dibs (26 page)

There was no way in hell anything was happening.

“How about you?” My voice was so timid I wasn’t sure the words made it out, so I pointed. Pointed to the guy wearing jeans and an unbuttoned flannel shirt. He seemed the most…normal.

“”Hi, Juls,” he said, his voice smooth and low.

He beckoned me forward with his hand. Hesitantly, I stepped closer. When he extended his hand to me, I took it.

“Would you care for a drink?”

Are you kidding? There was no way I would be able to get through this shit without alcohol. I nodded as he pulled a stool out for me. I sat, wondering how many women Mac had done this with…just…how many?

“What would you like to drink?

I cleared my throat. “Vodka water please.”

The bartender made the drink and slid a lime on the rim. I preferred lemon. Whatever.

“I’m Liam,” the guy I had chosen said, squeezing my lime into my drink. I wondered if he’d washed his hands recently.

“Do you have any questions before we head back?”

My drink was gone in two long swallows. Liam motioned for another. Immediately, I felt the vodka swim in my veins…in my head. I’d gone hours with no food.

“So, how does this work from here?” I asked.

“Well, we talk about what you want. Your desires. Your limits. We can do whatever you want to do.”

“What if this time I just want to know my options and then I can come back another time?”

He bobbed his head up and down. “Sure. That’s a possibility. You won’t get a refund, however, I’m sorry.”

“That’s ok. I don’t want a refund. Can you take me somewhere else so we can talk?”

After he picked up my drink, he extended his bent arm to me. I grabbed ahold of his bicep, and we walked together down a hallway.

“Nothing is going to happen, ok Liam?”

“Of course, Juls. That’s fine.”

When we got to the end of the hallway and an equally remarkable massive mahogany door, he opened it, guiding me through.

“Here’s an actual pricing sheet if you’re worried about cost?”

“Liam, cost isn’t the issue. I just want to fully understand what you do.”

We sat on a chest at the end of the bed. The enormous, four-poster king-sized bed immediately filled my head with imagined scenarios. The colors in the room were soft, muted and comforting.

He cocked a brow at me. “Are you a reporter?”

Immediately, I shook my head. “No! This is just new to me.”

“You have the option to simply watch a movie with me, or let me massage you, or you could massage me. We could play a game. I can be your submissive, or I can be your dominant. If you want someone to join us—two of us could take care of you.”

I took in a deep, slow breath trying to process those options.

“And all of these things cost extra?”

Liam shrugged. “It depends. What are you interested in?”

“The dominant thing, for example.”

“It would depend if you wanted to be bound, gagged, flogged…there is a lot to consider.”

There was nothing frightening or intimidating about this man. He was very kind.

“Juls, does that interest you?”

“My name is Sam. I lied to Will.” A small part of me wanted him to know the name Sam. Maybe Mac had mentioned me to someone.

“Sam. I like that. Tell me, Sam, are you married? Dating someone? Simply wanting to learn technique?”

I chuckled out loud, finishing my second vodka. “No. I have a very experienced boyfriend. But, if you were my boyfriend, tell me what sort of thing you’d say if you were my dominant.”

“Sure.” He stood. “Sam. Stand up.”

I stood, shaking a little. He laughed reassuringly.

“Sam. You said you didn’t want anything to happen, so I’m just telling you…you can do the things if you want, but we both understand nothing happens. Yes?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He smiled, a beautiful full smile that made me smile.

“Here we go again.” He winked.

“Sam. Stand up.”

After an eye roll, I stood. He then sat on the small bench at the foot of the bed.

“I’m going to fuck you, Sam. I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked.”

Even though I knew this wasn’t going anywhere, my body responded to his words, not quite the same way it responded when Mac declared the same thing on the cruise, but still.

“Get on your knees, Sam. Before I fuck you, you’re going to take my cock in your mouth, all of it.”

I fell to my knees, listening to every command intently. Jesus. No wonder I fell for Mac. These were the exact things he said. Women…who did everything for themselves, their kids and their husbands would love a man who took control. A man who made all the decisions and left nothing for them to decide. How perfect…

Liam stood in front of me with his finger on his zipper. My eyes darted up to his.

“This is where I would get naked,” he said with a shit-eating grin.

