Page 5 of Naughty Bedtime Stories

“You’re afraid of thinking you have control and then finding out you don’t.”

“Which never happens to you, I assume, oh, master of the great balance sheets?”

“Master, Sarah?” he asked softly. “I wonder what made you choose that specific title?”

Her eyes went wide, her face paling with the realization of what she’d said, of what he’d said, of what they now had out in the open. “I’m done talking.” She tried to sidestep him.

He maneuvered slightly, so she’d have to touch him to pass, successfully stalling her retreat. “What we shared that night is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Her eyes widened farther, her cheeks flushed. “We didn’t share anything.”

“Didn’t we?”

Panic flared in her eyes. “Let me pass.”

“I give the orders,” he said. “That’s how it works.”

“Not with me.” Yet she held her ground, didn’t try to pass again. She wanted to know more of what he could show her, and he was frankly shocked that she’d clearly never explored the world she’d visited inside Silk beyond that one night. Shocked that she’d suppressed her obvious desires so completely, yet he was undeniably pleased she could be his to teach, his to pleasure.

“You’re afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Then why did you hide from me that night in Silk? Why not walk right up to me and take part in the experience?”

“I was dragged there by a friend,” she said. “I didn’t even want to be there. And we weren’t exactly friendly. The strife between our fathers was at its worst back then.”

“Which would have added a sense of the forbidden we would have enjoyed,” he said. “Knowing yourself, Sarah, facing your fears, knowing what pleases you, whatcontrols you,what turns you inside out, makes you stronger. Gives you control. And you will have control. We set boundaries and limits. You do nothing you don’t want to do. But you need to know that neither do you get to hide from what you want to do. I won’t let you.”

Desire and fear, a hint of panic, flickered in her eyes. “I don’t want— I can’t… No.”

“You can,” he said. “And you want to.” He studied her a moment and then stepped backward. “But obviously you aren’t ready. When you are—and I believe you will be—you know where I am.” He said nothing more, leaving her there to face the decision, and herself, alone. Until the time when she faced it with him.

CHAPTER FOUR

At nearly nine o’clock, a month after her encounter with Ryan, Sarah sat at her desk, her fourteen-hour workday still well under way. She had a million plates spinning in the air, and she was terrified one of them was going to tumble and break, with devastating results. She reached in her drawer and pulled out the note Ryan had sent her the morning after his visit.When you’re ready—Ryan,the plain white note read, along with several phone numbers.

Sarah stared at it, as she had innumerable times, as she’d tried to deny she wanted what Ryan offered her, that she, the ultimate control freak, could actually want to be controlled. But the fantasies of Ryan doing just that were far too many and far too frequent. Still so very easily, the image of him at that nightclub so many years ago—naked, powerful, commanding and wholly masculine. The ring of her cell phone had her setting the note back in the drawer, and cringing at the caller ID. It was her mother, again. This made three times in the past hour, and from the prior two messages, Sarah was well aware of why she was calling. Despite Sarah’s best efforts to keep it from happening, her mother had found out about oneof the toughest changes Sarah had made at Delights these past few weeks.

With a sigh, she knew she had to answer. Sarah grabbed the phone and punched the send button. “Hi, Mom.”

“You can’t stop production of the Delights Peppermint Patties,” she said, not bothering with hello. “Do you know what your father will do when he finds out? That’s his favorite product, our first product. It’s the staple of the company.”

“It doesn’t sell, Mom,” she said. “It’s—”

“Your father’s favorite product. Don’t takethatfrom him. He’s lost his hair, his health. Let him keep his damn Pepper mint Patties.”

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, aware of the fear and grief motivating her mother’s illogical demand. “Mom,” she said softly, “I know this is hard. It’s hard for me, too, but I made Dad a promise I’d save the company. And I’m going to save it. I have to attract investors to the company, and that means making tough choices.”

“What am I supposed to tell your father?”

“Tell him I’m not going to let him down, and I love him.” She hesitated, dreading what she had to confess, but knowing it would avoid another panicked phone call. “I’m shutting a dozen retail stores, too. I’m making the announcement Monday.” And considering it was Friday, it was going to be a long weekend. And a long phone call. It took thirty minutes for Sarah to calm her mother down, to explain some of the innovative partnerships she was pitching, to assure her things would be better. When Sarah finally hung up, ending the call with a heartfelt promise to visit her father the next day, she had to check and see if her hands were shaking. Who was she kidding? She was barely hanging on to control.

She yanked open her desk, grabbed the note from Ryanand, before she could stop herself, dialed. He answered on the second ring. “Hello.”

His voice was deep and sexy, and…

“Sarah?”

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