“I’m sure.” Danica took her hand. “Why don’t we further discuss it over dinner? I have reservations at a French restaurant downtown. Have you ever dined on French cuisine before?”
Alicia cocked her head in utter disbelief. “You really are something else, Danica.”
“I don’t mind being many things. ‘Something else,’ included.”
She led Alicia out and into the back of her limo. More than a few people on her payroll glanced at the collar around Alicia’s neck. This was going to take more than a little while to get used to. It could very well take half her life.
Alicia couldn’t say if she had ever consumed French food before. She had certainly never been to a French restaurant.I wanted to go with Matt on our anniversary, but he insisted on Italian. Back then, Alicia didn’t think much about it. Now she wondered if she could ever make a restaurant request to Danica.A part of me wants to see her eat at Taco Bell. Another part cringed at the thought.
Didn’t help that the menu was completely in French. Alicia and Danica sat at a table in the far back of the restaurant, completely sectioned off from the main gallery, which was already sparse and quiet. Candlelights offered a romantic mood, but Alicia kept stealing glances at the bodyguard standing over by the door, ignoring the server and host who came in and out at ten-minute intervals.Does he see this kind of stuff all the time? Does he have something he needs to tell me about his boss? “Hey, Ms. Colbert, you might want to know that your girlfriend does this about once a month. She’s got another potential fiancée on standby. Run while you still can.”
Alicia continued to touch the collar around her throat. Eventually, she had to give up on ordering food. As much as she didn’t want to, she asked Danica to help her pick something out. At least she didn’t order on Alicia’s behalf.Girl doesn’t know me that well yet. But even as Danica attempted to explain the different dishes before relying on the server, Alicia was still lost. It didn’t help that her brain was elsewhere.
“Have I offended you?” Danica asked after the server left with the menus. “You’ve been acting differently ever since we left the jeweler’s.”
“I’m fine.” Alicia held out her right hand. “Thank you again for the ring. I love it.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Something remained in Danica’s voice. “We should discuss it.”
“I’ve never owned emeralds before.” Alicia pulled her hand back and admired the marquise-cut gemstone on her finger. “I used to have pearl earrings. I think I used to have a genuine ruby necklace. Never an emerald, though.”
“Alicia.”
She glanced up. “I don’t mind it,” she insisted, referring to the collar. “I used to wear chokers all the time in high school. Went through a silly punk phase my junior year.” God, how embarrassing. Here she had forgotten all about that until this point.
Danica reached across the table and grasped her hand. The ring continued to sparkle beneath the chandelier hanging above their heads. “If you have misgivings, you should tell me. Part of my role is to help you understand and transition smoothly into your new life.”
My new life…Whoa. Things really were moving quickly. “You do know that I’ve never done something like this before, right?” She could barely look at Danica in the cold amber eyes. “I’ve never been in this kind of relationship. I barely even know what it is you’re into.”
“I realize that. It was foolish of me to move this quickly. I should have held off.”
“No, no…. it’s fine.”
“You don’t have to wear it for now. Take your time easing into it. We could get you one that’s not quite as tight.”
“That’s not a problem.”
“Are you ill at ease, my love?”
Alicia was caught off guard by that.My love. Shit. Shiiit. “Maybe a little. I guess I want to know how deep this goes with you.” She lightly touched the ring hanging from the center of the collar. “I know you say you’re really into it. What does that mean, though, exactly?”
She lightened her grip on her hand, shoulders also relaxing and visage calming. “Perhaps it says a lot about who I am as a woman and the privileged life I’ve had. I don’t do relationships in the same way other women do. There’s a reason BDSM play and lifestyles are so big with women like me. Every day, we live with power imbalances. Usually, we’re at the end of the powerful. We live and breathe it every day. Either we wish for greater balance and search for someone who will take the power for a while… or we strive to exert control over every aspect of our lives. It gives me comfort to know exactly what to expect wherever I go. That includes home. I want a woman who will fit into my vision.”
“You think I could be that woman?” Alicia shook her head. “You barely know me, Danica.”
She chuckled. Genuinely, absolutely chuckled. Alicia rarely heard this level of amusement from the woman. “Do you believe in fate, Alicia?”
“Don’t know. Never really thought about it.”
“I didn’t use to. It was a great cosmic coincidence that I was born into this life. Perhaps, though, it was a bit of fate. I started seeing signs when I first went to Princeton. Signs pointing me toward my ultimate happiness. I started following my gut more than my head in matters of education and business. My father and I had a few rows about some of my decisions, but they never steered me off the course I was meant to be on.” Danica released Alicia’s hand. “It was only recently that I started following my gut more in matters of love. I’m tired, Alicia. I’m not a womanmeant to serially date. I prefer stability. I don’t date someone unless I think there can be something more with her. My father has tried to set me up on multiple dates over the years. He’s very concerned about the state of our bloodline and won’t pass on from this world until he’s seen at least six grandchildren be born.” What an awkward grin. “Joking, of course, but it is something I need to think about, particularly now that I am in my thirties.”
“Of course.” Alicia tried not to think about things beyond dating and marriage with this woman.One. Thing. At. A. Time. As soon as I marry her, the whole family will expect me to start popping out babies.Was Alicia even ready for that bullshit? Having kids was such a faraway thought. She still barely felt twenty!Let alone the kids I would have to raise for this woman.Nannies, tutoring, boarding schools. Danica said so herself. She liked stability… and being in control. She would insist on certain things. Why wouldn’t she? She was paying for all of it. If she wanted to send Danica II to the same upstate boarding school her whole lineage had attended, Alicia would probably have little say in it.
“So I thought… if my gut lent so well to me in terms of business and finance, then why wasn’t I listening to it in matters of love? I was drawn to you from the moment I saw you, Alicia. That’s not unusual. I’m drawn to many women. I separate sex from love fairly well. Most of them I approach as nothing more than a potential one-night stand. Perhaps, if I enjoy her company enough, I will meet up with her many times, but it’s still not a serious relationship. I usually tire of those women quickly. In truth, they tire of me as well. They’re either only interested in my money or run the moment I bring up BDSM. That’s fine. But you haven’t run. For that I am grateful, because I feel things for you I have yet to feel for any other woman I’ve met, Alicia.”
It was all terribly romantic. A French restaurant in the middle of Chicago. A new emerald ring on her finger. A woman as poised as she was well-spoken and so fucking gorgeous. Talk of marriage and kids… and the biggest bank account around. No white picket fences for this couple. It was all floor-to-ceiling windows with the best views in the city. Danica had probably never lived in an actual house before.
All terribly romantic. Until she remembered the other aspects of a relationship.
