Chapter 2
Riley
“Ella, I gotta go,” I said.
“Five more minutes, Ry.” Ella propped her phone on an unseen table and leaned forward to stare at me through my small screen. “Why can I see your breath?”
“Because I’m in my car, and it’s frickin’ freezing here, even in the parking garage,” I said. “You’ve only been in Australia for two months. Have you already forgotten that we get cold and snowy in the winter?”
She laughed. “Turn your heater on, you dork.”
“I can’t. Marvin’s been making some real suspicious noises lately, and I’m afraid if I run him too much when I don’t need to, it’ll shorten his life span.”
“You need a new car, honey.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “How are things there?”
“Fine. I don’t want to talk about me right now. I want to talk about you and your,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “second job.”
“We just spent the last twenty minutes talking about it, and my lunch break is almost over,” I said.
“I’m worried about you,” Ella said. “I wish like fuck that we’d never gone out with Maria that night. You would never have known about this weird sex agency if it hadn’t been for her.”
“It’s not a sex agency,” I said. “It’s a sort of dating agency that matches people up based on their kinks.”
“It’s not a dating agency,” Ella said with a roll of her eyes. “Regardless of how they market it, I don’t like the idea of you letting some random dude, who could be a fucking sociopath murderer for all we know, do sex stuff to you alone in his house.”
“For the one billionth time, it’s perfectly safe, Ella,” I said. “The sisters who run the agency wouldn’t let anything like that happen to the people who work for them. I promise. They do so much background check stuff, there’s no possible way that anyone - those who work for the agency and those who use the agency - could hide anything. They spend a mad amount of money digging into people’s personal history.”
“Why do I have to be in Australia while all this is happening?” Ella said with a sigh. “This is the worst fucking timing for my job to give me a year-long international assignment.”
“Girl, this is your dream. Don’t you dare wish it hadn’t happened,” I said. “I’m thrilled for you even if I miss you like crazy.”
“I miss you too,” Ella said. “And I’m also insanely worried. What do you even really know about this Mr. Steele? And what kind of name is Mr. Steele anyway? Is he a Superman wannabe?”
I laughed. “It’s a fake name, you dork.”
“That’s what I mean. What kind of guy picks Steele as his fake name?” Ella said. “It’s hinky as hell.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said. “I think it sounds perfectly normal. As normal as my fake name is.”
“You should have used something other than your middle name,” Ella fretted. “What if he can find out who you really are?”
“He’ll only know me as Charlotte, and it’s a common name,” I said. “Ella, honey, you need to chill out before you give yourself a stroke. It’s going to be fine.”
“Why are you so calm about this?” Ella asked. “Not even a week ago, we had a three hour video chat that ended with you hyperventilating into a brown paper bag over the fact that you hadn’t chosen anyone yet and were gonna be fired by the Twisted Sisters.”
I laughed hard because Twisted Sisters fit Celeste and Catherine in a weird kind of way.
Ella grinned at me before sobering. “Seriously, honey. Why are you so calm?”
“I think I’m still in shock that this Mr. Steele even agreed to have me, uh… work with him. He’s incredibly good looking, and I’m… me.”
Ella’s cheery face immediately turned thunderous. “You are a stone cold fucking fox, Riley Charlotte Gates. Of course he would pick you. A man would have to be dead inside to turn down the chance to have you on your knees calling him sir.”
I blushed to the roots of my hair, wishing I’d never told Ella the specifics of my kink and the things I would have to do if I chose someone at the agency to work with. “Please tell me you’re by yourself right now.”
“Totally alone in my apartment. It’s two in the morning, and I just got home from the club,” she said. “And if you can’t even talk about your kink without blushing, there might be a problem.”
“It might work for me,” I said. “Add to the ‘good girl’ act, right?”
“Fair point,” Ella said.
I hesitated and said, “Do you think I’m weird for wanting this type of kink, Ella?”
She gave me a warm smile. “You know I don’t, love. Your kink isn’t anything to be ashamed of, and I hope you never feel that it is. We all have our thing, and, honestly, praise kink isn’t all that kinky. Who doesn’t like to be told they’re amazing, you know?”
“I know, but it’s more than just that for me,” I said. “I crave it, and even just thinking that I can please someone enough to get their genuine praise in the bedroom gets me…”
“Hot and bothered,” Ella said with a grin. “It’s not weird, Ry, I promise.”
“Okay,” I said. I glanced at my watch. “Oh shit, I gotta go. My lunch hour ended four minutes ago. Jamie’s gonna kill me.”
“No, he won’t. He loves you,” Ella said. “I still can’t believe he’s leaving the company.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said morosely before blowing Ella a kiss. “I love you, Ella. I’ll text you later.”
We ended the video call, and I hauled ass across the parking garage to the elevator. I stabbed the elevator button with a cold finger and checked through my emails on my phone. There was a new one from Celeste, and shivers wracked my body that had nothing to do with the chill I felt.
The elevator arrived, and I stepped inside, punching the button for my floor and opening the email as the doors slid closed. I read the short note, my heartbeat thumping in my ears. Mr. Steele had requested me for our first play session… tomorrow night at seven.
“You can do this,” I whispered as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. “It’s no big deal.”
* * *
I had only takena few steps out of the elevator when the toddler, his dark hair sticking every which way and a wide grin on his face, came around the corner. His face lit up when he saw me, and I immediately crouched and held out my arms.
