Not Safe For Work Read online

  My stomach knotted—I didn’t like the idea of going through with this because I had to. I was a Dom, for God’s sake. No one told me what to do in the bedroom. No one.

  But none of that had been an issue until just now, until last-second nerves had kicked in and made me question what I was doing. All afternoon, I’d been excited and barely believed this was real. I wasn’t here because I had to be. I was here because I wanted Rick. The firm had nothing to do with this, and what they didn’t know didn’t hurt me or my job.

  So I exhaled and headed inside. Of course I was nervous about this. If it went south or the wrong person found out, it could have ramifications that went well beyond the sting of rejection. If things got weird and Rick decided it was easier to take his various projects to another firm, well…

  The knot in my gut came back with a vengeance, but I’d already walked inside, and though we weren’t due to meet for another ten minutes, there he was.

  He’d asked via text if I preferred tables, booths or bar tops—booths, of course—and he’d snagged a booth away from the windows. As I shrugged off my jacket, our eyes met, and Rick shifted in his seat.

  I smiled and started across the room. Hopefully he couldn’t see my nerves. Though his profile had been made of all the things I itched for in a man—not that I’d read it thirty-seven times since the meeting—the fact remained that this was Rick Pierce. He was wealthy, he was powerful; hell, the guy had been on the cover of at least a dozen magazines with “Most Influential” or some similar title. Exactly the kind of man I’d dreamed of dominating.

  Like me, he’d opted for a shirt and tie, and we’d both rolled our sleeves to the elbows. To anyone who cared to look, we were just a couple of guys meeting up for a drink after work. If not for that Rolex around his wrist and the years-old Seiko around mine, we might’ve even appeared to be the same pay grade.

  What if someone from work sees us?

  Panic tightened my chest, but I quickly brushed it off. All I have to do is say he invited me to have a drink with him, and what was I supposed to do? Say no?

  Bulletproof alibi.

  With my heart still in my throat, I took a seat across from him. “You’re early.”

  He smiled. “Wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get here. I, uh, didn’t want to be late.”

  “Good. Punctuality is always a plus.”

  Our eyes met again, and goddamn, he was a sub, wasn’t he? One little hint of approval, and I could feel the warmth radiating off him.

  A waitress appeared beside us. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Just an iced tea. Thank you.” As much as I wanted something harder, my head was already light. No booze this evening.

  She turned to Rick. “And you?”

  He gestured at the glass in front of him. “I’ll stick with water. Thanks.”

  She smiled and then disappeared to get my drink.

  Alone again, I looked at Rick. “Listen, um, before we settle in too far, I need to make sure we’re on the same page about something. We should, um…” I cleared my throat. “Look, to be perfectly blunt, if anyone at Mitchell & Forsythe finds out about—”

  “They won’t.” There it was—that nonnegotiable tone I usually heard during meetings. He shook his head and added, “No one can find out about this.”

  “I agree. But if, hypothetically, someone did find out, I could be out of a job.”

  “Exactly why we won’t let that happen.” Rick’s expression softened. “I have no interest in anyone finding out about this. Everyone at Horizon Developing knows damn well I’m gay, but they don’t know I’m kinky. I’d just as soon they didn’t find out. So, absolute discretion.”

  I nodded. “No one at Mitchell & Forsythe knows about me either, so…yeah. Discretion is good.”

  “Of course.” He paused, studying me. “And I assume it goes without saying that during office hours, this”—he gestured at both of us—“whatever it is, doesn’t exist.”

  I still can’t believe “this” does exist.

  “Agreed.”

  He nodded. “Good. This is none of anyone’s business but ours, and definitely not our colleagues’.”

  There was something odd about Rick implying we had the same set of colleagues. Technically we did. The difference was that I was several levels below them and he was miles above them.

  “Right,” I said. “None of their business.”

  Rick’s eyebrows rose. “So, we’re on the same page?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  His features relaxed, and his smile gave me goose bumps. “Good. Because I really like what I read on your profile.”

