manager. Mitch gave his apologies to Gina, saying he already had a luncheon appointment.
“I’ve got to get back too.” She gathered up her bag from beside her feet. “I’ve got a lunchtime class.”
“Need a lift?”
“No. I’ll take a cab. Need to stop off on the way to collect some new yoga mats and blocks.”
Mitch walked her outside and hailed her a cab. She turned to him. “It’s really been great seeing you again.”
“Same here.” He tapped her card which lay in his jacket pocket. “I’ll see you at seven thirty.”
When the cab pulled over, he opened the door and stepped back for her to enter. As she moved forward, he touched her arm. “What class?”
