Come Monday (7 page)

“Show me.”

Her hand emerged from her skirt and he gripped her wrist to still the shaking of her fingers as she lifted them to his lips. He shook his head at her offer and then, like an artist with a brush, he controlled her hand, painting her lips with her juices before leaning in to lick them clean with a soft kiss.

She sighed as he broke off the kiss, taking her fingers into his mouth to clean them with his tongue. “I don’t understand this power you have over me,” she whispered.

He jerked back, surprised by her softly spoken statement. “Power?”

“I can’t seem to resist the need to do everything you ask of me. I want to give you control. Why?”

She’d asked the question earlier and he’d brushed it aside. Now he felt as if he owed her an answer.

“I can’t really tell you why, Keira. I think that’s something you’ll have to discover for yourself. I suspect it has a bit to do with the fact that you’re in charge of every other aspect of your life. You work full-time while attending classes. You care for your family.

When do you let go of all of that?”

She shook her head. “My head keeps telling me I’m an independent, adult woman.

Am I supposed to let go?”

“Why not? Do you trust me?”

She considered his question and he was glad she was taking the time to figure out her answer. If she’d said yes immediately, he would have doubted her word.

“We haven’t known each other that long,” she said.

“Is that your answer?” he asked with a grin.

“No…not all of it anyway. My head says I haven’t known you long enough to respond to you the way I am.”

“Your head would probably be right.”

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She gave him a quick shrug. “Unfortunately, every other part of me insists I can trust you—that I
do
trust you.”

He leaned closer and took her hand in his. “All I can say, Keira, is that I will always be honest with you. Always tell you the truth about what I’m thinking and feeling. The truth about tonight was I’d intended to keep this date very simple, chaste and safe.” She laughed. “You had my panties in your pocket before we even got into the restaurant.”

He smiled at her smart-ass comment. Everything about her was open, fun, real.

“I thought I spotted your car in the parking lot,” a deep voice said.

Will looked up and saw Kent and Jessica standing at their table, the bottle of wine he’d ordered in Jessica’s hands.

“I told the waiter we’d deliver your wine,” Kent said.

“I have to admit I’m surprised you’ve managed to wait so long to make your way over,” Will joked. “We’ve been here ten whole minutes.” Kent laughed. “Jessica’s been chomping at the bit to come over and meet your lovely date since you walked in the door.”

Jessica elbowed her husband and rolled her eyes. “I was the one holding
him
back.

He’s as nosy as an old woman. I’m Jessica Tulley.”

“Keira Collins,” Will said, taking up the introductions, “I’d like you to meet a couple of my oldest and dearest friends. Kent and I were roommates in college.”

“Nice to meet you,” Keira said.

“Will says your family is in the restaurant business as well,” Kent said.

Keira nodded. “Yes, my family owns and operates Pat’s Irish Pub and the adjoining restaurant.”

“Sunday’s Side?” Jessica asked, and Keira nodded.

“Oh, I’ve heard wonderful things about that place. Rumor has it you’ve employed a new chef in the last year.”

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Come Monday

“My sister, Riley,” Keira responded. “She attended culinary school after high school and has just returned to take over the kitchen duties.”

“Sister, eh?” Kent said. “Damn. Guess that shoots
that
idea out of the water. We were hoping to lure her away from you.”

Keira laughed. “Believe me, there are some days I’d give her to you for free.”

“Spoken like a true sister,” Kent joked. “Let me give you my card and you can give me a call on one of those days.”

Jessica poured the wine as Kent continued speaking to Will. “As soon as Jess heard you were coming, she changed the damn menu. Suspiciously enough, your favorite meal is tonight’s special.”

Will placed his hand over his heart and smiled. “Ah Jessica, you’re too good to me.”

“She spoils you,” Kent muttered good-naturedly.

Will turned toward Keira. “Is there anything food-wise that you don’t like? Any allergies?”

She shook her head. “No allergies, but I can’t stand oysters.” Will laughed. “Probably a good thing. I’m not sure you and I would be able to sit for this meal if we added oysters to it.”

