Instead of entering the building, she sent text messages to her administrative assistant and to her father, letting them know she was taking the afternoon off.
The drive home seemed interminable.The traffic didn’t distract her, and neither did cranking up an oldies station on the radio.
And of course, when she arrived, Mrs.Fuhrman was outside with her five dogs.It didn’t matter that the eccentric woman wasn’t supposed to have that many.After her husband had died, Mrs.Fuhrman had signed up to be a foster parent for rescued dogs.And she couldn’t always allow herself to be parted from them, especially the ones with physical ailments.The dogs were all shapes, sizes, temperaments and ages.The oldest, Happy, only had three legs.
Lara closed her car door just as Suzy-Q, an apricot-colored mastiff mix, yanked on her leash and broke free, dashing over toward Lara.
Even though Mrs.Fuhrman was yelling at the dog to come back and to be nice, Suzy-Q jumped up, paws landing in the middle of Lara’s chest, knocking her back so that she rested on the car’s fender.The dog seemed to smile before licking her face and slobbering on her blazer.
She grinned.There was nothing like puppy love to change her attitude.
“Get down right now, Suzy-Q!”
The dog ignored her owner.Instead, she put her big head on Lara’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Lara,” Mrs.Fuhrman called out.“I don’t know what’s gotten into her.She hears your car and starts to lose her mind, I’m afraid.”
“She’s fine.”She stroked the dog behind one of her ears then told her to get down.Immediately Suzy-Q complied.
Since four leashes were totally tangled and some of the dogs were excitedly barking, Lara returned Suzy-Q to Mrs.Fuhrman.
“Thank you, dear.She must love you.”Mrs.Fuhrman shook her head, but not a single one of her blueish-purple hairs moved.“She’s usually much better behaved than that, as you know,” the woman said.
Lara didn’t correct her neighbor even though Suzy-Q visited, in her exuberant, behaviorally challenged way, almost every day.
Once Suzy-Q’s leash was back in the older lady’s hand and the woman had slipped back into one of the shoes she’d somehow lost, Lara went inside to change and wipe off the dog’s expression of affection.
An hour later, she wasn’t convinced that coming home early had been the right choice.Being alone, with too much time and not enough to do, was never a good thing.
She’d already weeded the garden, pruned some flowers and tidied the house.And she hadn’t been able to escape her thoughts.
She grabbed her laptop and did an Internet search on submission and Dominance.
Images populated the results, some of them appealing, most of them a bit frightening.She read a few well-written articles that explained both, from different perspectives.And it seemed that people did have varying expectations.
But she was quite certain that, despite what he’d said, she’d have to become a bit of a puppet to him.
She told herself that there was no way she was going to his home this evening.A marriage of convenience was a business deal that should be discussed in a boardroom or a neutral place.And that way, she could make sure he kept his hands off her.She’d already learned that a single touch from him could undo her.
Decision made, she closed the computer’s lid.
Now she only had a few more hours she needed to fill before she could start getting ready for the next day.
After changing into running clothes and securing her hair into a ponytail, she headed out, down the street, focusing on her footfalls, looking ahead, trying to shut out the world as she normally did.
It didn’t work.Unbidden, Connor’s words returned to tumble through her memory.It wasn’t just what he’d said.It was the certainty with which he’d said them, and the corresponding reaction that had slid through her.
Lara turned a corner and picked up the pace, even though her breathing was already labored.
As he’d suggested it might, his introductory taste had tantalized her.The way he’d tugged on her nipples had made her clench her thighs.Other men she’d been with had been afraid of giving her what she wanted, but clearly Connor wouldn’t be.She wasn’t sure if the idea appealed to her or terrified her.
Despite her best intentions, her mind wandered back to his talk about punishment.What the hell had he meant by that?Part of her railed against the idea.Who the hell did he think he was?What gave him any idea that she’d be agreeable?
And still… Curiosity made her panties damp.
In that moment, she wondered who she was fighting—Connor or herself?
She slowed her pace and headed for home.
