Cole frowned, but made the drink, light on the vodka. Janie sashayed toward the bar and took the drink from him. Their fingers brushed. The slight touch caused his gut to clench with desire. Get ahold of yourself. This is Janie. The glass rose to her pink lips, and she downed the drink. Then she set the glass on the bar with a small thunk.
“Another, please,” she said.
He stared at her, then proceeded to make another drink, grateful that he’d gone light on the vodka. He did so again.
“You make lousy drinks,” she said, as he poured the tonic over the minuscule amount of alcohol.
“I don’t want you drunk.”
“Maybe I want to get drunk.” She picked up the glass and wandered back over to the window.
Picking up his own drink, he took a swallow before speaking. “I know you think you’re grown up, but you have no idea of what could have happened at Whips tonight.”
She spun around, her green eyes flashing. “Get off your high horse. I know exactly what goes on at Whips, and it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
His fingers tightened around his glass of scotch. “What you saw when you were nineteen was totally different.” Janie had surprised him one day by walking into his playroom unannounced.
“How?” She sipped her drink. “You were flogging your girlfriend. Let’s see, Natalie, I think that was her name.”
“You remember her name?” Cole downed the rest of his scotch, then poured club soda into his glass. He needed to stay sober even if he did want to drink himself into oblivion. Janie did that to him.
“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “I also remember wanting to be her.”
Cole jolted in surprise.
Janie kepther gaze focused on Cole. The poor guy was getting an education tonight. But then it was time for him to realize she was a woman.
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” he said.
“I’m only speaking the truth.” She took another sip of her drink. It needed more vodka, but unless she wanted to step behind the bar and pour it herself, she was stuck. Why couldn’t Cole see her as a consenting adult? Damn, stubborn man.
Maybe she was fooling herself. Her trip to Whips had been an experiment. She’d been so frustrated with Cole and his refusal to even talk with her about the lifestyle, she’d taken off to Whips and hadn't followed normal precautions.
Hell, she was the one who’d picked the Dom wannabe, rather than a more experienced member. She’d known Rick would call Cole, but she hadn’t expected him to arrive so quickly.
“Janie,” Cole said, moving out from behind the bar.
“No, Cole.” She held up her hand. She’d been back for two months. Two long, frustrating months of living with Cole as if they were nothing more than friends. It was all going to end tonight. Bad or good, it had to end. “Look, I know you promised your dad to look after me, but I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”
“I never said you weren’t old enough.”
“Then quit treating me like a child! I’m a woman and I have needs.” He choked on his drink, and Janie covered her grin with her hand. She wasn’t going to pull her punches tonight. “I’m going to explore my sexuality with or without your help.” She really wanted him, but if he couldn’t see her as an adult, she’d find another Dom who would.
“What does that mean?” He scowled at her.
Janie downed the rest of her drink and set her glass on the bar. “It means I’m going to make my own decisions about sex and kink and how I experience them.” She lifted her chin and stared at him. “Now it’s your turn to decide if you’re going to teach me what I want to know, or do I go elsewhere?”
Her heart clenched. She really wanted to learn from Cole, but she wasn’t going to wait forever. Janie turned and left the room. Once in her bedroom, she quietly shut the door and stripped off her clothes.
Not there was much to take off. A short, gauzy skirt; a cami; and a thong. And Cole hadn’t even noticed what she was wearing. No reaction from him at all. Her clit pulsed as she remembered his voice at the club. A shiver of excitement had run up her spine in anticipation of Cole taking over from the wannabe Dom she had picked.
She let out a bitter laugh. All Cole had done was untie her and escort her out. On the drive home, she’d gone from embarrassment to anger. Even now, she doubted her words had made an impression on him. Slipping inside the bathroom, she turned on the shower and stepped in.
She thought back to when she had been nineteen and walked in on Cole and Natalie. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been aware of their relationship or what they were doing. Hell, she knew about the playroom and had been in it several times when no one was home.
A small smile creased her lips. The first time she’d gone into the room, she’d taken one step inside, looked around, and run out. It had taken her three days to pluck up enough courage to try again. She’d been a very naive nineteen.
Janie sighed. While her father had been open about sex, he’d died six months before her eighteenth birthday. Cole’s father, Jason, was executor of her father’s estate and was tasked with taking care of her. While it was old-fashioned, Janie didn’t mind Jason wanting to take care of her. It meant she got to be closer to Cole.
