Or make herself see what he was saying . . . in a different way.
*
She was having a lot of wardrobe issues lately. Deciding what to wear to help a Dom train a sub, now how to dress like a Domme. But she wasn't really one, was she? She had the full regalia at her store; stilettos, corset, lots of leather, but it felt wrong. Ironically, in this instance, it felt like too much of a costume.
Fortunately, UPS came to her rescue on Friday. She was starting to think of Clarence as a fairy godmother in brown shorts and a roaring, gold-and-brown coach. Or her fairy godmother's shipping service. She snickered at the thought of Logan in a fairy costume.
Clarence offered his serious smile and asked after her day. He took a cup of coffee and a cookie from her and left her with a box on her counter. As she studied it, she admitted she particularly liked the suspense right before she opened these packages and saw what magical thing Logan had sent her to make her feel better about whatever challenge she was facing. A fairy godmother in truth.
Using her scissors to slit open the box, she folded back the top and took a breath, closing her eyes briefly in quiet anticipation before she opened them to take a look.
The first time he'd given her a gift, it had been an eye-opening card game and a set of cuffs. Another time it had been a sexy Catholic school girl costume. This time he'd sent her . . . school supplies.
The box held several rulers, an eraser, a box of colored chalk, and two books. One was a hardback, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, and the other was a large, flexible book. Discipline for Dummies, a primer to help obtuse parents. She choked on a snort that became a full-throated laugh when she reached the item at the bottom. It was a quilted tote bag, the type of thing teachers carried, complete with felt appliques of an apple, the 2+2 equation, and a colorful stack of books next to the declaration "World's Best Teacher." Logan was reminding her this could be playful as well as serious.
While there was no obvious sexual purpose to the items, she recognized their potential after only a moment's reflection. Logan didn't miss details, and it was obvious he'd noticed the way Troy's eyes lit up at her librarian outfit. Maybe he'd asked Troy why that intrigued him, and the answer had resulted in this. Apparently, Troy had teacher fantasies. That could explain why Logan did so well as his training Master, given she herself had imagined him as a stern schoolmaster more than once. Mentor, friend . . . lover. Master.
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
She'd said it aloud, the words echoing in the quiet of the store. Her heart leaped into her throat, her brain telling her it was way too soon to feel that way. Way, way, way too soon. But it was okay. It was her secret. It didn't mean anything if she just said it to herself. Or to the store. Though it seemed to have a life of its own, it tended to keep secrets well.
Shaking her head at herself, Madison brought her mind back to the matter at hand. Wardrobe and props. She had plenty of blindfolds here and, as far as a teacher outfit, she had a plethora of options. He hadn't addressed her strap-on question, but she knew she wasn't going to do that. He probably knew it, too. She could let it rankle her, but remembering their near-argument, she decided to let it go. It was time to close up the store, go home and get dressed.
*
She prepared herself in Wonderland, the upstairs bedroom where Alice had kept her vast personal collection of role playing outfits and dress-up options. Sexy teacher was merely a modification of librarian, only Madison decided to make the skirt a little tighter and shorter, the blouse open an extra button to show more cleavage. After all, it was important to tempt her student into bad behavior. Inappropriate staring at the teacher's ass or down her blouse would certainly be grounds for punishment. She added the thick glasses, pulled her hair back up in a bun and slipped into the same sensible pumps.
Madison surveyed herself in the full length mirror with satisfaction. Maybe it was because she'd had to wear the same neutral business clothes every day at her former job as an investment manager in Boston. Now that she was letting herself play dress-up again, she was finding she really liked it, maybe even more than she had as a little girl, and she'd liked it a lot then. Logan apparently liked it when she played dress-up, too. When she thought about how he might like this outfit, she realized she was dressing for him as much as for Troy. Maybe more.
Alice's picture was stuck in the corner of the mirror's frame. It was one Madison had taken when they were at a Western bar out in Arizona. Her sister was grinning, her eyes dancing as she raised her beer in salute. Madison took it as a blessing on her night and smiled back.
