by M. A. Innes
John just looked at Edward, studying him intently. “If we put aside the issue of the kink and just focus on the qualities that would be required to succeed as a daddy, I think you would be a perfect choice.”
“What?” This was not what Edward expected. Looking at John, Edward could tell that as odd as the conversation was, he was taking it seriously.
“No, listen. You’re focused, driven, and prefer to be in charge of any project. Correct?”
He couldn’t argue with John’s description. “Hold on…”
“No. I’m not finished. You are also loyal, passionate and obsessive when you believe in something, and take charge enough that you drive most boyfriends insane.”
“Not the most flattering description. Should we start describing you?” Edward turned and went back to pacing.
“I’m not saying any of those traits are bad. They’re just you. However, the same characteristics that can drive some people crazy might be a good match for that kind of lifestyle.”
Edward stopped pacing and just looked at John. A good match? “What?”
John laughed, “The look on your face, you would think that I’d suggested you go marry a woman or something. Think about it for a minute. From what I understand about any alternative lifestyle like that…BDSM…whatever it might be…you have to be intensely focused on your partner and there’s a lot of trust that’s necessary to make it work.”
Now Edward just looked at John, “What have you been getting up to with your dates?”
“No!” John nearly fell off the couch laughing. “My ex, the prissy one, she got a kick out of reading dirty books in bed. She would read passages out loud at night. I received quite the education in kink before we broke up.”
“Of course.” Edward teased sarcastically.
“Back to your naughty boy, if you don’t mind.” John’s face grew serious again. “If he wants that strong of a partner, he would desire someone who would use that focused, take charge nature on him. Your obsessive, bossy tendencies would be something that he wanted, not something that he would run from. See? Perfect for you.” John just looked at Edward. Whatever reaction he was looking for, Edward didn’t know. He couldn’t get John’s words out of his head.
When he started telling John about the evening and what Boy had said he wanted, Edward expected John to dismiss the whole thing as ridiculous. Having John analyze it rationally was surprising.
“I think what you need to consider is if you find the idea of being your boy’s daddy interesting in a kinky way, but nothing that you could actually see yourself doing in real life, or if it’s more than that. I’m not sure what that particular preference entails but I’m sure you can figure it out, or shockingly enough, actually talk to the boy and see what he wants.”
Despite John’s sarcasm, it was a reasonable option. Research to familiarize himself with the lifestyle in general and then see if Boy was interested in pursuing something with him. The dating service had emailed him a questionnaire this morning asking if he would like to contact his date.
Well, Edward wasn’t interested in his date, but Boy, that was a different answer entirely. He just hoped that they would know who he was talking about because he had no idea what name to put down on the paperwork.
John stood up and walked toward the door. Pausing with the doorknob in his hand, he turned and looked at Edward. “Take the rest of the day off if you need to. I think this is something that’s going to stick with you.”
Taking the day off felt like defeat; he never played hooky. He sighed and turned toward the window. “I might just do that. I have to figure out what I want before I’m going to be able to focus on anything else.”
“Good. Let me know how it goes.”
“Nosy.”
“It’s called being inquisitive. All good lawyers have that quality.”
Edward chuckled. Watching the cars go by, he turned back to the problem at hand. What did he want? Determining that talking to himself wasn’t going to get him anywhere, Edward made the decision to start his research and return the questionnaire.
Striding over to his desk, glad to finally have a plan, he picked up the phone. He knew just who to call. Dialing the phone, it rang several times before a brisk, efficient voice answered. “Dr. Turner’s office, how may I help you?”
“Hello, Lorraine. Edward Winn. I need to speak with Dr. Turner if he’s available.”
“Of course, please hold, sir.”
“Thank you, Lorraine.”
Dr. Samuel Turner was a psychologist that the firm kept on retainer for more interesting cases. Edward focused on contract law these days, but other lawyers in the firm dealt with cases that ended up in court far more often. So having a trustworthy psychologist close at hand was necessary.
“Edward, how are you doing?” Samuel’s cheerful voice came over the line.
“I’m good. Listen, I have a quick question for you. What do you know about alternative lifestyles that revolve around a daddy kink?”
CHAPTER 3
The ringing of the phone pulled Mason away from the project he’d been working on for most of the day. Looking down at the clock in the lower corner of the screen, he saw that it was only a little after four.
Knowing he had at least another hour before he could quit for the day, he ignored the call and went back to work. Within seconds, his phone started vibrating, jumping all over the desk as text after text came through.
Expecting the zombie apocalypse, he picked up the phone and swiped his finger across the screen. Compared to what he saw he would have preferred an apocalypse. Filling up his screen was almost a dozen texts that all said the same thing…[CALL ME NOW!!!]
Shit. Maddy.
When he hadn’t heard from her Thursday, after the dinner Wednesday night, he’d thought he had a reprieve. But after seeing the messages that filled his screen, he knew his relief had been short-lived. Mason knew that any reason he would get texts like that from Maddy would be bad—and it would be about dinner.
