Dom

“You just told your boss—the owner of the whole damn company—that you put a meeting on his schedule and then had the balls to walk away?” Jacki leans in to be heard over the throbbing bass and many conversations in Cadillac Jack’s, our favorite bar for girl’s night out.

“Sure did.” I hold up my dirty martini and lift my eyebrows before taking a drink. “How else should I have done it?” I run my thumb under my bottom lip.

“Oh, I don’t know. Cleared it with him first? Waited for him to say he was okay with it?” Jacki sips her strawberry margarita.

I scrunch up my face in confusion. “Why would I wait for him to say he was okay with it? Of course he’s okay with it. It’s a damn good idea and it’s going to make him tons of money.”

“What I wouldn’t do for just one sliver of your confidence.” Jacki licks her lips and stares over my shoulder. “There’s a hottie behind you. Want him?”

I turn and study the guy. He catches my eye and lifts his chin, pursing his lips. I give my attention back to Jacki. “Nope. Total d-bag. Too full of himself to be worth sleeping with.”

“You’re picky.”

“You’re not.” I raise an eyebrow.

Jacki gapes at me. “Hey…” She tosses her so-dark-it’s-almost-black hair over her shoulder and sighs. “Okay. Maybe I’m not all that picky. But it works for me. While I’m in the middle of a sexual revolution, you’re over their shriveling up. You’re turning into an old maid right before my eyes, D.”

“Nothing about me is shriveling up. I can promise you that.”

My tastes are just a little different than Jacki’s is all. While she’s interested in anything with a dick that will give her the time of day, I’m looking for a very specific kind of man. Someone willing to let me take the reins. Someone who’s comfortable giving up control. Because there’s really only one thing in life that matters to me, and that’s control.

Everything I do is built around it. I work my ass off to get promoted into places of power so I have more control at work. This gives me more financial freedom to have more control at home. I never have more than one drink so I never lose control while I’m out. I’m training for a marathon for the control it gives me over my body. And I never enter a relationship where I have to give up one ounce of control over who I am and what I want.

It’s magical.

I’ve never been hurt and at twenty-seven, I’ve accomplished more than some people will in their entire lives. I’m a force to be reckoned with and that’s just the way I like it. I’ve not met any man anywhere who’s strong enough to handle me.

“How did he react?” Jacki looks past my shoulders and smiles, dropping a wink, probably at the d-bag who will leave her unsatisfied, embarrassed, and unfulfilled.

“Huh?”

She meets my eyes and frowns. “Your boss. How did he react?”

I think back to the look on Mr. Wellington’s face. “He was surprised.”

“Look at you grin.” Jacki pulls her straw out of her margarita and sucks a strawberry out of the bottom. “You’re such an asshole.”

“I am not.”

“But you kind of are.” Jacki swirls her straw in her glass. “And I can say that because I love you.”

I sip my martini. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You can’t even ask the question without laughing.” Jacki smiles, rolling her eyes at me. “You have to be careful, putting your boss in his place. Because his place is above you.” She makes a slicing motion with her hand just over her head.

“Ahh. That’s the thing.” I flare my hands. “No one’s place is above me.”

Jacki shakes her head. “You’re something else.” Her gaze shifts over my shoulder again.

“I’m telling you, Jack. That guy’s a fuck and dump. He’ll come and you won’t and you’ll swear you’ll never pick up guys in bars ever again.”

“No. Not him. There’s another one.” She leans closer, eyes wide and mouth open. “Holy shit, Dom. This guy is…” She licks her lips. “Edible.”

Our girl’s nights used to be about the two of us getting together and hanging out. Decompressing after a long week of pushing and shoving through our careers. The closer we get to thirty, the more obsessed Jacki gets with finding a man. I’m not a fan and have cut our nights short more than once over it.

“Jacki…”

She senses the rattlesnake warning in my voice. “I’m serious, Dom. You gotta look.”

“I don’t ‘gotta’ do anything.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Be stubborn. But you’re gonna miss a once in a lifetime kind of man. I don’t even have it in me to make eye contact. He’s that far out of my league.”

I laugh. “No one’s out of your league and you know it, even if you do set your standards too low. Admit it, you’ve already made eye contact, given him the come hither, and he’s on his way over.”

“You know me too well.” She tosses her hair. “Prepare to be amazed.” She glances up, smiles, and then leans in to whisper. “Just remember, I saw him first.”

“No worries there, I’m sure.”

“No worries about what?” A familiar voice captures my attention and I glance at the man helping himself to a seat at our table.

Well, I’ll be damned. If it isn’t Nathaniel Wellington. The only man I haven’t been able to get into bed, even with concerted effort. Every move I make has been calculated to make him give in to me. Three years later and I still haven’t tasted him. He must be made of steel and stone.

