Page 35 of Entice

She scoffed. “Everything. He showed up to my apartment dressed in red leather pants, a black shirt, and steel-toed boots. Then he wanted me to wear an outfit that, shall we say, was more revealing than I would wear. That was the first fight.”

“The outfit you wore to the club was pretty daring.” The dress fit her perfectly and showed off her long legs.

“Yes, I’m more confident in myself now than I was then, and with you, I knew nothing was going to happen unless I wanted it.” She took a breath. “I dressed a little more conservatively, and he took me to a club.” Crystal snorted.

“By your reaction I’m guessing not a good club?”

“It wasn’t as good as Wicked Sanctuary, and certainly not one I would have chosen, especially in Seattle. We got there, and he got all bossy and shit—and not in a good way.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I was nervous and scared, but he was acting so out of character I was hard-pressed not to laugh in his face. He had no clue about the lifestyle, and all I knew was from reading. I began thinking it was a bad idea.”

“Was there consent?” It was one of the biggest mistakes people made, even him a time or two.

“I said yes to going to the club, so he felt he had the right to boss me around.” She gazed up at him. “We got into an argument at the club, and he tried to force me to play. I started screaming red, and the monitors came flying.”

“I’m glad you called out the safe word.”

“Me too. He got upset. Tried to tell the dungeon monitors it was a minor argument between us, but they didn’t believe him. They asked me if I had a way home. I said I didn’t, that we had come together.”

“What happened?” He hoped the monitors were good guys.

“He stood there all smug, saying he wasn’t going to leave. One of the DMs smiled and took me by the arm. He told me he’d call me a cab, and we walked away. I got home and went to bed, putting it out of my mind.”

“But that wasn’t the end of it?” He’d met the type before. Ones who believed they were the perfect Dom, and no one should defy them.

“No. When I got to the office the next morning, I was getting funny looks from everyone. I’d barely settled at my desk when I was called into the managing partner’s office. I knew what was coming from the look on his face. They were letting me go. He indicated they would make it look like I decided to resign so as not to cause any issue.”

“That’s bullshit.” What the hell was wrong with that firm?

“Yes, but I didn’t want to make waves. I knew better than to date someone I worked with. I’m not excusing what happened, but it did give me the guts to go out on my own.” She smiled then, the first real smile Jordan had seen from her since she began her story. “The partners all gave glowing recommendations.”

“They should have.” If she’d wanted to make waves, she had one hell of a lawsuit. “What happened to the guy?”

“Nothing. I found out as I was packing up my desk he’d blabbed to everyone that he saw me at the club, naked and playing with some biker dudes. All untrue of course, but this was a conservative firm.”

“Yet he got to keep his job.” Damn, he hated the double standard society put on women.

“He did.” She gave him a little smile. “Although I heard through the grapevine he put the moves on a client and was fired a few months later.”

“Good.” He brushed his lips over her temple. “Now I understand the whole thing in the employment contract.”

“Yes.” She sighed. “As for being your sub. I want to try, but I have limits.”

“I’m listening.” Jordan tapped down his inner joy at her agreement to being his sub.

“This stays outside the office. Nothing while we’re working.”

“Agreed,” he said.

“I trust you won’t brag to anyone.”

“Of course not.” He would never do that to a woman. “This is between us. But you do realize Max, Damon, and Sierra will know.”

“Yes, they’re part of the club. Tessa will also know. I can’t keep this from her.”

Jordan nodded. “You read and signed the NDA for the club, so no worries there.”

“I’m also guessing I’ll need to fill out the questionnaire?”

“Yes. We can do it tomorrow.”

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