Chapter 1
Keegan
“My mother said I’m supposed to put myselfin your hands because I can’t be trusted to pick for myself.”
Had that come out weird?
The way the owner Conner was staring at mewith his mouth open said I’d been awkward in some way. Taking a guess, I smiledand expounded. “The last Dom. Well, he said he was a Dom—wait, where was I? Oh,yes. Well, he stole my TV, and the guy before him tried to get me to do somesort of auction where I’d submit to a Master for a month, and that just didn’tseem like a good idea. I have to work and my mother said the whole thingsounded fishy.”
She was probably right, but he’d beenwonderful at giving me attention.
She kept saying that attention whoresattracted trouble—and she would know.
I thought explaining my questionable datinghistory would clear up the curious looks I was getting from the half-naked clubowner.
It didn’t.
Somehow I was fairly certain I’d madethings worse.
I was starting to regret acting like myselfin this meeting. I did sweet and shy so well it was very believable, and mostpeople liked it better than overly excited and a bit awkward.
If I kept going, I was going to fall intorambling territory, so I tried to pull back my excitement as I smiled andstopped talking. Thankfully, it only took a few seconds for Conner to takecharge of the conversation again.
“Your mother knows about…” He gesturedvaguely around the club. “The club and being a submissive?”
“Yes.” That was the part that startled him?People were strange. “I’m more than happy to introduce myself and explore on myown, but like I said, my radar for healthy Doms is slightly off.”
Mental stability and good decision-makingweren’t the first things I noticed about a man. Sexy eyes, strong hands,patience… those all seemed more important in the moment.
Conner’s brain was still lagging behind,but eventually he shook his head. “No, I’d be happy to show you around andintroduce you to some Doms and just guys in general you might get along with.”
That sounded promising.
“What are you looking for in a Dom?”
Ugh. Why did everyone start there?
He was just like my mother.
“Um, patience?” Conner blinked at me again,almost like a computer that’d rebooted wrong.
Oh, that would be interesting.
I could—
“What do you mean?” Conner’s questionchased away the image that had been taking shape in my mind.
“What do I mean?” What did he mean?
Wait.
What had we been talking about?
Conner cocked his head. “I’m starting to getthe picture.”
I was glad he was because he was kind ofvague.
Clearing his throat, he seemed to be tryingnot to smile. He was a very odd individual, and I knew a lot of curious people,so I could always pick out the interesting ones.