“Mr. Wellington.” I cross my legs and moisten my lips. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He looks surprised but wipes away the look with a wide grin. “We’re not at work. Call me Nate.”

Jacki’s wide eyes aren’t doing me any favors. “This is your boss?” She runs a finger along her collarbone, about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

“Uh-oh.” Nate looks pleased. “Does my reputation precede me?”

While I smile and gather myself, Jacki goes into full-on flirt mode. I’ll blame it on her freshly refilled margarita because she should know better than to go after my boss, a man I laid claim on years ago. Nate answers her questions easily, enjoying the attention, but his gaze keeps darting to me. He wants me, but this is a man who thrives on control as much as I do and for whatever reason, he’s decided I am off limits.

Except tonight feels different.

“So,” he says, grazing my hand with just the tip of his finger. I want to shiver but don’t. “Domino is such an unusual name. Is there a story behind it?”

I hate to say I’m disappointed, but I thought for sure he’d go with something more unique for a conversation starter. How many times in my life have I had to answer this question? I lean my elbow on the table and rest a finger against my chin.

“It means lord and master.” I let my lips part and hold his gaze, turning my head ever so slightly, watching his reaction. “I guess my parents knew me well enough before I was even born to name me appropriately.” I shrug. “It’s also my dad’s favorite Bond girl.”

Jacki rolls her eyes and laughs. “I think your dad just really likes James Bond.”

“Or that.” I shrug and finish off my martini.

Nate studies me and I study him right back. His dark hair, which is usually gelled back off his face at the office, is loose and long, giving him a brooding look that works very well with those vibrant blue eyes of his.

Jacki clears her throat. “I sure could go for another drink.” She looks at me, lost in the sexual tension and begging for help. “What about you guys?”

Nate lifts his glass. “It’s Friday. I’m game. This round’s on me.” He studies my finger as I run it along the stem of my glass. “Another martini?”

“No, but thank you. And I’ll get this round.” No one buys me drinks. No one. It’s a display of dominance. A way of putting someone in your debt. Not a place I like to be.

Nate looks perplexed and Jacki looks appalled while I flag down a waitress and place an order. And, just to add to my level of mystery, it’s time to make a quick disappearance.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I say as I stand and head towards the bathroom, fully aware that Nate has a perfect view of my ass the whole way.

A man like Nate? He’s not prepared for a woman like me. He wants someone to bend to his well. Someone eager to please him and desperate for rules and direction. I’m not like that. In fact, I’m the exact opposite of that. If we get together, sparks will fly. Things will catch fire. That should scare the hell out of me but it only makes me want him more. Am I really ready to put my career on the line just so I can sleep with my boss?

I study my face in the mirror, dabbing at a bit of errant eyeliner. All I can think about is how he’ll taste, what he’ll feel like sliding inside me, how he’ll look underneath me, rolling and thrusting his hips while his hands grip my waist.

When I step out of the restroom, Nate’s leaning against the wall. Waiting for me. I can’t say I’m surprised. Men do love the chase.

“Let me guess,” he says. “You have to leave.”

“Actually, I do.”

“Funny,” he says dryly. “So do I. Walk with me.” And without waiting for me to reply, he takes my arm and leads me away.

“I need to say goodbye to Jacki.” I pull my arm from his.

“No need. She left five minutes ago. Told me to tell you goodnight and not to be an asshole.”

I laugh despite myself. “Sounds like her.”

Nate leads me through the bar, stopping at my table to grab my coat, and then heads for the front door. As we step outside, a blast of cold wind blows my hair into my eyes. Nate brushes it away, so close I can smell the bourbon on his breath. His skin on mine does funny things to me, things I don’t know how to classify. That alone should be enough to scare me away from him.

It only intrigues me more.

He steps even closer, threading one hand into my hair and placing the other firmly against my lower back. My heart takes off, a rabbit through the field. This is where I should pull away, play hard to get. Where I should remember that this man is my boss and that means he is off limits.

That’s the thing about me, though. Knowing I can’t have something only makes me want it more. I tilt my head, part my lips, and drag my tongue along his bottom lip.

He kisses me. His mouth warm and demanding, his tongue darting out to meet mine. I grasp his arms—the thick wool of his coat rough under my fingers—and take his bottom lip between my teeth. The wind bites into the bare skin on my hands and we devour each other on the sidewalk, a stream of people parting around us like water past rocks.

When he pulls away, he keeps his arms tight around my body, pressing me against him so I can feel the hard length of his dick pushing against me. Snow falls, gathering on his hair and eyelashes. He smiles. “Good night, Dom.”

And then he steps away, hails a cab, and helps me into it. He shoves his hands in his coat pockets as the cab pulls away and I turn in my seat, my eyes locked on his until the driver turns a corner and the buildings block him from my view.