1
She was going to lie to her Dom.
Kinley shifted around on the cracked seat of her tiny Honda and looked up at the imposing building that housed Club Decadence, Austin’s most elite BDSM club. Her butt cheeks clenched, as though they’d already suffered through the discomfort of Sloan’s displeasure.
He won’t find out.
Yeah right.
There was no way he could miss that she’d taken a second job.
And to say he’d be unhappy about it would be an understatement.
She bit at her lip nervously. She wasn’t good at keeping secrets, her face tended to broadcast her every thought far and wide. How could she avoid lying and still manage not to tell Sloan she was financially up the creek without a paddle, or a boat? In fact, she was drowning. This second job was a godsend. It paid well, had amazing benefits, and the evening hours meant she could keep her other job as a receptionist for Foley’s Plumbing. It was a win-win, really.
Except for Sloan. Her lip started to sting where she’d pulled at it, and she forced herself to take a calming breath. What was the worst that could happen? So she’d taken a second job, it was no big deal.
Except that’s the sort of thing you’re probably supposed to tell your Dom.
But it wasn’t like they lived together. They didn’t share finances. They played together. They had sex. Sometimes she slept over at his place.
“Not like we’re planning on getting married or anything,” she muttered.
Kinley was a bit of an old-fashioned girl. Sleeping with Sloan, letting him dominate her—it was a big deal.
All she’d ever wanted was a family. A husband. Kids. Her sister often told her she’d been born fifty years too late. After graduating high school, Char had gone off to college on a scholarship and hadn’t looked back.
Kinley had barely scraped through high school. Char was now a successful lawyer, with three kids and a husband who was a plastic surgeon.
Kinley drove around in the car her parents had bought her when she left home at eighteen and had barely managed to pay the rent this month.
All thanks to Eddie. Her bastard ex-boyfriend. He’d emptied all their business and personal bank accounts and taken off to Ibiza with the wife of their lawyer, leaving Kinley with a huge financial mess. Turns out he’d been doing some creative accounting for years while siphoning funds into an offshore bank account.
Hmm, Char had actually liked the jerk. Kinley wondered what she’d think of Sloan.
She smiled at the thought of her cool and composed sister meeting Sloan.