Red Hots (6 page)

“I’m
not one of your work associates. Neither am I like everyone else, which if you
have not noticed, I’m more than willing to demonstrate to you.”

That
got her eyes to rise from her menu to him. “I’m not even going to ask in what
way.”

He
gave her a small smile. As private as he was about his lifestyle, there were
many things he could execute with her and no one in the restaurant would be the
wiser to his actions.

Even
if she didn’t know that, she wasn’t willing to call his bluff as she had done
with the time.

“A
wise woman. Have you found something to your liking, Kindle?”

Her
gaze lowered to his pale blue dress shirt and rose to meet his eyes once more
then shied away to her menu again. “Everything looks good. I’ve only eaten here
one other time.”

“I’ve
been here at least a dozen times. You can’t go wrong with anything you order.”
He drank some of his water.

She
looked at him. “It makes sense now why you haven’t looked at your menu.”

“Are
you ready to order?” The waitress stood beside their table with a small pad in
one hand and a pen in the other.

He
allowed Kindle to order first.

“I’ll
have the pan seared sea scallops, please.”

The
waitress jotted Kindle’s request on her pad. “And you, sir?”

“Your
five pepper tuna steak. We’ll have a bottle of your
Bonterra
organic
brought out with dinner if you will, please.”

“Absolutely.
An excellent choice, sir, it will complement the seafood very well.” With a
smile, she took the menus and left.

They
sat there for a moment just staring at each other. Kindle was the first to drop
her gaze as she reached for her water.

“You
look very nice tonight, Kindle. Chic. Professional.”

“Thank
you.” She took a tiny sip of water.

He
realized she was using it more as a prop than to actually quench her thirst.

“I
would have thought you’d go a little more after-five attire.”

She
looked down at her apparel then at him. “This is my casual look.”

“I
highly doubt it.” He was transfixed by her face. Her creamy complexion was
accented by her narrow brows, round eyes that turned up slightly on the outside
corners and her mouth. A thick, wide mouth that was fuller on the bottom than
the top. The corners lifted naturally as if she were made to smile more than
she did. She had yet to smile for him and he ached to see it and see pleasure
reflected in her eyes. “However, I understand why you’ve chosen to garb
yourself in such a way.”

“Garb
myself. You sound as if I put on armor.” Her laughter was hollow as she sipped
her water again.

He
leaned forward slightly. “Didn’t you? Business armor, something you were
comfortable with. Anything to set this evening in a professional atmosphere.”

“Well
we are here to discuss your offer. So what we are conducting is—”

“Personal.
No, way around that, Kindle.” He sat back.

She
took a bigger drink, this time appearing as if she did need it to fortify
herself, and then set her half empty glass down.

“Emmalee,
who you know as Lolli I believe, told me that you and your brother own the
candy shop.”

He
gave her a small smile at the change of subject. “Yes. For five years now.”

“I
wouldn’t think that nostalgic candy would be a profitable business.” Her
comment was a put down, but also held curiosity.

“Amazingly
it is. However, most of our customers come for the hand-crafted chocolate and
other specialty candies offered,” he said. He couldn’t help but notice that
Kindle appeared a little more relaxed with the benign discussion about Decadent
Treats. That was the only reason he was allowing her to stretch it out. He
wanted, no needed her to be comfortable with him if what he was going to
propose between them would work.

“You
make chocolate?” Her face brightened.

“Yes.
If I’d known you liked it, I would have brought you a box.”

Her
nose wrinkled on the bridge a little as she scrunched it up. “I don’t mind it.
However, I’m really a caramel kind of girl.”

“I’ll
remember that.” It was in that moment his mind shifted to something simple and
erotic, a fantasy that had nothing to do with his bondage lifestyle at all.
But, the image of him pouring warm caramel over her body and watching the
drizzles pool and stream along her breasts, stomach and thighs as he compared
the two shades of brown before he licked it off of her, knocked him a little
off balance. He could not recall the last time he’d been shaken by a seductive
thought or fantasy since embracing his dominant side.

The
thought was so innocent and lover-like that he took a deep breath to steady
himself. Picking up his water, he drank and allowed the cool liquid to restore
his senses.

“I
never pictured you as a candy maker. A candy gram stripper maybe, but not
elbows deep in powdered sugar.”

A
stripper?
That was
a first. He set his glass back on the table. “You thought I was at your office
to strip for you? Would you have wanted that?” What was he doing? He never
flirted.

Her
gaze lowered from his face, beyond his shoulders and to his abs. The heat in
her gaze across the table could have caused his clothes to go up in a blaze.
His gut clenched in response.

She
looked at his eyes then away and her hand lifted but lowered just as fast, as
if she was trying to keep from picking up her water again. “Um…you have to know
Emmalee and I were in undergrad school together. It would not have been far
off.”

“I
bet you have stories.”

“More
like secrets that should remain buried deep in a vault below twenty feet of
cement.” That’s when her eyes met his and she smiled. A real smile that caused
her russet-brown eyes to light up.

The
sparkle in her golden brown eyes and her wide mouth stretched held him
spellbound and his cock hard and fully erect. There was one thing he knew for
sure now—pleasure on Kindle Langston looked good. Damn good. He wanted to cause
the same glow in her eyes after he’d taken his strap or flogging to that sweet,
high, round ass of hers. Then he wanted to know what she sounded like when she
sighed with satisfaction and reached sub space. If she ever truly let go, he
knew he could take her there.

“Well,
I will respect your privacy and not ask any questions.”

“Thank
you.” Her smile became smaller, but didn’t go away. “However, something tells
me that you know I would probably look for you to reciprocate with stories of
your youth.”

