The Exposure (The Submissive 9)

“Right?” She clicked through the rest of the information. V really was a disgusting pig. She felt even worse than before that she’d agreed to be with him tonight. Before she could allow herself time to think about that, she had to take care of Luke’s request. “And the thing is your staff never would have caught it. Nothing else matches. You’re going to have to start collecting driver’s license information, Social Security numbers, or something.”

He pulled up the stool beside her. “This is worse than I thought.”

“I have to say it and, trust me, it’s not that I’m trying to weasel my way out of anything, but you need someone with a lot more knowledge and experience than me to fix this.”

“I thought we’d taken care of security when we reopened.”

“You didn’t have the members reapply, or at least, I wasn’t asked to. Did you have anyone run background checks?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Not yet. I was going to ask Jeff Parks to do it in a month or so.”

“Might I suggest you have him do it sooner rather than later?”

“Yes. Definitely.” He shook his head. “I thought it was okay to wait since almost everyone had been a member for so long. But I see now a clean sweep is in order.”

She nodded. It was scary when she thought about it. If no one had ever done a background before . . .

She didn’t want to dwell on that.

“Meagan,” he said, and she lifted her head to find him holding out a robe. “You can get dressed if you’d like. I don’t see the point in you doing anything further.”

“Thank you.” She slid off the stool and slipped the robe on. “And, Sir, I am sorry for how I acted. Truly. I’ve Topped in a scene before. I wouldn’t have put up with my attitude either.”

“I appreciate you saying that.” He nodded. “I was thinking. Would you have time to have lunch next weekend before we start shooting?”

She raised an eyebrow and he laughed.

“Honestly, I just thought it’d be a good idea for us to talk. Get to know each other.” He waved toward her. “When we both have our clothes on.”

It would be dangerous to accept his invitation. She could already see how easy it would be to fall back into the schoolgirl crush she’d had on him years ago. And how much more would this grown-up Luke appeal to her?

But, on the other hand, it would be a good idea for her to get closer to Luke in ways other than photography. There was still The Taskmaster to think about, after all. She would have to keep in mind that being with Luke this time was the means to an end. Nothing more. If she did that, she should be able to have lunch with him without getting any emotions involved.

She hoped anyway. “I think that would be fine. Should we meet somewhere?”

“You could come by the house. Might be easier than going somewhere and then having to go to my place. Just do it all in one location.”

“I’ll do it on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to give me a tour of your house. It looked fascinating.”

His laugh was easy. “It’s a deal.”

* * *

Luke always regretted that he wasn’t much of a cook. It wasn’t because he didn’t try; he did. It just seemed as though everything he cooked tasted like cardboard. Cooking should be simple. All he had to do was follow the recipe. But it never was that easy.

Before Meagan came over on Saturday, he went to the local farmers’ market and got fresh produce for a salad. He had some cooked chicken left over at the house from the night before. He’d throw it all together for a quick lunch. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to eat anything too heavy, anyway.

Meagan arrived on time, stepping out of the car and looking incredible. He couldn’t help but remember how she looked the weekend before, naked and needy before him. He’d wanted so badly to touch her, but to punish himself along with her, he’d given her that ludicrous spreadsheet to work with.

He shook his head and watched her walk to the door. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Interesting choice. He hadn’t told her anything about the way he wanted her to wear her hair, but the ponytail worked perfectly for what he had planned for today. And unlike last week, she didn’t have any makeup on. Perfect. Though he thought he might have her put on some red lipstick after lunch.

He opened the door, expecting to see her smile, and was caught off guard by her frown.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Sorry. What?”

“You look distracted and you’re frowning. Is everything okay?” He moved to the side to let her pass by him and enter the house.

“Yes, just a message that came through on the way over. It’s okay. I can handle it.” Her phone rang with an incoming message and she stopped to read it.

He closed the door and watched as she typed back a reply.

“Meagan,” he said softly.

“Hmm.” She didn’t look up.

“Meagan,” he said just as soft, but she continued messaging. “Hand me the phone.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

He held out his hand. “Hand me the phone.”

“I’m finished now.”

“Yes, you are. Give it to me and you’ll get it back before you leave.”

“That’s okay. I’m fine.”

He shook his hand. “Give it.” She sighed, but put the phone in his hand. He turned it off. “Thank you. I know it’s hard to believe, but the world won’t grind to a screeching halt if Meagan Bishop doesn’t answer her phone or reply to a text for the next few hours.”

“I know that, you know.”

“I’m sure you do, but I’m a jealous, jealous man.” He closed the distance between them and lifted her chin so she met his eyes. God, she was gorgeous. “I only have you here with me for a few short hours. Don’t make me share.”

She blinked and her cheeks turned a light pink, which made her only more appealing. “So greedy,” she said, her voice husky.

He shouldn’t be touching her the way he was. She had been very clear about what she did and did not want from him. But at the moment, her eyes were dark and her lips slightly parted. When she looked at him the way she was, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. “Always,” he said in agreement with her earlier statement and ran his thumb along her bottom lip.

She drew it into her mouth and nipped his fingertip, looking him straight in his eyes the entire time.

Damn, but if that didn’t send sparks down his body and make his cock beg for more. “Vixen,” he said, but didn’t move his finger.

“Ass.”

He chuckled and dropped his hand. “Maybe I better give you the tour before we do something we said we shouldn’t.”

She looked just disappointed enough that he seriously contemplated changing his plans for the afternoon and giving her exactly what they both wanted. But no sooner than the thought came to him, he disregarded it. To do something that radical would be to follow the path that had brought them heartache all those years ago. He wanted them to start new.

Which meant he needed to take her on a tour of his house. “Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

The disappointment fled, replaced by curiosity, and he led her down the hall. “This part of the house you saw last week.” He walked past the bedroom she’d changed in, pointed out his bedroom, and made his way into the living room.

As soon as they entered, she made a beeline for the two oil paintings he had displayed in the middle of the far wall. “I saw glimpses of these last week and couldn’t wait to see them close up. They’re obviously the real deal.” She looked up at him. “Maxfield Parrish.”

He looked at her with surprise. “You know of him?”

She nodded. “Art minor. I’d tell you these two pieces belong in a museum or an art gallery, but I have the feeling you know this.”

“I do. In fact, these spent the last few weeks in my gallery downtown. I brought them home so I could en

joy them before trying to find a buyer.”