She's All In: Club 3, Book 1 (23 page)

He strode across the gym to where she was sitting on the mats, one leg crooked up as she twisted over it in a graceful stretch. She looked up, startled, as he stopped, so close he could have touched her.

He fucking loved the look of sweet supplication in her green eyes as she peeped up at him.

“You gonna be at the club on Saturday?” he demanded.

She smiled, that shy, sexy one that turned him inside out. “Yes, Dack.”

“Good.” Now maybe he could concentrate on his workout. He just wanted to make sure she’d be there for sex, that was all. Nothing more. “See you there.”

She gave him a flirtatious look, her eyes twinkling. “Y’know, if I had your phone number, I could call you in case I’ll be late.”

Dack had had other subs ask him for his phone number. Not one of them had gotten it, just a nice brush-off. But hell, if she were late, he’d worry about her and all that. So he really should have her number and vice versa.

“Three-six-zero Big Dack,” he told her. She giggled, as he’d known she would.

He winked at her. “Hey, it’s stupid, but it’s easy to remember.”

“And it’s true,” she said, and then blushed, her cheeks and throat flushing pink. She tipped her head down on her knee, groaning as he chuckled.

He nudged her foot with his and then stepped back. “Give me a quick call so I’ll have your number, okay?”

She nodded, still pink. “Okay.”

He nodded and turned to go. Walking away from her was hard as hell. But he was humming under his breath as he grabbed a set of fifty pound barbells. Some Latin song he’d heard at the club last weekend.

“Wow. Someone’s in a good mood.”

Smiling, Daisy turned to look over her shoulder as Sara and Carlie approached through the maze of exercise machines. Like her, they wore workout wear, although theirs was still fresh. She was perspiring, having been working out for nearly an hour. Saturday morning, and she had awakened early, vibrating with eagerness. Tonight she’d be with Dack again.

“Hi, gal pals.”

Carlie raised one winged brow. “Gal pals? Ooh, you are perky.”

Daisy giggled. She couldn’t help it. “Yes I am. Because I had good sex and I’m gonna get more. How about you?”

Carlie and Sara exchanged a look of raised brows and widened eyes.

“I sure didn’t,” Sara said dryly. “Watched chick flicks with my mom all weekend.”

“I didn’t either,” Carlie said with a sigh.

“The sheikh didn’t come through?” Daisy asked.

Carlie wrinkled her nose. “I wasn’t quite…ready. Maybe next time.”

Sara set her hands on her hips, a determined look on her face. “That settles it. I am coming to the club with you this weekend, Daise. And nothing is going to stop me.”

Daisy laughed and held up her hand for a high five. “That’s the spirit.”

“Is it a theme night?” Sara asked warily.

Daisy shook her head. “No, not tonight. Just wear something pretty.”

“Okay,” Carlie said sternly. “I did the big pre-date workout, so you two had better do the same. Come on.”

With a groan, Daisy followed them to the next machine. But she was smiling. She couldn’t seem to help herself these days.

“Hey, boss. Uh, boss? You with me?”

Dack lifted his head. “Hmm?”

His gaze sharpened. He sat on a pile of bricks, plans open on his lap. His foreman stood before him, eyeing him quizzically from beneath his hard hat.

“Sorry.” Dack shook his head. “Zoned out there for a sex—sec.” He grimaced, hoping his own hard hat, sunglasses and facial hair hid his red face. Jesus, his slip of the tongue was symptomatic of his mental state. He’d been looking over the plans for the office building he and his crew were constructing, and Daisy had just sort of slipped into his head. Smiling up at him while she…

He stood abruptly, needing a physical distraction before his body followed his mind down that sweet slope. He’d see her tonight, and that was soon enough. Right now he needed to get his mind back to work. He tried to take Saturdays off, but with the weather this fine and the deadline for the project fast approaching, everyone had agreed to work for five or six hours today. Not only would his crew pull overtime, Dack planned to give them all a bonus when the project wrapped up.

