Bound Temptations: Stories of Temptation and Submission (2 page)

Mara stiffened, then
recovered fast. She always had. She gave the brunette a polite
smile and said, "I really need to speak to somebody other than the
manager. When will the owner be in?"

"You're looking at her." She
pushed off the wall and held out a ringless, manicured hand. "Rocki
Monroe. How can I help you?"

Mara just stared at
her.

Rocki continued to wait,
that cool little smile on her pretty mouth.

Whether it was because Cole
couldn't keep standing there while Mara was so rude or whether it
was because he had some strange desire to touch her—or both—he
reached out, closing his fingers around hers. "Cole
Stanton."

"A pleasure to meet you,
Cole."

He had the insane urge to
bend down and press his mouth to that mole, then shift his mouth to
the left, just a little, and cover that wide, soft mouth with his
own. "The pleasure's mine, Miss Monroe."

"It's Mrs.
Monroe."

Although he was standing
there with his fiancée at his side, Cole felt something wither a
little as she tugged her hand away. "Mrs. Monroe, then."

He glanced around the store,
once more noticing the warmth, the simple elegance. No, he wasn't
much into shopping for lingerie, but this wasn't the sort of store
that would make him run away screaming. "You've got a beautiful
shop here."

There were portraits on the
walls, and he eased around her to study one. It displayed a woman
from the neck down. Facing away from the photographer, dark hair
swept into a loose knot, the model wore an ivory corset and a long,
maroon skirt.

It was simple. It was
elegant. And erotic. Understated, but so very erotic.

Shifting his gaze downward,
he saw the ivory corset displayed for purchase, along with the
maroon skirt, what looked like garter belts and other stuff he
wouldn't have recognized before Mara had roped him into being a
silent partner for her store. Cole looked at the next portrait and
saw a similar theme—a dark-haired model, again photographed from
the neck down. This time she was wearing something that looked like
a corset, sort of, but it went under the breasts and was worn over
what looked like an old-fashioned set of underwear. There was
something of innocence and vulnerability captured in the photo.
And, again, the clothing she modeled was displayed for purchase
under the portrait.

One hell of a marketing
tactic, he had to admit.

He looked back at Rocki and
realized the red thing she had on was similar to what the model was
wearing in the second picture. "What's that you're wearing?" he
asked.

Mara sniffed. "It's an
underbust corset. The fuller-figured woman likes that device
because it makes her look skinnier."

"Actually, the
fuller-figured woman likes it because it shows off her assets,"
Rocki drawled easily. She glanced at Mara's chest and then
smiled.

"A lot of women like them,
regardless of their figure. We cater to all sorts of clients, and
this is a popular design. It accentuates the female figure—hips,
waist, breasts. I like my assets."

Hell, who
wouldn't
? Cole wondered. Then he mentally
kicked himself. Shit, he needed to get his act together. Ideally,
he needed to get out of this store and away from Mrs. Rocki
Monroe.

Snotty little bitch. Rocki
looked into the blonde's pale blue eyes and wondered just what bug
had crawled up her ass and died. Mean viper.

Something about this chick
had mental sirens screaming in Rocki's head, and it had nothing to
do with Mr. Gorgeous at her side, either.

"I'm Mara. Mara O'Keily."
The blonde stared at her, waiting.

Rocki lifted a brow. She had
the weirdest feeling the name was supposed to mean something, but
it wasn't ringing any bells. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Ms.
O'Keily. Is there something I can help you with?"

Mara started to frown, but
stopped just as suddenly… as though she didn't want the wrinkles
marring her smooth, perfect brow. "I'm opening a shop on High
Street. Divine."

Ahhh...bingo.

Rocki managed, just barely,
not to laugh. Her assistant manager had been fielding calls from a
Ms. Kelly or Keely. The first few had been polite enough, inquiring
about the name of Rocki's supplier. Then the calls had gotten more
snide and condescending.

When they got word of the
new store opening—a high-end lingerie store that was going to cater
to the modern young woman—the e-mails started. Pushy emails. And
Rocki figured things out. Rocki supposed she could have been nice
and put a stop to it by taking one of the calls, but she had a
perverse streak a mile wide, one her assistant manager shared. And
they didn't care to be bullied.

Now look where it had landed
her.

"Well, Ms. O'Keily, it's
nice to meet you. How are things going for the store's opening?"
she asked.

"Lovely." Mara paused
briefly and then added, "I hope the opening doesn't cause any
conflicts."

Rocki smiled. "Is there a
reason it should?"

"Well, the competition and
all." Mara's smile took on a sharp edge.

Rocki chuckled. "I suspect
we'll have two totally different customer bases, Ms. O'Keily." The
bell over the door rang and she glanced up, smiling as she
recognized the customer. "Hi, Grace. I'll be with you in just a
minute."

Grace waved and wandered
over to inspect a new display of chemises. Looking back at Mara,
Rocki said, "If there's nothing else, I need to get back to
work."

"Well, I do have one matter
of business." Mara smiled. "Your supplier. After all, as you say,
we have two totally different customer bases. I doubt those who
shop at my store would ever find what they need here. Since we've
got different customer bases, is there any harm is letting me have
the name of your supplier?"

"Hmm. Well, you see..."
Rocki smirked inwardly. "My supplier is a private individual who
hand selects who she works with. If you wish to leave your card,
I'll get the info to her. Beyond that...I'm not handing out her
information. She likes her privacy."

Rocki glanced back at Cole,
who'd remained silent through the exchange. Damn. He sure as hell
was pretty.

Too bad he was attached to
that bitch.

Chapter Two

Grace was going to be a
beautiful bride. Rocki had to blink back tears as she stepped away
to let the woman study the corset she'd wear under her wedding
dress. "Sweetie, he's going to swallow his tongue when he sees
you." Then she grinned. "Well, let's hope not. We want him using
that later."

