Full Circle (25 page)

“Losing it inside?”

Daniel and Zach both smirked. Then Daniel
said, “Inferior anal plugs don’t have wide bases and can get
accidentally pushed inside. That’s not a good thing to have
happen.”

“Oohhh. Okay. Duly noted.” She started eating
as Daniel turned the laptop back toward him and continued
typing.

She assumed he was bringing up more products
for her to look at, or even going to another site, but when he sat
back and closed the screen with a shit-eating grin on his face, she
got the distinct feeling something was up.

“Happy birthday,” he said, his smile
widening.

“My birthday was in November.” She slowly
lowered her spoon into her bowl.

“Then happy belated birthday. Or early
birthday. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

“What have you done?”

He pushed the laptop aside and slurped a
spoonful of soup and shrugged. “Be expecting a package early next
week.”

“Daniel!” She reached across the counter to
smack him, but he was too fast, pulling away, laughing.

“Hey, I’m just looking out for your best
interests, sweetie.”

To the side, Zach snickered. He cradled his
bowl of soup in front of his chest and had clearly seen what Daniel
had ordered for her.

“You didn’t stop him?” she said,
incredulous.

“Hell no.” Zach stepped to the side as if to
pull out of range if she decided to slap him.

“I can’t believe you two.” She settled back
onto her barstool. “I’m going to pay you back.”

“Don’t be silly,” Daniel said, taking his
place in front of her again. “It’s our early wedding present to
you. Or a housewarming gift. Something to definitely keep the
house warm
.” He winked.

“Fine. Whatever.” She slowly stirred her
soup. “So, what am I to expect when I open the box?”

“One of everything I showed you,” Daniel said
as if he were far too pleased with himself. “And maybe a surprise
or two.”

“What kind of surprise?”

Daniel ate a spoonful of soup then sucked on
the spoon for a second as if it were a lollipop. “You’ll just have
to wait and see.”

Zach set his bowl down and dabbed his mouth
with a napkin. “Oh, and Karma?”

“Yes?”

“I suggest you do a
loooooot
of
research on cock rings and ass dildos over the weekend. A lot of
research. You’ll want to know how to use them when they arrive.” He
winked and picked his bowl back up.

Great. Just what she needed for an already
busy weekend.

Chapter 15

A relationship with no arguments is a relationship
with a lot of secrets.

-Author Unknown

“Good evening. How may I help you?” The modelesque
brunette with hair as straight as a ruler and extending at least
six inches past her breasts gave her and Mark a practiced smile as
they stepped up to the podium.

“We have a reservation,” Mark said.

“And the name?” The woman glanced down at her
ledger.

“John Mason.”

When Mark had made the reservation, he’d
chosen to put it under her dad’s name because, as he’d said, “I
know how your dad feels about me, and I think it would be a nice
gesture on my part if he didn’t have to say my name if he arrives
before we do.”

For Mark to consider her dad’s feelings
showed just how compassionate he was . . . as well
as how important it was to make nice with him.

“The other two in your party haven’t arrived,
yet,” the woman said. The small light shining up from under the lip
of her podium cast alluring shadows over her features. “Would you
like to wait here or be seated and wait at the table?”

Mark glanced at her. “Table?” he said.

“Yes.” Something about being seated and ready
to order sounded a lot safer for when her dad arrived.

He turned back to the woman. “We’d prefer to
be seated, please.”

“And would you like to check your coats?”

“Yes, please.”

Mark helped her out of hers then handed both
to an attendant who stepped forward to take them.

The lady handed them a ticket then sashayed
away.

She and Mark followed a third hostess into
the elegantly attired dining room. White tablecloths. Sparkling
wall sconces. Candlelit centerpieces and glittering stemware. It
was the type of restaurant Mark was used to, having come from
money. As for Karma, she was still acclimating to this new
lifestyle.

“I’m nervous,” she said once they were
seated.

“I know.” He reached for her hand.

Her palms were damp, but Mark didn’t complain
as he protectively enveloped her hand in his warm, dry one.

“This’ll be a lot easier tomorrow with your
parents,” she said.

