Unbreakable (Unrestrained 4)

“Lisa, I’m getting married next week to the only woman friend I need. I don’t have women friends.”

“What would Fred Parker think of your preference for tying up women during sex? Flogging? Caning?”

I turned to her, almost seeing red I was so angry. “I am not a sadist. I don’t do pain. If you know Richardson, you know that.”

“Fred doesn’t. Who do you think he’d believe? Me? Or maybe Richardson?” She wagged her eyebrows.

“You better get out right now,” I said, barely controlling my voice.

“Or what? You’ll hit me?” she said, her eyes bright. “Maybe cane cane me? Or do you prefer a flogger?”

“I never hit women,” I said in a low voice, and then I thought to myself about spanking Kate in fun the other night. I thought about spanking Kate at the dungeon party.

“Sunita might have something to stay about that.”

That sent a chill through me. She knew Sunita… of course. I thought about the images Sunita probably had on her computer. I thought about the videos Sunita had taken of us playing. My face had been off screen, but she could still raise suspicions.

If Lisa wanted to hurt me, she could – very easily.

“Why are you doing this?” I said, desperate to think of a way to placate her without giving in. “If you’re in the lifestyle, you know this is highly unacceptable. We barely know each other. I’m getting married. I’m not interested in you or anyone else besides my fiancée.”

“Because I want us to be friends. I want you to be nice to me.”

“I am nice to you. I can’t be your friend. We can be colleagues only. Nothing more.”

“That’s all I want, Drake,” she said, her voice pleading. “We do things together, coffee, lunch, talking about work…”

“I can’t do this. I’m in love with my fiancée. I’m marrying her next week.”

“You have to be nice to me,” she said and shook her head, as if she had made up her mind. “You’re going to be nice to me. You’re going to walk with me down the halls when we’re working together. You’re going to make small talk with me the way you would anyone else. You’re going to have coffee with me in the break room the way you do the other residents. We’ll have lunch together occasionally and after work, we’ll go to the pub and—.”

“Lisa,” I said, exasperated. “You can’t force someone to be your friend or love you. It won’t be real. It’ll be an act.”

“I’m not a bad person, Drake.”

“I never said you were.” I sighed. “You’re my colleague. That’s all.”

I told myself that she was a bright, talented and skilled surgical resident who was a bit drunk and not thinking straight. She wasn’t a bad person at base but she was acting unbalanced as if she couldn’t accept that I didn’t need her as a friend – or want h

er as a friend.

“You must be nice to me,” she said and tried to take my hand. I pulled mine away but she actually fought to hold it. “I want you to be nice to me, Drake.”

I managed to pull my hand away and shook my head, at a total loss. She couldn’t seem to realize how much she’d screwed things up between us by threatening me with exposure. How could we ever be friends, given her threat, empty or otherwise?

A normal person would understand that.

She was going to try to force me to be intimate with her. She said it was all about friendship, but I could tell by the way she tried to touch me that she’d expect more.

“Good night, Lisa,” I said, not even glancing at her. She sat in silence for a moment, and then she let out a sigh.

“See you tomorrow,” she said brightly. “I expect you to have lunch with me. We can talk about Sunita.”

I said nothing and she actually leaned over as if she were going to kiss me. I pulled away and she reacted with a laugh.

“So afraid of a little kiss, Drake?” she said, her voice tinged with hurt. “Afraid if you let me get too close, you won’t be able to resist?”

I kept my voice firm, in control and repeated myself. “Good night, Lisa.”