Grace laughed. "Rocki,
you're bad."

"I know. It's a gift." She
checked the laces. "How does it feel?"

Grace nodded.
"Fine."

"Don't go crash-dieting
between now and then. If you lose a lot of weight, the dress won't
fit, the corset won't fit, and it's not good for you anyway." She
smiled at the other woman. "You don't want to pass out when you
walk down the aisle."

Grace grimaced. "I'm not
going to. Mom keeps telling me I should try to lose another twenty
pounds. But he fell in love with me, not my waistline,
right?"

"Good girl." The last thing
Grace needed to do was worry about her weight right now. She wasn't
society's version of slim, not at a size sixteen, but then again,
neither was Rocki. But neither of them was society's version of
unhealthy, either. They knew each other from the YMCA, where they
both ran and lifted weights. Rocki did Taekwondo, Grace did yoga,
and they were both in better shape physically than they'd been in
high school. They might not fit society's version of perfect, but
they sure as hell weren't couch potatoes, either.

The bell rang out in the
shop. "I need to get out there. Want to leave it on and see what
you think?"

"I can't." Grace sighed. "I
need to get to work soon, and I still need to go by the post
office."

Rocki quickly unlaced her
and then slipped out into the shop. She had to grit her teeth when
she saw Mara there, chatting up three other women. Lacey, Rocki's
best friend, was one of them. It had been a week since Mara had
first shown up in the store, but she wasn't done trying to get the
information she'd come looking for, it seemed.

"You should check out
Divine," Mara said, smiling at the women. "It's a more specialized
shop, catering to the modern young woman, and you'll find
everything you need."

Lacey stroked a finger down
a silk brocade corset and laughed. "Everything? Do you have corsets
by Lush? I'm rather fond of her stuff."

Rocki
grimaced.
Damn it, Lacey, keep
quiet.

"I'm working on that as we
speak."

"Are you? Hmm. Well, there's
a benefit here every year. Lush always makes an
appearance."

Oh,
shit
. Rocki strode into the shop, glaring
at Lacey. Lacey gave her an innocent smile, batting her lashes.
"Heya, Rock. You got my stuff ready?"

"You bet." Then she looked
at one of the other woman. "Hi, Bella."

"Hi, Rocki. This is my
friend, Lindsey. She just got engaged."

"Congratulations." Rocki
smiled at her.

"Thank you." Lindsey glanced
at Bella and then back at Rocki. "I saw the corset that had been
designed for Bella's wedding. I think I'd like one similar to that.
I just came by to talk about setting up an appointment?"

"No need for one." Rocki
gestured to the sitting area near the corner. "We'll have a seat
over there." As Lindsey started over, Rocki looked back at Mara.
"Was there something else you needed, Ms. O'Keily?"

"No...nothing at all." She
gave Rocki a sharp-edged smile and then swept out of the shop.
Rocki noticed that she was alone and wondered where Mr. Gorgeous
was. But she quickly pushed the idea out of her head. She needed to
get to work.

Three days later, buried
under an avalanche of paperwork, Rocki grimaced as she checked the
cost of the upcoming masquerade party she'd be hosting for
Valentine's Day. It was a yearly event for her and had been since
the second anniversary of her husband's death.

Absently, she stroked her
thumb along the curve of her wedding ring.

She didn't always wear it,
but today, she'd felt the need to. Actually, it wasn't today. It
was how close it was to the anniversary of his death. Five years
now. He'd been gone for five years.

A knot lodged in her heart
and she rubbed her left hand over her chest. The ache wasn't as bad
now as it had been. She wasn't living her life in mourning over
him. She just hadn't found anybody who'd ever made her heart stop
the way he had.

Tears pricked her eyes and
she threw the pen down, pressing her fingers to her eyes. She
needed to quit thinking about it or she wasn't going to get this
shit finished tonight. And she needed to get it done. The benefit
as next week. It was the way she kept her mind occupied this time
of year. So she didn't have to think about him lying in that
hospital bed... It shouldn't have happened.

A sob caught in her throat.
Brant had been a cop, a detective working what should have been a
rather mundane burglary case. But when he'd knocked on the door to
a suspect's apartment one night, he'd found more than he'd
bargained for. His partner had died on the scene. Brant took a
bullet in the spine that severed his spinal cord. He'd fought...so
damn strong.

And he'd
lingered.

Then, pneumonia settled in,
and it was the infection that ultimately killed him. Rocki had been
able to say good-bye. It didn't make it any easier, she didn't
think.

He was still gone. She was
still alone. Blowing out a breath, she grabbed a tissue and wiped
the tears away, frowning as she saw the smear of mascara.
"Smudge-proof, my ass." She swallowed around the knot in her throat
and then closed her eyes. The ache of loneliness lodged inside
right now was a living, breathing beast...her constant
companion.

Brant wouldn't want this.
She knew that. Hell, she didn't want it. But she couldn't look at
another man without wishing he was more like Brant. And unless she
could find somebody she liked enough for who he was without
comparing him to her deceased husband...well, that was a
relationship doomed before it got started.

She couldn't even think of a
guy who came close.

Suddenly, one face danced
through her mind. She shoved it aside. Mr. Gorgeous wasn't even a
possibility. Whether he was engaged to an ice-bitch or not, he was
still very much taken. She didn't even want to dream about a taken
man.

"Especially if he has taste
that bad," she muttered, trying to cheer herself.

It didn't work.

Sighing, she forced herself
to focus on the mess on her desk. Everything for the benefit still
needed to be checked and gone over so she could get back to her
assistant. She needed to go through the mail. The Lush designs
needed to be looked at, orders checked.