The Businessman's Tie (The Power to Please, Book 1) (14 page)

That was reassuring. “Do you know if he’s ever been serious
with anyone?”

“Nobody since I’ve known him. But really, honey, there’s no
point in being worried about the future and all. You don’t hardly know him yet,
so how do you know if you’ll even want to see him after your five nights are
up?”

Good point. “This is all so strange. I don’t know how to
move around in this world. I’m not even sure what questions I should be
asking.”

The waitress delivered my drink then left us alone.

“There ya go,” Elaine said. “You’re smart enough to realize
you don’t know a damned thing. If it was me, I’d want to know if Michael has
ever seriously hurt anyone, without permission, or went too far and ignored
safe words.”

I sipped my drink and gave her an “and?” look.

“And the answer is no. I’ve never heard of Michael doing
that. As far as I know, he obeys the rules of safe, sane and consensual. Those
are important rules for us in the life. Whatever you do, you want to play with
people who obey ’em. Safe, sane and consensual. Don’t forget ’em. They pretty
much speak for themselves.”

“Here’s the thing,” she said, “I don’t want to scare you,
honey, but you’ve got to be careful. Just like everywhere else, there are good
and bad people in the life, and it’s not easy to tell who’s who. We rely on
each other to police ourselves. If we learn someone isn’t who they should be,
we try to make sure everybody else knows about it. It’s hard to protect
everyone, but we try. And lots of us especially try to protect newcomers like
you.”

“I appreciate it.”

She waved me off. “It’s nothing but what we should do.
Anyway, that’s all just my long-winded way of saying I’ve never heard about
Michael breaking the big three rules. I will say, though, I heard one rumor
that bothered me a little.”

“What was it?”

“It supposedly happened before Ron and I moved to town.
We’ve only been here about a year and a half, ya know. So, I heard that there
was a sub of his spreading it around that Michael hadn’t treated her right. The
person who told me the story didn’t know exactly what it was that Michael did
to the gal. It’s hard to judge what’s true when you’ve got so little to go by.
There’s good and bad Doms, sure, but there’s also good and bad subs. She could
have been lying, wanting revenge for him dumping her, or whatever, or she could
have been telling the truth. Who knows?”

“All I can tell you for sure,” she said, “is that I’ve never
personally seen him do anything bad to anyone, or at least, not do anything bad
that someone didn’t give him the go-ahead to do. But we don’t spend a ton of
time with him, so take that with a grain of salt.”

I recalled The Businessman, Gibson, and how he warned me to
be careful around Michael. He said I should protect my interests. Maybe he’d
heard the rumor, too, and that was why he wasn’t more specific with his
warning. All the same, it was reassuring that Elaine knew no personal ill of
Michael.

“Do you know a man named Gibson Reeves?” I asked.

“I don’t know him personally. But I know who you’re talking
about. People have pointed him out to me.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“Nope. Just hearsay.” She studied me. “How do you know
Gibson Reeves?”

I debated my answer, not sure how much I wanted her to know.
“About who he is, practically nothing. But physically, yeah, I know him. He,
uh, he made me an offer, too, sort of.”

Elaine let loose a loud peal of laughter. “Well now, Miss
Nonnie Crawford, aren’t you somethin’? Hee hee! I love you young gals. I tell
you what, if I were 15 years younger, and single, I’d be doin’ the exact same
thing. Two offers, you say? From men like Michael Weston and Gibson Reeves?
That’s somethin’. Good for you!”

I didn’t know what to say to this hearty response. I gave a
bit of a sheepish shrug. “I didn’t plan it. It just sort of happened. Really.
I’m not kidding.”

She wouldn’t stop chuckling. I shook my head and waited for
her to knock it off.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s not that I don’t believe
you, it’s just that I had this idea of who you are, and knowing you’ve also
spent time with Gibson Reeves, well, it threw me. It’s great. Good on ya. Now
listen ...”