He giggled and staggered down the hallway in that awkward drunken sailor sway that all toddlers just learning to walk had. I scooped him into my arms and smothered his face with kisses as he giggled again.
“Hi, Noah baby. How’s my favourite boy?”
He grinned at me and patted my face with his sticky fingers before resting his head on my chest.
“Oh, Noah, you’re covered in banana.” His mom, Lina, came hurtling around the corner. Well, as much as one could hurtle when they were eight months pregnant. “Sorry, Riley.”
“You know I don’t care,” I said before kissing Noah’s cheek. “How are you, Lina?”
“Good,” she said, “Except for the terrible heartburn and swollen ankles. Such a cliche, right? But here I am.”
“Well, you look very glowy and beautiful,” I said.
“Liar,” she said with a laugh. “But you are my favourite for lying so well about it.”
I smiled at her as Noah lifted his head and peered over my shoulder. He made an excited squeal before shouting, “Da!” and squirming to be free. I set him down, turning to watch him lurch his way down the hall to the tall, dark-haired man who scooped him up and kissed his cheek before settling him in the crook of his arm.
He joined us, and the look he gave Lina made me get all weirdly gooey inside. What I wouldn’t give to have a guy look at me like I was the only person who mattered.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Wright,” I said.
“Hello, Ms. Gates.” He didn’t take his gaze from Lina.
“Hi, honey.” Lina smiled at him as he leaned down to press a kiss against her mouth.
“How was the appointment?” He stared anxiously at her.
“It was fine, Aiden. No worries, everything is normal.”
“I knew I should have gone,” he said.
Lina laughed. “You couldn’t miss the meeting. Besides, I just told you that everything is normal. Our girl is baking up just fine.”
Aiden rested his hand on her belly before kissing Noah again. “Were you a good boy for your mama at the appointment?”
Noah nodded. “Mama, more banana?”
“Yes, you may have some more,” Lina said. “But I left it in Daddy’s office.”
Aiden took Lina’s hand before turning to me. “Jamie is looking for you.”
“Thank you,” I said. With a wave at Lina, I turned down the hallway toward Jamie’s office. My desk was in a small alcove outside of Jamie’s office, and I dropped off my purse and jacket before knocking on Jamie’s door.
“Come in!”
I stepped into the office, smiling a little at the chaos of his office. As the company”s CFO, Jamie was the exact opposite of what most people thought an accountant should be. He was funny and personable, and while he was incredibly smart and did his job well, he tended to be unorganized. I didn’t mind, to be honest. Helping Jamie do his job well, knowing that I was part of what made our department run so smoothly, made me happy. Just another part of my praise kink, I supposed. I wasn’t the least bit attracted to Jamie, but I still craved his approval, and it made me happy when he thanked me for a job well done or made it clear that he would be lost without me.
“Hey, Jamie, I’m back from lunch.”
“Thank God,” he said. “I have about a billion things to clear up before Friday, and it might take a friggin’ miracle to do it.”
I laughed. “I specialize in miracles, so don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”
He stopped his frantic typing and leaned back in his chair. “I know you do, Riley. Are you sure I can’t convince you to move to Montana and work with me there? Alison keeps reminding me we have a guest house on the ranch that you’re more than welcome to live in.”
“You and your fiancee are sweet, and I love you both, but I can’t live on a horse ranch in the middle of Montana. I’m a city girl, through and through,” I said.
“Fine, but you know you have to visit us, right?” Jamie said. “That’s non-negotiable.”
“I know,” I said.
Jamie grinned at me, and a wave of sadness washed over me. Jamie was my boss, but I also considered him a friend.
“I’m really going to miss you,” I said.
“I’m gonna miss you too, Ry,” he said. He stood and walked toward me. “You’ve been the best assistant I’ve ever had. I mean that.”
“You’ve been the best boss I’ve ever had,” I said, my voice hoarse.
Jamie hesitated before hugging me. I returned his hug, my voice muffled in his suit jacket when I said, “Tell me again that I’ll get along just fine with Mr. Rainer.”
He stepped back, holding me by my shoulders as he studied me. “You will get along fine with him. He’s different from me and how I work, but you are amazing at your job, and he will quickly realize how valuable you are. Just be yourself, okay?”
“I’m not sure I’ll like working for a CFO who acts like an accountant,” I said.
Jamie laughed. “Hey, I can be accountant-like if I work at it.”
“Sure, you can,” I said. My voice wavered a little, and Jamie squeezed my shoulders.
“It will be fine, I promise. Is he the friendliest guy in the world? No, but we don’t come to work for hugs and kisses, do we?”
I laughed. “No, we don’t. But I wish I could have at least met him. The guy starts on Monday, and I’ve never even spoken to him.”
“It was bad timing that you were on holiday when we interviewed and hired him,” Jamie said. “But I’ve told him exactly how competent and amazing you are, so he’s already impressed.”
“Or, his expectations will be incredibly high,” I said.
“You know you can meet them,” Jamie said.
I paused before giving him a cheeky smile. “Yeah, I can.”
He laughed. “There’s the Riley I know and love. Okay, we have an insane afternoon, and if I don’t get this shit done before Friday, Aiden will have my fucking head. He’s already pissed with me that I’m leaving right before our year end madness. And if Aiden murders me before I can move to Montana with Alison, she’ll be very disappointed in you and me.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” I said. “Let’s get this shit done.”
Jamie grinned. “Let’s get this shit done.”