She's All Tied Up: Club 3, Book 2 (13 page)

Carlie pressed her fingers to her forehead and leaned on them, closing her eyes. What a bleeping Monday this was.

First, she’d walked into EbiTeck a short time ago and paraded the gauntlet of her coworkers’ curious stares, which had ranged from discreet sympathy—Savoy—to overt disdain—Monica, who actually liked Gerry.

The walk of shame. Even though none of what had happened with Gerry had been Carlie’s fault, still, she’d brought the disaster that was her dating life here to work. From now on, no matter what direction her sex life took, it was not going to happen with any man connected with EbiTeck. She loved her job, she liked most of her coworkers, but enough with this garbage.

And her dates outside the office hadn’t been any better. Rafe, because of whom she was now buying her Friday-morning latte at a different coffee shop; the hunky neighbor who had since, thank God, moved out of her apartment complex; her brother’s friend Derek—all had crashed in flames, with only bits of wreckage to sort through, while she asked herself
why?

Well, at least now that she’d met Jake, knew about Club 3 and listened to Daisy rhapsodize about sex with Dack, Carlie understood exactly why there hadn’t been sufficient chemistry between her and her last several dates to let them into her heart or her panties. Rafe had just been a jackass, as was Gerry, but hunky neighbor Will had actually been a nice guy, just very upfront that he was only looking for a friend with benefits. For some reason, that had not appealed to her, although she was now planning that at the club. Derek was nice too, just not sufficiently interested in her to break the taboo of having sex with his best friends’ sister.

Carlie had been hurt by Rafe, humiliated by Gerry, disappointed by the last two. Now, she no longer cared. She wanted a
dom
.

Her fate, her karma had led her to Big Iron Fitness and thus to Jake.

This, along with her mother’s latest meddling, had tipped the balance between fear and action. So she’d hit Send. Then she’d had the surprise supper with Jake, which had been nerve-racking but awesome.

Now, with all of this going on, her insides felt kind of…floaty. Elated but nervous, her granola, fruit and coffee churning in her stomach. She needed reassurance, and fast. Casting a quick look around, she saw that everyone else in the large open office was either on the phone, involved in conversation or at least far enough away they couldn’t hear her. The clock on her computer said she still had fifteen minutes until meeting time.

She pulled out her cell phone.

Chapter Nine

As Daisy’s phone rang, Carlie gazed out at the sunny expanse of lawn in the middle of the EbiTeck complex. The lush grass still sparkled in the morning sun from the watering it received every night.

Daisy answered on the third ring. “Hey, girlfriend, what’s up?”

“I’ll tell you what’s up,” Carlie blurted, her voice hushed. “I did it. I sent in my application to the club, and I feel like I jumped off the high-diving board and the water’s pretty down there, cool and inviting, but I haven’t hit yet and maybe it’s not going to feel good, maybe it’s so cold I’ll freeze my ass off. Or too hot for me, which is more like it, considering we’re talking about
the club
. And—and I need swim lessons, Dais. Everyone else in the pool is going to be doing flips and underwater somersaults and—and ballet doux and even trois for all I know, and I’m not even sure I can dog paddle.”

She stared out at the wet grass, her phone trembling in her hand. “And with my romantic record—or lack of it, maybe I should just stick to running through the sprinklers.”

Daisy burst out laughing. “Carlie.” She snorted, not even trying to control her mirth. “You are so funny. You’re gonna do
fine
. And you’re gonna love it. Honestly, how anyone can be as sexy and gorgeous as you and not see it, I will never understand.”

“Really?” Carlie looked down at herself, forgetting what she’d even put on that morning. Oh, right, her navy-and-white-striped sundress with the red bow in front, with her hair up in a French twist. Her mother called this her Barbie dress. She’d waxed nostalgic about the doll she’d had when she was young, who wore a dress just like it. Carlie curled her lip—her mother probably still thought Barbie had the perfect figure, even though it was anatomically impossible.

Carlie’s Barbies had worn glitter tops and capris. Her Ken doll wore jeans and a faux leather jacket and rode a motorcycle on which he’d taken Barbie to the lake and to imaginary ’N Sync concerts.