  “Likewise.” Where the hell is my iced tea? And why didn’t I make it a Long Island? “Apparently I wasn’t the only one bored out of my skull during that meeting.”

  Rick laughed. “Well, to be fair, I, um, saw your profile a few days ago.”

  “Did you? But I didn’t see you on—oh, yours must have been private.”

  “Yep. I mean, I thought about pinging you a few times, but with our, um, situation, I thought better of it.” He met my gaze, smiling a little bit sheepishly. “But when I realized you were on your phone right then, I thought, what the hell? I’ll take the chance.” He sat up a bit. He was taller than me by a couple of inches, and the way he sat now emphasized that, made me look up just slightly. “So here we are.”

  “Yeah.” I shifted too, lifting my chin. “Here we are.”

  Eyes locked on mine, he rested his forearms on the table, which brought him down just slightly. “It’s funny,” he said quietly. “You just never know who’s kinky, do you?” A grin spread across his slim lips. “I noticed you the first time I met you, but I was surprised as hell to see you on Leathr. Realizing we were on the same wavelength…” The grin broadened.

  I was about to respond, but the waitress showed up with my drink. I thanked her and, as she walked away, took a deep swallow. “I didn’t expect you to be kinky either.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving, can’t they?”

  “They can. Especially when you find out that one of the ten most powerful men in the region likes getting down on his knees and having his face fucked.”

  Rick dropped his gaze and shuddered hard. The pink in his cheeks didn’t strike me as embarrassment. I suspected that wasn’t the only place he had blood rushing right then.

  I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “I kind of like the sound of that, you know? Someone with as much power and influence as you, down on your knees in front of me. Especially if you’ve got your hands tied. And maybe your ankles. If you’re good.”

  Rick moistened his lips, and his eyes flicked up to meet mine. “Yeah. We’re on the same wavelength.”

  Oh God. This is going to be awesome.

  “Good. Good.”

  I watched him for a moment. “Have you had any bad experiences with Doms? You don’t have to go into detail, but I’d just as soon not step on any land mines.”

  “No bad experiences, no. I still prefer to take things a little slower at first, though. Not just jump in and start breaking out the whips and leather, even when it’s tempting.”

  I nodded. “No sense diving in headfirst while we’re still strangers for all intents and purposes.”

  He held my gaze. How surreal, even thinking of being anything beyond strangers with him. Or realizing that, despite spending an unholy amount of time together in those stupid meetings, that was exactly what we were—we barely spoke directly to each other, since my bosses freaked out if anyone jumped the chain of command and addressed a client. Even in the same room, at the same table, in the same conversation, our interactions were filtered through Marie or Mitchell.

  Until now.

  I cleared my throat. “So then I guess the question is, what do we do until we get this ‘stranger’ thing out of the way?”

  Rick smiled. “You’re the Dom. I’d say that’s your call.”

  “In theory.” I took a drink of my ic
ed tea, because holy hell, my mouth was parched. “But you know how it works—the Dom calls the shots, but the sub is the one in charge.”

  “True. Then I guess we’ll take it a little at a time.”

  I nodded. “I can work with that.”

  “Good. Because I’ve met a few Doms who are impatient as fuck.”

  “Ugh. No. I would never move faster than my sub was ready to move.”

  “Good,” he said again. “Then I’d say we’re off to a damned good start.”

  I nodded.

  “And while we’re on the subject, it doesn’t have to be all kink, all the time. In fact, I’d prefer if it wasn’t. I dated a guy for a while who wasn’t into sex unless it was kinky, and it was…” Rick exhaled, shaking his head. “It was exhausting, you know?”

  “Yeah, I agree. Some people like it that way all the time, but I’m with you.” I laughed quietly. “Maybe I’m just getting too old.”

  Rick snorted. “I doubt that.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. Because if you are, then I am, and…no.”

