Page 21 of Whatever Lola Wants (Odyssey #2)

Anna frowned. “ I think I have someone who can handle that.”

“Cool. But in the meantime, take it off and give it to me. I’ll keep it at my place.”

“Oh, but no,” Anna complained. “ I want it here, where I can stare at it a thousand times a day.”

“You want to risk getting something on it? Tearing it?”

Anna blanched. “ God , no.”

“Or having Grant see it?”

Anna paused, looking at her reflection in the mirror as she considered.

“ I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d have a problem with him seeing the dress before the ceremony, but now…

” She grinned. “ I kind of want him to see me in it for the first time when I’m walking down the aisle. I bet he swallows his tongue.”

“If he doesn’t, then his taste is in his mouth,” Lola declared. “ I’ll keep it at my place to keep it safe. And you can always show him later if you change your mind . But you know if it’s here in the house, he’s going to see it somehow. Even if it’s by accident.”

“You’re right.” Anna brushed her fingertips dreamily over the bodice. “ Okay , let’s take it off before I change my mind.”

Lola held the dress while Anna wiggled out of it, and between them they got it back on the hanger and tucked into the bag. And just in the nick of time; Lola was zipping it up when she heard the front door open and Henry’s welcoming bark.

Anna shot her a look and unhooked the bag from the top of the closet. “ You called it.”

Lola shook her head. “ Men . Go get dressed. I got this.”

She draped the heavy bag over her arm and started down the stairs as Anna darted across the hall. She was unsurprised to meet Grant halfway down.

He eyed the garment bag. “ How’d it go?”

“Fine,” Lola said and continued down the stairs without pause.

“Wait a minute,” Grant said, coming after her. “ I want to see the dress.”

“No.”

“No?”

Lola smothered a smirk at the incredulous tone. “ No . You cannot see the dress.”

She risked a quick look over her shoulder. His face was like a granite thundercloud. “ Why not?”

“Because it’s not yours,” she replied and headed for the front door. Her steps faltered when she saw Simon in the foyer, then continued on. “ Do something with him, will you?”

Simon shot her an amused glance. “ What , like he’s a puppy?”

She rolled her eyes to where Grant was trailing after her. “ Now that you mention it.”

“He just wants to see the dress. What’s the big deal?”

Honestly. Men . “ The big deal is it’s not his fucking dress, and he can’t see it. Not unless Anna says he can, and she hasn’t.”

She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around.

Grant , who had been hot on her heels, had to skid to a stop.

“ And I see that look in your eye, oh Dominant one. Don’t you dare make this about D /s.

If she wants you to see it, she’ll show you.

But it has to be her choice, not because you Dommed her into it. ”

The flash of guilt in his pale eyes was followed by a heavy sigh. “ All right.”

“Good.” She softened enough to smile at him. “ You’re a good man, Grant . I’m trusting you to keep your word.”

She turned to the front door, knowing he’d stew over that one, and nearly ran smack into a grinning Simon . “ What’re you smiling at?”

“Not a thing,” he assured her, still grinning.

She rolled her eyes. “ Right . Well , if you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a dress to sequester.”

Simon opened the front door for her with a chuckle. “ Need a ride?”

She faltered, a tentative smile on her lips. “ No , thanks. I’ve got a car waiting.”

He glanced at the black sedan idling at the curb. “ Right . Well , good night.”

She hesitated for the briefest of moments, then nodded. “ Good night.”

She risked a glance back as she started down the walk to the waiting car. He stood in the open door, watching her.

He was still standing there when the car pulled away.

* * *

Riding high on the success of Operation Dream Dress , Lola and Anna had crossed several items off their wedding list by Friday afternoon.

Now that Anna’s dress was chosen, they went hunting for Lola’s .

Anna found the perfect gown in a vintage shop, a floor length strapless sheath in a deep pink that suited Lola perfectly.

Anna had the bright idea to add an illusion top to match Anna’s gown, so they’d hit the fabric mart with the seamstress in tow to find the right fabric, and both dresses were being altered.

In fact, so much had been accomplished that Lola no longer had any excuses not to go to Odyssey on Saturday night.

She almost told Anna that she didn’t think she could bear watching Simon on his hunt for the perfect submissive, but she held her tongue.

She didn’t want to put her friend in an awkward position.

Simon was Grant’s boss, friend, and best man, and she hated the idea that her growing feelings for him would make things uncomfortable for their friends.

She was a big girl, responsible for her own feelings.

And if she silently cursed his name whenever she looked at her living room rug, well, that was her problem.

She dressed to kill in a strapless latex mini-dress in deep pink, pinned her hair up and slipped a thick gold choker around her throat, and strapped on four-inch heels that would have her arches screaming by midnight. But they made her ass look amazing, and a girl had to have her priorities.