Kind of weird that Carlie had gone retro like her Mom’s doll. Of course, one couldn’t very well wear glitter tops to work, even if they were sexy. Come to think of it, she didn’t own any glitter tops. Maybe it was time. She could wear them to the club, but with a black skirt, because glitter was not going anywhere near her big ass.

“Yes, really, girlfriend. You’ve got that whole Adele thing going on with your flawless skin, and all that hair and your curves. Except you’re thinner than her.”

“Yeah, and I can’t sing a lick.” Adele, seriously? The woman was gorgeous. “Besides, she lost weight after having her baby.”

“Well, there’s that. But the guys all think you’re the bomb—Dack, Trace and Jake think you’re smart and funny and cool.
And
gorgeous.”

“Oh.” They’d said that? Wowser.

“So you signed up,” Daisy added. “Yay! I’m so happy.”

“I was, but now I’m just scared,” Carlie said. “Not sure I can swim a lick either.”

Daisy chuckled wickedly. “Have I got a swim instructor for you, honey.”

“Jake?” Carlie whispered, her insides going soft.

“Mm-hmm.”

Carlie smiled to herself, tongue between her teeth. She checked quickly for eavesdroppers. “I, um, talked with him.” She shared her debacle with Gerry and about how Jake had comforted her.

“Okay, I’m too mad to even say I told you so,” Daisy fumed. “Is that little creep at work today? Do you have to
look
at him while you try to do your job?”

“No, he’s out sick. And the other guys have been really sweet, so I think they aren’t comfortable with what he said, even though they laughed at the time because they were drunk.”

“Well, I hope they fire him. And I’m glad Jake was there for you. Hey, maybe Jake went over there and kicked his sorry ass all the way to Canada. That’s what Dack would’ve done if he knew about it. He probably still would if you want him to.”

“Nice fantasy, but I don’t want anyone getting arrested for me, thanks.”

“Well, back to Club 3,” Daisy said. “This coming Saturday is leather night, but you could just wear a cute dress, since it’s your first time. Or we could go shopping.”

“Oh, Dais, I don’t know that I’m ready for Kiss Me, Kink Me.”

“Hey, you shopped there for me,” Daisy reminded her. “Now it’s your turn. And I’ll be nice, I’ll let you pick something to wear over your thong.”

Carlie gulped. “But I, um, haven’t done anything wrong.”

When Daisy needed Dack’s forgiveness after blowing up at him unjustly, Carlie and Sara had given her a black lace thong from the exclusive sex shop and told her to wear it when she apologized. It had worked extremely well—so well they were now an exclusive couple.

Daisy snickered. “You don’t always have to do anything. Believe me, doms are great at coming up with reasons to punish a sub. Of course, the punishment can be more fun than anything else.” She made a happy purring sound in her throat.

Carlie grabbed a folder and fanned herself with it. “Oh my gosh, can’t discuss this anymore right now, or I am going to have to go out and run through a sprinkler, and they’re only on at night around here.”

“Gotcha. Feeling the need for a drink of ice water myself. But we do need to talk more. Let’s have supper on Wednesday, okay? Dragonwell Bistro.”

“Oh, you know just how to tempt me, you evil woman.” The Asian café in downtown Portland was one of Carlie’s favorites.

“‘Course I do. But I’ve also got your back, sweetie.”

“I know. Thanks.” Carlie smiled into her phone.

“Hey, I owe you big-time. You talked me down when I thought Dack had cheated on me. I just want you to try the club and see if it can help you experience this freedom I’ve found. It’s a sexual revolution, baby. Kiss kiss, bang bang.”

Carlie laughed. “Right. I’ll call Sara, see if she can make supper.”

“No, she’s in Salem this week, remember? Some teacher-training seminar.”

“Oh, right. We’ll have to get together when she’s back. Later, girlfriend.”

