She swallowed hard and nodded.
Chapter Six
During dinner, the sun had dropped into the Gulf. The last vestiges of purple light struggled to maintain a tenuous grasp on the landscape despite the holes being punched into the deep shadows here and there by streetlamps. For the return drive to the dungeon, Tony once again insisted on sitting in the backseat with Shayla. In the darkened interior of the car, she felt safer looking at his face, comforted by the illusion of insulation provided by the shadows.
He was a man who smiled readily, the corners of his eyes marked with lines attesting to that fact. He listened intently when people spoke, and had a warm laugh that he shared with friendly ease.
He also didn’t strike her as a man who demanded other people defer to him, or who was an attention whore. He seemed relaxed, settled in his place in the conversation and holding his own when the situation allowed, but also content to sit back and listen to others.
He wasn’t a pushy, overbearing, arrogant idiot. She didn’t know what he was like with a submissive, but he certainly was blowing her preconceived notions out of the water even better than her earlier conversation with Loren and Ross. Sure, it was fine to find a couple who were happy doing…this, but Tony seemed the kind of man to validate their claims that the average person in “the lifestyle” was just that—an average person. From what little time she’d spent with him, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
And other than his earlier question about what her boyfriend might think of her outing, he hadn’t approached discussing anything personal about her other than how long she’d been in Florida, how she liked it there, and questions about her job.
In fact, he stayed remarkably clear of any kind of personal questions.
Then again, maybe he’s just not interested in me. She knew he was single, because Loren, Tilly, and Leah had all, at some point during the dinner conversation, made mention of it to Shayla.
If Shayla didn’t know any better, she’d think the women were trying to hook them up together.
There were considerably more cars in the parking lot when they pulled in and parked. Before emerging from the car, Loren asked, “Did you bring your toybag, Tony?”
“It’s in my trunk. But I doubt I’m playing tonight.”
“Could you bring it in and show Shayla the ropes?” She giggled.
He arched an eyebrow at her. “Ha, ha. Like I haven’t heard that one a million times.” His light tone belied his words. “And no, I don’t mind bringing it in.”
“If it’s going to be trouble,” Shayla said, “it’s okay, don’t worry about it.”
They climbed out. “No, no trouble. I’m just parked over there.”
She waited with Loren near the club’s door for Ross to get their things from the trunk of their car while Tony removed a large, black rolling suitcase from the trunk of his. Inside, since they already had Shayla’s information on file, she didn’t have to fill out another form.
She discovered however that entry wasn’t guaranteed as she pulled out a twenty and prepared to hand it over.
A different woman manned the front desk. She was older, with closely cropped blonde hair, a black corset squeezing her ample breasts up and nearly out of the confining garment, and had freshly lacquered, deep red nails and makeup done to perfection. Shayla felt frumpy just looking at her.
“I see you’re not a member yet,” the woman observed as she looked Shayla up on the computer. “Who is your sponsor?”
“Um, sponsor?”
“Yes. You can’t become a member without a sponsor. Classes are open to the public, but to come to play sessions you have to be a member.”
Loren and Ross had both started to speak up when Tony stepped forward. “I’m her sponsor.”
The woman’s carefully plucked eyebrows sailed skyward. “Really? I was under the impression Valerie was here with you tonight.”
From somewhere behind them Shayla thought she heard Leah mutter, “Crap,” before she darted through the doorway into the play area.
Before Shayla could process that, her attention immediately returned to Tony and the Hydra at the desk. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone.
“Unless I personally tell you someone is with me, Lydia,” he said, “you do not assume anything. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
The woman’s eyes widened. Shayla wanted to laugh as she watched the woman swallow, suddenly not as sure of herself as she was a moment earlier. “Yeah. Uh, sorry.”
He straightened and handed her a twenty of his own. “You’ll see I have three membership credits on my account. Apply one to Shayla for her membership. And since this is her first play session, I believe she gets in free tonight. Correct?”
The woman’s red lacquered nails flew across the keyboard. “Yep, sure, you’re right. Sorry, Tony. I didn’t mean to… I just thought—”
“Are we done here?” he asked.
She blinked up at him. “Yes. Of course. No problem. Go on in. Have a good night.”
Shayla still stood there, trying to process what had just happened, the twenty for her fee still clutched in her fingers. Tony grabbed the handle of his rolling bag with one hand and with the other gently caught her elbow and propelled her along with him.
“I’ll explain inside,” he softly whispered in her ear. They headed to the door, which he grabbed first and held open for her.
Upon walking through the door, the music, barely noticeable in the well-insulated office, soared to near anti-conversational levels. At least twenty-five people were scattered throughout the large space, some at the tables and some near equipment.
He steered her toward an alcove where several couches were grouped. “Sorry about that,” he said.
Shayla began to wonder if she’d liked Tony too soon. I should have Do Not Trust People tattooed on my wrist as a reminder. “What the heck was her problem? And I take it Valerie is a girlfriend of yours?” At that moment she spotted Leah speaking with a woman on the far side of the club.
“No, she’s not a girlfriend. I just met her this week at dinner at Leah and Seth’s house. But Lydia, the lady out on the desk tonight, is a self-appointed social director with a huge-ass chip on her shoulder when it comes to single submissive women.”
“Huh?”
“She got burned big-time by an asshole. Now she’s hypervigilant about anyone she worries might get taken advantage of. Including inserting her nose into business where it not only doesn’t belong and wasn’t invited, but, as in this case, with completely wrong assumptions.”
Leah was leading the woman over to where Tony and Shayla stood. Shayla thought Leah looked extremely relieved and wondered what piece of the puzzle was glaringly missing from the picture.
“Shayla, this is my friend Valerie.”
The woman’s warm smile certainly looked genuine. When she extended her hand to Shayla, her grip felt friendly.
“Hi,” Valerie said. “Nice to meet you.” She offered Tony an apologetic smile. “Honestly, all I told Lydia was that you said you might be here tonight. I swear I didn’t tell her we were playing together or anything else.”
Tony dismissed her apology with a wave. “It’s okay. I put her in her place. Again. I’m going to have a talk with Derrick this week about permanently taking her off desk duty. She needs to get her head on straight. She’s going to piss off the wrong person some night and get her ass kicked.”
“She needs to get her head out of her ass is what she needs to do,” Valerie said. She returned her attention to Shayla. “Seriously, everything’s copacetic. Leah told me you’re a reporter. I think it’s very cool you’re doing a story on BDSM.”