She leaned across the table and with a lowered voice,
confided in me. “Like I said, I don’t personally know Reeves, but I’ve heard
plenty about him. Everybody says he’s some super-wealthy big shot, but he
doesn’t flash his money around the way some rich folks do. They say he’s super
private and that you never see him in the display rooms at the clubs. Some say
they’ve seen him in action at parties. I doubt it, though. Lots of folks say he’s
cold and proud, but I’ve also heard people say he’s helped others out of
scrapes.”

She shrugged. “I even heard a rumor that he’s a part owner
of Private Residence. I’ve also heard that he’s part of a crime family, you
know, like the mob, but I think that’s total nonsense. I’ve seen thugs in my
time, and that man’s no thug. I’d place a bet on it.”

“Also,” she said, “I’ve never heard anything about him not
obeying the rules of safe, sane and consensual. Not even a hint of it. Nothin’.
Some of these women make it sound like they’d trade their first born to have a
chance to be with him. Don’t give me that face. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a
bit on that one, but still.”

So, my Gibson was a source of rampant conjecture for the
local BDSM community. I wasn’t surprised. My experience with him proved how
enigmatic he could be. Also, I was now certain that Michael hadn’t been
truthful about his knowledge of Gibson. If Elaine had heard all these rumors,
then certainly Michael would have. Perhaps Michael didn’t want to spread
gossip.

Elaine interrupted my speculations. “So what kind of offer
did he make you? Come on, girl. Give it up.”

I smiled at her. “Honestly, I’m not sure. He wants to see me
again, that’s all I know.”

Elaine made a singsong sound like, hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm. “This is
what I call a serious dilemma. I don’t suppose there’s any way you could have
both of them, is there?”

I enjoyed how she lightened the situation. I laughed.
“Afraid not. I was told I have to choose.”

“Well, damn! If that isn’t just like Doms for ya. Oh sure,
they wanna share and all, but they still demand a main claim to their sub.
Wouldn’t wanna be in your shoes tryin’ to pick between those two. Oh, hell, who
am I kidding? I’d love to be in your shoes.”

“I don’t know, Elaine. I feel like I’ve been trying to
figure this out for ages.”

“That’s okay. We’ll work it out. We can make pro and con
lists for both of ‘em.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the absurd suggestion. The idea
of making a pro and con list for choosing a dominant — ridiculous. “Let’s not,”
I said.

“You’re right! I have a better idea. Now just hear me out.”

“Okay.”

“The way I see it is this. You’ve got two hot men interested
in you. They’ve both got a lot to recommend them. Both have money. If the
rumors are to be believed, Reeves has a big edge on that one, but I know that
Michael’s set financially. He owns some kind of media business. What else?
They’re both good Doms as far as we know. They’re both good lookin’ in
different ways.”

“Yeah, you’ve already said they’re hot.”

“Indulge me, honey. I can’t help myself. Anyway, like I
said, they’re hot in different ways. Reeves has that dark, mysterious action,
and Michael’s got those wolf eyes and that long hair.”

“Ha! You think they’re wolf eyes, too.”

“Don’t know what else you’d call ’em. Let’s see. What else.
Oh, Michael’s younger, closer to your age. How old are you? Twenty-five,
twenty-six?”

“Twenty-nine.”

“Michael’s only a few years older than you, then. But Reeves
must be closer to 40, around my age. That’s a pretty big difference.”

Gibson didn’t seem old when he was fucking me, I thought,
but kept that part to myself, not wanting Elaine to expire of apoplexy.

“Age isn’t really an issue for me,” I said.

“Al-righty then.” She pursed her lips and thought for a
moment. She squinted at me and a slow smile spread across her face. “We agree
that it’s pretty equal between them, right?”

I told her yes.

“Then here’s my idea. I know you’re supposed to choose just
one and all. But I guess I’m not seeing why you can’t have your cake and eat it
too, if you know what I mean.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“You’re not thinking rationally. You said you aren’t even
sure what Reeves is offering. But you know that Michael is asking for five
nights.”

