Unconditional (Masters and Mercenaries #5.5)(8)

In the mirror, she could see the way Karina smiled. “Well, I think Charlotte Taggart got rid of the last mean girl, so you should be good here.”

She let her eyes drift closed as Karina ran the brush through her hair in long strokes. Her mother hadn’t spent time with her like this. Only Jill had ever really shown her affection, and she’d left for Dallas after Ashley graduated from high school. Maybe if someone had brushed her hair when she was a kid, she wouldn’t have turned to Trevor for affection. She often thought she should have taken Jill up on her offer to go to the city with her, but by then she was dating Trevor. “So why do people lie to you at work?”

“I’m a private investigator. Everyone lies to me. Cheating spouses, bail jumpers, hell, the people who hire me tend to lie. And I won’t even go into the cops. They don’t tend to lie, but they do give me hell from time to time.”

Karina’s life sounded far more interesting than her own. “So you come here to get away from all of it?”

“As much of it as I can. One of my loving cops is a Dom here. Now I’m the one being sarcastic. Derek Brighton kind of, sort of hates me. Which is a shame because I really like him. He’s the smartest man I know, and he’s got crazy good instincts. It doesn’t hurt that he’s the tiniest bit gorgeous. Oh, well, we can’t always get what we want. I work for Tag from time to time. He’s tried to hire me on, but I’m afraid this old dog prefers to work for herself.”

Ashley let her eyes open. “Now who’s going to get a spanking?”

Her laughter was rich and deep. “Yes, honey, but I promise I’ll like it. I think I’m going to play with the Brit tonight.”

“The raging murder machine?”

“No, the sweet one. Simon. He’s a charmer. Easy on the eyes, too. And I don’t have to worry that he’ll want to sleep with me afterward.” She winked in the mirror. “He’s pining for someone. I’m pining for someone. It’s a match made in heaven.”

“So I really don’t have to have sex with him. With my Dom, I mean.” Charlotte had been plain. The contract she’d signed stated that she got to choose.

“It’s always your choice, hon.” Karina stepped back. “There. You look lovely. So this isn’t your dream guy, huh?”

Keith. Tall, dark, incredibly handsome. He would be her dream guy. But she didn’t dream anymore. “No. I’m not interested in finding a boyfriend. I am interested in finding me.”

It was what she was doing, and it scared her to death.

Karina turned her chair around and gave her another of those mama bear hugs that made Ashley feel like someone gave a crap about her. She didn’t hesitate this time. She hugged her back.

“Good for you, baby girl.” Karina’s lovely face had flushed, and she nodded as though she needed a moment. “If he gives you any trouble, you call me. I’ll take care of him. And if you have any questions, you can call me, too.”

“And if I just want a friend?” The question popped out before she could think about it. Dumb. That was dumb and made her sound needy.

Karina just nodded. “You better call me, because I could use one, too. Now, let’s get out there and meet this Dom of yours.”

Ashley hopped off the chair. She was short compared to Karina in her heels, but it didn’t matter. She spent so much of her life cutting herself off from everyone. Maybe that was a mistake. Maybe this was. She would never know if she didn’t try. She might never know who she was and if she didn’t know that, how the hell could she guide her daughter through life? “You’ll go with me?”

She’d thought she would be alone since Jill wasn’t here.

“Of course.” Karina’s hand slipped into hers. “We subs stick together. Isn’t that right, ladies?”

Serena looked up from her computer. She settled her hand on her large baby bump. “Absolutely. Ashley, you look so cute. You’re going to have to tell me how you managed to get your butt back after the baby because I’m pretty sure they’re going to have to stamp ‘wide load’ across mine.”

Avery’s eyes flared. “I’m telling Jake you said that.”

“Hush, Saint Avery,” Serena shot back with affection. “Don’t listen to her. She’s really too good to be true. Poor Li. He never gets to spank her.”

“Sure he does. I mouth off sometimes just to have fun.” She smiled at Ashley, her pretty face beaming. It was hard to believe she was married to the big Irish man who looked so tough and mean in his leathers, but she’d watched how he softened the minute his wife walked in the room. “And Karina’s right. We subs stick up for each other. Well, mostly we hide behind Charlotte or Karina and let them totally stick up for us. They’re really good at yelling at people.”

That was nice to know.

“Welcome to the club, Ashley.” Serena gave her a thumbs-up.

For the first time in a long time, she wondered if she just might find a home.



Keith took a deep breath and told himself this was just another meeting. He met with tons of potential clients, every one of them basically begging for money and attention. He was excellent at picking out the projects that would pay off brilliantly.

He didn’t need this to pay, just to be pleasurable for a couple of weeks, a month or two at most. That was all he needed. He would see she was like all the rest. He would find the exchange that made everything all right, the books balanced.