Just One Taste (Topped #2)(29)

Sean handed over the key. “It’s up the stairs, the last door on the right.” He turned back to Ian. “I told her if she went into the present room, she wouldn’t get any presents. That will keep her out of there. You know I’ve been doing this longer than you.”

“I got double the kids, brother,” Tag shot back. “I’m already more of a pro.”

“Sure you are, *.” Sean seemed to relish arguing with his brother. It was as though sarcasm was their own personal language. “And Eric, go on and set up and I’ll send her to you in about ten minutes. You have your kit?”

“It’s in my truck.” He was a freaking BDSM Boy Scout and she was about to find that out.

She wanted a dirty Dom? He could give her one.





Deena looked at Charlotte Taggart and wished she’d kept her damn mouth shut. Now the queen of the subs thought she was a brat. She kind of was. The last several weeks had been wonderful and frustrating all at the same time. She’d gotten to know Eric and it was as bad as she’d thought. He was practically perfect and the man could cook. She’d been out to his apartment for dinner on the night Top was closed. Naturally his apartment was neat and efficient, though she thought it was a bit bland. It needed some flair, but it was obvious the man took care of the place. He’d made her shrimp and grits and she’d nearly cried at how perfect they were. They’d laughed and talked and then he’d taken her home, walked her to her door and said good-bye.

The damn man hadn’t even kissed her. He’d only kissed her twice since they’d agreed to be partners. She was starting to think he never would again.

“So your ex was an *?” Charlotte asked. At least she seemed to have moved on from that moment when Deena had admitted she’d been trying to get her ass spanked.

“Serious *,” Tiffany said with a shake of her head.

That girl always had her back. “He dumped me, but only after I’d put him through law school.” Why had she ever hidden this? It was freeing to be open about it. “He left me for one of the junior partners at the firm he hired on with after he graduated. He also left me with the beautiful gift of half his debt.”

“Damn, I would have left him with a bullet to the balls,” Charlotte said.

“Sometimes I wish I had,” Deena replied with a sigh. “But it wasn’t always bad. He was a good guy at one point. He was the kind of guy who opened doors and took care of a girl.”

“No, that was his fa?ade,” Charlotte argued. The gorgeous redhead leaned forward. “He was never a good guy. No good guy could do what he did to you. You got fooled, Holmes. He played you.”

“Yes, I guess he did.” Somehow it seemed easier to believe he’d changed, that she hadn’t been taken in so totally.

Charlotte’s voice softened. “But that doesn’t mean everyone’s faking it. It doesn’t mean there are no good guys in the world, and it definitely doesn’t mean you need to be alone for the rest of your life.”

“Who said I was going to be alone for the rest of my life?” They were venturing into dangerous territory. Maybe this was why she’d never talked about her past.

Tiffany raised her hand. She’d had more than a couple. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink from the rum punch Grace was serving. “That was me. Totally me.”

She gave her friend a stare that she hoped would penetrate the rum haze she seemed to be in. “Is there a reason you talked about my private life to Big Tag’s wife?”

Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Oooo, you’ve got the intimidating stare down. Very nice.”

Tiffany frowned. “I was worried about you. I think you’re going to let something special go. I think you and Eric work and you’re all ‘I want to find some scumbag Dom who’ll take me sexually and not care about me as a human being.’”

Wow, she was far gone. “Not once have I said those words. I have said I want to keep things casual and I would like to see what a bad boy can bring to the table, but that’s my business and not yours.”

“If she’s your friend it’s totally her business,” Charlotte explained. “That’s how friendship works. She can’t turn off caring about you because you have boundaries. I’ve discovered that the best of friendships are also the ones where no one understands personal boundaries. A real friend will get all up in your business.”

Which was why she avoided them, but looking at Tiffany she had to wonder what she’d cut herself off from. Tiff and Ally were her girls. And she hadn’t hesitated to make her opinion plain when Ally had screwed up. She’d told Ally she’d f*cked up and that she was mad but she still loved her friend.

Again, Big Tag’s words seemed to float in, haunting her. Would she even call Ally and Tiff after she’d started her new job? Or would it be easier to let them go in favor of more superficial relationships?

“I’m scared of how much I feel for Eric,” she admitted quietly.

Tiffany clapped her hands together. “I knew it. I knew you were madly in love with him.”

“Not in love.” She wasn’t sure she had it in her anymore. Being in love was too much work, too much potential for disaster. “I like him. I care about him and I’m not sure how to ask for what I want.”