Seduced by Fire (2 page)

She nodded, unsurprised. She had worked with Doms in training before and knew what was expected. “I’ll e-mail you by the end of the week.”

“Anything that happened today you’d like to talk about?”

She shook her head. “Nothing stood out as out of the ordinary or unexpected.”

“Good.”

“Are you still planning to speak at the next meeting?”

Their local group held meetings once a month, generally before a party, and he was scheduled to speak at the next one. “Yes.”

“Let me know if you need help with a demonstration or anything.”

He felt the need for a long, hard jog. It was time for her to leave. He drained the last bit of his water and pushed his chair back. “I think I’ll be fine, but thank you for the offer. Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

She didn’t so much as move and her lips curled up into a sly smile. “I was rather hoping we could spend some more time in your playroom, sir.”

It would be so easy. A simple word, a slight nod of his head, and she would be his for the next hour or so. She offered her body for his pleasure and a part of him wanted to take it. To use it. To use her. But the larger part of him knew he wasn’t in the right frame of mind for the playroom. To take her there would be greedy and unwise. So he held his need in check and simply shook his head.

“Not today, Dena.” He stroked her cheek hoping to ease any embarrassment on her part. “I need to run and make a few phone calls.”

As soon as she left, he changed and went for his run. Afterward, he showered and then flipped his laptop open and scrolled through the e-mails his administrative assistant had sent him over the last few weeks. Something had sprung to his mind during his run and he knew from past experience his mind wouldn’t rest until he checked it out. He looked through all the e-mails searching for one in particular.

And there it was.

He skimmed the e-mail and drummed his fingers on the tabletop for just a second or two before sending a reply.

•   •   •

“I
can’t believe you didn’t tell me we had a gig with Weston Bank.” Julie slammed and locked her car door as she shot Sasha a nasty look. “Daniel Covington probably thinks I’m an idiot for not mentioning it last week.”

Sasha had oh so slyly mentioned yesterday that they had a meeting at the bank at two o’clock today to discuss floral arrangements for the black-tie melanoma fund-raiser in two weeks.

Sasha walked beside her. “Seriously, Jules, I’m sure Daniel Covington has no idea who’s providing flowers.”

Tap. Tap. Tap. Julie concentrated on the sound her heels made on the sidewalk. She couldn’t afford to be flustered at this meeting. The benefit was a big event and if everything went well, it could lead to larger jobs in the future. Besides, Sasha had done the right thing. Had Julie known about the meeting, she’d only have worried about it. Odds were, Daniel probably thought flowers appeared out of thin air.

“You’re right. Besides, it’s not like you knew he’d be stopping by with his grandmother,” Julie said, pushing open the door. “This meeting goes well, I’m taking you to dinner.”

“Thank goodness, all I have at my place is an overripe banana.”

The front desk receptionist took their names and then showed them to a small conference room. “Mr. Covington will be right with you.”

Julie’s head spun to Sasha. “What did she say?”

Sasha looked just as surprised. “Apparently he has an idea about the flowers after all.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how she looked at it, Julie didn’t have time to dwell on anything. Within mere seconds, the door opened and Daniel breezed into the room. He wore a light gray suit and a bright blue tie that complemented his eyes. There was a look of momentary surprise as he noticed Sasha, but he was all smiles when he turned to Julie and held out his hand.

“Ms. Masterson, good to see you again. My niece loved the roses.”

Then he looked to Sasha and shook her hand. “Ms. Blake.”

There was a hint of recognition between the two. Julie picked up on it immediately. Neither Sasha nor Daniel seemed to acknowledge it, almost as if they had silently agreed to act as if they didn’t know each other.

Daniel waved toward the chairs. “Let’s have a seat and finalize these plans, shall we?”

Surely a vice president had better things to do than to discuss flowers for a benefit? But it wouldn’t be proper to ask, so Julie did as suggested and sat.

“This benefit is near and dear to my heart,” Daniel said. “My grandfather died of melanoma.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Julie said.

“Thank you, but it was years ago. The flowers we had at last year’s event were subpar and I wanted to ensure the same didn’t happen again. That would be why we hired you this time.”