For the longest time, I stared up at him.

“Tell me about Mac.”

A mask of confusion clouded his face.

“McAllister? You know Mac? Have you fucked Mac?” He seemed shocked.

Slowly, and with grave consideration, I nodded.

“Jesus. And you came to someone else?” he asked with surprise in his tone.

“What do you mean?”

“Mac’s the pussy crook. Once he has your girl, you never get her back,” he chuckled. “Mac’s not taking any new clients.”

So I’d heard. The pussy crook, eh? He certainly had possession of mine…of me. What the hell was I going to do?

“How long has he worked here?”

Liam’s brows pulled together. “Worked here?”

A burst of hope grew inside of me. “Yes.”

“He’s the owner, Sam. He and Blake own the house. Are you sure you aren’t a reporter?”

“No. I promise, I’m not.” I lowered my head. The owner…

“If you’ve been with Mac, then you prefer dominance?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“That’s why the ladies love him. He controls everything. I blame Christian Grey for that, but it’s whatever,” he laughed and winked.

I smiled but didn’t feel it in my heart. “I need to go now. Thank you so much for walking me through this. Honestly, Liam.”

He inhaled and released the breath slowly before leading to the door. “You, my lady, are very welcome. I’m not sure what brought you here. You are a very beautiful woman, Sam. Any guy would be lucky to have you. I hope that you recognize that.”

That’s the funny thing about self-esteem—a single moment can change things. On the cruise, Mac had helped me feel like a desirable woman again. I knew what type of mother I was. I knew what type of doctor I was. But…the woman, I’d lost her. With all this shit with Mac, I had to keep her. I wouldn’t lose that again.

As we approached the end of the hall, the opposite way we came from, we entered a room with a small bar. This must be the get-the-fuck-out room.

“Would you like a drink?”

I shook my head. “No. Thank you. I have to drive a ways.”

He turned to face me, taking both my hands in his. “Sam. If you ever decide that this is something you want to do or try. Pick me again. Deal?”

On my tippy toes, I hugged him. “Thank you, Liam,” I whispered, kissing his cheek. I squinted as the door opened, allowing a beam of sunshine through the opening. He kissed my cheek back.

“Oh, Jesus. What the fuck?”

I heard Mac’s voice before I saw him. He stood only a few feet from Liam and me with the angriest blue eyes and his teeth bared in a snarl.

“It’s over, Blake. There is no more discussing it,” I barked, slamming the car door.

“Ok, Mac. What… are you gonna marry this girl?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Right now, we don’t talk about next week. But I know I want her.”

“Look. I don’t disagree. She’s cool. They all are. But to give up your livelihood?”

I shot a glare toward him. “Our business is fucking women for money, B. Come on.”

When he placed his hands on my chest, my lip pulled up.

“Buddy,” he whispered. “It’s the oldest profession. Besides, it’s more complicated than that and you know it. Remember how this happened. Don’t lose sight of that. And remember you’re a good man, Mac. If she makes you feel ashamed, that’s bullshit.”

With one arm, I swiped his hand away from my chest. “She thinks I’m a stripper, B. She has no clue. I have to tell her. But I’m telling her after the sale is final.”

“Alright. I won’t say another word.”

I slapped his back. “Thanks, bro. Why don’t you get out too and go after Juls?”

He chuckled. “I tried. All she wants is my cock.”

The cold air hit me in the face when I opened the back door. Refreshing as hell. The minute I saw Liam, I realized he was with a client. That was odd; he wasn’t scheduled with anyone according to the calendar. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the scrubs. What the hell?

Sam? She rose to her tiptoes, fucking hugged Liam, kissed his goddamn cheek and said thank you.

Thank you? My heart rate accelerated as red flashed before my eyes. Sam was here standing with Liam, one of my employees. They were saying goodbye in the exit room. The exit room that we brought women to after we’d fucked them.

“Oh Jesus,” I said out loud as the reality of what happened settled over me. “What the fuck?”

All at once, I heard Blake whisper, “shit” as he hit the emergency alarm just as Sam turned to face me. The alarm made sense since I was going to combust. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to make it all go away.

