Games Girls Play. Deanna Lee
might have to do an interview or two. You’ll have to discuss and if necessary downplay your role in the lifestyle. You’re a Dom, right?”
He raised one eyebrow but gave a short nod. “But I’m not a sadist.”
“No, you didn’t strike me as that type.”
But suddenly Joshua did seem to be the sort of man who might like to control every aspect of a sexual encounter. How on earth had I missed it? I crossed my legs and tried to get comfortable on the couch. I really missed sitting behind my desk in a suit; at home in shorts and a T-shirt I didn’t feel nearly as powerful and in control as I figured I needed to be to deal with a man like him.
“You bloody Americans…” He paused and flushed. “Sorry.”
“We’re not all sexually repressed religious zealots.” I bit down on my lip, stunned that I had let the words fall out of my mouth. “I mean, not everyone is going to think you’re going to hell.”
He was silent as he crossed the distance that separated us and took a seat on the couch beside me. “What do you think?”
“Why does it matter what I think?” I took a deep breath as he picked up one of my hands and held it between his. “Joshua?”
“You’re going to be making statements and answering questions about this for the next few weeks. At least until some starlet is photographed without panties. I need to know if knowing this about me disgusts you or makes you feel differently about me. If it does…” He rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand. “I need to know you’re in my corner on this, Tara. That’s why I’m here. I could give a fuck what most people think. I’d land on my feet professional if things went to shit here in Atlanta. What I need to know is that I’ve got you on my side.”
My fingers tightened against his even as I relaxed beside him. “Did you know that you’re the only single client I have who has never once hit on me?”
He laughed softly, brought my hand up to his mouth, and kissed it gently. “You deserve better than a man like me.”
“Is that so?” The thought was a little irritating. I deserved a lot and I figured a man like him could do a lot to set my world to rights. My body was already humming at the possibilities.
“I travel too much and let’s not forget”—he jerked his head toward the television—“I’m a bit pervy.”
Hadn’t I thought the same thing just minutes earlier? Of course, truth be known I was just as deviant as he was. I liked a little pain and a lot of dominance with my sex. I’d never gone to a club like the Playground, not because I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself but because I was afraid that I would enjoy it too much.
The last man I had dated had been so vanilla that I’d practically fallen asleep during sex one night. I’d ended it before I wound up embarrassing myself.
Joshua’s thumb brushed over the top of my hand where his lips had been all too briefly and I straightened up.
“Well, we have plans to make.”
His grip tightened as I started to leave the couch. “Tara.”
What could I say that wouldn’t reveal my true position on his lifestyle choices? I forced myself to relax back against the couch. “I’m not disturbed by discovering you like…” What the hell did he like? He’d said he wasn’t a sadist but had offered little other explanation. “Please tell me you’re the average run-of-the-mill guy with control issues and an occasional need to spank a woman’s ass.”
I turned to look at his face just as his mouth dropped open.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, reporters are going to find those two women and they are going to be interviewed and they are going to talk about all the freaky sex you did have and probably make some stuff up, too. Do you get off on any extreme fetish play and if you do, did you with those two women?”
“Most would consider any aspect of BDSM extreme fetish play,” he replied softly, obviously unwilling to answer the question.
“Yeah, well, I’m not most people.” Fuck. That was not what I meant to say.
“Are you asking me for a play-by-play description of my sexual exploits with two women from over a year ago? I don’t even remember their names!”
I jerked my fingers free from his hand and bolted up off the couch. “Well, we’d damn well better find out their full names so you’ll know who they are. Otherwise, you’ll be a hell-bound man-whore deviant who’s slept with so many women he’s forgotten half of them.”
“Man-whore?” he asked, his voice low with shock.
“Well, you did take home two strange women.” I took a step back as he stood. “That’s certainly man-whorish behavior. And what’s up with the leather pants?”
He glanced toward the TV and crossed his arms over his chest. “They suited the occasion. As for your question, no—I’m not into anything extreme. At the most, I probably tied those two women up, spanked them a little, and made them beg for my cock. Which I’m sure I gave to both of them repeatedly until I could not move. But honestly, I don’t remember the night specifically; they aren’t the last pair of women I’ve had in my bed.”
Beg for his cock. My mouth watered, my nipples tightened against the soft material of my T-shirt, and wetness rushed between my labia at that naughty thought. I cleared my throat and tried to push back the unexpected slap of lust that rushed over my body. “Is that your kick, then? Two women?”
“No, not normally.” His gaze roamed over me, lingered on my breasts, and then focused on my face. “Frankly, very little has satisfied me over the last year and a little excess goes a long way toward making a man forget that.”
“Well, stop that! No more double dipping until this blows over.” I pointed my finger at him and took another step back when he glared at me. “It’s my job to manage your public image.”
“It’s not your job to tell me who I can stick my dick into.”
I flushed and my gaze immediately dropped to his crotch. “Well, you and your penis have made enough of a mess already so for the next good while I am going to be telling you where you can and cannot stick it!”
“Then I suggest you stop talking to it because despite what you women might think that head doesn’t make the decisions.”
I jerked my gaze back up to his face, stunned that I’d actually been staring at his groin, and blushed. “I wasn’t talking to your dick, you jerk.”
“Could have fooled me.”
My phone started to ring and I made an immediate grab for it. Talking to anyone would be better than continuing this conversation. “Hello.”
“It’s on CNN.”
Sonya Carson. She was the third member of my PR firm and another close friend. Both she and Kristen worked their butts off with me to get the Marcus Group off the ground. They were like sisters; only I never had to worry about them tattling to my daddy when I did something they didn’t like. I glared at Joshua as I perched on a chair a few feet from the couch.
“Great.”
“Our answering service is losing their mind,” Sonya chuckled. “God, he looks hot in those pants. Of course, honestly, he looks hot in just about anything. I bet you five bucks those two women are already arranging to get paid for a tabloid interview.”
“No doubt.”
“I told you taking him on would be difficult.”
She had. Repeatedly. I glanced toward him and found him pacing in front of the still-paused television. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Have you had any contact with him?”
“He’s standing in front of my