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She’s moved over to where I’m standing and is close enough that I can smell the scent of her spearmint gum and some sort of earthy perfume. Her nearness makes me heady. I’m aware of a soft pulse between my thighs, of an aching need that goes beyond the physical. My knight in shining armor.
“I’d better be going,” I say, looking up at her, but as I turn away, she calls my name.
“Hey, I’m not always the best at reading people but, um…would you like to have dinner with me on Saturday night? I can pick you up.”
For a moment I’m speechless. I open my mouth to say no, but that’s not what comes out. “Yeah. That would be nice.” I pause. “Let me give you my address. It’s…”
“241 Kidder Street.” She laughs. “I took you home last night, remember?”
“God…” I put my hands over my face.
“6:30?”
I nod. “Yeah. That would be awesome.”
“Okay!”
I leave the office wondering what just happened. I just accepted a date with a woman, but not just any woman. I pause at the picture of a different version of Tandy—one that looks like she could be fierce and strict. The throb between my legs intensifies. For the first time since I was fourteen, I’m letting myself feel the attraction I grew up being told was forbidden.
Chapter four
TANDY
I’m not normally an impulsive person, but something about Bliss made me take a chance on asking her out. The difference between the woman I saw last night and the one who just left is like night and day. The outfit she wore when she first came into my shop was a cry for the kind of attention I don’t think she really wanted. The dress she wore today reflected who she really is —soft and sweet and vulnerable in a way I find wildly attractive.
I caught her staring at a picture taken during my days as a professional domme. Something about the way she looked at it, the way her lips parted as she stared—and how embarrassed she looked when she discovered me standing there—piqued my interest.
Once Bliss was in my office, I was the one doing the staring—at her cute flowered dress, at her plump lower lip shiny with lip gloss, at the softness of her features. My mind flashed back to the night before and I had to stuff down the feelings of anger I’d felt for that asshole pawing her in the booth. I’d wanted to protect her, and those feelings hadn’t diminished when she was standing in front of me with her sweet gift.
“What did that girl want?” Inez looks up from behind the counter when I go back up to the front of the studio later that afternoon. The way she says “that girl” leaves no question of her disdain for Bliss.
“To apologize, and to thank me.”
“To thank you. For what?” Inez scowls.
I sigh and recount what happened the night before. When I’m finished, she rolls her eyes and lets out a snort of derision. “God, what a fucking idiot. Tandy, you’re too nice. I sure as hell wouldn’t have helped her.”
Inez has been with me since I opened Artful Ink. She’s competent, reliable, and loyal to a fault. She’s also quick to judgement and slow to forgive. I’m usually patient with her opinions, but this one gets under my skin.
“Really? You’d stand by and let another woman leave with some guy who was going to end up raping her?”
“You don’t know that would have happened.”
“Inez, he had a record.”
“She should have been more careful.”
I shake my head. “Jesus. So, it would have been her fault?”
Inez looks back down at the magazine on the counter and turns the page angrily. “Did you see what she was wearing? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
She mumbles this under her breath, but I’m not having it. I walk over and slam my hand down on the magazine. She looks up, her bright blue eyes shocked.
“Listen,” I say in as measured a tone as I can muster. “No woman…not one…deserves that, okay? I don’t care where she is. I don’t care what she’s wearing. I don’t care how drunk she is. And there’s no place in this studio for anyone who thinks that way, got it?
“Sorry.” Inez drops her eyes. As a submissive she knows when I’m serious. “I just don’t like her.”
“And that’s your prerogative,” I say. “But she was grateful and apologetic, and I appreciate it.”
