Taking Chances (2 page)

He
picked me.

Her department contained several people Jake could
have chosen. He could have selected Gina. She was familiar with the changes but
would know more if she didn’t spend a ridiculous amount of time socializing.
Gina was a nice enough girl and beautiful, too. Her dark hair and pale blue
eyes were stunning. But Jake didn’t choose Gina. It felt strange, but she liked
Jake more for that fact. Her breathing started to slow.

“You’re not nervous are you, Lydia?”

“No, why would I be?” Lydia looked up in time to see
Gina sauntering over with a smirk.

“Well, don’t let Jake bowl you over.” Gina sat on the
corner of her desk. “Make sure he hears what you have to say. Jake’s a strong
guy, and he doesn’t like meek women.”

“Thanks for the tip, Gina.”

How
did Gina have any idea what Jake preferred?
Gina was the
type of girl she could see on Jake’s arm. The two would look handsome together.
Lydia didn’t have Gina’s shape or her pretty features. Gina was clever, too. The
guys often laughed at the things she said.

“Hurry along now. You don’t want to make him wait.” Gina
scurried her out of the cubicle.

Lydia grabbed hold of her mug, which was once again empty.
She struggled to straighten her blouse.

“You look fine, Lydia. Get moving.”

Fantastic, now Lydia felt hurried and insecure. Shaking
her head, she wound her way to the conference room and was thankful when she
found it empty. She left her things on the table and shook out her arms as she
walked to the window.

The ravine behind the building fascinated her. She
took a moment to appreciate the sprawling landscape, the varying shades of
green, plants and mosses covering most of the ground. Everything was coming
back to life after a long winter. Several trees lined each side of the ravine, and
one had fallen across the middle. An eagle soared across the sky, the hypnotic
flap of the wings filling her with strength and serenity. The peaceful view slowed
her raging thoughts and brought quiet peace to her senses.

Finally
.
She
wanted to laugh for getting carried away to her dream land earlier. Naughty
fantasies didn’t belong in the middle of the work day.

Jake.

Her fingers grazed the cool surface of the window, and
her imagination thrust her into her earlier fantasy.

****

He had not expected to feel the pull of lust to Lydia,
let alone the desire to dominate her body. Sure, she called him Sir, and that alone
would please many dominants. The fact the formal address came from quiet Lydia’s
lips made his cock rock hard. He adjusted himself, but it didn’t help the
building pressure. He had a half hour to gather himself before getting locked
in a room with her for the rest of the day.

He went through the motions of replying to emails and
updating his projects. Nothing required enough concentration to shake his
thoughts from Lydia. How had this woman grabbed his attention? She was the type
you didn’t notice often, except her frequent trips to refill her coffee mug. This
morning might have been the first time he heard her sweet voice.

Now all he could think about were the other things
he had never noticed before, such as the length of her long, brown hair and the
intensity shining in her hazel eyes. He could get a nice grip and pull her hair
as he fucked her from behind.

Get
control of yourself, man. There will be no fucking
. It was a pity,
because the curve of her beautiful, full behind would look amazing with the red
impression of his hand.

“Hey, Jake.”

He jumped at the sound of Keller’s assistant’s voice
and then shook his head.
“Oh, hey.
Hi,
Anne.
I was lost in thought there for a second.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, just wanted to
see if you and Lydia would need anything today.”

Typical of Keller, he would want to make sure they were
productive, but what else was he up to? Keller always claimed he had nothing to
do with the matches that seemed to take hold after one of his strategic
requests. In fact, Jake vaguely remembered Keller talking about Lydia yesterday
at lunch. Had the conversation unknowingly put Lydia’s name in his mind this
morning?

He only knew two things about Lydia before
yesterday. She wrote their technical instruction manuals, and she drank coffee like
a chain smoker.

“I’ve seen her caffeine addiction, so I’ve already
set a fresh pot to brew. We’ll work through lunch, so it would be great if you
could order something for us.”

She probably knew Lydia. He should ask her … what? He
already knew what he needed. According to Keller, she was famously precise in
her studies of their new software. That’s why he’d picked her today. Lydia was
the right person for the job. Whether she was right for him was irrelevant.

“Sure, no problem, I’ll wait to hear from you. See
you later, Jake.”

Jake would stick by the three promises he made a
long time ago. First, he would never again approach a woman outside of the kink
clubs. Second, he would never again scare a woman. He craved for a woman to willingly
submit. Third, he was not relationship material. His rules protected him, but
more importantly, they protected the women around him.

Most women at the clubs understood a Dom not wanting
a relationship. It was his job, as a Dom, to ensure no one got hurt, physically
or emotionally. It was a big job, but his rules handled most of the work. Even
though Keller liked to employ people he met at the club, none of his submissive
coworkers were a match for Jake, and his rules were intact.

His rules hadn’t been a problem until a few minutes
ago when Lydia called him “Sir”. She was probably
vanilla
.
He wouldn’t find out, because their conversation would stick to policies they
needed to draft. There was a lot to do in the next twenty-four hours, and he was
thankful. He needed all the help he could get to keep his mind off of Lydia’s
assets.

On his way out of his office he ran into his friend
Simon.

“Hi, Simon.”
The
two friends fell in step with each other.

“Hey, man. I was hoping to run into you before your
new project started.”

“You heard about that?”

“Sure did. I’ll handle the team meetings for you
this week.”

“Thanks.” Jake clapped Simon across the shoulders.
He could be an arrogant guy, but he always watched everyone’s back.

