“So what are we up to today?” Joe asked with a grin as he walked into Tara’s office Monday morning. She sat there behind her desk, hands clenched into fists already, eyes sparking, mouth tight. Satisfaction at her reaction to him surged inside him. He’d gotten to her. And she hated it.
Of course, he also had to deal with his reaction to her. Had spent the whole weekend trying to deal with it.
She wasn’t going to give in without a fight and he didn’t want to break her—just wanted her to see inside herself. And his ulterior motive suddenly seemed less important than helping her learn that about herself and the enjoyment they could both have in doing so.
“You’re scheduled for more time with Fiona.” She turned and met his eyes and he could see the quivering uncertainty she was trying to hide. Then her eyes widened. “Oh my God! What happened to you?”
He touched his eye. He’d forgotten about the shiner. “Oh yeah. I was playing basketball.” He wasn’t going to tell her he’d been so distracted thinking about her that he’d run into an elbow.
“Jesus. Are you okay?”
He shrugged. “Just a black eye. No big deal.”
She blinked. “Um. Okay. Well…we should talk.”
“Okay.” He propped one hip on the corner of her desk. Waited.
She pressed her lips together. “What happened at the club…it doesn’t change anything here.”
“What would it change?”
Her cheeks heated and she floundered for words. “I don’t know. But I just wanted to…I still don’t want you here.”
“What are you so afraid of, Tara?”
She stared at him and her cheeks flushed. “I’m not afraid of anything. Why would I be afraid?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I asked.” He leaned closer so he could smell her flowery fragrance. He inhaled it slowly, bringing back memories of when he’d held her in his arms at Le Château and breathed in that heady jasmine and magnolia scent. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”
“Of course not! That’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t think so. I just can’t figure out why. Do you think I’m going to take your job away from you?”
She shook her head violently. “Don’t be ridiculous.” But her reaction told him what he needed to know.
“I’m not trying to take anything away from you, Tara.”
She stared up at him. “You’re crazy,” she said. “You can’t take this away from me.”
“I don’t want to take anything away from you,” he repeated.
“Fine, then there’s no problem.”
“What else are you afraid of?”
She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know, when you enter the BDSM lifestyle, it’s not unusual to not know what you want.”
“I know what I want! And I’m not in that lifestyle!”
“Tara. Whether you’re dominant or submissive, the first, most important thing you have to learn is honesty. First of all honesty with yourself.”
She jumped to her feet, shoving her chair back, hands clenched in fists. “I do not want to talk about this! I told you, that didn’t change anything.”
“You may learn you want to dominate,” he continued, standing too so he blocked her escape from behind her desk. A pulse leaped in her throat and her breathing quickened. “You may learn you want to submit.” Her eyes flickered. He smiled. “Maybe you’ll learn you like both and you’ll want to switch. But that’s what it’s all about. Learning about ourselves. I’m still learning too.”
She stared at him, saying nothing. “I won’t learn I want to submit,” she finally said, looking down.
“Just so long as you’re honest,” he repeated. “You have to have an open mind, and be honest with yourself. Just think about that.”
He turned and left her office to find Fiona.
Joe loved the money part of business. It had been a tough decision whether to major in finance or operations, so he’d taken a lot of finance courses. In his last job he’d had responsibility for budgeting and planning, so he enjoyed working with Fiona. But accelerated depreciation and capitalized costs weren’t enough to keep his mind off Tara and her delicious uncertainty.
Joe wasn’t one of those people who hated to admit to mistakes. If he screwed up, he screwed up; he learned from it and moved on. But he couldn’t quite get himself to think that giving Tara that super-nova orgasm had been a mistake.
Although the fact they had to work together added a certain layer of complication to the whole thing.
On the other hand, he wanted to tame her, both in the office and out of it. Now that he knew what she was really about, his techniques would be the same, but the tools would be different. In the office he couldn’t pick up a flogger or tie her to her chair. But there were other ways. She was such a sharp-tongued, shrewish witch, she definitely needed to be gentled. Not broken. He would never want to break that strength, that intelligence. But he could soften it…and he could make her like it. He knew it.
Tara sank down into her chair again, all warm and shaky.
She was afraid. He was smart and experienced and charming and he was taking over the business that was her entire life. It was all she had. She had to be strong and in control to hold on to it. If she gave in to him, she’d lose everything.
He was also goddamn annoying—arrogant, confident, domineering.
Even if he said he didn’t want to take anything away from her, even if he truly had no intention of trying to take over this company, it could still happen because that’s what Grandpa wanted. So she had to stay in control—always.
But she was afraid of Joe and the things he was challenging her to do—and not just business.
Just after lunch, Juan called to tell her that there’d been an accident at the ranch. One of the laborers had fallen off a ladder and appeared to have broken his leg. They were taking him to the hospital in Santa Barbara.
Shit. She rubbed the tightness between her eyebrows, hoping the guy was okay. She had a meeting scheduled with a supplier that afternoon that she couldn’t change, but as soon as she was done she headed to the hospital.
Javier was in a room, leg casted, looking pale, but okay. His young wife was beside him, holding a baby on her hip.
Tara introduced herself. “I’m so sorry this happened,” she told Javier. “Of course we’ll cover your medical bills, so don’t worry about that.”
“Joe already told me that,” Javier said.
Tara froze. A frown tightened her forehead. “Joe was already here?”
“Yeah. He just left. He wanted to make sure I was okay. And he told me as soon as I can move around they’ll find something for me to do at the ranch. Whatever I can do. He’s a great guy.”
She gave him a tight smile. “Yes. He is.”
“And you all are great to work for, I gotta say.”
His wife smiled back at her as she bounced the baby. “Yes. Thank you.”
Tara forced a smile. “You’re very welcome. I’m just glad you’re going to be okay.”
After the fundraising committee meeting Friday morning, Sasha lingered at the Youth Action Center. It wasn’t because of Nick. Not at all. He’d been all business, professional and courteous during the meeting. They were planning the annual fundraising gala to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel. Just the kind of thing Sasha loved to plan and she’d put forth some great ideas if she did say so herself, but she’d found herself distracted by Nick’s gorgeous eyes and appealing smile.
Why had he turned her down? It didn’t make sense. Guys fell over themselves to be with her.
But she didn’t hang around because of him.
She wandered into the kitchen just as lunch was being served. Her eyes roved around the room, but no Nick.