“I assure you, the Petal Pushers don’t do subpar,” Julie said.

“That’s what I like to hear.” His smile was easy and gentle, but his eyes held a tinge of desire.

Twenty-five minutes later, they’d negotiated all the floral arrangements and pricing. With a deft sweep of his pen, Daniel signed the contract and smiled.

“Pleasure doing business with you. I can already tell I’m in expert hands.”

As they all stood to leave, he addressed Sasha. “Can you give me a moment with Ms. Masterson?”

A wary expression crossed her friend’s face, but Sasha pursed her lips together and nodded. “I’ll be in the car, Julie.”

Julie’s heart raced and she felt certain the temperature had risen in the small room by at least fifteen degrees.

“Julie,” Daniel said when the door closed. “It fits you. May I call you Julie?”

Determined not to appear as flustered as she felt, she smiled. “If I can call you Daniel.”

“Of course.” Was it her imagination or did his eyes darken as he spoke? “I was wondering,
Julie
, if you would be at the benefit outside of your professional capacity?”

The tickets were a hundred dollars a plate, nothing she could afford. “No, I’ll be there before it starts, but I’ll leave after everything’s set up.”

He took a step closer to her and her heart raced faster. “Would you come, then? As my date?”

Sasha’s words of warning repeated themselves in her head, but she refused to listen to them. There was obviously something, some chemistry, between her and Daniel. She’d felt it the first time she met him and obviously he felt it, too; she’d be a fool not to explore it.

Yet, how could she both set up for the benefit and get ready to attend as a guest?

The simple answer would be to book a room at the hotel it was being held at. The problem with that was the five-star price associated with the five-star accommodations. An image of her on a date with Daniel flickered in her brain and she knew she’d pay it.

“You can say no. I promise I can take it.”

Her head jerked. “What? Oh, no. I was actually just trying to work out the logistics in my head. I mean, I’d love to accept.”

“Did you?”

No. She had no idea how it would all work, how she’d manage to do everything. She didn’t even want to think about what Sasha would say. But one look into his captivating eyes, a glance at his easy smile, was all she needed.

“Not yet, but I will.”

“Would it be pushing my luck to ask you out to coffee sometime next week? Before the benefit?”

Two dates in one week? “Thursday afternoon?”

He took a business card from the papers on the table and wrote something down. “Here’s my cell. Call me.”

She would. She definitely would.

•   •   •

A
week later, she was putting the final touches on a funeral arrangement when Sasha came through the door. It was Wednesday. Recently, Sasha had been taking a long lunch on Wednesdays to spend time with her latest boyfriend, Peter.

“How was lunch?” Julie asked. She really didn’t have to. Sasha nearly screamed “satisfied woman” the way she strolled into the shop, stopping here and there to touch a petal.

“Now, you know I didn’t eat anything.” Her eyes grew dreamy and she smirked. “But, since you mentioned it. While I was—”

“Stop it right there. No kinky sex talk in the shop. Someone could walk in.”

Julie knew her friend Sasha was a sexual submissive, and she understood a few details of what that entailed. Whenever Sasha played with a new Dom privately, Julie acted as her safety call, waiting a specified time for Sasha to text or call with a secret code so Julie would know all was well. Truth be told, even though some part of her thought there should be something scary about needing a safety call, a bigger part of her had always wondered what it’d be like to submit sexually.

“Just saying,” Sasha said. “You can always tell a good one. It’s like they can read your mind. Kinda freaky.”

“Good what?”

“Good Dominant.”

“The guy in charge?”

“It’s so much more than that. It’s like an itch, an ache. And when you’re with the right Dom, and he scratches it just so?” Sasha sighed with deep satisfaction and simultaneous excitement.

Hearing Sasha talk about it made Julie want to try it all the more. After all, it seemed to suit Sasha. And just because she tried it didn’t mean she had to do it forever. She could just see if she liked it.

But no sooner had that thought passed through her mind than she wondered what it would be like to submit to Daniel. Would he be gentle in bed or was he into taking what he wanted hard and fast?