His foreman grinned to acknowledge the joke, but turned back to indicate the framework of the building. “Whatcha want us to do with that corner? Leave it the way it is in the plan, or make that change we talked about?”

Dack stepped forward, bundling the plans back into a tidy roll as he eyed the structure. “Let’s make that change. The client likes it, and I think it’ll work better with the line of the roof.”

“Okeydoke.” The stocky man headed off, and Dack walked over to grab his coffee cup and have a swig. It was still hot and strong, the way he liked it.

He squinted into the morning sun, admiring the way the building would sit within the tall evergreens on the site. They’d saved all but three, and the plans called for some shrubs and small Japanese maples to be planted around the building and the small parking lot.

Yup, it was going to look good. Maybe he’d bring Daisy down and show it to her when it was all done. She appreciated a well-made building.

He cared about her opinion. He let that realization gel for a moment, rolling it around in his mind while he sipped his coffee and watched his crew working together. He’d only known her for…a few weeks, that was all. But somehow she occupied more and more of his thoughts. Always there, kind of waiting at the edge for a quiet moment.

He held his coffee cup and stared at it unseeingly. She was special, all right. Maybe…maybe she was The One.

A burst of laughter brought him out of his daze, and he looked over to see his crew members watching him.

Danny, the youngest, set his hands on his skinny, tool-belted hips. “Boss, if all you’re gonna do is stand around, you can just go home and quit wastin’ our time.”

The other guys laughed.

“You in love or somethin’?” Jorge demanded, shaking his tattooed head.

Dack tipped his head down and then chuckled with them. “Like I’d tell you yahoos if I was. All right, let’s get that beam up.”

He set his coffee aside and strode over to help lift the heavy beam, letting Brady give the orders. But Jorge’s good-natured jibe echoed in his head.

Was he “in love or something”? And if he was, how come he wasn’t more worried about it? How come he felt so…happy?

After all her eagerness, Daisy was late getting to the club. She’d forgotten her purse and had to run back up to her apartment, and then Dana called just as she was walking out the door. Daisy stuck her earbud in and managed to chat while she drove.

“You okay?” Dana asked.
 

“I’m just on my way to meet Dack,” Daisy admitted. “Kinda jazzed.”

“Oooh, fun,” Dana approved. “I was very impressed, I must say. Not only is he a total hunk, any guy that will show up for a cancer walk with hundreds of women, including your family members…could be a keeper.”

Daisy beamed as she swung her car onto the main boulevard. “I think he might be,” she admitted.
 

Dana made a pleased sound. “So…may I ask if the book has been useful?”

“Oh geez,” Daisy breathed, hitting the gas too hard and then the brake. “Better not while I’m driving. I’ll, um…tell you later.” A highly edited version. Geez, no way could she tell her big sister she was now a member of a sex club. Maybe when they were seventy-something!

“All right. Don’t want to pry. Have fun, sweetie.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

By the time she walked into the club, Daisy was jittery with excitement and nerves. What would Dack want to do tonight? She was hoping for one of the back bedrooms. She wanted some time with just him, naked in a bed, so she could kiss her way all over his big body. Her panties were damp just imagining having free range of those muscles.

Rochelle was at the front desk, frowning into the phone as Daisy walked up. “Hi, Daisy.” She pushed the button to open the inner door and waved Daisy through.

Daisy paused uncertainly. “Um, Dack didn’t leave his key for me?”

Rochelle scanned the desk. “No. There was a bit of a problem earlier. Just go on in.”

Another couple walked in behind Daisy, so she moved on. She stopped inside the entrance, looking around. She’d tried calling Dack to tell him she’d be late, but he hadn’t answered his phone. A problem? She hoped everyone was okay.

She smoothed down the short skirt of her coral sundress. It had a crocheted halter top, from which the short skirt fell only halfway to her knees. She wore her strappy little white flip-flops and underneath, a pair of coral lace panties she hoped Dack was really going to like.

