Chapter 1
Chapter One
Nick
This is a terrible idea.
“Seriously?” Avery’s voice rose to a high shriek behind him, a reaction he’d never gotten from her in the kitchen, no matter how much he’d ticked her off—and he’d done plenty of that.
Their arguments about food preparation and the menu could get heated, which was fun as hell. “Nick, you can’t… you don’t…”
Her insistence he ‘couldn’t’ take the class made him want to do it even more. Luke would probably say that was to be expected. He claimed Nick had always been contrary.
“Yes, I can, and I’m going to.” He glanced over his shoulder. “This is what you want, right?”
Avery was right behind him now, Domi and Rae only a few feet away, their heads together as they whispered.
Both of them seemed unsure how to react.
He’d only met them a couple times, but he knew they were kinky, submissive, and had made friends with Avery not long ago.
How, he didn’t know… maybe doing stuff on the second floor?
Fuck, he didn’t like that idea at all. Had Avery been coming up here all this time, and he’d not known?
Putting her hands on her hips, Avery took a deep breath that drew his attention to the tops of her breasts as they heaved within the corset. Seeing the direction of his gaze, she blushed bright pink, but it didn’t slow her down.
“This is what I might want,” she stressed. “And you and I, well… we haven’t… we aren’t…” Her tongue flicked out, licking her lips as if to help her think of what she wanted to say.
“We aren’t a couple?” He arched his eyebrow at her.
“No, not yet.” That was when he realized his decision had already been made.
No, they hadn’t done more than flirt and exchange a few hot kisses, but that was absolutely where he’d been heading.
He hadn’t admitted it to himself yet, but he would have never fooled around with a co-worker if he didn’t want an actual relationship. It never ended well.
Not that any of his previous relationships had ended well, but that was probably why he’d been attracted to Avery.
His previous girlfriends hadn’t understood a chef’s schedule or his dedication to his work and moving up in the restaurant industry.
Avery did, although she didn’t have any ambition to become an executive chef—he’d asked her once if that was what she was looking to do.
She was happy being a sous chef. She understood his schedule because she worked the same one.
Even though she didn’t want an exec chef position, she understood the pressures he was under and why he was a workaholic.
He’d never tried dating anyone from work, but that might have been because he’d been working his ass off to move up in the kitchen and saw everyone else there as a rival.
Now that he was in the top spot, all he had to do was prove he deserved to be there.
Avery wasn’t a rival. She was an integral part of the team that was helping him do that.
They could talk about work and food to their heart’s content, and she wouldn’t get sick of it—or him.
Avery gaped at him. Apparently, she hadn’t been quite on the same page.
“You’ve never even asked me on a date.” Rather than shrieking, she was whispering as if it was some kind of secret. Her hazel eyes darted back and forth, looking behind him, and it didn’t take a genius to know she was looking to see Olivia’s and Luke’s reactions.
“Fine.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “Want to go on a date?”
Instead of answering, Avery hushed him, looking as though she was going to have a conniption.
“Avery?” Domi stepped forward to take Avery’s arm.
She was a cute little thing, petite in every sense of the word, with tight, springy curls that bounced around her head with every movement she made.
Behind her, Rae was glaring suspiciously at Nick, watching over both Avery and Domi with a protective gaze.
When Nick met her gaze, she tossed some of her long braids over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. Do not piss off the girlfriends. He quickly turned his attention back to Avery. “Do you want us to stay out here with you?”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Avery reached up to rub the center of her forehead, a move Nick recognized from the kitchen, which meant he’d gotten on her last nerve, and she was doing everything in her power to hold back her desire to yell at him.
As always, it made him smirk. Normally, she was so cool, calm, and collected, he considered it a badge of honor to get under her skin.
“Domi, Rae, why don’t you two go inside.
Freddy can show you to your seats.” Olivia came up beside Nick, making him jump.
He hadn’t heard her approach. How the hell did she do that in heels on a wood floor?
The office had a rug, but he was standing on the wood.
“Avery will be in with you shortly, but I think it might benefit her and Nick to have a quick talk first.”
Avery
A quick talk? Avery wasn’t sure that was possible. There was way too much to talk about.
Nick discovering she was kinky.
Nick suddenly deciding he was going to try being kinky, too.
Nick thinking he would try to be kinky because he wanted to date her.
She’d barely gotten used to the idea dating the executive chef at the restaurant where she worked wasn’t the most insane idea in the world—this felt like they’d skipped a few steps.
Getting into kink wasn’t something someone did for a casual hookup or even after a few dates.
Yes, they’d known each other for months, but that time had been spent working together, not dating!
“You’ve got this,” Domi whispered in her ear, taking Avery’s hand to give it a squeeze.
“If you don’t want him, tell him. We’ll back you up.” Rae gave Avery’s fingers a quick squeeze as well, her words making Avery stifle a laugh.
