During the whole incident, Cris stood there without speaking or making any attempt to protect himself or run away. Tilly watched Cris bow his head and silently walk to the car and get in.
She despised that a tiny part of her deep inside her heart didn’t want to see him to go and hated to see him looking like a beat dog.
It took her nearly twenty minutes to calm Bob. He vacillated between apologetic for blowing his cool and enraged that he didn’t take a swing at Cris anyway.
She thanked God it had been Bob who’d been there and not Ross or Loren. They would have killed him.
Aw, shit.
She sent Bob to the kitchen to start dinner while she made her safe call.
“I was about to come over,” Loren said. “You’re never late with a safe call.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Things got hectic.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Bob came over for dinner after my client and I lost track of time.” She decided omitting the details about Cris would be the wisest move.
“Bob… Bob? From the club? Your boy, Bob?”
“Yeah, we went out for dinner yesterday and—”
“What? Wait, you and Bob went out for dinner? When?”
“I thought I told you that?”
“No you didn’t freaking tell me that! That’s…that’s good, right?”
Okay, this she did not need tonight. She had no patience for Momma Loren’s twenty questions.
“Yes, it’s good. He’s here tonight making me dinner.”
“Oh.”
“Not like that. Bob and Tilly dinner, not Mistress and boy dinner.”
“Oh!”
“Yeah, oh. Now can I get back to my date, Momma Loren?”
Her friend laughed. “I want all the delicious details! Call me tomorrow.”
Tilly got off the phone, then washed her face and returned to the kitchen. Bob’s expression softened when he saw her. He pulled her to him for a hug.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just in shock. I wasn’t expecting to see him.”
He looked down into her face. “How about you go take a shower and get into sweats or whatever you like to chill out in and let me handle making you dinner.” He stroked her cheek. “You look like you’re wiped out. Go relax.”
“I hope you don’t want me to be Domme-y tonight.”
He smiled. “I want to spend the evening with Tilly. Despite my jokes about boy cooking and cleaning, I had kind of hoped Mistress Cardinal would decide to take the night off.”
She stared into his blue eyes. “Yeah?”
He nodded. “I want to get to know Tilly. I want to get to know her very well.”
Tilly didn’t have to force her smile.
Tilly wished she could pull her mind from the memory of Cris looking up at her from the floor, but she couldn’t. Especially not when after dinner she sat curled up on the couch with Bob, watching TV and talking with him.
Her gaze repeatedly went to where Cris had knelt behind the coffee table.
“I’m sorry this isn’t the evening I had in mind,” Bob softly said.
Distracted again. She looked at him. “What?”
He stroked her cheek. “It’s okay. That had to be a really bad shock earlier.”
She’d taken a shower and changed into an oversized T-shirt and comfortable shorts while he cooked dinner. No make-up, and her hair wonky from air drying. He had such sweet, blue eyes, but now all she could think about was Cris.
Not to mention Landry’s offer.
She snuggled against him. His body felt very comfortable holding hers. “I’m sorry I’m not good company tonight.”
“It’s okay. I understand. Want to try again next Thursday? I’ll bring dinner and cook for you.”
She snuggled closer and closed her eyes. “I’d like that. That’d be nice.”
“Is it really just me and Tilly tonight?”
Cracking open one eye, she caught his playful smirk. “Yeah. Why?”
“Because I don’t want Mistress Cardinal beating me for this.” He placed a long, slow, sensual kiss on her lips. With a mind of their own, her hands slipped around his neck, relaxing into his embrace and for once driving all other thoughts out of her mind for a few blissful moments.
When he broke their kiss his playful smirk remained. “Was that okay?”
She smiled. “Way more than okay.”
He glanced at the time. “I hate to say this, but I need to head home.”
“It’s only ten-thirty.”
“I have a Sunrise Rotary meeting in the morning. I don’t feel like getting my balls busted by them two weeks in a row for being late.”
“Rotary, Hallmark ornaments, and as big a bookworm as I am. Explain to me why we didn’t hook up sooner?”
He nuzzled her nose with his. “Because I’m a good boy. I follow orders.”
She reluctantly walked him to the door, still wondering if she shouldn’t try to talk him into staying. Before he left he turned to her and gave her one last hug and kiss.
“Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want to stay later. If I do, I’ll be too tempted to take you to bed.”
“Who says that’s a bad thing?”
He stroked her cheek again. She loved that. “It’s not a bad thing, but after the shock you’ve had today, I’d feel like I was taking advantage of you. I’d rather take things a little slower. I’ve waited nearly three years to ask you out. It won’t kill me to wait a little longer to take things to the next level.”
After one last lingering hug, he left. She waved to him from the open doorway until his taillights disappeared down her quiet street. Then she stepped inside, closed and locked the door behind her.
Her living room lay empty before her except for the ghostly memory of kicking Cris and screaming at him.
The wonderful feelings her evening with Bob had brought her evaporated.
She closed her eyes and groaned. Did I really say that? Did I really tell him I wanted my Master back?
She hoped it was a figment of her shattered composure, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that’s probably exactly what she’d said.
Another round of tears threatened and she held them back. Despite all her claims, deep in her heart it was the truth. As much as she hated Cris for what he did to her, and as much as she never wanted to make herself that vulnerable again, deep down inside part of her missed and craved that connection, that love.
The service.
Sleep wouldn’t be possible, no doubt about it. She spotted Landry’s business card on her dresser, where she’d laid it after undressing before her shower. Picking it up, she saw he’d scribbled their hotel and room number on it. On U.S. 41, near where Fruitville ended.
She could be there in twenty minutes. Just to talk.
Just to hear his nutty deal. If she took him up on it, she could pay off her house and maybe take some time off, catch up on credits to renew her nursing license.
Quit being Mistress Cardinal forever.
Closing her eyes, she tried to think about Bob’s blue gaze and all she could see now was Cris’ brown eyes.
Or Landry’s intense green stare.
There was no way she’d be able to put this evening behind her, one way or the other, until she got some of her many questions answered.
Swearing, she pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed her keys.
Chapter Five
Landry didn’t look at his slave as he drove away from Mistress Cardinal’s house. “So? What happened?”