Looking around the crowded club, she saw Mason by the bar, talking to the bartender. He’d know where Dack was.

Mason was scowling, his handsome face hard. Daisy hesitated before approaching him. Geez, even he could look scary. But he saw her and nodded, so she stepped closer. “Hi, is Dack here?”

Mason nodded. “Yeah, he is. In one of the back rooms. Listen, Daisy—”

“Mase, man, how are you?” Daisy jumped as a deep voice boomed behind her, and scurried aside as a tall, burly man reached past her to greet Mason. He clapped Mason on the shoulder, his ebony face split in a smile. “Been forever since I’ve seen you.”

Mason smiled back. “Barron, good to see you, man.” He gave Daisy a look that said
wait
, but as the other man laughed and began to speak again, she edged away.

She made her way back past the sitting area, which, as usual, had a few couples making out. Daisy walked into the dimly lit hallway. Where the heck was Dack?

She heard voices through the open door of the first bedroom. Stepping closer, she peered around the edge of the door. Her heart nearly stopped, and her breath froze in disbelief.

Dack sat perched on the side of the big bed, his back partially turned to Daisy, and he held a woman in his arms, curled on his lap with her face buried in his black T-shirt, clinging to him. Daisy could see nothing of the woman but bare legs and feet…and thighs. What the hell—was she naked?

“Hush,” he soothed. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. You’re fine now.”

Daisy struggled against the tightness seizing her chest. She couldn’t breathe.

He was using his dom voice, that low rumble that told a woman—a sub—she’d done what he wanted, and it was okay that she was feeling shattered, because he had her safe.

The other woman was talking in a low, quavering voice. “I don’t—I don’t know if I can do this again.”

Omigod. He’d had sex with this woman. When she wasn’t here, it was business as usual for him.

“Your decision, sweetie,” Dack said in that sweet, soothing rumble. “Take your time, though. Don’t try to think through it now.”

“You don’t think I’m…warped? To want to…you know.”

Wait a minute. Daisy knew that voice too.

She struggled to stay where she was and not do what every instinct screamed at her—rush into the room and confront him, confront them both. Who was he with? Who had he fucked the minute Daisy’s back was turned?

Dack chuckled. “No, I don’t think you’re warped. You’re a gorgeous, sexy woman.”

“If I come back,” the woman asked “will you be here?”

“Sure,” Dack promised. “I’ll be here for you, sweetie. Right here. As long as you need me.”

Daisy clamped her teeth together, biting back the whimper of pain fighting its way up her throat.
 

She knew that voice, all right—it was Sara. Sara, who admired Dack, who thought Dack was hot. Sara, who had waited until her back was turned before she wriggled right in and took Daisy’s place in his arms.

Bolting away from the doorway, Daisy ran. Back through the club, past Mason, who looked startled and then worried. He held out one hand to stop her, but Daisy dodged around him. She raced past the curious faces turning her way, shoving her way out the front door past another couple coming in. They reeled back, surprise on their faces.

“Daisy!” a deep voice shouted behind her. “Daisy, wait.”

She ignored them all, already keying her car open as she ran across the lot. She dove in, hit the ignition and then the accelerator, wheeling out of the lot with a squeal of tires on pavement, passing Mase, who stood by the steps, one arm out in a command to stop.

Too bad he hadn’t stopped Dack from breaking her heart.

Somehow she made it home without getting in a wreck. Daisy sat for a moment in her car and then slowly, shivering despite the heat of the evening, she clambered out of her car, and trudged slowly up to her apartment. She dragged her soft afghan around her and sat, her mind going over and over what she’d seen and heard.

He’d cheated on her. And with a woman she’d thought was one of her closest friends.

Huddled on her sofa, Daisy did the one thing she could think of. She had to talk to someone who would understand—Carlie.