"Don't worry," she added, glancing down the rope and fastener aisle. "I'm sure I'll be sending them back your way. We don't have any of that at my place."
"Alice knew it was right next door. Whenever she needed it."
His slow smile made her narrow her gaze. "I have a store to run," she said primly. "I don't have time for you."
The attractive lines around his eyes crinkled. "How about a movie tonight? We can do it at your house, if you're more comfortable there. About eight? Just you and me."
"I'm not sure. Let me think about it." She guessed it was her house now, though she still thought of it as Alice's. That wasn't the source of her hesitation, though. She wasn't imagining them watching a movie. In her mind, he was pushing her onto her back in the bed, holding her wrists to the pillows, his mouth at her throat, his body between her legs . . .
"Remember what I said last night, about me setting the parameters?" He leaned across the counter, dropped his voice down low. "No sex on our second date, Madison. Nothing but two adults watching a movie, getting to know one another better. All right?"
"Maybe. I'll let you know at the end of the day. Though maybe . . . I'd rather wait a few days, all right? A few days."
She backed away and slipped out of the store, catching her toe on the threshold in her haste. As she hurried back to her own store, her whole body was vibrating. She'd wanted him to touch her then and there, in front of people buying bedding plants, lawn implements and power tools.
It was good she'd returned when she did, though. Chris and Geoff had joined Sam, but she was still at the rounder of nightwear, looking at loose ends about how to proceed. Examining their body language, Madison could see the problem right off.
Geoff.
They both deferred to him, probably responding to that subliminal thing Logan emanated like a neon sign. Logan was near forty; Geoff was in his mid-twenties. Logan had fully embraced that side of himself some time ago, perhaps exploring it at the age Geoff was now. Geoff might still be struggling with it, about how two people he cared about would react to the shape and form of his desires.
An electric current connected the three of them, the charged power of unrealized fantasies and desires. She wondered how strong that current had looked between her and Logan a moment ago.
"So . . . there are some pretty things over here I'm thinking you'd like, Sam." She eased her away from the lingerie and toward more of the role-playing clothes. Following intuition, she plucked out a Catholic schoolgirl ensemble. The willowy figure and doelike eyes would be a perfect match for it, down to the frilly panties that barely hid under the short plaid skirt. Geoff sharpened on her choice like a spear, and suddenly Chris seemed far more awake.
"And for Chris . . . hmm." All professional shopkeeper, she perused his serviceable T-shirt and jeans, the woman in her approving of the build the shirt strained to cover. She glanced at Geoff. "What do you think? I'm thinking he doesn't really need a special outfit. Maybe he's the yard boy who can't keep his eyes off of her as she's coming home from school."
"Well, he does mow the grass at our rental house," Sam teased her roommate, laying her hand on the arm holding the coffee. "Even does the weed eating and edging. He needs to start his own landscape business, rather than working for one."
"Then
I'd never have time to mow our grass," he pointed out, giving her a nudge.
"So he already has his costume," Madison mused. "All he needs to do is take off the shirt, work up a bit of a sweat, and there you go."
She gave them a wink, even as she noted Geoff's silent regard, watching Sam and Chris flirt with one another. "Why don't you two look at the options, consider the possibilities? Have fun with it, like playing dress-up when you're kids. Nothing's off limits. I'm going to show Geoff something a little more appropriate for him."
At his surprised look, she guided him away from them with a light touch on his arm. As it became clear she was moving into the Dungeon Room, he paused, his gaze flicking to Chris and Sam as if he wasn't sure if he wanted them to see him headed there. Madison moved smoothly into the room ahead of him and lifted a soft flogger from the wall. "Now this might be good to punish a naughty schoolgirl, but this"--she lifted a heavier slapper, like what Logan had used on Troy--"might be just the thing to keep your yard boy thinking about what you pay him to do, not ogling her."
That got his full attention. The way he moistened his lips, studied the slapper ends sliding over her fingers, told her she was on the right track. He had enough of those Dom vibes that when he raised his steady gaze, the sub inside of her, the one that Logan had coaxed out, shivered, recognizing his potential. Lucky Sam and Chris, if he embraced that side of himself.
Directing him to the shelf of books on the wall, she removed one that had an instructional DVD for Japanese rope tying. She showed him the photographs of restraint designs. He studied one of a man and woman tied together, the Master standing behind them, holding another rope. He was so absorbed in the picture, it gave her time to do the same, remembering last night vividly.
"Imagine doing something like this." She tilted the page toward him. "His genitals are tied down so he can't 'accidentally' get inside her. But she's squirming, excited, rubbing against him. You'd have to spank her to get her to behave. But Chris, being so chivalrous, he wouldn't like that. He'd tell you he'd take the punishment." Just as Troy had done. She gave Geoff a wicked smile. "And you'd be too happy to oblige."
She didn't expect that Geoff, Sam and Chris's needs would be an exact match of her adventure with Troy and Logan, but right now that experience was her best guide for this. She wasn't Alice, after all.
No, she wasn't. But she hadn't been Alice last night. Yet it had all felt familiar to her, despite never having been in that situation before. She expected it was the same for Geoff, because his eyes had sparked at the images she was painting.
"This kind of erotic binding dates from the days of the samurai." She flipped the pages, let him see some more possibilities. The book was nearly fifty dollars. If they bought floggers and a few outfits, she'd be making quite a tidy sum. Chris might work for a landscaper, but Sam's jewelry said she worked in a higher-paying profession. Geoff was young enough to have a lot of student loans, but if he was already working for a firm he'd have some discretionary spending power.
Stop. What was she doing?
She closed the book abruptly, set it back on the shelf. "Will you follow me back to your friends?"
His brow creased, puzzled, but he nodded, following her back to Sam and Chris, who were teasing one another, pointing out the outfit choices. Cop, vampire, clown . . .
"You'd be sooooo irresistible with a red-rubber-ball nose." Sam rolled her eyes. "Like you need help looking like a clown." She reached out to Geoff, taking his hand and drawing him closer. Madison suspected she'd seen his speculative look at her casual touch on Chris's arm, and was balancing it by touching him, trying to send them both a message. This isn't a competition, you idiots. I want both of you. "You'll have to help us choose, Geoff," she complained. "I can't get Chris to be serious."