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He was everything she didn’t want in a man, and he’d never given any indication that he was open to anything more than BDSM and sex with his assistant. Ending their intimate relationship after Saturday was going to be difficult enough. She couldn’t imagine how she’d manage if she let it go on for weeks or months.
It made much more sense for her to focus on her career and her life goals. She told herself to enjoy their time together and not think beyond the moment. As if that were possible with the way he stood so close that they breathed the same air.
He left the room, and she took a few minutes to freshen up. Since he’d said she could dress as she liked, she’d hadn’t changed from her post-workout outfit.
Before she was completely finished brushing her hair, he returned. He still held the paddle and tapped the thick part of it against the side of his leg.
Unsettled, she put down the brush.
“Ready?”
As she would ever be.
On the way to what she presumed was the playroom, he paused to show her his office.
Though the room was uncluttered and contained few personal effects, his college diploma hung from a wall next to the window. He had a treadmill and an exercise bike. A television was mounted from the ceiling and appeared to be on a swivel so he could move the screen.
Two notebook computers, each with the Bonds logo emblazoned on the closed top, sat in the middle of the glossy desktop. His watch and cell phone were nearby, along with a number of electronic chargers, looking a bit like long, thin snakes where they protruded from the cutout in the desk’s surface.
A whiteboard took up most of the space on one wall. The words Donovan Worldwide were stenciled at the top. Other Donovan interests were listed, and she saw that Newman Inland Marine had a line leading up to Donovan Logistics.
Some company names she recognized, others she didn’t. There were lines drawn from a few, linking them to others. A couple of others were circled. One had been crossed out. “Is this your strategy board?”
“Yeah. It helps to have it all laid out visually.”
“Why are some of the names circled?” she asked, appreciating the glimpse of the man he was at home. He was consistent, she realized, no matter where he was.
“Those companies are in play, meaning our research tells us they could be vulnerable to takeover, logical acquisitions for existing Donovan businesses.” He shrugged. “Or it means they’ve approached us and we have begun preliminary investigations.”
“There are quite a few of them.” She noticed that a line divided US holdings from those overseas. Until now, she hadn’t considered just how vast the family’s interests were. “Do you travel a lot?”
“We generally bring our C-level leaders to Texas rather than us going to them. But I do when it’s unavoidable.”
“This is where you spend most of your time,” she guessed. It was a place he could exercise his brain and his body at the same time. It was more lived-in than the rest of the house, but that didn’t mean much. The man was meticulously organized.
“Too much, my sister tells me.”
“So you don’t take time to enjoy the back yard?”
“Was its resemblance to a jungle your first clue?” he asked.
“I’d spend most of the day outside if I lived here.” With the foliage, he was sure to have birds, dragonflies, bees, green anoles. She could snap the camera shutter for hours without leaving the premises.
He tapped the paddle against his calf. “Shall we?”
All of a sudden, she noticed how warm she was, despite the chilled air whispering over her skin. As she walked behind him, the intrusion from the butt plug seemed magnified.
At the end of the hallway, he pushed the door open and stepped aside. “Welcome to my playroom, Kelsey. Have a look around.”
Feeling edgy, filled with trepidation from the unknown, she squared her shoulders and walked past him.
Not surprising her, the room was decorated sparsely. The floor was a rich, reddish hardwood. The walls were painted a contrasting gray, much like his office at Donovan Logistics. Rather than the blinds she expected, the window was covered by a blackout shade.
As promised, he had a spanking bench, and it was covered in smooth black marine vinyl. Sturdy O-rings protruded from several locations, and he’d attached cuffs to some of them. A number of mirrors hung from the walls. No matter where she looked, she saw reflections of herself and Nathan, with his forbidding countenance.
The granite countertop appeared to match those in the kitchen. He’d spread a white towel across the top, and she saw her collar and leash alongside the nipple clamps.
A violet-colored yoga mat lay on the floor, and there was a large armoire which, she figured, probably held his equipment.