Part of him held out hope that his fantasy of Sexy-Voice-Man wanting him wasn’t just a dream. Realistically he knew it was ridiculous, but he still liked the fantasy. Deciding to bite the bullet, he sighed and hit the phone icon. Putting off the beast was never a good idea. It didn’t even ring once before Maddy answered.
She greeted him with, “What did you do?”
He winced. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That shit won’t cut it with me. What did you do?”
It could honestly be a number of things, so Mason wasn’t sure where to start. “Maddy, what are you talking about?”
He wasn’t about to begin randomly confessing things. That would definitely get him in more trouble than he was already in.
“You said everything went fine at dinner. That you weren’t interested in meeting your date again but that everything was uneventful.”
Okay, so he’d left a few things out when he’d escaped dinner the other night but he wasn’t going to tell on himself unless he had to. Coward’s way out, he knew, but he was hoping that everyone else had more discretion and common sense than he obviously did. From the sound of Maddy’s voice, that plan hadn’t worked.
“Correct.” White lie…little white lie.
“Then why would I get a questionnaire, filled out from Edward Winn, explaining that while he wasn’t interested in his own date, he was very curious to meet the ‘interesting young man who was a computer programmer’ but that he didn’t know your name?”
Maddy took a deep breath and he could hear her trying to calm down. “The email goes on to say that he found you ‘unique and surprising.’ Mason, why does the most prominent lawyer in the city want me to reassure you that nothing you talked about was ‘off-putting?’ ”
Shit.
“I don’t think I know a lawyer named Edward.” Weak. However, in his defense, he was shocked. Sexy-Voice-Man…Edward…wanted to see him again. Mason knew that he’d been shocked at the res
taurant, but evidently, it wasn’t a deal breaker to the sexy man.
God, he hoped Edward was sexy. It wasn’t a deal breaker for him even if he wasn’t because that deep, commanding voice had given him incredibly naughty things to imagine in the shower.
“Edward Winn was the gentleman who was sitting beside you. The one who was matched with a now very frustrated stockbroker. Who, in his words was ‘cock-blocked by a ditz.’ ”
Words shot out of his mouth before he could think, “I’m not a ditz; I was distracted. And he had to leave early anyway, so he can’t complain.”
“So you do know what I’m talking about.”
Shit.
“Maddy, the accountant was so boring and have you heard Edward’s voice?” Not a good start. He sounded like a ditz. A whiny ditz.
Maddy was silent for a moment. “And?”
“Well, we talked but I honestly didn’t think he would be interested.” Not the whole truth, but close.
“Why? Because he knew how ‘unique’ and ‘surprising’ you were?” The tone of her voice said she wasn’t going to believe anything that came out of his mouth unless it was the complete truth.
His brain went blank. “Well—I—well, we…”
“Save it. I don’t have any problem with what you like. I’ve made that abundantly clear over the years, but this is my job, Mason. All I asked you to do was to be nice to the boring accountant whose date ran off to Vegas. That was not too much to ask.”
“You’re right, Maddy. However, in my defense, there was just something about Edward. I tried to be good, but the accountant was so boring and when he ditched me—”
“WHAT?”
Shit.
He’d forgotten that she didn’t know that part. “Never mind that. When Edward and I started talking, I had no intention of saying anything. But then he started asking more questions and flirting. It just came out. To be honest, I thought that it would scare him away…and it was easier to say in the dark.” His last confession came out more as a whisper.
“I’m sorry, Maddy.” And he was. He’d gone to the restaurant with every intention of being businesslike and polite. It just hadn’t worked out that way.
“Mason. You know I have no problem with your quirks, I never have. This is my job. Even if it turns out that Mr. Winn doesn’t have a problem with it, this could have gone much worse. For both of us. What if he had been upset at the company? Or somehow angry at you? It could have easily come across as some young guy teasing him…and not in a good way.”
He hated it when she was right. “I know. I’m sorry, but Maddy there was just something about his voice. He was flirting and it was getting so easy to pretend that he might actually be starting to like me. It just escaped.”
He knew when he’d told Sexy-Voice-Man what he was looking for in a man that it would scare him off. That’s why he hadn’t stuck around. Pushing Edward away before he could push Mason away wasn’t the most mature tactic, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. He was tired of getting pushed away. It was why he hadn’t dated in more months than he cared to count.
“Mason.” By the drawn out way she said his name, he knew she wasn’t mad any longer.
“I’m sorry, Maddy.”
“I know. He seems to like you. Whatever you told him didn’t seem to chase him away.”
She knew him too well. “I know. I’m surprised.”
“Do you think he played around with something like this before?” He could hear the doubt in her voice.
“No way. The shock in his voice was real, but we were having a good time before that.” There was no way Mason was wrong about that. Up until he’d told Edward what he really wanted, there had been a real connection starting to form.
“Well, what do you want me to tell him, then?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’s not going to like being put off. He’s the kind of guy who once he makes a decision goes for it.”
“How do you know so much about him?” He always said Maddy knew everybody, but he never really meant everybody.
