Not that she and Mason were getting into a relationship like the one she and Cash had been in.
But when she did decide to try for another relationship, the bar for the man she dated was going to be a lot higher, thanks to Mason.
“Thank you,” she said, as he opened the door for her.
The smile that he gave her was both kind and searching, as if he was trying to read her expression.
“You’re welcome.”He followed her in through the door and shut it behind him, but didn’t make a move to come any further in.“If you’ve changed your mind, you can say so.That’s something you should know about kink—consent is the most important thing.Enthusiastic consent.”
He was giving her an out.If she wanted it.
But if she took it, would she ever be brave enough to try again?
Audrey stood in the entryway to her apartment, staring at the beautiful, beautiful man who had offered to spank her tonight.If he walked out that door, she didn’t think she would have the courage to face him again in the same way.She wasn’t sure she’d be able to go back to the club, knowing she’d chickened out.
And she would be so, so mad at herself for doing so.
She shook her head.
“I want… the demonstration.”Her words came out breathless, and her hands fluttered up and then back down to her sides.“I’m just nervous.I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
The smile that curved his lips made her heart pound faster and her knees go wobbly.
Oh, dear.
“Well, for the purposes of a scene, you do exactly what I tell you to.”
Had his voice gotten deeper?It seemed like his voice had gotten deeper.The effect of which went straight through her and made her press her thighs together as the needy space between them was suddenly aching.
“Let’s start with taking off our coats, then we’ll sit down and talk through exactly what we’re going to do.”
Audrey nodded.Right.That made sense.
Coats off and hung up, she escorted him the five feet that took them into the main living area of her one-bedroom apartment.She hadn’t had a ton of time to decorate, but she was happy with how it looked.It was comfortable, at least, even if there was still a small pile of boxes in the far corner and none of the pictures were actually hanging on the wall yet.She hoped he didn’t think she was a total mess, even though it was messier than she’d want it to be to show it off.
She hadn’t really thought through having him come over.
Then again, how could she have possibly planned for this?
“This is nice,” he said as he made his way to the couch.Somehow, he seemed to make the entire room smaller as he moved through it.The couch now looked smaller, too, with the weight of his presence filling it.“I love the colors.”
Like her clothes, Audrey liked retro furniture and designs.There was a lot of color in her home now.Things that she’d been able to choose for herself without her mother’s influence.Everything in her parents’ house had been beige.So much beige.With an occasional ‘pop of black’ to set it off.Her room at her parents’ home had been the only place where there was any color, and her mom had still governed over exactly how much there could be.
Too much was gauche.
Which was exactly what her mom would think of her apartment.The unhung red and black picture frames, leaning against the walls where she planned to eventually hang them, contained pop art in colorful yellows, oranges, greens, and pinks.The couch Mason was sitting on was blue.The apartment carpet was beige, but Audrey had covered it with a large area rug that was covered in a rainbow riot of polka dots.None of her lamps matched—one was yellow and bubbly with a white shade, another was cotton candy pink with a bulbous base, and the standing lamp was Tiffany stained glass and one of the few pieces that had traveled from Philly with her.
None of it should have gone together, yet somehow it all worked.She loved it.
Her life had been beige and… well, vanilla, as Mason would say.Now it was spicy hot.Different.Colorful.Exciting.
And she had a man who was going to show her kink.Though she would not have guessed he’d be into interior decorating.
“I can’t imagine you having quite this much color in your home,” she admitted, sitting nervously on the green and cream striped armchair that was beside the couch.Close, but still keeping her distance.Sitting beside him on the small couch just felt too… intimate.
The whole side of her body that he was on tingled, despite the distance between them.It didn’t matter that she was on a completely different piece of furniture.
She was as messy as her space.
