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"You haven't stammered or blushed since you were born."
At Troy's emphatic nod of agreement, Logan turned his eye on him. "Don't think I won't tell Shale about that blushing."
"Hey, I was just moving the merchandise. Madison agreed to buy a frog."
"If you want to impress me, tell me she agreed to buy a dozen."
"I was intending to give a touch of whimsy to my cash register, not start a plague in Egypt," she retorted. She lifted the coupons. "We're having a sale. Buy two panties or two bras, get one for free. If you'd put these on your counter or throw one in the bags, that would be great. The first ten men who come over to buy something for their wives will get a free piece of lemon cake."
Troy brightened. "You brought cake today? Like Alice's cake?"
"Yes. It was our mother's recipe." Reaching into the bag she had on her arm, she withdrew the two containers. "I brought some for you two before it's all gone."
"A bribe for sharing your coupons," Logan observed.
"Compensation," she said primly. "Which puts me one up on you, because I've been putting your sales fliers in my customers' bags for no compensation at all." So to speak. That kiss went through her mind, his knowing gaze making her suppress a smile. "I've also spoken very highly of your charms, such as they are. Fair's fair."
Troy was eying the cake like a hungry dog, but when she began to hand him one of the containers, Logan laid a casual hand on her wrist, stopping her. "Madison, do you offer a pet a treat without checking with his owner first?"
In deference to their surroundings, he spoke low, but in his usual way, just that tone and look could command her attention. He was asking her to respect Troy's training, but beyond that, he was requiring a certain behavior from her. Bemused, she noticed she and Troy had the same reaction to him, both of them getting still and entirely focused on what he wanted, what he'd require.
"You're right, I'm sorry. May Troy have a piece of cake?"
Logan's mouth quirked. "He'll be salivating all over the shop floor if I don't say yes." He glanced at Troy. "Put it in the back. You can have it on your break."
"Yes, sir. Thanks, Madison. Miss Fine." Troy corrected himself with a twinkle in his eyes. After another mischievous leer at her outfit, he disappeared down the main aisle. Madison heard him stop to answer a question about pliers.
Logan lifted a brow. "What did you say to him to make him blush?"
"I was just warning him to return his books on time. He's pretty easy to play with. Should I not tease him like that?" No matter how her instincts gravitated toward submission, she realized there were a lot of rules she didn't know.
"It's not a problem. You're doing it with affection and fun, not to jerk his chain." He glanced down at the coupons. "You reserve that behavior for me, because you want to know what will happen if you jerk hard enough."
Now it was her turn to swallow and change the subject. "Why is he in such a good mood? Not that he isn't normally, but he seems particularly effusive."
"His training will be completed by the end of the week, which means I deliver him back to Shale. He'll get to show her all he's learned. And she'll get the project she commissioned," he added.
Madison had a quick, provocative vision of the beautifully crafted wooden chest that actually converted to a cage, in a size to accommodate a lean, tall Troy. Logan had showed it to Madison the first night they met, and while a part of her had been taken aback, another part of her had wondered what it would be like, to trust a Master enough to submit to the confinement.
"He hasn't seen her all these weeks?" She brought herself back to the topic at hand. As devoted as Troy seemed to be to his Mistress, she couldn't imagine a prolonged separation had been easy.
"That's part of the deal." Logan shrugged. "It amps up the motivation, not that he ever really needed it. He's not a brat or a bottom topper. He's like a fierce golden retriever, worth his weight in gold to a Dom."
"So you don't care much for a brat?"
She won an amused look from him. "It depends," he responded. "There's bratting, and there's being a brat. In a very cute, sexy, begging-for-punishment kind of way." He put his hand over hers on the counter, where she'd put the coupons. "Time for you to go away. You're making me think of closing the store early, something I never do."
"What would you do, if you closed early?" She blinked, all innocence, which just made him narrow those brown eyes.
"Bully you into that session you're almost ready to agree to do. The sooner the better. That's three dollars for the frog. Unless you want to slip it down your shirt and let me catch you shoplifting."
She snorted at that, mainly to cover the nervous quiver his first comment had elicited. Reaching into the open neck of the white shirt, she removed several folded bills from where they'd been tucked into her lacy bra. "I'd intended to buy another coffee, but I'll buy a frog instead and cut down on my caffeine."
She started to put the money on the counter, but instead he put his hand out, taking it from her, caressing her fingers before closing his own over the bills warm from sitting against her breast. With his eyes trained on her, it was clear where his mind was. She ducked her head, slipping the frog into the bag she'd used to bring them cake. "When and if I decide . . . to do that session, where would we do it?"
She should be making chatty conversation, but it was the only topic in her head, especially with him giving her that look that sent anxiety and arousal coursing through her.
"In my back room."
