Chapter 2
Chapter Two
As soon as Cara spotted an exit, she worked her way toward it. Being at the rear of the event hall and near the ladies’ room, it wasn’t the same way she entered, but it was at least a way to get outside quickly to take a few breaths of fresh air.
Clear her head.
Maybe reevaluate the situation.
When she began to head back to the lodge, she noticed a group of people standing and chatting near the front corner of the hall.
She changed course and decided to walk around the other side of the building, hoping not to run into anyone who would make her feel more out of place than she already did. Not on purpose, of course, but still…
At the very rear of the building, she was surprised to find an exterior stairway with a small lighted sign pointing up to the second floor that read, Stairway to Heaven .
With a frown, she glanced up and saw another sign over a second-level, windowless door that simply said Heaven .
Interesting.
She really should’ve sat down and read the guest binder in her room that included all of the resort’s details.
In fact, she should’ve stayed in her room and read it from cover to cover instead of, again, jumping into this world feet first tonight.
Normal people would’ve tested the water prior to diving head first.
She would start reading it as soon as she got back to her room and wouldn’t leave again until she read every damn word. But what she wasn’t doing tonight was climbing those stairs.
After quickly rounding the other back corner of the building to return to her room, she ran smack into a wall.
The impact caused all the oxygen to flee her lungs at the same time as long, strong fingers dug into her arms to keep her from falling backwards and onto her ass.
No, not an actual wall. A large, hard body that might as well be made of bricks.
“Whoa there! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m…” She shook her head. “No.”
The brick wall released her and took a step back. “What’s the problem? Is someone bothering you?”
Just myself.
Her gaze skimmed over him. Something about him felt familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. Even so, the dark-blond man was sinfully handsome. She didn’t need the sun to see it. The exterior of the event hall was very well lit. Most likely as a safety precaution. “No, I…”
“You…” he prompted.
She blew out a breath. “I’m just a little overwhelmed.”
He smirked. “Some of the events can get a bit wild.”
It wasn’t that. “It’s not my scene,” she admitted.
One eyebrow shot up. “No? What is?”
She was a librarian. Her normal scene was a quiet library, surrounded by books. Her normal scene was getting lost in a good story and transported away to another world. Or helping others to do the same.
More recently, Cara’s fantasy worlds included kink, lots of spicy sex, and BDSM. Tonight might be proof she shouldn’t necessarily make it a reality. “I work in a library.”
“I’d say that’s quite the opposite of what’s going on in there.” He jerked his chin toward the building.
“Yes.”
“A librarian, huh? Where are your glasses and messy bun held together with a number two pencil?”
She let herself relax a smidge and smile. “That’s a stereotype.”
He shrugged. “It’s a sexy one.”
“You think glasses and buns are sexy?”
“Sure. Why not? I think a lot of looks are sexy. That’s why people role-play.”
“You’ve been with someone pretending to be a librarian?”
“Sure, as well as school girl, maid, nurse…cheerleader…” His deep chuckle enveloped her. “Anyway, intelligence is sexy as fuck.”
“You’re assuming most librarians are intelligent,” she countered.
“Aren’t they?”
“Well…I do have my master’s in library science.
” Like that was impressive. It wasn’t like her career made her rich.
Actually, it was the opposite. She’d wanted to be a librarian ever since she was able to read.
Growing up, her family didn’t have much, so losing herself in a good book transported her to places she never thought she’d be able to go.
She could also pretend to be one of the characters for a little while.
“See? Super smart equals super sexy in my view.”
Did he consider her sexy? Did she dare ask? If she did, would he answer truthfully? “We’re usually nerds, too. ”
“Nerds can be fun.”
“Are you a nerd?”
“I could be considered one. You work with words. I work with numbers.”
“An accountant?”
“Not quite, but close enough. So…if what’s going on inside isn’t your scene, why did you come here?”
When he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, her heart fluttered. Normally she didn’t like any stranger touching her without permission. So, why didn’t his touch bother her? Was it because of where they were and what the resort was about?
“To the party or to the resort?”
He cocked his head. “I’ll take an answer for both.”
“I don’t know.” That wasn’t a lie.
With his hands now on his hips, he studied her. “Have you ever done anything like this before?”
He couldn’t tell she was out of her element? Or was he only being kind?
“No.”
“Did you book your stay because you were curious?”
She released a dry laugh. “Pretty expensive curiosity.” At the time, she was forcing herself to be brave. Once again, tonight proved she was anything but.
“Are you curious about this kind of life? Or are you here to discover your deepest, darkest desires?”
“I don’t have any dark desires,” she admitted. She had desires, but didn’t consider any of them dark.
She frowned. Or were they? She had no idea what was considered taboo and what wasn’t. At least in the real world and not in a fictional one.
“But you want to discover the real you who’s been hiding deep inside. ”
She jerked up one shoulder. “Maybe I simply needed a change.”
The corners of his very beautiful mouth curled up slightly. “Said the woman who broke off a long-term relationship full of shitty sex.”
She stared at him, not sharing his amusement.
“C’mon. Admit it.”
“I wasn’t in a long-term relationship.”
“You mean recently,” he guessed. “Now you’re here looking for what had been missing from your former…whatever.”
She wasn’t getting into her past relationship with a stranger.
She was in her thirties. She wasn’t a virgin. She dated here and there. But it had taken her a while to scrape free from her former boyfriend. He had been determined to marry Cara. She had been determined not to.