"Here goes nothing. I bet you're laughing, thinking of me playing Mistress to some young, hot guy. And wishing you could be there to see it. I wish you could, too."
She switched off the light, then stopped. Pressing a kiss to her palm, she put it against the picture in the semidarkness, closing her eyes. "Love you, sis."
If she believed in some of the fantasy stories she'd read as a child, heaven was perhaps only on the other side of that mirror, and Alice was pressing her palm to hers there. She held an extra minute, just in case, and then she left the room, closing the door behind her.
On the way to the store, she listened to some of her favorite upbeat music selections, refusing to let herself get bogged down in anxieties or doubts. Logan had sent her a good message. She was going to have fun with this, damn it. She wasn't going to overthink it.
Letting herself in through the back, she headed toward Logan's special room. As she went through his furniture workshop and approached the open door, she saw he'd moved some of his finished pieces in there, arranged them in an inviting display so they were available to her, or adding to the ambiance, even if she didn't actually use them.
Three people waited for her. She'd kind of hoped Shale would change her mind about coming. Knowing that hadn't happened, her nervousness returned, showing just how close beneath the surface it rode. The Mistress would witness her missteps, have to intervene to keep her from causing Troy permanent harm.
No. She wasn't going to chicken out now. As an asset manager, she'd met her share of intimidating clients, proving within the first ten minutes she could handle their assets with care and beyond their expectations. She did it by not being afraid to ask questions and by showing sensible initiative. Troy's care was the priority. She'd want the Mistress to step in if necessary. Everyone understood she was new to this.
Bolstered by that thought, she stepped into the room. Troy was sitting on a stool, Shale resting comfortably between his spread knees, her backside propped against his thigh, her hand on his shoulder as she spoke to Logan. Troy had his hands on his own knees. It was clear he'd been commanded to keep his hands to himself. He was already blindfolded, a solid black eye mask probably intended for BDSM play, not a convenient scrap of cloth like a scarf. He wore jeans and shirt, but his feet were intriguingly bare, one curved around the bottom rung of the stool, the other braced between his Mistress's booted feet.
Shale was an attractive late-twenty-something with streaked blond hair and a good manicure. She wore snug jeans with the heeled boots and a V-neck rock band T-shirt, AC/DC. It wasn't the look Madison would have expected from a woman who wanted a customized cage built for her submissive. But when her gaze turned to Madison, she changed her mind. Logan had said he could tell Madison was a submissive. Seeing Shale and Logan standing so close together, Madison identified a similar sharp attentiveness to their expressions and a self-assured body language hard to ignore. She didn't expect they were all the same like that, but given the level of submissive Troy was, and the type of Master that Logan seemed to be, it made sense that such a close, trusted associate would share his stamp of interest or drive in the Dominant side of things.
Her attention was also caught by the body language between Troy and Shale. Their reunion early in the week had obviously been welcome and intense. Even now, blindfolded, the way Troy tilted his head and canted his body toward his Mistress, and how her hands barely left him for even a second before they were drawn back as if magnetized to the heat of his skin, told Madison how closely bonded they were. Despite her attempt to play dress-up and fun rock music to set a light mood, seeing that one significant thing, evidence of a Dom/sub relationship that was hitting all the right notes, set off an ache inside her.
"There she is." Logan straightened from where he'd been leaning against the workbench in a relaxed, conversational pose. "Right on time. Shale, this is Madison. Madison, Shale."
Shale extended a hand and Madison met it with a firm grip. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you . . . for agreeing to do this."
She wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say, but apparently she didn't commit any faux pas, because Shale smiled. Her gaze swept Madison, a quick assessment. "He was a little too eager to do this, which earned him a healthy punishment. I expect that's my reward for agreeing to it."
She flicked Troy's ear with her long nails, and he tilted his head in deference to her, a faint smile on his face. He kept his head bowed, obviously ordered not to speak.