Page 19 of Going Deep (Odyssey #3)

Lola shrugged. “ When I was thinking about joining Odyssey .”

“You’re ridiculous,” Anna declared and turned to Ginger . “ Do you have any peanut or coconut oil?”

Ginger was still staring at Lola . “ You ran a background check on Michael ?”

“Never mind, I’ll just look,” Anna said and began opening cupboards.

“It wasn’t like I had him under surveillance or anything,” Lola explained. “ It was just a simple search of publicly available databases.”

Ginger slid onto a stool at the counter. “ That’s fucking genius. I never thought of running a background check on a guy.”

“It’s not genius, it’s ridiculous,” Anna interjected, turning away from the cupboard with a tub of coconut oil in one hand. “ Not to mention an invasion of privacy. How old is this?”

Ginger frowned at the tub. “ I don’t know. It was here when I moved in.”

Anna opened it and stuck her nose in for a sniff. “ It smells like coconut. It’s probably fine.”

“You don’t think running a background check on a guy is smart?” Ginger asked Anna .

“I think it can be.” Digging a spoon out of the drawer, Anna scooped up a lump of coconut oil and plopped it into the pan. “ Someone you don’t know, or someone you’re suspicious of. But all Lola had to do was talk to Grant or Simon .”

Lola’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “ I did talk to Grant . And as for Simon , we weren’t exactly getting along at that point.”

Ginger looked at Lola . “ You weren’t?”

Anna flicked on the burner under the pot and picked up the jar of popcorn kernels. “ They were still pretending they hated each other.”

“He was still pretending he hated me,” Lola corrected.

“And you were provoking him.”

Lola smirked. “ I’m still provoking him.”

“Well, that’s true,” Anna muttered and poured popcorn into the oil.

“Can I see it?” Ginger asked Lola . “ The background report?”

“Absolutely not,” Anna interjected before Lola could speak.

“What? Why not?”

“Because he’s your Dom ,” Anna said and slapped a lid on the pot.

“Just temporarily,” Ginger argued. “ And …situationally.”

“Situationally?” Anna echoed. “ What does that mean?”

“I mean, he’s not my Dom all the time, like Grant’s yours. It’s just while we’re, you know, playing. And fucking. He’s a play/fuck Dom .”

“A play/fuck Dom is still a Dom ,” Anna said stubbornly. “ And if you want to know something, you should ask him.”

“I gotta go with Anna on this one,” Lola said. “ Besides , there aren’t any deep, dark secrets to share. It’s a background check, not a biography.”

“At least tell me if he’s ever been arrested.”

“No,” Anna said again. “ Ask him yourself.”

“When exactly am I supposed to ask that question?” Ginger wondered, exasperated. “ It’s not like we talk.”

Anna blinked as the kernels in the pot began to pop. “ What do you mean, you don’t talk?”

“I mean, we talk. Hello , how are you? Are these nipple clamps too tight? Was that spanking good for you?”

Lola was frowning. “ That’s it?”

“Pretty much. I wouldn’t mind talking more,” Ginger admitted. “ I like him.”

“We know,” Anna said quietly.

“I think he’s interesting,” Ginger went on, ignoring the knowing look in Anna’s eyes. “ But I guess it’s just not that deep.”

“Do you want it to be?” Lola asked.

Ginger hesitated. “ I’m fine with the way things are.”

“Are you?” Anna wanted to know, shaking the pot of now rapidly popping kernels. “ Or are you telling yourself you’re fine because that’s the way he wants it?”

“I don’t know how he wants it,” Ginger said, avoiding the question. “ We haven’t talked about that either.”

“Coward,” Anna muttered.

“Hey.”

“Not you, him.”

“Oh.”

“But now that you mention it,” Lola said.

“I’m the newbie, here,” Ginger protested.

“To BDSM ,” Anna said. “ Not life. Get me a bowl.”

Annoyed, and more than a little insulted, Ginger slid off the stool and stomped around the counter. “ I thought I was supposed to let him take charge. You know, because he’s the Dom .”

“You’re not supposed to be a doormat.” Anna shook her head at the bowl Ginger held out. “ Bigger .”

“I’m not a doormat,” Ginger said and slapped a new bowl on the counter. “ That’s the biggest one I’ve got.”

“It’ll do,” Anna decided. “ Watch out, this is hot.”

“Do you want to know how he wants it?” Lola asked while Anna poured the popped corn into the bowl.

“I really haven’t thought much about it.

” Ginger caught the skeptical look in Lola’s eyes, and Anna’s not so quiet snort.

“ I know how that sounds, but I really haven’t.

I’m trying to figure out the rest of my life—where I'm going to live, what I'm going to do for work—and this thing with Michael has been a distraction from that. A nice one.”

“Okay, I can see that,” Lola allowed.

“Doing the ‘where is this all going?’ dance just hasn’t been on my radar,” Ginger continued, and considered it mostly truth.

“I’ll buy that,” Anna agreed. She crossed to the fridge and came back with a stick of butter. “ But I’m kind of surprised Michael hasn’t had a talk about expectations with you. According to Grant , he usually does, especially with new submissives.”

Ginger blinked. “ Really ?”

Anna peeled the butter, dropped it in a bowl, and popped it in the microwave. “ It’s pretty common for new submissives to fall in love with the first Dom they play with.”

Ginger grinned suddenly. “ What , they imprint on him like a baby bird?”

“It’s more like they fall in love with the kink, and think they’re in love with the Dom ,” Lola explained.

“Oh.” Ginger mulled that over. “ That makes sense, I guess.”

“He hasn’t brought that up?”

Ginger shook her head. “ No .”

“Huh,” Anna said and turned to the beeping microwave.

“What does ‘huh’ mean?” Ginger wanted to know.

Anna spooned melted butter over the corn. “ It means huh.”

Ginger turned to Lola . “ Translate , please.”

“Hmm,” Lola said, her eyes narrowed on Anna .

“ This is just a guess, but I think it means, ‘it’s very interesting that Michael is deviating from his usual script in this situation, and I plan to interrogate my husband as to the implications and possible meanings of this deviation, and will report back on same at the earliest possible opportunity’. ”

Anna tapped a finger on her nose, then pointed it at Lola . “ Boom .”

Lola preened. “ I speak Anna fluently.”

Ginger just shook her head. “ You’re so weird.”

“Her or me?” Lola wanted to know.

“Both of you.”

“We love you, too,” Anna said and, dashing salt over the popcorn, picked up the bowl. “ Somebody grab the wine. I want to watch KPop Demon Hunters .”

Lola snagged the bottle off the counter and followed Anna into the living room. “ What the hell is KPop Demon Hunters ?”

“A movie.” Anna stretched out on the sofa, the popcorn on her lap. “ My sisters love it.”

“Your sisters are thirteen,” Lola pointed out.

“So? I promised them I’d watch it.”

“It’s supposed to be really good,” Ginger chimed in, settling on the rug next to the sofa so she could reach the popcorn bowl.

“I take it we’re done discussing Ginger’s love life, then?” Lola ventured, settling into a chair with the wine.

“For now,” Anna said. “ We’ll get back to it after I worm some information out of Grant .”

“Something to look forward to,” Ginger muttered and picked up the remote.