Tomorrow was his mom’s birthday party. They
were heading out around seven o’clock to get in early enough to
rest and clean up before going to his parents’ in the
afternoon.

“I talked to my mom yesterday and told her
you were coming with me.” He smiled at her. “She’s dying to meet
you.”

“Do you think she’ll like me?”

He angled toward her, face affectionately
alight. “She’s going to love you.”

Mark always had a way of making butterflies
flutter in her belly. Maybe it was the way he looked at her. Or the
tender tone of his voice. Or perhaps the way his skin seemed to
melt into hers wherever he touched her. Whatever the reason,
ripples teased her tummy.

“How many of your girlfriends has your mother
met?”

“Not many.” He straightened and glanced
toward the white candle in the center of their table. “Carol, of
course. Maybe two of the others.” His face tightened. “I preferred
not to let things go that far. Before, I mean.” He bobbed his head
abruptly to the side, indicating the past.

She grinned and leaned closer. “When you were
honing your mad skills of seduction?”

His mouth screwed into a twisted smile as he
met her gaze, eyes twinkling. “My ‘mad skills of seduction’?”

“Well, what would you call it? A learning
phase?”

He studied her for a moment then leaned in
and whispered in her ear, “Would you like me to show you exactly
what I learned while honing my mad skills?”

She giggled, tipping the side of her head
against his. “I thought you were already doing that.”

He chuckled, pressing closer. “No. I mean
now. Right now. During dinner with your parents.”

Sobering, Karma pulled back, eyes wide, mouth
gaping. “You wouldn’t.”

He laughed. “Probably not, but that doesn’t
mean I won’t be thinking about it.” Even though he was smiling,
heat flared from his gaze. He looked like the devil who sat on one
shoulder, all wicked smiles and suggestive glances, while an angel
preached from the other. She could almost hear his voice inside her
head.
You know you want to. You know it will feel good. So
naughty but so nice. Come on, live a little.

“You really want to do that to me, don’t
you?” She bit her lip, her breath shallow as her gaze remained
fixed on his. “Right here. In front of my parents? My
dad
?
You must have a death wish.”

He closed the distance between them again,
gently cupping her face as he lightly kissed her ear then
whispered, “What I really want to do is take you back out to the
car and fuck you in the parking lot, where anyone could walk by and
see us.”

She swallowed heavily then let out a little
breath. “Oh.”

“I told you I like the thrill of getting
caught in the act.”

“Uh . . . yes, I know.
Um . . .” Honestly, what he suggested sounded very
exciting. She got wet just thinking about it.

“Do you think you’re ever going to want to do
something like that with me? Not just fantasize about it, but do
it? For real?”

She pulled back and searched his dark, hungry
gaze. Yes, she wanted to do that. She wanted to know what it felt
like to be caught. Or to at least risk being caught. How exciting!
The thrill and adrenaline rush would probably be incredible, making
for one intense orgasm.

“I . . .” She smiled. “I
think . . .”

“Are we interrupting?”

Karma jerked away from Mark with such force
she nearly tumbled out of her chair.

“Mom! Dad! Hi. Mark and I were
just . . . we, uh . . .”

Her dad shifted uncomfortably, frowning.

Mark collected himself faster than she did
and stood, running his hand down his blue and silver tie. “Mr. and
Mrs. Mason, thank you for coming.” He didn’t dare use first names
until invited to do so, especially with her parents. But he did
hold out his hand to her father.

Karma held her breath.

After a brief hesitation, her dad stiffly
shook Mark’s hand. That was a good sign, but it didn’t mean her dad
had stamped his ticket on Mark’s train. This dinner could still go
very badly. The tension between Mark and her dad hovered between
them like a giant, bloated wedge.

“Hi, Mom.” She stood and hugged her mom,
keeping her engagement ring hidden so the cat didn’t leap out of
the bag before she and Mark were ready to make the
announcement.

“Hi, sweetie. You look well.” Her mom’s
sentiment was genuine, and Karma got the feeling her mom was the
one who’d convinced her dad to be nice and behave himself.

“So do you.” She sat back down, her mom on
her right, Mark on her left, and her dad across from her.

