Page 53 of Whatever Lola Wants

She faltered, a tentative smile on her lips. “No, thanks. I’ve got a car waiting.”

He glanced at the black sedan idling at the curb. “Right. Well, good night.”

She hesitated for the briefest of moments, then nodded. “Good night.”

She risked a glance back as she started down the walk to the waiting car. He stood in the open door, watching her.

He was still standing there when the car pulled away.

Riding high on the success of Operation Dream Dress, Lola and Anna had crossed several items off their wedding list by Friday afternoon. Now that Anna’s dress was chosen, they went hunting for Lola’s. Anna found the perfect gown in a vintage shop, a floor length strapless sheath in a deep pink that suited Lola perfectly. Anna had the bright idea to add an illusion top to match Anna’s gown, so they’d hit the fabric mart with the seamstress in tow to find the right fabric, and both dresses were being altered.

In fact, so much had been accomplished that Lola no longer had any excuses not to go to Odyssey on Saturday night.

She almost told Anna that she didn’t think she could bear watching Simon on his hunt for the perfect submissive, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want to put her friend in an awkward position. Simon was Grant’s boss, friend, and best man, and she hated the idea that her growing feelings for him would make things uncomfortable for their friends. She was a big girl, responsible for her own feelings.

And if she silently cursed his name whenever she looked at her living room rug, well, that was her problem.

She dressed to kill in a strapless latex mini-dress in deep pink, pinned her hair up and slipped a thick gold choker around her throat, and strapped on four-inch heels that would have her arches screaming by midnight. But they made her ass look amazing, and a girl had to have her priorities.

“Your ass looks amazing,” Anna murmured in her ear.

“I know,” Lola replied and sipped her drink.

They stood at the bar, watching a Dom do a single tail demo. Lola pursed her lips. He was very good, cracking the whip so loudly it sounded like a gunshot in the cavernous space, but his submissive, chained to a post at the far end of the stage, bore only the faintest of red lines on her back and buttocks.

“I always wanted to do that,” Lola mused, eyes narrowed as she watched the man work.

“Really?” Anna shuddered. “That scares the crap out of me.”

Lola chuckled. “I take it you won’t be getting Grant single tail lessons as a wedding gift.”

Anna sent her a ‘get real, girlfriend’ look before turning back to the stage. She winced as the whip cracked in the air before flicking over the submissive’s bare ass. Lola shook her head in admiration as, again, the faintest of lines appeared on the woman’s pale flesh.

“Ladies, are you enjoying the demo?”

Lola glanced over her shoulder to see Michael standing there, looking handsome and dangerous in a crisp black shirt and black slacks. She smiled a little wickedly. “I am. Anna’s less enthusiastic.”

Michael’s mouth remained sober, but his green eyes were alive with mirth. “Not to your taste, Anna?”

Her swallow could probably be heard on stage. “No. No, Sir. I’ll leave this one to Lola.”

“You’re interested?” Michael inquired politely.

She nodded, her attention on the stage. “I’ve bottomed a couple of times to whips, and I always wanted to learn how to do it. I just didn’t have the time.”

“It requires a great deal of practice,” Michael acknowledged. “I’m sure Neil would be pleased to talk to you about it after the demonstration,” he said with a nod to the Dom on stage.

“You read my mind.”

A slow smile—the one that made all the submissives sigh—curved his lips. “That’s my job, pet.”

Amused at his use of the affectionate term often used for submissives, she shifted so she faced him instead of the stage. “Is it?”

His smile deepened. “In a manner of speaking.” His eyes, green as spring grass, twinkled. “Did you come to play tonight?”

“I didn’t not come to play.”

“I only ask because I didn’t see your equipment when you arrived.”

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