Domination (Explicitly Yours 2)

He chuckled, squeezing her. “I wish. Where should we celebrate? And don’t say a bar.”

She also laughed.

“God, I love your laugh,” he said. “Always have.”

“Johnny,” she said, burying her face in his neck. He could still catch her off guard and make her blush. He was happy, and even though she worried, she was happy too. That eased the pit in her stomach a little.

* * *

Lola owned one dress for such a special occasion—fitted but not flashy, sheer from her neck to her cleavage, including the sleeves to her elbows. Black, of course. She’d worn it once for Johnny’s kid sister’s college graduation party.

She came out of the bathroom, all fixed up. Johnny pushed hangers around the closet, still in his underwear.

“Babe?” she asked. Normally he was ready in half the time it took her.

“Don’t have anything to wear,” he muttered. “I’ll have to get some new things.”

“What you’ve got is fine, Johnny. You don’t have to dress up.”

He looked over his shoulder at her, up and down. “I’ve never seen that dress before.”

“Yes, you have. I wore it to Natasha’s graduation.”

“Oh.” He turned back to the closet. “Well, I’d call that pretty dressed up. I can’t exactly show up in jeans when you’re wearing that.”

“I can change,” she said. It made no difference to her. She wasn’t even the one who’d chosen the restaurant, an expensive steakhouse in Beverly Hills they’d read about in the paper a few weeks earlier.

“No, don’t. You look too pretty.” He pulled out a checkered, long-sleeved button down. “How’s this? Also what I wore to her graduation.”

“It’s—” She turned toward the kitchen when her phone rang. “That shirt’s great, honey,” she called as she left the room. “You look good in red.”

She found her cell in her purse, and her heart leapt at the unknown number. It couldn’t be him, though. Beau was not allowed to just sneak up on her that way—not when it was so important that she put him behind her. With a quick glance back toward the bedroom, she answered it and held her breath.

“Lola,” there was a pause on the line, “are you there, ma chatte?”

She placed the phone over her chest, then pulled it away, worried he’d hear her nervous heartbeat. She went out the front door, closed it quietly behind her and put her cell to her ear again. “What do you want?”

“You haven’t given me an answer,” Beau said.

“I told you no in the car that morning.”

“You discussed it with Johnny?”

She hesitated. Before her first night with Beau, she’d been stronger. She was able to see clearer. She hadn’t told Johnny about Beau’s second offer. If Johnny made her decide again, she had a feeling she knew what her answer would be. It was better not to ask the question at all. “You shouldn’t be calling me.”

He made a low, humming noise that reminded her of his mouth between her legs. “Don’t change the subject.”

“It doesn’t matter what Johnny says. The answer is no.”

“Have you bought the bar yet?”

The change of topic took her a moment to register. “Yes. Well, no. We gave our offer, and now it’s just a matter of paperwork.”

“Do you have a lawyer?”

“Johnny’s cousin is one.”

“Johnny’s cousin,” Beau repeated to himself. “Who will represent you?”

“What? There is no me. There’s only me and Johnny.”

“You need representation too.”

“No, I don’t. And even if I did, it’s none of your business.”

They were quiet a moment. She pictured Beau in his office at the end of the day. He could’ve been at home, but he sounded tense. Maybe Lola brought that out in him, though. It seemed they were frequently on the verge of arguing.

“I’ll have my lawyer contact you,” he said finally. “He’d keep only your best interests in mind. My treat.”

“I can’t go to Johnny with my own lawyer. That’s absurd.”

“Are you buying the place together?”

“Yes.”

“So your name will go on everything?”

“Yes, but it’s Johnny’s baby.”

“How will you share the profits? Fifty-fifty? What if you break up?”

“Break up?”

“That’s why you need someone looking out for you.”

“I have someone,” Lola said softly. “Johnny. We aren’t breaking up.”

“I just want you to be careful. Smart. You’ve never had money like this to complicate things.”

She’d only had the money a few days, but that was turning out to be true. Before Beau had walked into their lives, things had been simple. Now, every day came with a new problem that was above her and Johnny’s heads and new tension between them.

“Money’s supposed to make life easier,” she said.

“It doesn’t. People think that, but they don’t realize there are downsides to wealth.”

“Are you calling to talk me out of taking the deal?”

“So you’re considering it then?”

“No. I didn’t mean it like that.” Or had she? Was she considering it? A night like the one they’d had could never be duplicated. It also couldn’t be forgotten. It was tempting enough to wonder what would even happen during a second night, much less actually consider it.

“I should go,” she said.

“Don’t sign anything without having someone read it over first.”

Lola suppressed a smile. “So that’s why you called. To hound me about a lawyer?”

“Yes.” He sighed. “No. Not really. Your voice—I missed it. Has anyone ever told you how comforting it can be?”

He’d spoken it softly, as if it were their private secret. They had enough secrets, though. Having breakfast in bed—it felt like a secret. Her willingly opening her legs to him? Secret. They were things that couldn’t leave the presidential suite. And this conversation needed to end before it went any further. “Beau—”

“I wish you were here now to whisper to me.”