THE CAR MADE THE TURNoff Canal and headed toward the Garden District.I tried to justify taking Alexandra to my house, but even I wasn’t that good of a liar.The club was too overtly sexual, her studio would make it too easy for her to fall into old patterns, I couldn’t keep trying to feed her—the baby bird thing wouldn’t work more than once with Alex.Honestly, it hadn’t worked all that well the first time.To varying degrees, it was all true.And a complete load of bullshit.I was taking her to my house because I wanted her there.I wanted to see what it felt like with her smart-ass energy filling my space, to smell the delicate floral of her perfume mixing with the sandalwood and sage scent of the old plantation house I’d inherited from my mother, who’d inherited it from husband number three.
“Are you sure we have time for whatever you’ve got planned?Don’t you lawyers have to work all the time?”
Alexandra feigned disinterest and I smiled to myself.She clearly lived by thebest defense is a good offensemotto.The more nervous she got, the more bravado she wore.I could tell by the way her gaze tracked my movements and her pulse raced under my thumb that she was nervous.
“I can go back tonight to finish anything I need to.If you’re worried about the length of our session, I’d be happy to pay for the extra time.”
I had no trouble throwing money at problems, but we were going to have to come to some kind of resolution to the financial situation we were in.I wanted her submission willingly given, not paid for.And every time we traded money, we slid further into escort territory—a place I was pretty sure neither of us wanted to go.
“No, you have time left.You haven’t exactly taxed me up to this point.”
I caught and held her gaze, seeing what I hoped was anticipation in her eyes.She was nervous, but she was also interested.That was something I could work with.
“I’ll see what I can do about that,” I said and had the pleasure of watching her cheeks flush a rosy pink.Her skin blushed beautifully.I couldn’t wait to color her ass with my hand.
“This is your house?”The disbelief in her tone dragged me away from the fucking spectacular image in my head, the one where she stretched out naked over my lap, her breasts bouncing against my thigh as I spanked her round ass.
“Not what you pictured?”I searched her profile as she leaned toward the window to take in the massive white painted façade with the two-story-tall Doric columns flanking the entrance.
I could appreciate the beauty of the majestic old house but even after all these years, it still didn’t feel like home.I’d never lived there with my mother.I’d been off to law school by the time my mother married number three.His family was part of the old South, and the house had been in his family since before the Civil War.I think my mother loved the house more than she loved him, but they seemed happy together, on the surface at least.My mother rarely went deeper than that with anything.Unlike my father and husband number one, the last guy had been good to her and that’s all I’d had to care about anyway.
When he’d died and she followed, the big old house had come to me.It was when I was up for partner and the grandeur of the place became another prop for me to use.It looked like the home of a partner in one of the most important law firms in New Orleans.I’d taken on the house the same way I donned my custom-made suits, playing the role until it was mine.
“I guess I’d assumed you were more of a modern loft kind of guy.This is so beautiful.When I first moved to the city, I used to walk from Magazine to St.Charles, looking at all the gorgeous houses and wondering what kind of people actually lived there.I’d never have guessed it was you.”She smiled over her shoulder at me and despite her credulity—hell, maybe because of it—her enthusiasm was contagious.
“Come on.I’ll give you a tour.”
I opened my door and hurried around to her side of the car, waving away the driver when I got there.It was suddenly very important for me to be the one to help her out of the car and lead her to my front door.
I wanted to see her reaction to my space.I rarely brought women I was seriously interested in there.I’d rarely been seriously interested in a woman, so it wasn’t exactly a hardship.Not until Julie and no one since.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever considered opening the house up for the Garden District Home Tour, have you?”
“Good Lord, no.”
The last thing I wanted was a stream of strangers parading through my home, even if it was for a good cause.I’d much rather write a sizeable check and be done with it.Disappointment shaped her expression and I wondered why she cared so much.Before I could ask, the look was gone and we only had one room left.It was the spare bedroom I’d converted into a playroom back when I still thought Julie and I would be able to make things work.
The room was small—nothing of the scale of Alex’s studio—and intimate.Although I wasn’t sure if that was inherent to the space or my history with it.Up until that moment, I hadn’t thought about sharing it with anyone else.The few times I’d played recently had been at Bacchus.I expected to connect the space with Julie and shocked the hell out of myself when I didn’t.I debated not showing the space to Alex, but I wanted to see her reaction.To see if she’d blush again.
“I’m not sure how I’d explain this to the organizers,” I said, keying in the entry code and ushering her into the room.
I studied her as her gaze took in the deep-blue walls and dark furnishings made up of a rough wooden St.Andrew’s Cross and padded bench.Alex wrapped her hand around the square stock of the four-poster bed I’d had custom made for the space.Its sturdy frame and hidden rings offered all kinds of opportunities and I started picturing the way Alex would look stretched out for me across the silver-blue comforter.
