“Yes, it’s Alec. What’s come over you?” he asked, bewildered, still holding her steady against him.
She sagged against him, but just as quickly pulled away, mortification crashing over her as she remembered where they stood. “What are you doing here?”
The instant the question left her mouth, heat flamed across her cheeks. It was a private event at an exclusive BDSM club. Obviously, he was here for the same thing she was.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he countered, voice tight. “You told me you had plans with a friend tonight.”
“I do. I mean I did. My friend is a member.”
“Who is he?” he bit out.
“It’s a she, actually. What about you?” She gazed up at him, barely able to make out the downturned curve of his lips. “You said you had to work.”
“Devlin and Associates runs security here. I just got off perimeter patrol.”
“Good. Then you can drive me home. Julia is… uh… occupied.”
“I will. But first, I was heading to the patio to decompress. Like your friend, I’m also a member.”
“Here?” she asked, squeaking. “Wait—you’re a dominant?”
That would certainly explain the spanking.
“For the past ten years.”
“Did Ethan know?” she blurted—then immediately winced. Images she neverwanted in her brain surfaced, and she shoved them away. “Actually, don’t answer that? You two were always two peas in a pod.”
She needed space to wrap her head around him “decompressing” at a sex club less than twenty-four hours after making love to her. The betrayal stung as much as it pissed her off.
There was no help for it. She’d just have to fork out the money for an Uber. No way was she sticking around waiting for Julia while Alec two-timed her in leather and moonlight. She just needed her phone, which was in her purse, stored in one of the guest rooms in the sprawling ten-thousand-square-foot house. If she could only remember which one.
“Don’t even think about doing what you’re planning.”
She glanced up sharply. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“I know when you’re hatching something—you have a tell.”
“A what?”
“A tell,” he repeated. “It’s a little quirk that gives you away. Yours is adorable, by the way.”
Emily rolled her eyes. Adorable was a compliment at seven—not at four years from thirty. Being pocket-sized didn’t help. If she had a dollar for every time someone called her adorable like she needed a chaperone, she’d have enough saved for bail after punching the next person who did.
“Tell me what it is, and I’ll make sure not to do it again.”
“And lose my advantage?” He shook his head, grinning broadly. “Not a chance.”
She didn’t have the energy to figure out why he needed one. “I’m going home.”
“Not until we’ve talked about why you’re here.”
“Let’s just say I had a lapse in judgment and leave it at that. I shouldn’t have come.”
“With Julia as an escort, I’d have to agree.”
“And yesterday was clearly another mistake. It seems I’m on a roll.”
His smile vanished, and his brows slammed together. “Why the hell would you say that?”
