Prologue
Nick
As much as Nick loved his job, it wasn’t nearly as much fun on nights when his sous chef, Avery, wasn’t working, especially on the weekends. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she might be doing instead.
Not going on a date, he was pretty sure, but all she’d said was she had ‘plans’ and needed tonight off. It made him grit his teeth, but he’d agreed… what else was he supposed to do?
Demand she tell him her plans?
As her boss, that wasn’t allowed.
Despite a few hot kisses and a wild attraction, they weren’t dating. Technically, that probably wasn’t allowed as her boss, but as long as she was willing, he wasn’t pushing her into anything she didn’t want, and they didn’t let it affect their work.
Still, he was in a worse mood than usual when he had to go upstairs to ask his brother’s girlfriend, who was also the manager, about the wine that was supposed to have been delivered today to be the pairing for tonight’s special.
He had to do his best not to take his mood out on her because she was his brother’s girlfriend, and his brother owned the place.
Yeah, Nick got his job through good old-fashioned nepotism.
At least, that’s how it sometimes felt, even though the other two owners had interviewed him and agreed to hire him.
He didn’t consider it a bad thing. It just made him that much more determined to make Marquis one of the top restaurants in the city and prove his place as executive chef was deserved.
Marquis worked a little differently than most restaurants because it was only a restaurant on the main floor. The second floor was a BDSM theater and hotel, which also provided dinner and room service, along with their other offerings.
It was the BDSM part that made Nick uncertain and uncomfortable, in large part because he knew his brother and his brother’s girlfriend were participating in some of those activities.
The fact Luke was Olivia’s submissive, rather than the other way round, made him even more conflicted. When he’d first learned Luke was interested in kink, he’d been horrified—men shouldn’t hit women. Period. It turned out, Luke was the one getting spanked.
Which really fucked with Nick’s head.
His big, strong, bossy brother being spanked—and other things he didn’t like to think about—by a woman?
It didn’t make sense, although meeting Olivia had helped dispel some of that.
The woman was scary as hell when she wanted to be.
He’d also learned a bit more about kink since they’d been together. Not enough to be entirely comfortable with it, but he’d never seen a woman or man leave the second floor look unhappy, as if they’d been abused, or… well, they all looked as though they’d thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Olivia had been after him to take one of the introduction classes. She thought he’d make a “good Dom,” whatever the hell that meant, but Nick always refused.
For one, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to spank a woman. Boss one around? Sure. He was bossy—he owned that—but hurt her? The very thought made his stomach tighten to the point of nausea.
Second, he was interested in Avery, his sous chef, who not only went toe-to-toe with him in the kitchen but knew what went on upstairs as well as he did and had never brought it up as a point of interest. If she had, he might be more predisposed to learn more about it, but right now, he was just fine without knowing.
Heading upstairs, Nick nodded to Freddy, who was manning the desk outside the Marquis’ main room where the stage was.
Dressed in a pink suit that clashed violently with the red-and-black décor of the room, Freddy looked entirely at home.
The blond grinned and finger waved at Nick before returning his attention to the computer in front of him, probably going over the reservations for the evening.
From here, everything looked like a normal hotel lobby, although decorated a bit more boldly than most hotels. However, behind the door to the right of Freddy’s desk, things got wild.
Shaking his head, Nick knocked on the door to Olivia’s office and waited until she called out, ‘Come in’ before opening it.
That hadn’t always been the case. For the first few months, Nick would knock and immediately open the door.
That had ended the day he’d discovered his brother and Olivia didn’t always remember to lock the door when they were enjoying their intraoffice romance.
He’d seen his brother’s junk plenty of times as a teenager and really didn’t need to see it as an adult. He hadn’t been able to look Olivia in the eye for weeks after seeing her boobs.
Opening the door, he found his brother was there as well, although fully clothed and sitting across from Olivia’s desk, doing something on his phone while she worked.
Looking up, Olivia’s silvery grey eyes locked on him, and a thin smile curved her lips.
She was a stunningly beautiful woman with red hair and creamy skin that looked good in the red suits she often wore.
Not that Nick was a fashionista, but he knew redheads supposedly didn’t look good in red—Olivia defied that stereotype with ease.
“Hello, Nick, to what do we owe the pleasure?” There was a slightly sardonic note to her voice, as if she was inwardly laughing at him. She’d sounded like that ever since he’d walked in on her and Luke. Apparently, she’d found it hilarious, especially his reaction.