  I laughed again. “Fair enough. To be serious, though, I do enjoy vanilla too.”

  “So I read. And same here.”

  God, this was weird. We were in the same booth, on the same wavelength, and if I kept playing my cards right—no, if he kept playing his cards right—we’d be in the same bed.

  Except we hadn’t even touched yet. Verbal games only went so far.

  We were way too out in the open for any contact beyond hands on the tabletop. Not even touching an arm or teasing the inside of a wrist with a finger. Maybe if we were a couple of twenty-somethings, it would’ve been different, but I came from an era where that sort of thing didn’t fly. And, well, old habits died hard.

  But I still wanted to touch him. More than that, I wanted to see him squirm.

  So, beneath the table, I ran my toe along his insole. “Footsie” seemed like a childish game, but the way his eyes closed and he slowly pulled in a breath, the way the hairs on his arm stood up and my own spine tingled—this wasn’t child’s play.

  I did it again. His other foot moved, rubbing against mine, and I quickly put mine on top and pushed his back to the floor.

  Rick’s eyes flew open.

  Right then, the waitress appeared beside us. “Can I get you gentlemen—” Her eyes darted back and forth between us. Some color bloomed in her cheeks, as if she’d realized a second too late what she just walked into. A little quieter, she quickly asked, “Any refills?”

  “Some more water please,” Rick said, the words spilling out one on top of the other. “Ice water.”

  The color deepened. She swallowed and turned to me. “And you, sir?”

  “Water, yes. Please.”

  She was gone so fast, she may as well have just ceased to exist.

  Neither of us spoke. I slid my foot off his, and he shifted as if he suddenly couldn’t get comfortable. When the waitress returned, she deposited our drinks and made a quick exit, and still, we were silent.

  He took a few deep swallows of water. I left mine on the table but wrapped my hands around it, letting the cold bring me back to earth.

  My body temperature slowly came down, though the same could not be said for my pulse, especially as I whispered, “Why me, Rick?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  He tapped his fingers on the sides of his glass. “I did, but…I’m not sure I understand the question. Why not you?”

  “Rick. You could have any man in this city.” I pushed my drink aside, folded my arms on the table, and leaned over them. “Why are you sitting in a bar with a middle-aged guy who builds models for a living?”

  He studied me, and then slid his own drink to the side before mirroring me, leaning in so close our forearms nearly touched. “Because I’ve seen the way you carry yourself. I’ve seen the way no one intimidates you, no matter how hard they try.” A faint grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He ran his foot up the side of my ankle, and I sucked in a sharp breath, which brought that grin fully to life. He went on, “And once I saw you on Leathr, and I realized what you really are, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to sit across from you in a meeting while I could still feel everything you’d done to me the night before.”

  I blinked. Gulped. Reached for my water.

  Rick sipped his own and, as he lowered the glass, asked, “That answer your question?”

  “Yes, it does.” How was my mouth still dry? I took another sip. Then I looked him right in the eye. “It does leave me with one more, though.”

  “Does it?”

  “Mmhmm.” I nudged his foot down again and pinned it to the floor beneath my own. “What do you want me to do to you?”

  “Only one real answer to that, isn’t there?” He pushed back a little, as if to make sure neither of us forgot what was going on beneath the table. “Whatever you want to do to me.”

  I smiled, resisting the urge to reach across and squeeze his arm. “Humor me. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been fantasizing a bit since this afternoon.”

  Rick went for his drink again and whispered, “Started before this afternoon.”

  Jesus…

  “Did it, now?”

  He nodded and drained his glass.

  “Tell me.” I reached for my water, but let it go—might as well save it in case I really needed it. “What have you been fantasizing about?”

  “Everything.” Rick cleared his throat. “I couldn’t even sleep after the first time I read your profile and realized it was you.”

  “Is that right?”

  He nodded again, this time lowering his gaze. “I…might’ve scheduled a few extra meetings that we didn’t really need.”