The sickening thought of Liam’s hands or even worse, his cock, being anywhere near Sam only made things crueler. Somewhere between the realization of Sam knowing the truth about what I was and the hypocritical bullshit I felt for her being here—I decided lunging for Liam was the best bet. There was no chance of absorbing the number of cylinders that fired off in my head.

Sam’s shriek echoed somewhere behind me when my body pummeled Liam to the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?” he grunted as I knocked the air from his body. This man had touched my Sam.

By the time my fist clobbered the right side of his face and a flash of pain radiated up my arm, Blake trapped me in a full Nelson.

“Mac!” Sam yelled as four more guys all stormed into the room.

Blake spun me around, shoving me against the wall.

“What happened?” One of the guys asked.

“Mac came in here and punched me,” Liam panted. From the corner of my eye, I saw him wipe his mouth.

“You’re fucking fired!” I spat out.

Blake’s grip tightened.

“That’s not fair!” Sam cried.

Rage ricocheted through every damn cell in my body as I snapped out of Blake’s hold and spun toward Sam.

“Seriously? Was I not enough? You wanna get fucked? I’ll have someone different fuck you seven nights a week if that’s what you want!” I lied.

My face was inches from hers. I was close enough to see gigantic tears spill over her lashes and down her cheeks as her face crumbled. I was numb…my own walls had shot up to protect myself.

When she back stepped away from me—her chin quivered.

“You gonna do another disappearing act, Houdini? How about I not come looking for you this time?”

“Mac!” Liam spat out behind me.

My finger jetted up at him. “
You
need to do a lot less talking right now.”

I rotated back toward Sam. “Who’s it gonna be, Sam? Who you calling Dibs on? You’ve had two of the seven of us. Go ahead, call Dibs.”

“Goodbye, Mac,” she said in a hushed whisper as she shoved the door open and disappeared.

Goodbye? That surprised me. I expected her to come out swinging. I expected her to glove up. But instead she said goodbye.

“You’re an idiot,” Liam accused, shaking his head and shuffling away. “I don’t know your story with her. But she wouldn’t let me touch her, and she sure as hell didn’t touch me.”

“What?” I asked, wondering if the waves of anger washing over me would ever stop.

“She fucking requested you, and we told her you weren’t taking new clients.”

“Liam! Stop walking!” I viciously hollered, all eyes were on him…and me.

“I don’t work for you anymore, Mac. You fired me for doing nothing.”

“Tell me what the hell happened,” I gritted so hard my teeth ached.

Liam spun around with fire in his eyes. “Nothing happened. She wanted to know how things worked here. Options. Possibilities. Who the hell is she?” he yelled.

As I brought my hands up to massage my temples, I clenched my fists to stop the trembling. Trying to calm myself, I grabbed the back of my neck and let out a guttural roar before I slammed my fist into the wall, busting a hole through the drywall.

The piercing pain was so intense, I felt lightheaded for a moment, but as soon as I gathered my wits, I careened straight for the door. When the sunshine hit my face, I heard Blake’s voice as the door closed.

“That’s the woman he’s in love with.”

I placed my phone across the room on my dresser. The volume was set to loud; I had no doubt I’d hear the notification if one came in. But, I was tired of looking at the face of my phone every minute on the minute. For three days, I’d done just that.

I’d texted and called Sam repeatedly. Nothing. I fought against all I’d been taught—fight for what you wanted, what you loved, what you believed in. But, I knew Sam. I knew if I pushed her, she’d come out punching. So…I waited and prayed to a God I wasn’t even sure I believed in.

When my front door opened and closed, I assumed it was Blake.

“Jesus. It sort of stinks in here.”

Standing in my doorway, he threw a basketball at me. I swatted at it with my good hand, knocking it to the ground.

“Come on. We’re gonna shoot some hoops with Cody and Malik.”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel like it. And I think my hand is broken, dumbass.”

“Get up, Mac. This is ridiculous. And if it’s really broken, go to the hospital.”

I cleared my throat, making it sound way worse than what it should have. “I don’t feel well, I told you that. Besides, it’s nine o’clock. I’m tired.”

“Whatever, bro. The wedding is next weekend. I’ll pick you up so we can go get our tuxes. I don’t trust you at this point.” He bent down and snagged the basketball.