Page 22 of Hooked

David, who had taken a seat beside her, reached over and with a finger beneath her chin, closed her mouth for her. That seemed to snap her out of it.

“Joseph is a dom?”

“Very much so,” Livia replied. “Who knew?”

Emma shook her head in denial, but David promptly raised his hand. She turned to her husband. “How would you know? You’ve never met him.”

“Darlin’, I’ve listened to Livia go on about the man for three years. He’s intelligent, self-disciplined, a natural leader, emerging at the top of his field in short order. Where so many attorneys turn smug and egocentric, he has clearly risen above that and maintained his self-respect and his regard for others.”

“You got all that from what I’ve said?” Livia asked in amazement. “Are you a psychologist or an FBI profiler?”

He chuckled. “Often that’s one and the same. Although, it doesn’t take a PhD to know he’s a dominant when I know you are submissive. You wouldn’t be attracted to him otherwise.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Emma demanded. “If she knew her boss was a dom, it would have saved her a lot of lost time and frustration.”

“I believe love must find its own way, as you know.”

Her friend’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling, and she sighed. “In David-speak, that means he’s anti-matchmaking. So even if he’d told me his impression about Joseph, he would have forbidden me to say a word.”

David smiled at his wife’s astute summation then turned quizzical eyes on Livia. “What is the problem you mentioned?”

“Other than going to a BDSM club, outing myself to my boss, and then having sex with him?” she asked, as if his IQ had dropped forty points, although in David’s case that would have left it still well above normal.

“Yeah, honey,” he answered, “other than you went to a fetish club specifically to meet someone and when you did, that someone was the man you’ve been mooning over for years. On the surface, it sounds like a win-win. So aside from all that, what seems to be the problem?”

Livia recognized the all-too familiar glint in his eye. It usually preceded the offering of a few pearls of wisdom from his unique insight into the human mind.

“This morning,” she began, with little arm twisting, knowing that one or the other of them would wheedle it out of her anyway. “When the heat of the moment had passed, I panicked.”

“And you ran,” David surmised.

She nodded.

“But why?” Emma asked.

“Morning-after doubts overwhelmed me, that and the fact that in three years, he never made a move. He could have any woman he wants with his wealth, power, and good looks. I convinced myself I was nothing but a piece of ass, an insignificant legal secretary, and that he was only interested in one night.”

“Oh, Liv,” Em’s cry was heartfelt as she reached over and gripped her hand.

“I know; it was stupid. Believe me, he wasn’t happy when he arrived at my door this morning.”

“I imagine not,” David said with a frown. “Did he spank your ass? I would have.”

Livia shifted in her seat. Once again, inadvertently through deeds rather than words, giving herself away.

David chuckled. “Sounds like me and Joseph would get along well.”

“Why do I do this to myself?” she asked under her breath as she tossed back the rest of her wine.

“Allow me to take a crack at that.”

“I can’t wait to hear this,” Emma whispered, which earned her another warning glare from her husband.

“I’m keeping a mental count, Emma Jean.”

She promptly wrinkled her nose but said nothing more. Livia, despite the murkiness of her situation, had to work hard to suppress a giggle.

“In love and romance, Livia dear, as the saying goes, ‘sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.’ I’d hazard a guess that Joseph returns your feelings, but his reluctance to express them might have something to do with a little thing called sexual harassment. Power exchange in the lifestyle is consensual, but in the workplace between a boss and his subordinate, it is inherently dangerous. As far as not having made a move, if you think back on your relationship with the perspective you have now, I’m certain you’ll find signs you’ve overlooked.”

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