  I moistened my lips. “Seems like a lot of time and money, considering we weren’t even talking to each other.”

  “It was worth it. Sometimes I thought I was being an idiot, but it did benefit the projects we were working on. And it…” He hesitated before looking me in the eye. “It gave me a lot to, um, think about.”

  “Such as?”

  His Adam’s apple jumped. “All the things I wanted a man like you to do to me. Like…like you tying me up until I can’t move. And then fucking me until I can’t move tomorrow.”

  Oh. My God.

  “Is that all?”

  “Yeah, right.” He jumped, as if his smartass answer had come out before he could tell himself that was no way to talk to a man he wanted dominating him. He cleared his throat and quickly added, “To be honest, I’ve been attracted to you since the very first meeting they dragged you into.”

  “You—really?”

  “Definitely. Finding out you’re single and into men, and you’re kinky…” He pressed his toe into the ball of my foot and sent electricity up my leg. “Seemed like you might be too good to be true. But so far…”

  Is this really coming from Rick Pierce? What the fuck?

  I swallowed. “I’m still waiting for a camera crew to jump out and tell me this is a prank.”

  “No cameras. No prank.” He slid his foot out from under mine and traced my arch. “Just someone who’s curious how long it’s going to take you to put your money where your mouth is.”

  “My—” I narrowed my eyes. “You’re awfully mouthy for a sub.”

  He tensed but returned my challenging look, as if he knew he was on thin ice but wanted to see how long it would hold him. “You didn’t think I’d be easy, did you?”

  Gulp. Holy shit.

  “I do like a challenge.” I held his gaze, lifting my chin slightly again. “Well, tonight we can stop with a drink. Or we can see if we’re…compatible.”

  He broke eye contact for a split second. “What do you want to do?”

  “I think you know exactly what I want to do.”

  “Then I guess…” He tapped his fingers nervously. “I guess I should be asking where.”

  I held his gaze. It wasn’t beneath me
to bring someone home on a first date, and I wasn’t opposed to going to their place after little more than a cursory introduction. But we had to tread carefully. Kink required a certain level of trust, and we were still more or less strangers. Location wasn’t something to take lightly. My place denied him home-turf advantage. His might bring me too close to some carefully laid boundaries.

  I thumbed the edge of my glass. “A hotel is probably best. Neutral territory.”

  Rick nodded, the faintest bit of tension melting out of his shoulders. “Good idea.”

  I sat straighter. “I’m going to pay our tab, and then we’re going to get the hell out of here.”

  “Wasn’t I going to buy you a drink?”

  “It was iced tea. I can handle it.” I gestured toward the door. “You stop on the way and get any…essentials you think we’re going to need tonight. I’ll meet you in the lobby of the Coastal Star Hotel.”

  Rick nodded. “Okay. Will do.”

  We didn’t have much of a tab to pay for—iced tea and water didn’t rack up a tremendous bill—but I left the waitress a big tip for putting up with us. Then we slid out of the booth and headed downstairs to the parking garage.

  We didn’t talk on the way down the stairs, and each time we came to a landing, I expected him to break off, saying he’d parked on this level while I continued down to the lowest one. But we were still together when we reached the bottom.

  A small cluster of cars took up the middle rows, with my Camry all by itself near the far wall.

  “I’m over there.” I gestured toward it. “What about you?”

  “Right here.” He pressed the button on his key fob, and the lights flashed on a black Mercedes a few feet away. He stopped, spinning the key ring on his finger. “So…I’ll meet you…”

  “The Coastal Star Hotel.”

  “Right. Right. So I guess I’ll…”

  “See you there?”

  “Yeah.”

  But neither of us moved.

  We made eye contact. Broke it. Made it again. My heart was going crazy, as much from excitement as this alien nervousness. I didn’t think I’d been this nervous since I was nineteen and trying to work up the courage to kiss the woman who’d one day be my ex-wife.