The four sat in awkward silence while the
conversations of the other diners murmured around them.

Her mom was the first to speak. “So, Mark,
how are things at Solar?”

“Very good, thank you. Not as enjoyable now
that Karma no longer works there, but business is good.”

Her mom and dad shot her confused
glances.

“You no longer work at Solar?” her mom
said.

She met Mark’s eye just as he appeared to
realize she hadn’t yet told her parents about her new job.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I thought
you’d told them.”

“Not yet.” She forced a smile then looked
back to her mom. “I left back in December.”

“Why?” Her dad’s voice held an accusation he
didn’t express, but he clearly thought she’d been booted because of
Mark.

Before he could say something he would
regret, she said, “It was my choice, Dad.”

“But I thought you liked it there.”

“I did, but now that”—her gaze flew to Mark’s
again—“Mark and I are together, I decided to leave. They offered to
transfer me into another department, but those positions didn’t
appeal to me.” She fiddled with her napkin. “So, my old college
professor helped me get a job as a junior editor for Winstrom Press
in Chicago.”

“That’s terrific, honey,” her mom said. “You
always wanted to work in publishing.”

“Thanks, I did.”

But her dad simply scowled. “And you didn’t
take five minutes to tell us.”

Her mouth fell open. “You haven’t exactly
been receptive to talking to me lately, Dad.”

He squared his shoulders and avoided meeting
her mom’s accusing, I-told-you-so stare. “Well, you still could
have told us sooner than this.”

Ah, ever too proud to admit he was wrong.

Irritation rustled beneath her skin. She
couldn’t believe her dad was making this out to be her fault.

Mark seemed to sense her growing distress and
took her hand.

“Karma has been so busy. I’m sure it just
slipped her mind.” And there was her Mark. Her fiancé. Genial
peacekeeper. Tempering her fire by taking some of the oxygen out of
the room, but not so much that she disappeared completely. “I
surprised her with a trip to the Caribbean over Christmas, and once
we got back, she started her new job. And then there are the
classes she’s taking, which are required for new editors, and,
well . . .” From his expression, he was thinking
about the house they were moving into in less than a week, as well
as the ring on her finger. “It’s just been a really busy couple of
months.”

Her dad harrumphed. “My daughter doesn’t need
you speaking for her.”

Her blood instantly boiled. “He’s not
speaking for me. I—”

Mark squeezed her hand, cutting her off.

She slouched against the back of her chair.
This dinner was falling off course fast. How dare her dad make such
accusations against Mark when he’d been dictating how she lived her
life since as far back as she could remember. Maybe her dad hadn’t
spoken for her, and maybe he hadn’t told her what to do, but he’d
always made his expectations clear. And when she failed to deliver,
he’d made his disappointment just as clear, too, which was as bad
as, if not worse than, speaking on her behalf, because it affected
her more deeply on a psychological level.

Like with Brad. Her dad had wanted her to
marry Brad. She hadn’t wanted to. By breaking off their engagement,
she had suffered her dad’s silent treatment as retaliation. It was
his way of trying to influence her to go back to Brad, even though
he knew she wouldn’t.

True, this was the first time he’d gone to
such lengths to make his displeasure known, but she’d also never
stood so steadfastly against him on such an important issue. Not
even when she chose to leave the engineering program at Purdue to
pursue journalism instead. Her dad had been furious over that, and
he still hadn’t quite forgiven her for walking away from what he
saw as a lucrative, successful career as an engineer to become a
“lowly” writer, but this was her life, not her dad’s. And she
planned on living it the way she wanted to from now on.

“Forgive me,” Mark said. “I realize she can
speak for herself, Mr. Mason, but . . .” He pressed
his lips into a thin line, nodding tightly as if a path had just
presented itself and he’d decided to take it. “Well, sir, I know
you don’t like me, and I just want to prove to you that I have your
daughter’s best interests at heart and love her more than anything.
And maybe that makes me try too hard to maintain the peace between
you two and show you I’m not a bad guy.” He paused, eyebrows tight.
“I hate that I’m the reason why you and Karma haven’t spoken since
Thanksgiving. I hate seeing her so upset and knowing I’m
responsible for that.”