Page 22 of Whatever Lola Wants (Odyssey #2)

“Damn, I missed the finale,” she muttered, then sighed. Oh , well. She turned to her friends and stopped, blinking. Anna and Grant were gone; only Simon stood there.

“Where’d they go?”

Simon pointed to the stairs leading to the second-floor play rooms. “ Upstairs .”

“Ah.” Anna had been so tense lately with the wedding plans, Grant had been muttering about doing something drastic to get her to relax. Looked like he’d finally decided to do it.

“How’ve you been?” Simon asked, and she looked up at him.

He looked ridiculously handsome, as always.

His black jeans were snug over lean hips and strong thighs, the white t-shirt showing off the muscles in his torso to great advantage.

He must have spent some time outdoors since she’d seen him last; the white of his shirt showed off the deeper tones of his tanned skin perfectly.

Her palms all but itched to slide under his clothes to find out where it ended.

Down, girl . She forced a smile. “ Good . Busy .”

“I heard you’ve knocked out a lot of wedding stuff this week. Besides the dress.”

Her lips twitched. “ Is Grant still bitching about that?”

Simon shook his head. “ Nah , he gets it. At least he does now. And he’d rather cut off his own hand than deliberately make Anna unhappy.”

Her smile softened. “ I know. They’re great together.”

He gave a little hum of agreement and drained his drink.

She fought back the twinge of envy and forced her smile brighter. “ And how are you? How’s the hunt?”

“What hunt?”

“For your perfect submissive,” she said and could’ve cursed herself. Don’t ask what you don’t want to know, Lola .

Simon frowned, studying her face. She didn’t seem to be sniping at him, but genuinely asking. “ It’s going fine.”

She turned her head, glancing around the room. “ I’m sure there are plenty of women around here who might fit the bill.”

He barely suppressed a wince. He’d been looking. In fact, he’d spend the whole previous weekend and three nights during the week doing just that. He’s played with seven women, every one submissive, service oriented, and happy to follow his every command without question.

He’d never been more bored in his life, and his dick had remained steadfastly uninterested.

Unlike now. Lola’s dress was clinging to her small breasts like a second skin, doing nothing to camouflage her erect nipples, and the tantalizing length of thigh shown off by the abbreviated hem was making it hard to think, and his dick was definitely interested.

He realized she was looking at him expectantly. “ I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I asked if you had any candidates picked out.”

“Oh. No , no one in particular,” he told her. “ I’m just looking around at this point.”

She nodded.

“How about you?” he asked.

“What about me?”

“You’re jumping right in. Topping Jamie your first night, bottoming to Michael tonight.”

She pursed her lips. “ I told you, he hasn’t asked. He just noticed I didn’t have my toy bag with me, and asked if that meant I was up for bottoming.”

“That sounds like him asking to me.”

“No, asking goes like this, ‘ I’d like to do a scene with you. Shall we negotiate?’”

He chuckled. “ Subtle doesn’t work with you, I take it?”

“Not when it comes to BDSM ,” she said. “ I don’t mind a certain amount of cat and mouse, but I like to be clear in my scene negotiations.”

“Me too,” he said, then smiled. “ The one I did with you being the lone exception.”

She chuckled. “ We did sort of skip the negotiating part, didn’t we?”

“I’m not complaining,” he assured her.

She smiled. “ Me neither. I guess we can call it the exception that proves the rule.”

“Hmmm.” He studied her for a moment. Laughing eyes, a hint of rose on her cheeks, body language open and honest. “ I read your forms.”

Her cheeks flushed subtly deeper. “ And ?”

“You do like a variety,” he commented.

She laughed, unembarrassed. “ You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“On the contrary,” he assured her. “ I think it’s a very good thing. And you made your one constant requirement very clear.”

“I imagine it’ll scare off a number of tops, but I don’t like to spring that on someone.”

“Wise.”

Her lips—painted pink to match the dress—pursed as she tapped a finger on her temple. “ Not just a hat rack, my friend.”

He snorted out a laugh. “ Would you like to play tonight?” he asked and watched her blink with surprise. “ For the record, I’m asking.”

“Why?” she blurted, then flushed deeper.

“We had fun together last time, didn’t we?”

“Yes.”

She still looked confused, which didn’t hurt his feelings at all. “ Well , then.”

She angled her head. “ Don’t you need to be looking out for your perfect submissive?”

He smothered his annoyance at the question. “ I already know all the unattached submissives here tonight.”

She nodded slowly. “ So , I’m an acceptable diversion until someone new comes along.”

He frowned. “ I didn’t mean it like that, Lola . You’re not a diversion. I like you. I liked playing with you. I’d like to do it again.”

She studied him for so long, her face so somber, he was prepared for her to say no. “ Okay .”

Anticipation leapt in his belly. “ Okay ?”

Her eyes were steady, their whiskey depths clear. “ Yes , I’d like to play with you.”

Now he smiled, dark and wicked. “ Good . You know where the wrestling room is?”

Her lips pursed as interest crept into her gaze. “ Second floor, right?”

He nodded. “ Meet me there in ten minutes.”

“Yes, Sir .”

Oh, he liked that. He turned away, then swung back. “ And Lola ?”

“Yes?”

“Be naked when I get there.”

He walked away to gather his equipment, the way her eyes had widened at his command warming his blood.

He strode into the locker room to get the duffle bag that held his gear, and was headed back out again when he ran into Michael .

His friend eyed the toy bag. “ Find a willing submissive?”

Inwardly, Simon winced. This could get awkward. “ In a manner of speaking.”

He saw instantly that Michael understood.

“Ah.” Amusement lit his face. “ So that’s the way of it.”

Simon fought the urge to shift uneasily. “ We’ve played before. Privately ,” he elaborated at Michael’s questioning look.

Michael nodded. “ I didn’t think she was your type. Judging by the play partners you’ve taken lately, I assumed you were interested in a more…traditional D /s relationship.”

“I am,” he said and wondered why the assertion sounded false to his own ears. “ This is just a scene.”

“Hmmm. Well , then, I wish you good luck.” Michael clapped him on the back. “ And let me know how it goes, will you? I’m interested in exploring the non-traditional.”

Simon forced a casual smile. “ Sure ,” he said and strolled out of the locker room, leaving Michael behind.