Page 43 of Wild and Bright

“Do you really mean it?”

“Absolutely. I’m totally turned on by how domineering you are, even though I’ll have absolutely none of it. As long as we keep it in the bedroom, it’ll be perfect. I’ll do nothing you say, and you can spank me for it.”

My brows draw together when a thought occurs to me. “Have you done this before?”

Her smile grows enigmatic. “If I have, do you want me to tell you all about it?”

“No.” My jaw clenches. “God, no. Don’t tell me a damn thing.”

She giggles. “That’s what I thought. If you knew my sexual history, you’d never let me leave the house.”

“Not a word.” I lift a hand to silence her. “Seriously. I don’t ever want to hear anything about…anything you’ve done in the past.”

Her giggle turns into a cackle, and the sound of it warms me.

God, I love the sound of her laugh.

“Okay, honey. I won’t say anything. Do we have a deal, though?”

“Yes.” My eyes grow hard. “But not when you’re out in public with me. You aren’t allowed to openly disobey me. You agreed to do a job.”

“I’ve hardly even had to do my job…” Her smile grows lazy. “Except the fun part of it. But so far, you’ve bailed on all the parties.”

“Well, that changes tomorrow. We have that concert in Portland.”

Her eyes grow wide. “That wasn’t on the list.”

“Yeah, but after I cancelled the other two, it seems fair for you to come. You won’t have Cadence this weekend, and you haven’t mentioned any other plans…”

She narrows her eyes, as if she’s skeptical of my motives, and goddamn it, I wish I had the moral high ground. I wish I hadn’t just decided out of the blue this morning that I want her to come with me because I can’t stand the thought of being away from her.

If I had my way, she’d never leave my sight.

“I don’t have any other plans.” Still, that skeptical look doesn’t fade.

“Good. Brayden is getting everything booked for you. We’re playing with Isaac Belman for the first time in a few years. He’s having a party after the show. It’s going to be small and exclusive, because he knows I wouldn’t stay very long if it wasn’t. The whole thing is pretty special because he helped us get our start. He let us open for him back when we were still playing in Brooklyn dive bars.” A smile rises to my lips. “He’s one of my five people. I’m looking forward to you meeting him.”

When she smiles warmly, my lips part. Did I really say that? I’m looking forward to you meeting him. I sound like her goddamn boyfriend. “But I’m going to need you on your best behavior.” And just like that, the spell is broken. All the warmth in her eyes vanishes.

“As opposed to?”

Do I really need to explain this? “As opposed to getting drunk. Letting guys take shots between your tits. Giving lap dances. That sort of thing.”

Her brows snap together. “Do I look like I’m seventeen fucking years old? What in my behavior this last month has made you think I still do that kind of stuff?”

“You haven’t had a chance to prove me otherwise.” I lift my chin as I stare down at her. “The last time I went to a party with you was five years ago.”

For a moment, I can see all over her face that she thinks I’m being unreasonable. And it would be unreasonable if she were any other woman.

But I have a lot of reason to mistrust her when she’s been drinking.

When an enigmatic smile spreads over her face, I feel a prickle of foreboding at the back of my neck.

“I’ll be on my best behavior, Master.”

TWELVE

Camden

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