“The
years of my undergrad is not a tale for a lady’s ears, trust me.”

“What
were you pursing in college? Besides co-eds.”

One
side of his mouth pulled up into a smile. Kindle had a snappy sense of humor,
he liked that. “Law.”

Her
lids stretched wide and her body jerked forward. “You’re a lawyer?”

“Used
to be. Financial and business law was what I practiced.”

The
waitress returned with their Lebanese-inspired entrees and placed one before
Kindle and the other in front of him. A male waiter stood behind the waitress
with their bottle of wine. Taking it from him as well as the empty wine
glasses, the waitress began to pour.

Masaun
stopped her. “I’ll take care of that.”

“No,
problem, sir. Hope you both enjoy your meal. If you need anything else, I’m
Mandy.”

They
thanked her and Mandy left with the male employee.

Kindle
picked up her napkin from the table and placed it on her lap. “This looks
delicious.”

He
tipped the uncorked bottle above Kindle’s glass first and then filled his
before setting the wine down on the table.

“No
doubt that it will taste just that way.” He draped his napkin over his thighs
as well. Cutting into one of her scallops then twirling her linguine with
sun-dried tomato and basil cream sauce topped with pine nuts onto her fork with
it, she asked, “So, how did you go from lawyer to candy maker?”

“Actually,
Sweet, my brother, is the creative one. I stay far away from his kitchen with
the exception of making sure he’s stocked with his ingredients and he likes it
that way. I handle the business side of things.” With his fork, he broke off a
flakey piece of blackened tuna and ensured he added some of the garlic rosemary
mashed potatoes beneath the fish. Just as it was every time he came to Croc’s,
the food was perfectly married with the spices. He followed that bite up with a
taste of his sautéed vegetables.

“Oh,
my…this is truly wonderful. Even better than I remembered from the one time I’d
been here before.” Her tongue glided along her bottom lip as if searching for
any missing droplets.

His
gaze tracked her tongue as he reached for his wine. Lifting his glass, he
sniffed then tasted the wine. The small amount he allowed on his tongue of the
Mendocino County, California, blend was rich and buttery with honey almond
notes and a citrus blend that flattered the chef’s seafood creation. As good as
the food and wine were, Masaun would wager his favorite dragon tail whip that
Kindle would taste better.

“Glad
you like it.”

She
ate and swallowed another bite. “So, have you ever practiced law?”

“Yes,
in the corporate arena.” His mood dimmed some as he thought about those days
and how frivolous his life had been. Even with all of the parties and
entertainment, it had been stressful trying to keep up with the reckless
existence.

Lowering
the fork loaded with her next bite, she stared at him. “From your tone, I can
only take it that you didn’t enjoy it.”

He
ate, giving himself time as he processed her words. “Some parts of it I did.
When you can find loopholes in the tax law that gets the heads of corporations
breaks or ensure a contract is worded just so in your client’s economic favor,
it can be extremely profitable.”
And sickening. And empty.

“The
success of it should have felt good as well.” She picked up her wine with her
free hand.

He
locked his gaze on her. “Does it?”

She
sipped once. Twice. Instead of setting her wine down, she held it and released
her fork. “We weren’t talking about me.”

“No.
However, that’s the reason we’re here.”

“So,
you’re allowed to question me but I’m not offered the same liberties?” She
drank some more.

“You
may ask me anything you like. As long as the moment is appropriate.” It was
time for him to gear the conversation to the reason they were meeting in the
first place.

“And
this is?” she lead.

“Why
is Lolli concerned about you?” he asked instead of answering her.

Taking
another drink, she looked down at her glass and frowned. She apparently
realized the glass was almost empty and how much she’d consumed. She set the
glass back beside her plate. Picking up her abandoned fork, she said, “She
shouldn’t be. Emmalee or Lolli can be a worrywart at times.”

“I
never got that impression when I trained her.” He purposely contradicted
Kindle. She was attempting to make light of her career’s impact. However, it
was just what he would need her to see if he was going to get her to agree to
move their relationship to another level. Where he wanted it to be.

There
was no other way to think about it, but that he desired Kindle as a submissive.
When he first headed to her office to deliver the candy, he saw it as him fulfilling
a request, but that was it. He understood Lolli’s anxiety regarding her friend,
but didn’t see it going any further than meeting Kindle. Once he met her, he
desired her sexually, couldn’t deny his response. Yet, wanting her prostrate
over a bench or kneeling before him was a complex matter entirely. One he
sought just the same.

“It’s
only when it comes to me and my job.” She guided her fork into her mouth. After
she chewed and swallowed the bite down, she continued, “Many people have
stressful jobs. Hell, her job can be all consuming when she’s deep in
research.”

“There’s
a difference between the two of you.”

“She’s
white and I’m black,” Kindle jested and shrugged. A façade because Masaun could
see the tight corners of her mouth. She was a smart woman, a brilliant attorney
most likely, and she would be able to clearly see the signs showing where the
conversation was headed.

“She
has an outlet and you don’t,” he declared.

Pulling
off a chunk of baguette, she ate it and sat silent as she blankly stared off to
the side, with her hands in her lap.

He
watched her chest rise high and fall slowly, as if she were gaining control or
folding inside some secret corner of herself. He took another sip of his wine
and waited. The music in the place was still low, the hour too early for people
to start dancing.

When
her gaze met his, her stoic, professional mask was in place. That look, the
same one he’d seen in her office, had been the catalyst for him to give her his
number. The reason he was here tonight. Kindle needed him, even if she didn’t
know it yet. He’d seen that look before in other subs and some Doms. Like a
wild animal had when it was alone and trapped, they showed a brave, strong face
to the world. Attempting to prove they were alright and had things under
control.