“You’re sighing,” Sasha said. “What’s on your mind?”

Had she sighed out loud? She didn’t even realize it. “Just thinking about something.”

“Would that something happen to be a certain vice president?”

“Here lately, it’s always about him.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

But that was the problem. She was always careful. For once she wanted to take a risk.

•   •   •

D
aniel was standing inside the coffee shop, waiting, when Julie arrived on Thursday. She took a second to watch him from the window. Having arrived after work, he was wearing a beautiful dark suit that emphasized his blond good looks. He was drawing admiring glances from several women.

Locally owned, the coffee shop was her and Sasha’s favorite hangout. Furnished with plush leather couches and handmade bookshelves, it was the perfect place to spend a winter afternoon. She wondered if Daniel had ever been inside before. Right now he was looking at the far wall, frowning at something she couldn’t see.

Must have been a bad day.

She looked down at the polo shirt she always wore to work and wished she’d had time to run home and change into something nicer. It wouldn’t look like she belonged with Daniel when she joined him. Shaking her head, she pushed open the door. Let people think what they would. For the moment, she was with Daniel and that was all that mattered.

His expression lightened when he saw her and he walked over. “Hey, come on in. Let me take your coat.”

She shrugged out of her winter coat, trying hard not to react when their hands brushed. “Thanks.”

He seemed completely unaffected, hanging the coat on the rack beside the door. “You want to get a table while I order?”

She told him what she wanted, medium latte and a blueberry scone, then found a secluded corner table and waited. He hadn’t been in line long when a young woman approached him. He shook his head at whatever it was she said. The lady reached out to touch him, but he shot her a look that froze her in her tracks.

The look troubled Julie a bit. It had been so cold and stern, and seemed totally out of character for Daniel. At least, it seemed out of character for what she knew of Daniel so far. Maybe she hadn’t read him as well as she thought.

She asked him about it when he found her minutes later. “Did that chick hit on you?”

He placed her latte and scone in front of her. “Yes, some people can’t take no for an answer.”

“Some people are really bold. I can’t imagine approaching a stranger in a coffee shop.”

He took a sip from his cup. “She wasn’t a stranger.”

Did that make her an ex, a friend who wanted more, maybe a business associate? She wanted to ask, but didn’t. It was their first date; she had no claims on him and he owed her no explanations.

“I’m very selective about who I go out with,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow and he laughed.

“That sounds a bit snobbish, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“Slightly. You make it sound like you think the rest of us will date anyone with a basic grasp of the English language and most of their teeth.”

“Let me rephrase, then.” He sat thinking for several seconds before finally giving up. “Nah. I’ve got nothing.”

“That’s okay, I understand. You have certain criteria you’d like in a woman and some people don’t make the cut. I’m selective about who I go out with, too.”

“I’m glad I fit the bill.”

She shrugged. “What can I say, I’m putty in the hands of a man who talks in complete sentences.”

He didn’t take it like the joke she’d intended; instead, his eyes flashed with desire. “I doubt you’d be putty for just any man no matter how well he spoke.”

Damn near every conversation she’d ever had with Sasha about submission ran through her mind, but she pushed them out of her head. She focused her attention on Daniel, trying hard not to imagine being putty in his hands.

“It’s a figure of speech. I’m a self-made businesswoman. I’m putty in no one’s hands and I don’t intend to be.”

“Is that so?” His eyes looked so deeply into hers that she wondered if he saw through her words.

“Yes,” she said, but even she didn’t believe her response. From the look he gave her, she could tell Daniel didn’t either.

“That’s too bad.”

He spoke the words so softly, she wasn’t sure she was meant to have heard them.

He changed subjects, bringing up the benefit on Saturday. Julie asked about his grandfather and he was happy to talk about him. He shared some stories about fishing as a young boy with his grandpa that made her laugh, but also realize the warmth and love that had been between them. Her own grandparents had died before she was born, so she didn’t have a connection like Daniel did. She admired the love he obviously felt toward his grandfather, and was moved that he expressed it by organizing the melanoma fund-raiser every year.