AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” I reply with a shake of my head. “I was just thinking.”
“A penny for your thoughts…”
Charlotte, orCharlie, and I have been friends for three years now, but like every relationship I’ve cultivated here at the club, it’s remained impersonal, mostly due to the fact that I keep it that way. As far as everyone here is concerned, I have no life outside the club. I only exist within this space as Madame Kink, and that’s it.
In Charlie’s case, it’s not for lack of trying.
“Oh…just thinking about work stuff,” I answer nonchalantly. It’s not a complete lie. Jade and Clay and the mess I’ve gotten myself into with them are still technically considered work. Jade is my mentee, and Clay is an ex-client.
“Anything I can help with?” she asks.
With a tight-lipped smile, I shake my head. “Not really. Thanks, though.”
Then she leans toward me. “This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that new little protégé I’ve been seeing you with, would it?”
I have to force my face not to give me away as my heart rate picks up speed. How obvious have my actions been that everyone suddenly notices my every move around here? Mia noticed how much I was with Clay, and now Charlie has noticed me with Jade. What is wrong with me?
“I don’t have a protégé,” I lie confidently.
Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Come on, Eden. I’ve seen the way that girl follows you around. If she’s not your protégé, then she obviously wants to be.”
“She’s just a client.”More lies.
“Whatever you say,” she replies. It’s quiet for only a moment before she speaks again. “You know…on the opening night of this club, when Emerson brought me here, I felt so out of place. Salacious might as well have been another planet with how foreign it was to me. But on that night, I met you. And it wasyouwho made me believe that this club was built for me as much as anyone else.Youwere the one to make me feel welcome. You make everyone feel welcome.”
My gaze lifts from my hands to her face. I remember that night very well. I had been on board with the owners before the club even opened. I put in so much of my own input and ideas, hoping they would listen. At one point, I felt in over my head, too.
“I guess I’m just saying…you inspire people, even if you don’t mean to.”
My eyes narrow as I stare at her. Suddenly, I can’t help but feel as if I’m being played. Charlotte has a motive, and I’m willing to bet it has to do with that job her husband has been pressuring me to take.
“Did your husband put you up to this?”
She bites her bottom lip and rests her chin in her hands, giving me an innocent expression—afakeinnocent expression.
“No…” she replies, batting her lashes. “But my Dom did.”
At that, I roll my eyes. “I knew it. He sent you here to talk me into taking the job, I assume.”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Traitor,” I jab.
After another laugh, she straightens her posture and gives me a sincere look. “Seriously, though. Emerson didn’t have to tell me to talk to you. I would have anyway.”
I lift my gaze to her face again and place my folded hands on the tabletop. “Well, then go ahead, I guess.”
She doesn’t miss a beat. “You should have been running this place all along.” She says it so matter-of-factly as if she’s not backhandedly insulting her husband at the same time. But I don’t let the compliment sink in. Because it doesn’t matter.
“I’m going to tell Emerson you said that,” I reply sarcastically.
“Go ahead. He agrees with me.”
“Who says I even want to?” I ask, rerouting to a different defense.
“You do,” she argues.
“How so?”
