“Bella’s boyfriend,” she said, hugging him close.
Chuckling, Jake gave her a light squeeze before pulling away. “What brings you here?”
“I’m checking this place out. I hear it’s the bomb.” She opened her arms wide imitating an explosion, the sarcasm easy to hear.
“Okay, your sister is at her place with Maya.”
“Sharing places now? It’s getting serious. Do you have a diamond picked out?”
Before he met Bella any thought of settling down filled him with fright. When it came to his woman, he knew it was going to be the next step for them.
“You’re settling down already. It’s only been a couple of weeks,” Nick said.
Daisy looked past him to Nick.
“Who are you?” Daisy asked, eyeing his friend up and down.
“This is Nick Clark. He works here too.”
“Are you a Dom?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nick took Daisy’s hand, kissing her knuckles. Heat filled her cheeks as she started to stutter. “So, you’re settling down?” Nick turned back to him, still holding Daisy’s hand.
“I’ve met the right woman. She’s waiting for me at home.”
“The good little wife then,” Nick said.
Laughing, he left them and pulled his cell phone out. He dialed Bella’s number, waiting for her to answer.
“Hello,” Maya said, answering the phone.
“Hi, will you put Bella on the phone?”
“Why? What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re not my woman, and I don’t want to talk to you,” he said, walking toward Ryan’s office.
Maya huffed. “Tell that friend of yours, Chris, he can kiss my ass. We’re completely over. He can buy me as many flowers and chocolates as he likes. I’m not going near him and his septic cock again.”
“Shut up, Maya. Give me the phone.” Bella fought with her friend. A little scuffle and a squeal met his ears. “Hey, Jake. How’s work?”
“What did you do to get her off the line?” He sat down in the first available chair and relaxed at the sound of her voice.
“I pulled her hair. Maya’s like every other woman. She’s all bark and no bite once you handle her right.”
“Just like you. I seem to recall you liking your hair pulled when it’s the right moment. Your mouth is always full when I do.”
Bella groaned. “Stop. It’s not fair because now all I want is for you to come home so we can do exactly that.”
“He’s talking dirty to you. Your cheeks are all flushed and your nipples are—”
“Maya, shut up. You’re not being very friendly.”
“Your cheeks are flushed?” he asked.
“What do you expect when you talk like that.”
“I’m rock hard.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m thinking about what I want to do to you when I get my hands on you.”
Her breathing came over the line in pants.
“Are you working this weekend?” she asked.
“Yes. You can stay at my place for the weekend and I’ll wake you up when I get home. You’re not at the library, are you?” He rubbed a hand over his face, waiting patiently.
“No, I’ll stay at your place.”
They talked for several minutes and he enjoyed their conversation. What he was about to do cemented in his mind as the right thing.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he said
“Okay, work hard but not too hard.”
He hung up the phone. The words, ‘I love you’, were on the tip of his tongue. Jake kept them back. He wasn’t ready to take that next step.
It was only a matter of time before they were there. He knew without a shadow of a doubt he belonged to Bella just like she belonged to him.
Knocking on Ryan’s door he waited for confirmation to enter.
“Come in.”
Opening the door, he was surprised to see only Ryan in the room.
“Jake, it’s great to see you. I’ve been given good reports about you.” Ryan leaned back in his chair, smiling. “The other men have been talking. They believe you’ve learned your lesson and want you to start training again.”
This was not the news he wanted to hear. Running a hand down his face, he stared at his boss. “It’s great to know the men are no longer pissed at me. I know what I did was fucking wrong and I’m so sorry.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to say but?”
“Because I am. During the last couple of weeks I’ve met someone. She’s amazing, special and everything I didn’t know I wanted in a woman.” He smiled, looking down at his lap and thinking about her. “I don’t want my old job back of training fellow Doms or subs. There are no other women for me. I know you’re getting weekly requests from other men more suited to the room. This is not my life anymore and I’m not going to try to be one thing here and another thing at home.”
Ryan stayed silent, gazing at him. “You’ve surprised me. When I first interviewed you, one of things you said was you’re not the type of guy to settle down. You’ve found the right woman and now you’re the settling down kind of guy?”
“I’ve changed. What I said before was wrong. I hadn’t met Bella then.”
“No? You hadn’t.” Ryan leaned forward putting both of his hands on the desk. “Are you handing in your notice?”
“If you don’t need another guy to man the main part of the club then I’ll hand my notice in immediately. If you need me then I’m going to stick to my part of the club. I’ll be happy to work in the club.” He tapped his leg, watching Ryan make his decision.
“This woman, is she a submissive?”
“Yes, but she’s not a trained one. We’re working through our lives together. I’m hoping to one day bring her to the club to see others within the lifestyle. Until then, we’re going to enjoy each other.”
Ryan ran a finger over his lip. “Fine. I do need a man on the main part of the club, full time. You’ll stay on and I’ll give you the necessary cards and codes to bring your woman to the dungeon when you’re ready.”
Breathing out a sigh, Jake shook his boss’s hand. “Thank you, sir.”
* * * *
“So, this is serious between you and Jake?” Maya asked, sitting down.
Bella blew over the top
of her hot chocolate so it wouldn’t burn the roof of her mouth. She tucked her feet up underneath her, staring at her friend sitting on the couch in front of her. “Yes, it’s serious.”
“I’m so happy for you. For so long you’ve been alone hiding away from the world. Jake’s going to be good for you. I’ve never seen you so happy before.” Maya took a sip of her chocolate.
Her friend looked so sad and defeated. Bella hated seeing her look like that. “What’s wrong?” Bella asked.
“Nothing.” Maya shrugged.
“Tell me, don’t lie and pretend otherwise. You wouldn’t let me do that.” She placed her cup on the coffee table, hugging a pillow to her front.
“It’s Chris. He’s, I don’t know, he’s just a total asshole and I can’t believe I waited around for him.” Tears spilled from Maya’s eyes. “We were at Mixer’s last Friday. I invited you and Jake but you had something planned.
She remembered. Bella had spent the night at Jake’s while he worked at the club. Guilt swamped her at leaving her friend alone. Going out had never been her thing, but she’d never thought about how it affected her friend.
“Don’t feel bad. I promise you I don’t mind. It’s not like you’ve gone out before. I understand. Anyway, I’d gone to the bathroom and when I got back he was taking another woman’s number and promised to give her a call.” Maya slapped her hands in front of her face. “I’m a total loser. I can’t believe I thought I could have anything with him. All he does is use me. It’s not fair.”
She stood up and sat on the arm of the sofa, wrapping her arms around her friend.
“I’m a fucking idiot for believing there is anything good about him.” Maya sobbed.
“No, you’re not. He invited you back to meet his parents, right?”
“Yeah. It’s why I thought he might be wanting to take it to the next stage. I was so fucking wrong.” Whenever Maya got upset, her friend took up cursing to get her through the pain. “I hate him. I want to make a voodoo doll of him and cut off his penis.”
Laughing, she tightened her hold on Maya. She wasn’t letting her friend leave her home tonight.