Page 18 of Entertaining Distraction
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Sitting at a table in the pub between his mother and brother, and across from his future brother-in-law, Mike tried to keep his mind on the subject—convincing his mother it was time for an assisted living facility. The one they wanted her to move into was only five or six minutes away from Mike’s condo and only a little further away from the Trident Security compound where Jake and Nick’s large apartment was located. Mike had thought about moving back in to help take care of Emma, but he couldn’t be there twenty-four hours a day and wasn’t too keen on bringing in aides he didn’t know to sit with her. Like he and Jake had discussed, the assisted living facility would be best for a number of reasons. She’d have people her own age around, her medications would be monitored, and someone would be able to check in on her at all hours.
They’d planned on having this discussion two days ago, but Ian had needed Jake and Nick to take care of a Trident case. But, now, as Jake rattled off those valid reasons and a bunch of others of why the assisted living facility was a good idea, Mike’s mind kept wandering to Charlotte. He was still floored about the other night, how she’d made him cum with more intensity than he’d ever experienced before, and so quickly. Then he’d fallen asleep with his head in her lap. When he’d awakened about forty minutes later, they’d still been in the same position.
After asking him a few questions to determine his mental status, she’d gotten up and made omelets for them. While eating, they’d gone over a D/s contract, with Charlotte filling in blanks as they negotiated and then agreed on different clauses. Mike had thought it would feel odd signing a contract for sex, but it hadn’t. It also hadn’t just been about sex.
Sitting next to Mike at the table in her kitchen, Charlotte added a note in the margin of the contract, then glanced back up at him. Her eyes narrowed. “I can tell you want to ask me a question, Michael. Is something confusing or upsetting you?”
Chewing a mouthful of the delicious omelet, he tilted his head slightly from side to side, trying to get the words right in his mind before speaking them. He didn’t want to sound like he was insulting her or being a chauvinistic ass. “I’m just not sure how this works outside of the bedroom or the club.”
“You mean the dynamics of our relationship?”
“Yes.”
Reaching over, she laid her hand on his arm. “Your submission isn’t all or nothing here, Michael. In the bedroom and club, yes, I’ll want ... I’ll demand your full submission. But that’s where it ends. You’re a strong, intelligent adult. Just like I don’t want you to suppress your sexual submission, I don’t want you to suppress who you really are outside of play, either. There, I want you to be my equal—side by side—give and take—neither one of us being the alpha or the omega. I’m not demanding you submit to me in other aspects of your life. And in the same respect, I won’t stand for you trying to take over those aspects of my life. When we come across something, where your knowledge or experience goes beyond mine, then yes, I’ll let you take the lead. If it’s something I excel in, then all I ask is that you give me the same courtesy. We’ll then come to an agreement on how to proceed. Understood?”
He’d felt so much better after she’d explained it to him. As they’d continued going through the contract, he’d felt more and more at ease with how the relationship would be. The end date of the contract was one month to the day they’d signed it, but Charlotte hadn’t given him a definitive answer about whether or not they’d be renewing it at that point. And that was the only thing that was bothering him, if he were being truthful with himself. Everything else seemed to ... fit, he guessed was the word he was looking for. When he was in her arms, he felt like he was home.
She hadn’t lied when she’d said there wouldn’t be any sex between them the other night—or sex that involved her getting undressed and cumming. Now, three days later, he was ready to beg her to let him see her again. They’d only spoken on the phone a few times since that night. That didn’t mean the conversations hadn’t been hotter than Hell. Last night, as he laid in bed, naked at her command, she’d told him to describe what he wanted to do to her if she’d been there with him. It had been the most sensual phone sex he’d ever had in his life. Hell, it ranked up there with the bestsexual acthe’d ever had in his life. God help him when he finally got his cock inside her. He wasn’t sure he’d survive.
“Mike? Hey, Earth to Mike.”
He shook his mind clear and looked at his brother. “What?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Want to stay in this conversation, please? Can I have that stuff you got from the assisted living place about the cost breakdown?”
