Page 10 of Hooked

“Beer?” Jonas asked as he flagged down the bartender.

He shook his head. “Single malt, top shelf.”

Jonas grunted. “One of those days, eh? Highland Park 25 for Joseph, Ben.”

The bar manager’s eyes widened. Jonas had gone beyond the top shelf and ordered him a shot from a $500 bottle of scotch.

“Dex got a case as a thank-you from a client,” Rick explained. “Only you and Cap drink the stuff, so it’s yours whenever you want it.”

“Appreciated.” A stool opened beside Jonas, and he sat, taking off his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes. “Elena really pulls in a crowd.”

“Yeah, too big,” Jonas commented as he shifted to survey the room. “We’re going to have to move our open sub night to when Elena isn’t headlining. It defeats the purpose when the submissives are hanging around the stage instead of the dominants.”

“Good idea,” Joseph agreed. “It’s almost ten and I haven’t had time to circulate, not that I could in this crush.”

“Still on the hunt for the perfect sub, old man?” Rick chuckled. “Don’t get discouraged, she’s out there.”

“Let’s hope she wasn’t among the two dozen or so Dex had to turn away at the door,” Sean put in as he came up behind them. “He hates doing that. There were a lot of disappointed faces when he broke the news. He gave them vouchers, hoping they’ll return next time. Unfortunately, some won’t have the nerve.”

“What was the breakdown tonight?” Rick inquired.

“Twelve red, fourteen white,” Sean replied.

“No pink?” Jonas asked in surprise.

“Only one. A stunning blonde. She came in alone, so I sat her with the girls.”

Jonas whistled. “That’s a brave girl.”

“More like a brave woman. Thirty-five, I’m guessing.”

“She might be what you’re looking for, Joe,” suggested Rick. “Not a newbie to try your patience or too well trained not to offer a challenge.”

“I think you gentlemen have read my file,” Joseph murmured as he pulled out a linen handkerchief and cleaned his lenses.

The three owners chuckled. When he settled his frames back on his nose, he followed their eyes to the head table. Their lovely ladies were instantly recognizable, fixtures in the club for months, some for years. Except Mara, who wasn’t actually new but had been absent for a time. His eyes fell on the woman sitting next to her. The long golden fall of wavy blonde hair made him surge to his feet. Even across the jam-packed room, she was achingly familiar.

It can’t be.

Sidestepping to get a better look, he was thankful for his above-average height that gave him a better view over the crowd. He watched as her head tilted back, sending the blonde waves brushing across her shoulders and the curled ends bouncing along her back. Almost positive of her identify, all doubt disappeared when his body responded to her as it had so often in the past.

“Her name?” His question, uttered in a disbelieving tone was directed at Sean.

“How’s that?” Sean responded, leaning in as a crack of thunder shook the room.

“Her name, man,” he demanded. “What is the lovely pink ribbon’s name?”

“Olivia. Don’t have the last name, but it’s on file.”

“That won’t be necessary,” he uttered in stunned disbelief. He knew the lovely blonde and intended to find out what the hell she was thinking coming here alone. Tossing back the dregs of his scotch, he slammed the glass down on the top of the bar and stepped away.

He felt the men’s eyes on him. “Something wrong?” Jonas asked.

A colossal understatement, to be sure. Most assuredly, something was wrong.

Without answering Jonas, he moved forward through the teeming crowd. He felt like his head was going to explode such was his amazement. For three years, she’d sat outside his office door, quite literally at his beck and call, efficiently following his directives, bending over backward to please him, calling him sir while he nursed a perpetual hard-on. He thought she was efficient and professional, not submissive.

Dammit! Why hadn’t he recognized what was beneath his very nose?

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