She was so lucky to have found the two of them.
“Come in,” Olivia said again, gesturing impatiently. Nick had already moved into the space between the two chairs in front of Olivia’s desk. His brother occupied one of them, which meant he was leaving the other one open for her.
Avery only hesitated for a moment before coming in and closing the door behind her. Before moving to take her seat, she let out all the air in her lungs, which felt great—she wasn’t used to wearing a corset. As she did so, Luke gave her an encouraging smile that she returned.
It was funny how the two brothers could look so alike yet be so different.
They both had the same darkly handsome good looks, and no one could mistake them for anything but brothers.
They also had a similar air of confidence, but Nick’s was far more hard-edged.
Luke also looked way more relaxed and had a soothing demeanor, whereas Nick was always wound tight as a wire.
Where Luke was a placid pool of calm, Nick was quivering with barely contained energy.
Yet something about Nick had always called to her, while she’d never been attracted to Luke, even though she thought he was very attractive.
Sitting down gingerly in the seat, she was very aware of Nick looming behind her. He probably had a fantastic view straight down to her boobs. She totally did not sit up straighter and take a nice deep breath when she realized that… at least, not on purpose.
Taking her own seat, Olivia looked across her desk at them, folding her hands in front of her.
“So… Nick, I take it your sudden interest in the Dominant’s class is because you found out Avery is a submissive?”
Trust Olivia to stab right into the heart of the matter. Avery’s cheeks flushed hot red.
“I’m not sure I’m really still submissive. That’s part of why I—” Avery’s teeth snapped shut with a click when Olivia transferred her steely gaze to meet Avery’s. Oops. Avery’s head dropped, and she studied her hands without even thinking about it.
“You’re submissive, sweetheart,” Olivia said gently.
“That doesn’t go away, even if you haven’t been in a club or had someone to be kinky with for a while.
It’s possible to deny or ignore parts of ourselves, but that doesn’t mean that part is actually gone.
I’d hazard part of the reason you questioned whether you really are is you wanted to see where things could go with Nick, and you knew he’s not kinky. ”
Avery bit her tongue. She’d heard Olivia was observant enough to seem psychic, but she’d never had it turned on her. She almost sagged with relief when Olivia returned her attention to Nick.
“Nick?” Olivia prompted him.
“Yes.” Short, simple, succinct, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Yes, of course, his interest in taking the class had to do with his employee, who he wasn’t actually dating.
Avery buried her face in her hands.
“Is there a problem with that?” he asked, sounding confused.
Dropping her hands, Avery twisted in her seat, as much as her corset would allow, to look up at him with exasperation. She pretended not to notice when his eyes dropped to her boobs before returning to her face.
“Is there? We’re not… I mean, we’ve flirted. We’ve kissed. You just asked me on a first date less than five minutes ago, and I haven’t even said yes… yet. Don’t you think you’re moving a little fast?”
“When I know what I want, I get it.” He shrugged his shoulder. “I want you.”
Now she was breathless for an entirely different reason. His unswerving confidence was part of what she found so hot, even when it was infuriating.
“Well, this should be fun,” Luke muttered, but when Avery looked at him, he winked. He actually looked as if he was having fun watching her and his brother face off.
“I think the best thing we can do right now is give the two of you some space to talk. Then, Nick, you need to read over this, fill it out, and sign it.” Olivia picked up a small folder on her desk and handed it to Nick, who stepped forward to take it, his brow furrowed.
“Have you been holding onto this just in case I finally decided to take the class?”
The look she gave him was withering. It wasn’t even directed at Avery, and she still felt like shrinking into her seat. Nick was made of stronger stuff, though he took a step back and looked a little abashed.
“No, honey, I have a stack of them here because the next class starts on Monday, and I’ve been getting together the materials for the students.” Olivia shook her head. “Though I’m sure it’s tempting to believe the world revolves around you.”
“Can’t prove that it doesn’t,” Nick said with a wink. “You might have not known I was signing up today, but the universe was prepared for me.”
Olivia’s lips twitched, and she almost smiled. Had to admire Nick’s balls.
“He’s insufferable,” Luke said, shaking his head. He caught Avery’s eye again. “Are you sure you want him? You can do better. There’s a bunch of Doms at Stronghold who already know what they’re doing.”
Avery laughed, more at the expression on Nick’s face than at Luke’s joke—his big brother clearly knew how to get under his skin.
“Let’s give them a few minutes,” Olivia said, interrupting what was sure to be an outburst by Nick.
Getting to her feet, she shot Luke a stern look and crooked her finger.
He stood, grinning cheekily, not at all put-off.
Luke murmured something in her ear as they went to the door, which made her chuckle.
The door closed behind them, leaving her dressed in fet gear next to her boss and crush.
Great.