Taking a seat in the chair next to his brother, Nick gave Luke a quick smile before turning his attention to Olivia to ask about the wine shipment. Of course, because Luke was there, they chatted for a few minutes after business wrapped up.
The dinner hour was fast approaching, and Nick felt the urge to get back downstairs, although he knew his staff would have everything handled. He was the control freak Avery often accused him of being, and being away from the kitchen during a busy hour made him itchy.
“I’d better get back to work,” he said, getting to his feet. Luke reached out so they could fist bump, causing Olivia to roll her eyes at him.
“Talking to me doesn’t count as work?” Olivia teased, clearly amused.
“Never.” Nick winked at her, which made her laugh, and Luke shook his head in amusement.
Sauntering back to the door, Nick opened it and stepped into the lobby of Marquis’ second floor, then came to a grinding halt. Blinked. Surely, he wasn’t seeing what he thought he was seeing…
“Avery?”
His buttoned-up—though still sexy as sin—sous chef was standing in the middle of the lobby of a sex club, dressed as if she belonged there.
The tank tops she wore under her chef coat had revealed she was curvy, but the corset pushed her breasts up into a deep cleavage that wasn’t possible with mere fabric. It also pulled in her waist to improbable proportions that made him want to rip the damn thing off so she could breathe again.
Uh-huh. Sure. That’s why you want to rip it off her.
The black leather skirt hugged her legs and was so short, he was pretty sure if she bent over, it would roll up to her waist. His dick pulsing at the idea, Nick shifted his stance uncomfortably, hoping his erection wasn’t obvious.
Fortunately, his drawstring pants were loose in the crotch. Three cheers for chef pants.
She stared back at him, eyes wide with horror, lips dropping open in shock at seeing him. The two women behind her, Domi and Rae, he’d met when Avery recently started hanging out with them.
“What are you doing up here?” he asked without thinking, even though he knew—knew—there was only one reason for her to be on the second floor of Marquis dressed like that. His brain couldn’t quite believe what his eyes were seeing.
“What are you doing up here?” Her voice was higher, squeakier than normal, as if she couldn’t believe she was seeing him, either.
“I had to ask Olivia a question.” Nick raked his hand through his hair. “Do you… do you do this?” He gestured toward the door to Marquis’ real entrance, where the shows were put on.
Avery
Shit, shit, shit! What do I do? The wailing in the back of her brain was incredibly distracting, but she couldn’t quite make it go away.
Panic. That’s what she was feeling. Straight up panic.
It was too late to run, even if she wasn’t wearing ridiculously high heels, which would probably cause her to trip, fall, and break her neck if she tried to dash down the stairs.
Pressing her lips together, she straightened, gathering her courage.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Behind her, Domi and Rae moved up on either side of her for support.
“I used to,” she answered Nick’s question.
“I used to do ‘this.’ Be submissive. Kinky. I came here tonight to watch the show and get an idea if it’s something I still want.
” Her eyes darted to Freddy, who worked the front desk at Marquis.
Nick’s appearance had interrupted the conversation they’d been having.
Should she admit she’d been trying to figure it all out in case she and Nick started dating?
She wasn’t sure if Nick would be okay with her outing them as a couple, especially since they weren’t really a couple, more like a possibility.
She definitely didn’t want to be outed where she worked, though there was no one from the kitchen up here right now. Freddy wouldn’t rat her out. She hoped.
Although they might not be a thing anymore, not even the possibility of something. She couldn’t interpret the expression on Nick’s face, one she’d never seen before despite months of working together and flirting. He was silent.
She’d heard a few of the remarks he’d made about Marquis’ second floor. They weren’t derogatory, exactly, but it had been made clear he wasn’t into kink and didn’t really understand people who were. That was why she needed to figure out whether or not she still was.
Of course, because it was her, she had to run into him on the way in. There was no way to hide that she was one of those people he didn’t understand.
He turned around, turning his back on her, and her heart sank.
But then he marched back into Olivia’s office.
Crap, he wouldn’t get her banned from watching the show or something, would he?
He didn’t have that kind of pull… except Olivia was his brother’s girlfriend, and his brother did part-own the place.
“Nick?” She hurried forward, a small kernel of anger stirring in her gut. It wasn’t any of his business what she did in her free time.
He completely ignored her as she came up behind him, addressing Olivia—who was sitting behind her desk, watching both of them like a hawk.
“Okay, Olivia, you’re finally getting your way. I want to sign up for the Dominant 101 course.”
Olivia’s lips curved in a smile, and Avery gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth.
What the…?