Page 2 of Going Deep
“Undoubtedly,” Michael agreed, amusement sparkling in his eyes. He drew to a halt just outside the dining room. “You’ve become very close with Anna and Lola.”
She smiled, thinking of the two women. She’d been worried that moving to Chicago for the summer meant she’d be lonely. She’d never been so happy to be wrong. “They’re good friends.”
He was watching her face, those sharp green eyes missing nothing. “You haven’t been in the city long.”
She heard the unspoken question. “Sometimes, you just click.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Sometimes you do.”
Her belly gave a little clutch at the light in his eyes—not unpleasant, but not altogether comfortable, either.
“I feel I owe you an apology.”
She blinked, nonplussed. “What? Why?”
“For the way my staff treated you when you visited the club.” He lifted his glass to his lips, watching her over the rim.
“Oh.” She winced, remembering the hell she’d given his security when she’d come storming in a few weeks back. She’d been worried about Lola, and frantic to find Simon. To say she’d been rude would be an understatement. “I’m the one who ought to apologize. I was upset, and not very polite.”
“You did apologize,” he reminded her. “After I instructed my man at the door to call for Simon.”
“Did I?” She shook her head. “I don’t remember. It’s all kind of a blur.”
“It was a stressful night.”
“All around,” she agreed and smiled. The wine and the innocuous conversation were relaxing her. “No apology necessary.”
“Nonetheless, I hope you’ll visit us again sometime. Give us a chance to make a better impression.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat. “Well.”
“That makes you uncomfortable,” he observed, and she got the distinct impression he was trying not to smile.
He seemed to require an answer, so she gave him the only one she had. “Yes.”
“Why is that?”
Christ on a cupcake, was he kidding? “Because it’s…I’m not used to that kind of thing.”
“You’ve never been to a BDSM club before?”
She suppressed the hysterical urge to laugh as she pictured her tiny town in Ohio. Two taverns, a roadhouse, and bingo night at the local Methodist church made up the sum total of the available nightlife. “No.”
A curious light came into his eyes. “That’s a funny question?”
She shook her head and took another sip of liquid courage. “No, but thinking of my hometown having a BDSM club was.”
“Ah.” Curiosity eased into amusement. “You’re from Ohio, correct?”
She nodded, faintly surprised that he would know. She assumed either Lola or Anna had mentioned it, but she couldn’t imagine how it had come up. “Comfort, Ohio. A very, very small town.”
“And what do you do there?”
“I’m a high school English teacher.”
“Do you like teaching?"
She started to give her standard polite answer, but she found herself strangely unwilling to lie. “Not really.”