I nodded. Wow, this woman did enjoy drawing things out.

She wasn’t done yet. “So what’s to stop you from accepting
Michael’s offer of five nights? Give him the full tryout. Then, when those five
nights are over, you’ll give Reeves a call and take him up on his offer. You
see what I’m saying?”

I had to admit, I was beginning to see it, and I liked the
way she thought. “But Gibson said I had to choose, that I can’t have them
both.”

“Oh honey, it’s just five nights. Reeves probably meant a
permanent choice of some kind. Don’t look at me like that. For all you know
that’s what he meant. Anyway, what are the chances he’ll find out you accepted
Michael’s offer first?”

Hmm. The woman had a serious point. She was tempting me, and
she knew it.

“Come on now,” she said. “It’s the perfect solution. And
anyway, you might find out that you don’t want to be with anyone but Michael
after those five nights. Who’s to say? I just think you shouldn’t burn your
bridges with Reeves. Accept Michael’s offer, but don’t tell Reeves that you did
it. Nothing wrong with that.”

“You’re a wily woman, Elaine Hoyte.”

She grinned. “Don’t I know it. Come on. Do it for all us old
gals who’ll never have a chance at something like this.”

“Right, I’ll do it for you ‘old gals.’ You don’t seem old to
me.”

“I’m old enough to tell you not to pass up a chance like
this. I’ve got age and wisdom on my side. I’m just sayin’.”

“I think you’re convincing me.”

“Good for you, honey.” She raised her glass.

I took a long drink and considered Elaine’s argument. Why
not do it? Who was Gibson to order me to choose anyway? I was a modern woman
living in the twenty-first century in a free country. I mean, sure, this BDSM
stuff had medieval elements about it, but I personally wasn’t living in the
Iron Age.

For the first time since I’d been put in the position of
choosing, I felt pretty damned good. I didn’t have to choose. Elaine was right.
I could have them both, if I wanted.

I was going to do it.

I called the waitress over and ordered another round for me
and my devilish mentor.

Elaine and I chatted for nearly another hour. She grew
serious at one point and began talking about some of the things I should know
about BDSM. Before I left, she gave me a list of Web sites she recommended to
newbies and told me to get out there and educate myself.

Back in my apartment, I ate a quick dinner and tried to
pluck up the courage to call Michael. I noticed Gibson’s tie hanging over the
back of a chair. How many times had I looked at that tie during the days since
I last saw its owner? How many times had I held it to my nose, remembering how
it felt to kiss him, to have his hands on me? To have him inside me.

All of this started with Gibson, with that tie. I picked it
up, took it to my bedroom, draped it over a hanger then hung it up at the very
back of my closet.

Gibson may have begun this journey, but I’d be traveling the
next stage with Michael. I returned to the living room and found my cell phone.

As soon as I placed the call to Michael, my nerves kicked
in. What if he didn’t answer? What if I had to leave a message?

What would I say? Hi, you wanted to have five dates with me.
No, that was stupid. Hi, I want those five nights you offered. Better, but not
good enough.

Turned out my practice message was of no use. Michael
answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Uh,” was my sterling response. “Yeah, Michael. This is
Nonnie ... Nonnie Crawford. We met the other night at —”

“Nonnie,” he said, his voice as smooth and sexy as I remembered,
“finally, you called. I was beginning to give up hope. I thought I might have
to hunt you down and convince you in person.”

“You’re assuming that I’m calling to accept your offer.”

“I’d never assume anything with you. I’m simply pleased to
hear your voice. I’ll admit, though, I’m hoping you’ve called to tell me yes.
I’ve thought about you many times since we met.”

“I’ve thought about you, too.” Duh. Understatement.

“If you think it might help, I’d be happy to meet with you
tonight. Try to persuade you.”

“I’m aware of how persuasive you are.”

His low laugh sent a shiver through me.