Page 2 of Boss of Her

Simone Weiss had a formidable reputation. If everything Jade had heard about her was true, Simone would expect her assistant to live and breathe her job. But that was exactly what Jade wanted.

Renee squeezed Jade’s shoulder. “I know you’re going to have a great time. Just keep an open mind, okay?”

Before Jade could ask her friend what she meant, the line in front of them started moving.

“Finally,” Renee said. “Come on.”

They reached the entrance to the club. Above it, a purple neon sign glowed, bearing the name of the venue.

“Club Velvet,” Renee read. “Are you ready?”

Jade nodded. “Let’s do this.”

They stepped through the doors and into the lobby, where a woman in a black leather catsuit and stilettos greeted them. After checking their IDs, she handed them each a clipboard with a dozen pages to sign. Club rules. NDAs. Safety waivers.

Jade flicked through the pages. “This seems like overkill. What kind of club is this?”

Renee shrugged and scribbled her signature at the bottom of each page. Jade did the same, barely reading a word of what she signed. She was usually much more cautious. But Renee may have had a point about her needing to ‘loosen up a little.’

They handed the clipboards back to the leather-clad woman, who nodded toward the doors leading into the club. “Go on in. Have fun and be safe.”

Be safe?Jade didn’t get the chance to dwell on the woman’s words. The next thing she knew, Renee was dragging her into the club.

“Wow.” Renee stopped inside the doors, looking around. “This place isnice.”

Jade murmured in agreement, taking in their surroundings. The club was packed and buzzing with electricity. Waitstaff dressed in black suits roamed through the crowd offering complimentary glasses of champagne to the guests, who lounged on plush leather seating or stood around the small dance floor. The neon lighting paired with black and purple damask wallpaper and lavish furnishings should have clashed. Instead, it gave the club an air of elegance and luxury.

“Yeah, this was worth talking to my ex for,” Renee said. “And getting all dressed up for.”

To Renee, getting “all dressed up” meant a pair of black chinos and a dark button-up shirt. Jade had gone with her favorite dress, a black and silver number that showed off her curves rather than swallowing them up like most clothes designed for women with her figure did. She’d paired it with low heels and silver drop earrings, and she’d left her hair loose.

And while half of the crowd was dressed just like them, the other half wore clothes that were less conventional. Corsets. Lingerie. Leather, and lots of it. A woman nearby wore a collar with a matching leather mask that covered almost her entire face, with ears like a fox. Attached to the collar was a leash, the other end held by a woman in a latex bodysuit.

Jade frowned. She’d lived in Los Angeles for years now. She was used to people wearing unusual outfits, all in the name of fashion. But this? This was something different.

“Renee?” Jade grabbed her friend’s arm. “Just what kind of club did you bring me to?”

“Uh, right.” Renee glanced around furtively. “So, I might have forgotten to mention that this isn’tjusta ladies-only club. It’s a ladies-onlyBDSM club.”

And just like that, everything fell into place. Renee telling her to keep an open mind. All the documents they’d had to sign just to set foot inside. The woman at the door in a leather catsuit. No, she wasn’t sporting some hot new fashion trend Jade was unaware of. Neither was anyone else in the club.

“How could you not tell me something like that?” Jade hissed.

Renee shrugged. “I knew you wouldn’t come if I did.”

“Yeah, and you were right about that.”

“Well, you’re here already, so…”

Jade held up her hands, palms out. “No. No way.”

“Come on,” Renee said. “We waited in line for so long to get in. You might as well stay.”

“And what? Watch people have sex?”

“That’s not what this place is about. This isn’t a sex club. Kink isn’t just sex, it’s—” Renee sighed. “Look, this is just the opening night party. It’s about drumming up buzz and giving people a taste of what the club has to offer. There’s no sex allowed. Not tonight, anyway.”

Jade eyed two women making out in the corner nearby. One had the other pinned against the wall, her hand creeping up the other woman’s thigh underneath her skirt.

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