Shifting to the side, Mike reached back and pulled the folded papers from his back pocket. He handed them over to Jake, as he addressed their mother. “I tallied up your social security check, your monthly pension from Southwestern Bell ...” She’d worked in their customer service department for twenty years, starting in her late teens. It was where she’d met Sean Donovan and fallen in love with the Irishman. “... and the monthly dividends from the investments with your financial advisor, and all of that will cover about seventy-five percent of the bill each month at Twin Ponds. Your mortgage is low so, after we sell the house, there’ll be plenty left over to cover the other twenty-five percent. And Jake and I will help, if needed, but I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
“It’s not the money, dear,” his mother said. “I don’t want to give up my independence. And I have the house decorated the way I like it. It’s my home.”
“Mom, you won’t be giving up anything—in fact, I think you’ll have more freedom. Think of it this way—you won’t have six huge rooms to dust and vacuum. There’s two and a half baths in the house for one person. And none of your neighbors are around during the week. At Twin Ponds, there’ll be plenty of people your age, and they have lots of great activities you can take part in. And Jake, Nick, and I will take you out whenever you want. We just want to make sure that while we’re working, you’ll have someone looking out for you.”
“I don’t know—”
“Emma,” Nick interrupted, his tone soft for his future mother-in-law. “Why don’t we take you over there to scope out the place before you make your decision? I haven’t seen the inside, but the outside grounds look really nice. I think you’ll like it.” His gaze flitted past the older woman and recognition kicked in. “Hey, Charlotte.”
Mike’s head whipped around, and his heart began to pound in his chest, the way it seemed to do every time the Domme was near, nowadays. Her gaze met his, and he immediately began to recall the latest baseball stats—anything to keep from getting a hard-on while sitting next to his mother. Thank God the thought of the woman who’d given birth to him had the desired effect. At least, he’d be able to stand and greet Charlotte without being embarrassed.Just don’t think about the phone sex and you’ll be fine. Damn it.
* * *
Climbing into her SUV,Charlotte tossed the file she’d been carrying onto the passenger seat. “Four down, one to go,” she muttered as she turned the ignition key and the engine roared to life. Three mornings and one random evening a week, she made rounds to check in on some of her parolees at their jobs or residences. Depending on the location and the ex-con’s history, there were times she had an officer from Tampa P.D. accompany her on a visit. Today she’d only required backup on her first stop. She suspected it was only a matter of time before low-life Simon McGee returned to his criminal ways, and would probably put up a fight when she found evidence he was selling drugs once again. So far, if he was dealing, he wasn’t sampling the product since his random drug tests had come up negative. And he either had a fantastic hiding spot at his mother’s house or the drugs were being held somewhere else.
Pulling out onto the highway, she headed for Donovan’s Pub. She’d purposely made Jose Vega’s check-in her last for the morning. She could then see if Mike was available for lunch, before she returned to the office for her afternoon appointments. Suddenly, finding out if there could be something between them, long term, was important to her. For the first time since she’d entered the BDSM lifestyle, the thought of a contract’s end date actually scared her.What if he doesn’t want to renew it at the end of the month? What if he isn’t feeling the same things I am—things I’ve never felt before with any man?
It didn’t take her long to reach her destination. At 11:30, there were already several vehicles parked in front of the pub. She knew the staff parked in a smaller lot behind the building—along with employees of the other shops in the strip mall—to leave more spaces available for patrons. To the right of Donovan’s was a dry cleaner, a nail salon, and a Chinese takeout place. To the left was a small, owner-operated pharmacy, that’d somehow survived after both a Walgreens and CVS had moved in nearby, a mixed martial arts studio, and, on the far end, a convenience store. Through the large plate-glass windows of the studio, she could see a class of mostly women and a few men performing Tai Chi exercises.
Parking, she quickly found Jose’s file among the others and exited the vehicle. The springtime sun shone high in the sky, but the temperature was still comfortable enough she could wear a lightweight jacket to conceal the weapon on her hip. While she could open carry with her shield visible on her belt, it tended to make some people nervous, so she usually hid it from view.
Striding into the pub, she paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer surroundings. A few tables were already occupied with people having lunch.
“Hi, Charlotte.”
Turning toward the feminine voice, she spied Jenn walking toward her. “Hi, Jenn. How are you?”
“Good. Sad and happy at the same time. I’m going to miss this place.”
Charlotte smiled, giving the other woman a brief hug. “You’ve made some good friends here, and it’s not like you’ll never be in to visit.”