“Your ass looks amazing,” Anna murmured in her ear.

“I know,” Lola replied and sipped her drink.

They stood at the bar, watching a Dom do a single tail demo.

Lola pursed her lips. He was very good, cracking the whip so loudly it sounded like a gunshot in the cavernous space, but his submissive, chained to a post at the far end of the stage, bore only the faintest of red lines on her back and buttocks.

“I always wanted to do that,” Lola mused, eyes narrowed as she watched the man work.

“Really?” Anna shuddered. “ That scares the crap out of me.”

Lola chuckled. “ I take it you won’t be getting Grant single tail lessons as a wedding gift.”

Anna sent her a ‘get real, girlfriend’ look before turning back to the stage. She winced as the whip cracked in the air before flicking over the submissive’s bare ass. Lola shook her head in admiration as, again, the faintest of lines appeared on the woman’s pale flesh.

“Ladies, are you enjoying the demo?”

Lola glanced over her shoulder to see Michael standing there, looking handsome and dangerous in a crisp black shirt and black slacks. She smiled a little wickedly. “ I am. Anna’s less enthusiastic.”

Michael’s mouth remained sober, but his green eyes were alive with mirth. “ Not to your taste, Anna ?”

Her swallow could probably be heard on stage. “ No . No , Sir . I’ll leave this one to Lola .”

“You’re interested?” Michael inquired politely.

She nodded, her attention on the stage. “ I’ve bottomed a couple of times to whips, and I always wanted to learn how to do it. I just didn’t have the time.”

“It requires a great deal of practice,” Michael acknowledged. “ I’m sure Neil would be pleased to talk to you about it after the demonstration,” he said with a nod to the Dom on stage.

“You read my mind.”

A slow smile—the one that made all the submissives sigh—curved his lips. “ That’s my job, pet.”

Amused at his use of the affectionate term often used for submissives, she shifted so she faced him instead of the stage. “ Is it?”

His smile deepened. “ In a manner of speaking.” His eyes, green as spring grass, twinkled. “ Did you come to play tonight?”

“I didn’t not come to play.”

“I only ask because I didn’t see your equipment when you arrived.”

“No, I left my toy bag at home,” she replied.

“Ah. Then can I assume you’re open to bottoming tonight?”

Intrigued, she tilted her head. “ You can, yes.”

“Good to know,” he murmured and skimmed a finger down her cheek. “ Perhaps I’ll see you later.”

When he walked away, Anna’s mouth dropped open. “ Oh , my holy God .”

Lola chuckled, savoring the little tingle along her cheek where his finger had brushed. “ Well , that’s interesting.”

“That’s an understatement.” Anna was gawking. “ Are you going to play with Michael ?”

Lola shrugged. “ I don’t know. He hasn’t asked.”

“Uh, I think he just did.”

“Hello, beautiful.” Grant walked up behind Anna and wrapped an arm around her waist. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “ What are we talking about?”

“Lola playing with Michael .”

Grant looked at Lola . “ You’re playing with Michael ?”

“Undetermined,” Lola said with a casual shrug. “ He hasn’t asked and I haven’t said yes.”

“A formality. He called her ‘pet’,” Anna told Grant . “ And there was major flirting.”

“Well, well,” Grant murmured, a speculative gleam lighting his pale eyes. “ Isn’t that interesting?”

“What’s interesting?” Simon said, coming to stand next to Grant .

“Playing with Michael ,” Anna supplied, and Lola had to resist the urge to kick her.

Simon’s brows drew together as he lifted his drink. “ Who’s going to play with Michael ?”

“Lola,” Anna said smugly, and Simon’s hand froze on the way to his mouth.

“Really?”

His tone was flat as Lola shot Anna a quelling look. “ He hasn’t asked, and I haven’t said yes,” she repeated.

“He may as well have asked,” Anna shot back with a smirk, a knowing gleam in her eye. The brat.

“Well, until he does, I’m not going to worry about it,” Lola said.

Anna opened her mouth to reply, and Lola leaned over to whisper in her ear. “ If you keep this up, the next time I come over to your house I’m going to bring my needle kit and stick them into my own hands until I bleed all over the dinner table.”

Anna paled and gulped. “ You’re mean,” she managed.

“And you’re meddling,” Lola countered. “ Knock it off.”

“Fine,” Anna huffed. “ But I’m just trying to help.”

Lola just rolled her eyes, and satisfied Anna would back off, turned her attention back to the demo on stage. She frowned. While she’d been talking to her friends, the Dom had finished the scene, and was busy releasing his submissive from the post.