Keira looked at him, puzzled.

“They’re considered to be an aphrodisiac. I’d say we’re doing just fine without them.”

Her lovely face flushed and her eyes widened at his risqué remark in front of his friends as she smacked him lightly on the arm. “Will,” she chastised.

Jessica laughed. “Oh, you’d better get used to that, sweetheart. These two men thrive on teasing.”

“And you love it,” Kent replied. As he spoke, Will could see Kent’s attention spark at Keira’s innocent response to his joke.

“Two specials it is then,” Will said to Jessica.

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Mari Carr

“I’ll tell the chef to prepare them,” she replied.

“That’s a lovely necklace,” Keira said. “I haven’t been able to take my eyes off it.

Where did you get it?”

Jessica fingered the choker-style necklace. “It was a wedding gift from Kent,” she replied, smiling.

“You have good taste,” Keira said to Kent. Will watched his friend nod politely, but he could see the wheels in his best friend’s head processing and assessing the situation.

Jessica’s necklace was a collar, and anyone familiar with the lifestyle would know it.

Keira’s remark showed her true inexperience.

He’d called Kent this morning to book the table but hadn’t mentioned anything in particular about Keira, other than to say he would be bringing a date. His friend had just naturally assumed she would be like all his past dates—older, more sexually experienced, a trained submissive.

“Well, we’ll leave you both to your wine. It was nice to meet you, Keira,” Jessica said.

“You too.”

“Give me a call tomorrow, Will. Maybe we can set up a golf date,” Kent added.

Will almost laughed aloud at his friend’s lie. Kent couldn’t hit a golf ball with a hockey stick. He was facing a serious third degree from his friend in the morning. “I’ll do that,” he answered smoothly.

As his friends left, he picked up his wineglass. “To us,” he said, clinking his glass to hers.

“To us,” she repeated.

“I have to admit, Keira, I never noticed this whimsical side of you in class.” He gestured to her outfit and she groaned, shaking her head.

“Oh God. I know. Isn’t it awful? I almost called to cancel when I realized I had nothing to wear. I borrowed this from Teagan.”

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Come Monday

He nodded, smiling at her humor. “Ah, well, that makes sense then. I was having trouble reconciling the straitlaced business major to this flower-child-of-the-sixties look.”

“I’m afraid my current wardrobe is rather lacking in ‘something pretty’,” she said, repeating his directions from the previous night. “I’m a jeans girl, through and through.”

He considered her comment, wondering how he could verbalize his next thought without pissing her off. “I’ve noticed that you tend to hide behind your wardrobe.

Actually, I’ve just been sitting here thinking about the way you present yourself in general.”

She sobered up at his comment, her posture going stiff in the seat. “What do you mean?”

Oh yeah, he’d definitely crossed into no man’s land. “You’re a very lovely woman,” he said, watching her face carefully. She relaxed a bit until he ruined the compliment with his next words. “You do realize hiding behind ponytails and sloppy clothing isn’t going to change that?”

“I don’t do that,” she insisted.

“I’m afraid you do. You seem to go out of your way to project this image of plainness and I wish you would stop. Give the real Keira a chance to emerge.” His words were harsher than he’d intended and when her eyes narrowed, he knew he’d finally gone that one step too far. For all intents and purposes, this was their first date and he was talking to her far too directly, too possessively. “I apologize,” he added quickly. “I’m afraid that came out wrong.”

“Actually,” she said, her voice stiff with anger, “I think it came out exactly right.

Last night, when you said you weren’t an easy man to be with, that you were a Dominant…is this what you meant?”

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Mari Carr

He tried to decide how to answer her question. He’d skirted around the details of his private life, sending her far too many mixed signals as he struggled with himself over the correct way to approach her.

He sighed. “This is what I meant.”

“If we’re to continue dating, you would want to tell me what to wear? What to do?” she asked.

“Not in every aspect of your life, not every minute of the day. Dammit, it’s hard to put this into words that won’t sound intimidating, threatening.”

“Try,” she insisted.