“He’s in all the local papers constantly, and if he isn’t, his firm is. They’re one of the most prominent firms in the city, if not the state.”
“I had no idea.” Who read the local papers anymore?
“You guys didn’t talk about anything important? I can understand the name thing, kinda, but nothing about jobs or real life at all?”
Mason laughed. “Just a bit, we mostly flirted.”
He could almost hear Maddy shaking her head, “The reason for the darkness is to get to know someone and not get distracted by appearances. You missed the entire point.”
“Maddy, his voice…you have no idea. He could have been reading the dictionary and I still would have melted.”
“You should just be grateful that everything else turned out so well last night that my boss isn’t too upset about what happened.”
“Did you have to tell her about me?” Holding his breath, Mason prepared for the answer. Mason wasn’t ashamed of what he wanted but he really didn’t like the idea of strangers knowing.
“No, she didn’t ask for details. I think she was probably going for plausible deniability.”
That was a relief. “Good.”
“Yeah, she’s a bit too vanilla to understand anyway.”
“So no chance of the BDSM version of Dating in the Dark?”
“Lord, no. She would have a heart attack. It’s not a bad idea, though.”
“Sounds like you might have found your niche market you’ve been looking for.” Maddy had wanted to find a way to distinguish herself. The idea wasn’t bad as long as you were open-minded.
“Don’t distract me. What do you want me to tell Edward?”
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“It’s a first, I get it.”
Mason had never managed to date anyone who was into the same things he was. The online dating sites were impersonal and most of the guys came across weird. Not that he was looking for normal by any means but these guys just seemed lock-you-in-the-basement weird. Not the good kind of weird that he was looking for.
“How long can you put him off for?” He needed some time to think about what to say.
“Twenty-four hours tops and that might be pushing it. His email came across as…forceful. Like he’d made his decision and he was ready for the next step.”
“Okay, tell him that I’m thinking about it.”
She snorted and laughed, “How about I tell him I left you a voicemail instead? That might be easier.”
Mason found himself nodding his head, even though she couldn’t see him. “Probably.”
“All right. Give me a call when you know what you want or if you want to talk about it some more.”
“Thanks, Maddy.”
“You’re welcome, Trouble.”
When the call disconnected, Mason sat back in his chair and flipped the phone over and over in his hands. What was he going to do? It should be simple to say yes and just go for it but it didn’t feel that easy.
What if Edward didn’t really understand what Mason meant? What if he thought Mason was teasing? What if they started dating and then Edward decided that the lifestyle wasn’t for him? What if, what if. The list could go on and on.
It had taken Mason a long time to understand what turned him on about the lifestyle. He might not have played with other people but Mason wasn’t going into this blind. Edward wasn’t going to have that chance. Mason wasn’t sure if he could handle his fantasy man being dangled in front of him and then yanked out of his hands.
Still playing with his phone several minutes later, he jumped when it vibrated and indicated a new text. Looking down at the screen, he swiped his finger across and looked at the message. It was weird. Maddy had sent him a short note. [Forgive me.]
He didn’t even have time to consider what she meant when the phone rang. Looking down at the unfamiliar number, Mason had a sinking feeling in his stomach. She wouldn�
��t have? Would she?
Knowing he didn’t have long before the phone call would go to voicemail Mason looked at the screen, took a deep breath, and answered it.
“Hello?” Rude if it were one of his clients, but it was all Mason could manage.
“Mason?” That deep voice was unmistakable. He was going to kill her.
Looking at the phone in his hand, it took several seconds before Mason could find his voice. “Yes, this is Mason.”
“My name is Edward Winn; we met at the Dining in the Dark event on Wednesday evening.”
Edward spoke in a formal way that had Mason looking at the phone again. The voice was the same deep tone that still sent shivers down Mason’s spine but the feel was totally different. He felt like he was actually speaking with a lawyer now.
“Yes, I remember you.” He wasn’t sure what to say. He would have known how to respond if the flirty voice from the dark had called but this new Edward had him second-guessing everything.
“Very good. I apologize for calling like this but when I spoke with Ms. Thompson I thought that calling you personally would be the best option. I considered agreeing to their normal protocols for contacting dates, but in this instance, I felt that talking to you myself was the best course of action. Without sharing confidences, I could not be assured that you would understand that I have no problem with your preferences.”
The speech was weirdly formal but it gave Mason hope. If the guy was forceful enough to get his number from Maddy, he had to be more than curious and it also probably meant that he would be just as forceful in other areas. Mason’s cock jerked at the thought.
No problem with them was different than I accept but sometimes not that different. “I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. I could hear how surprised you were the other night.”
“I was surprised at the time, but after some reflection and research, I found the idea intriguing.”
Research? Intriguing? “Have you ever been in a relationship like what I’m looking for? Or even thought about it?”
He was having trouble reconciling the picture that Maddy had painted of a powerful lawyer and the man on the phone with him who was admitting that he found age play interesting. Because even with his formal words and tone, that’s what he was saying.