Simon stopped walking and turned to Jake. “I wanted
to warn you to be on the lookout. I’m getting the feeling Keller is back in his
covert match-making mode.”

“Shit, I was afraid of that. It’s been a while.”
Keller knew about his rules. Jake felt reasonably safe, but a tick of concern
swiftly followed. He started walking again, suddenly not as eager to see Lydia.

“I got a call from Charlie this morning that might
cheer you up,” Simon said.

“Some more meals from that Dominatrix would cheer me
up. That woman can cook.”

“She didn’t promise food, but she’s looking for some
new trainers and wanted to know if we were interested.”

He might be able to survive the week with Lydia if
he knew he had a sub waiting for him on Friday night. “Yeah, sure, tell her
I’ll be there Friday.”

“Great, I’ll go with you. I’ll tell her we’ll do it
if she cooks for us Saturday morning.”

“Simon, I like the way you think.”

He returned to the conference room early with the
excuse of clearing the table. Maybe his mind would calm by doing simple tasks.
The door opened to reveal Lydia with her back to him across the room. His body
heated at the sight of her. She looked out the window. He tried to do the same,
but his gaze wouldn’t detour from the slope of her neck.

They needed to work on drafting policies and
procedures. His body didn’t want to listen. Work is all they would be doing in this
room. Visions of him restraining her and demanding she submit filled his mind.

He was in a lot
of trouble.

Chapter
Two

Lydia’s breath hitched with the soft click of the
door behind her, and she hesitated to turn and see the man she knew stood
there. Lydia didn’t often have trouble turning off her internal fantasies, but
then again, work rarely inspired her dirty desires. At home she allowed her
mind to dream her away. Now, her mind swirled to different places, different
places Jake could take her.

Fantasy men were her preference because the real
thing could let you down. They ran when you needed them. She had no experience with
reliability. It was, however, something she craved. At home in her fantasies,
Jake was always there, ready for whatever she needed.
Unlike
her father.
She didn’t even know why he left.

Her fantasies always began by imagining a man fully
devoted to her. She used to giggle about all she dared to believe her leading
man could be. Her soul called for a strong man who knew exactly what he wanted and
how to get it. She’d never met a man capable of living up to any of her
expectations. Of course, they didn’t need to live up to them all. She craved to
have at least one. She craved a man who simply didn’t want to leave her. All
she wanted was someone to stick around.

Jake’s darkening eyes might be all her mind could
see, but if he was at all attracted to her he wouldn’t be for long. He would
either be put off by her erotic needs, or he would get bored of her and leave.

Gina claimed Jake didn’t like meek women, and if
there had been any last shred of hope, which there wasn’t,
Gina’d
crushed it. Lydia didn’t necessarily consider
herself
weak. In fact, she considered herself quite resilient, but men got bored of
women like Lydia. Her father must have gotten bored of her and her mother, and
he’d left.

Standing at the window and staring at the trees as
they swayed in the wind didn’t help calm her raging nerves.
She
needed to remember she would be working with the real Jake, not her fantasy.

She tried to clear her mind. The ravine needed to do
its job. She welcomed the green flowing trees and their engaging peace. No
matter how hard she tried, her mind leapt to her fantasy. She imagined her body
rocking against Jake in a steady rhythm matching the sway of the trees.

A strong wind tore through the ravine and forced the
trees to move. The unavoidable movement shook her from her comfort zone. Lydia was
rocked by the unexpected change the sight ignited in her fantasy. The intensity
changed, and she had a hard time calming her breathing.

A warm hand pressed into her back shaking her from
her heated dream.

“Lydia, are you okay?”

She turned. Jake stood next to her, concern stretched
across his chiseled face. Knowing she put the expression on his face added to
her heat.

“I’m sorry, lost in my thoughts.” She rushed to
reassure him. “I like looking out over the ravine.”
Although,
it no longer had the same appeal.
“Sometimes I get lost in the view.”

He turned to peer out the window. When he didn’t say
anything right away, she took advantage and continued to watch him. His gaze became
captivated by the ravine, and his expression softened.

“I often do the same from my office. My view is a
floor up, so the perspective is a bit different.”

She turned back to the view and wondered if she’d
ever get a chance to roam around out there. The fallen tree would be a great
place for a picnic. The small flat patch on the tree always seemed inviting.

“I remember when that tree fell a couple years ago.
I’m glad they haven’t taken it away,” he murmured.

“Agreed.
Sometimes
things should be left alone.”

“Yes, you’re right.” He turned back to the table. “Of
course you’re right. I brewed a fresh carafe and brought it in with me.
Thought it might make it easier on you.”
He nodded his head
in the direction of the side table as he sat.

“Yes, thank you.” Her coffee addiction was easy to
discover, but you’d still have to notice her first to see the addiction.
Curious
.
She
joined him at the table.

“Let’s start by creating a list of policies we need,
and then we’ll start writing. I want to get a couple done before we order lunch.”

“Lunch, well, I…” She attempted to explain her lunch
was in the fridge down the hall, but let the words fall unspoken, and she bit
her lip when their gazes locked.

“Forget your lunch plans. You’re not leaving my side
until we’re done.” His attention returned to his laptop.

The snap of his demand made her heart
leap in her chest, and her pelvis swayed with the heat building in her pussy. Jake’s
attention might have returned to the computer, but not Lydia’s. She was still
stuck in the moment. She had to ponder what excited her more, time with Jake or
the threat that shone in his dark eyes?