But what this man guessed was true. The dry and uninspired sex had left something to be desired. She usually had to fake an orgasm to get Glenn to finish and get off her.
However, their problems weren’t only about their sex life, but the fact Glenn had been having sex with someone else. Someone Cara was close to. She hoped her best friend found that the shitty sex with Glenn was worth destroying their ten-year-long friendship over.
The smartest decision she made was to keep her own place and not move in with him. It made breaking it off much easier.
For her, anyway.
His anger about her leaving him turned ugly and it took a while for him to finally face the fact she wasn’t coming back to him. She’d rather stay single the rest of her life, read piles of books, and pull out her vibrator when needed .
While it kept life simple, sometimes loneliness crept in. It was that combination of loneliness and curiosity that made her search out a place like Double D Ranch.
“So, if it’s not years of shitty sex with an asshole partner, what made you come here? I’ll go back to my previous question about it being curiosity.”
“More or less.” Again, she wasn’t discussing her former relationship with a stranger—she didn’t even know his name—behind a building.
“And what did you see, do, or hear to bring that about?”
Oh crap. Should she admit it? Saying it out loud could make her sound like a na?ve fool.
“You don’t have to be ashamed of your answer. We don’t shame people here. We encourage. Support. We even teach.”
Teach. Maybe that was what she needed. Someone to hold her hand and explain the details. Details that could very well be wrong in many of the romances she’d read. At the time, she hadn’t cared about accuracy since it was only fiction, but now…
Holy shit. Maybe all the books got it wrong and she was totally unprepared. She needed to know the truth. “I’ve…read things.”
“Articles?”
She shook her head. “No, books.”
“How-tos?”
“No…”
His brow dropped low.
“Fiction,” she explained, wondering if she’d regret it. “Romance, erotica…”
“Wait…” He huffed out a breath. “You came here solely because you read sexy romance novels?”
Heat filled her cheeks. “That was stupid, wasn’t it?”
“Did you do any of your own research?”
He thought librarians were smart. She just proved him wrong. “Isn’t that what this is?”
He threw his head back and laughed.
She pulled in an irritated breath. “Have a good night.”
He quickly sobered. “No, wait!”
When he grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving, she glared at his hand. He released her immediately and threw up his palms in surrender. “Sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you but because…”
“Because I’m a fool.”
“No. If anything, you’re brave. I’ve never read a romance novel but I can’t imagine…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is they opened your mind to trying new things, right?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged. “Then who cares about the reasoning used to come here? The fact is, you’re here.
Now you can safely see and experience all this place has to offer…
in reality. The beauty of this resort is you can do as little or as much as you’d like.
No pressure. You can spend your whole stay simply observing, if you wish. ”
His voice really sounded familiar, but she still couldn’t place him. “Do you work here?”
He hesitated. “I’m not an employee.”
“You’re a guest.”
“No.”
“An interloper?”
One eyebrow shot up. “Interloper?”
“Do you need me to define it?”
He blinked, then threw his head back again and laughed without reserve. “I can figure it out. Listen, why don’t you let me be your personal guide on this journey of self-discovery?”
“Does that pickup line normally work? ”
His deep chuckle sent a bolt of lightning down her spine and it ended as a twinge in her pussy. Damn it.
“But would it be considered self-discovery if you’re guiding me?”
“I’m willing to help. I know the ins and outs of this place and all that goes on here. I could be your mentor, guide, whatever you want to call me.”
“What should I call you?”
“My name is Dayne. Yours?”
“Cara.”
“Pleased to meet you, Cara.” His eyebrows bunched together. “That name isn’t very common but it sounds familiar. I might have talked to you on the phone.”
That was why his voice sounded familiar! “The one who wouldn’t give me his name,” she mumbled.
“Well, now you have it.”
“You said you weren’t an employee.”
“I’m not.”
“Then, what are you?”
“My brother and I own this place.”
She blinked. “It isn’t some big corporation?”
“Apparently, I wasted my time writing the About Us page for our website if no one reads it,” he said dryly.
“Anyway, this place is family-owned. It was formerly my father’s dairy farm, but once he passed, we turned it into this spectacular adult playground.
” He swept his arm out. “So, you can’t find anyone better, at least to show you around, if you don’t want to accept my offer of guidance. ”
“Right now I need to go back to my room and unwind .”
“That would be step two of the three suggested. Again, I can help with the third.”
She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered him. He looked normal enough. And it would be bad for business if the owner of the resort was a serial killer… “I’ll give it some thought.”
“Just give me a shout if you’d like my help. With anything.”
“And how would I get a hold of you?”
“I’m not hard to find since I’m always around.”
She doubted he was always around. He had to go home at some point. “Thank you for the offer. That’s very kind of you.”
One side of his mouth hooked up. “I didn’t make it out of kindness.”
Of course he didn’t. It was easy to see he had an ulterior motive. He probably hit on female guests all the time. With how he looked, she doubted he got shot down often.
However, she would not be an easy mark for him. She’d read through the guest binder tonight and tomorrow, explore on her own in the light of day. She gave him a single nod. “Goodnight.”
Without waiting for him to respond, she turned and walked along the building toward the lodge.
“Welcome to Double D, Cara,” she heard behind her. “Since I’m sure you’ve unpacked already, go unwind and prepare to get uninhibited.”
If only it was that easy.