“I’ve come to care about you. I’ve learned a great deal about you through your writing and our sessions these past few weeks and I want to know more. But I must admit, I tend to suffer from a personality trait that won’t let me watch someone I consider a friend harm herself.”

“Harm herself? You think I’m hurting myself somehow?” Her voice, though quieter, still held an edge that told him he’d upset her further.

“You work too damn hard. You take far too much onto your slender shoulders and when you look in the mirror, I’m fairly certain you don’t see what the rest of the world does. Keira—you’re beautiful. Why hide that?”

“I-I don’t know,” she said, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he sensed she was calming down. Maybe he hadn’t ruined tonight beyond all repair. Yet. “I guess it’s just easier than fending off jerks or trying to prove to every person I meet that I’m not stupid.”

“Since when does beauty equate to stupidity?” he asked.

“You said you were an only child, right?”

He nodded.

“Well, I’m one of three sisters. Teagan’s the talented one, Riley’s the outspoken daughter and I’m the pretty one. I don’t want to just be pretty.” 56

Come Monday

“I can understand that.” He could, too. Keira was a very serious, intelligent woman, but he thought perhaps she was going too far to prove her point. “Maybe, if you’d like, I can help you learn to accept who you are a bit better.”

“Give me an example of how,” she urged, though he detected a slight trace of wariness in her voice.

“You don’t wear makeup, don’t style your hair, you wear nondescript clothing all in an attempt to disguise your looks. Keira, you’re denying who you are every single day you wake up and walk out of the house like that.” She leaned back against her chair and folded her arms across her chest. He wondered if her body language was her attempt at distancing herself from
him
or from his words. Maybe both.

“I’d like to take you shopping tomorrow,” he continued. “Help you pick out some clothing that suit you.”

“Suit me or suit
you
?” she asked.

He grinned. “Can’t they suit us both?”

The waiter returned with their meals and Will was grateful for the slight disruption.

He was beginning to feel like he was shoving his foot farther in his mouth with every word he spoke.

“I’d like to go shopping with you,” she said after several silent moments.

He looked up, surprised.

She wore the most adorable crooked grin and he felt the overwhelming desire to kiss her. “I think I’d like to try on some pretty things and God knows I could use some fashion guidance. It’s been a while since I’ve actually put forth any effort as far as my wardrobe goes.”

He smiled at her concession, at her incredibly giving nature. “I’ll pick you up at ten.”

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Mari Carr

She laughed and nodded. “As luck would have it, tomorrow is my day off. I’m all yours.”

He sucked in a breath at her comment, silently wishing it was true.

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Come Monday

Chapter Five

As they left the restaurant, Keira struggled to process everything that had happened to her in such a short time. Her feelings for Will were such a jumbled mess in her mind, she wasn’t sure which end was up. All she knew for sure was that she wanted him as she’d never wanted another man. With every move he made, every word he uttered, she felt herself falling deeper under his spell.

His comments about her appearance, her clothing, had uncovered a wound she wasn’t sure she’d realized had existed until he’d put it into words. As soon as he’d spoken it though, she’d recognized his astute observation as the truth. He seemed to see her, know her better than she knew herself, and perhaps it was that knowledge that drew her to him. He saw her for who she was and genuinely liked her. She felt overwhelmed by the warmth of that feeling and she wanted to revel in its beauty. She’d never known love before, but she sensed that with Will, she could fall fast and hard.

She opened the car door and started to climb in, surprised when Will’s strong hand engulfed her upper arm, turning her to face him. One look at his stern face and she realized her mistake.

“Shit,” she whispered. “I forgot.”

His face was intent and she felt a slight tremor of fear snake through her. “You have two choices,” he said. “One, I can take you home, kiss you good night and I’ll see you tomorrow morning for our shopping trip.”

“What’s the second choice?” she asked.

“We go back to my place for coffee.”

“I like that choi—”

He cut off her words. “If you return to my place, it is with the knowledge that I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank you for opening that car door. I’m going to 59

Mari Carr

take off the kid gloves and give you a glimpse of what you’re in for, if you choose to keep dating me.”