Chapter Lexi
LEXI
She was having second thoughts. Not about the job. Not about the fights. Certainly not about Grayson. Not even about posing as his sub. Her brain put the biggest set of air quotes it could imagine around ‘posing’. Were they even acting anymore? It didn’t feel like it.
“Thank you,” she decided was a safe answer.
His acknowledgment of the fact that she might feel pressured felt important. She figured plenty of guys in his position wouldn’t even think of it or worse, they might use it. Grayson’s eyes tracked over every inch of her face, which made her blush all over again.
“When you blush,” he asked casually, “do you think it’s more from embarrassment, shyness, or attraction?”
Lexi blinked. She’d never considered it before - why she was blushing. She felt the heat recede as her brain turned it over.
“Probably a mix of all three,” she said, getting comfortable in the subject.
From Grayson’s expression, it wasn’t the answer he was hoping for. A small kernel of tension lodged itself in her chest. Maybe she could explain.
“I’m always attracted to you,” she said, and dropped her gaze back to the blanket. “And then sometimes I don’t know what to do with that. And I’m embarrassed that I don’t know what to do with it. And I’m not naturally shy, I guess I’m still figuring out how to be… submissive.”
Grayson nodded like it was the most sensible thing in the world, and she felt the knot inside her chest dissolve. She laid her head on his chest with a little sigh. This relationship shit was exhausting.
“And what I said earlier? About feeling like you have to?”
Lexi answered with her head still on his chest.
“I don’t have to. I need to.” She raised her head to look at him. “They’re different,” she finished.
“Very,” he agreed, a nanosecond before his mouth was on hers. His lips were a little chilled, and he tasted of sex and hot chocolate; a delicious combination. Lexi moaned into his mouth. After running his hands all over her, Grayson gentled the kiss and drew back.
“So how will things be in the club?” Lexi asked.
She needed to know what he would want from her in front of people.
“I’d like to have a debut date night,” he said, and he shifted her back on the chaise a little. Lexi realized while it was comfortable on his lap for her, judging by the bulge in the front of his pants, it wasn’t for him.
“Do you want me to move?” she asked.
“If I want you to move, Miss Lexi, you’ll know it, because I’ll be moving you.”
She managed not to roll her eyes, but barely. She gave him a droll look and belatedly remembered the hot chocolate in her hand. He gave her a wink, making her grin, before continuing.
“In the club, I like my subs to stay at my feet,” he said casually, and the hot chocolate lodged itself in her throat.
Grayson laughed uproariously, and ran his hands up and down her arms. The blanket slipped off one shoulder, letting cold air into her little bubble of warmth, and she shivered. Grayson stopped laughing to re-tighten the blanket around her.
“That’s a little too much for me, but I guess if you really wanted to, I wouldn’t mind,” he said with a small smile still lighting his face.
Lexi didn’t bother to hold back the eye roll. Grayson shrugged.
“I like knowing you’re having a good time in my club. I want to see you enjoying yourself, whatever that means. If you want to dance, I want you to dance. If you want to drink, open a tab in my name. If you want to go into a playroom, then I want you to.”
“A playroom? What happened to you being possessive and insecure?”
“Let’s just leave that at possessive, shall we?
” Grayson smiled sharply. “As soon as we have our debut and I figure out how to mark you,” he said with a little frown, “everyone here will know you belong to me, Alessandra. From the door guys to the bartenders to the musicians, and they won’t be shy about it. ”
He paused and brushed some of her hair back behind her ear. The move sprouted a little tendril of warmth in her chest, and she leaned into his hand.
“You’ll get preferential treatment,” he said, and held her face with one hand. “From here on out you don’t have to pay for anything under this roof, everything is on me.”
Lexi raised her eyebrows. That was unexpected.
“And it’s incredibly unlikely you’ll get hit on.”
Lexi smiled. This “job” was getting better and better.
“If you do want to play in any of the rooms, or if you want to mess around with anyone, come talk to me first.”
Confused, she looked up at him.
“I thought you said we were exclusive?”
Grayson nodded.
“As far as being in a relationship, yes, and I would very much prefer it if you didn’t want anyone but me, but I try to have an open mind.”
Lexi blinked. Huh. Open minded indeed.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Are you going to talk to me before you hook up with anyone else?”
Grayson blinked down at her.
“Alessandra, I have not once in my life been attracted to anyone the way that I am to you. I doubt very much if I’ll be attracted to anyone else.”
Her heart leapt. But still…
“That’s not an answer.”
Grayson sighed.
“Yes, Miss Alessandra, I assure you I will talk with you if I find myself in the unlikely situation of wanting to be with another woman.”
Satisfied, Lexi nodded and looked back up at the sky. His chest was warm as she rested forward on it, and she could hear the faint sounds of traffic coming from the highway.
The toll of the Philadelphia clock tower chimed the hour, and on cue, she yawned. Grayson took what was left of the hot chocolate from her, and she took the opportunity to burrow deeper under the blankets. It really was getting cold.