Carlie put her phone away, feeling much calmer. She didn’t want, erm, quite the same freedom Daisy experienced at the club, but she wouldn’t mind some of it, anyway. Geez, just the thought of taking her clothes off in front of other people made her hyperventilate. The thought of doing actual sex stuff in front of others—
yikes!
Although, if she was with Jake, she’d be so proud, she’d want everyone to know she was with him. But them knowing afterward would be just fine, not during.

Most of all, she just wanted Jake—the whole big, hard package. And if that meant letting him control the situation, she was more than okay with that. He might be the epitome of Mr. Ice-Cool Marine, but she’d bet he harbored a volcano of passion beneath those muscles. And she wanted to make him blow…or did she mean blow him? Because, speaking of packages, she’d seen his in the Levis he wore all the time when he wasn’t at the gym, and he had a big one.

Snickering, Carlie picked up the folder and fanned herself again. Jake Unleashed, that was what she wanted. If nothing else, the conversation had taken her mind off the whole bridesmaid thing.

“All right, folks, meeting time,” Gigi called from the door of the conference room. “Bring those ideas and let’s get started.”

Carlie put down the folder and rose, tucking away her personal ideas for later. She took a calming breath, smoothed her full cotton skirts down and followed the others dutifully into the conference room.

The meeting went quickly as EbiTeck meetings always did, with ideas coming fast and furious, arguments and jokes flying back and forth across the big table, along with crumpled balls of paper when the geeks disagreed with a colleague’s remarks.

Martin, being a geek himself, ignored their antics, striding around the room like a scraggy blond Lincoln, albeit in rumpled short-sleeved shirt and slacks, while Carlie made sure the voice-recognition software and touch-screen note-taking system were interfacing with the computers to record everything.

At lunchtime, Carlie grabbed a deli sandwich and some fresh veggies before the guys could empty the trays, stowed her lunch in her desk for later, put on her sunglasses and escaped outside into the fresh air. She wore red espadrille-style sandals with a small platform, comfortable for walking. Since it was hot, she stuck to the shade under the trees.

EbiTeck had taken over the campus of a small college that had moved to a larger space. The builders had done a great job of keeping the old trees and traditional feel, while remodeling buildings for the specialized wiring and work spaces needed. Carlie enjoyed coming to work, not only because she liked her job, but because she worked in a beautiful place.

She walked briskly around the campus on the paved walking path, ending up back at the building, where she vacillated between going back inside or continuing her walk. However, as she remembered her new Club 3 membership, her feet began moving again almost of their own volition.

Geez, just the thought of Jake seeing her in her new kink-wear and then
without it
made her feel weird—happy and so excited her knees quivered, but also scared spitless.

Despite his fierce words that evening at Zellaby’s, what if Tiffany was right? What if she was too fat? What if, when she was nude before him, Jake looked at her hips and thighs and the slight pooch of her stomach, which she still had even though she’d firmed up and lost a dress size since she joined Big Iron Fitness and started working out with Sara as her coach, and he thought,
Eww, she is kind of gross
? What then? She’d curl up and die, that’s what.

She did two more laps, only stopping when her sandals started to rub the back of her heels and perspiration trickled down her cleavage. She stepped into the air-conditioned building with a sigh of relief.
Someone
really needed to make underwire bras in cotton, styles to be worn with nice clothing, instead of assuming every cotton bra should be an industrial-strength sports bra.

She planned a visit to the gym after work. She’d do extra reps on her workout. Or she could just hit the FG Meyer deli and drown her worries in deli pizza and Jell-O parfait. No, no, down girl. That was the old Carlie. The new Carlie understood the bennies of exercise instead of chewing.

Her stomach growled loudly as she walked back into the office.

Monica, the EbiTeck receptionist who looked like a model and had the personality of a pit bull, raised one of her perfect brows in disdain and then went back to her computer. Shopping at Nordstrom’s, Carlie saw with a glance at the other woman’s computer screen. Probably for clothing in size minus-three. Monica might be nicer if she ate chocolate once in a while.

Carlie got that many women were thin not by choice but because they just could not put on weight, and that this caused them distress. And that didn’t even touch all those who went to bed hungry. She felt for them, but not for the Monicas who took dieting too far and then looked down their noses at other women with more pounds on.