Page 39 of Whatever Lola Wants (Odyssey #2)

“I’m looking forward to it,” he told her, and disconnected.

Okay, then. He reached for the phone to ask his secretary to make lunch reservations, but before he could buzz her, she buzzed him. “ Yes , Carol ?”

“Ms. Wright on line one,” came his secretary’s voice, and he winced. Great timing.

“Thanks, Carol .” He hit the button to connect the call. “ Hey , there.”

“Hey, yourself.” Lola’s voice was slightly husky, rich. Not soft or giggly at all. “ I hear you cleaned up at Fragile Male Ego Poker last night.”

He choked on the laugh. “ Fragile Male Ego Poker ?”

“That’s Anna’s phrase, not mine,” she explained. “ She was calling it Penis Poker , but Ginger pointed out that was trans exclusionary. Fragile Male Ego lacks alliteration, but it’s important to evolve. Plus , calling y’all fragile for excluding her made her happy.”

“Hey, she’s the one who declared it ‘girl time, no dudes allowed’. We had to find something to do.”

“Doesn’t bother me.” He could hear the shrug—and the smile—in her voice. “ We ate Thai food and painted each other’s toes and talked about the fragile male egos and penises in our lives. It was way better than poker.”

He grinned at the thought. “ I hope you were kind.”

“Oh, I was more than kind,” she assured him. “ And with Ginger there to back me up, your reputation is set. You’re a legend in your pants, Sir , and everyone knows it.”

A legend in his pants? He laughed out loud. God , this woman.

“Since I didn’t get to see you last night,” she went on, “and I won't see you tonight, I thought I could bring you some lunch. We can have a picnic in your office. Maybe you can show me the legend, just to make sure I got it right.”

He felt himself harden at the prospect and opened his mouth to agree when he remembered the phone call he’d just made. “ Shit . I’d love to, but I have a lunch planned already.”

“Oh.” Now he could hear the disappointment—and the pout. “ I don’t mean to sound like a needy girlfriend or anything, but is it something you can get out of?”

“Ah… No .” He winced. “ I’ve got a problem client that I need to deal with. Believe me, I’d rather be discussing legends with you.”

“Well, as long as you’ll be suffering,” she said, and he knew she was only half kidding. “ Are we still on for the club tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely,” he told her, relieved that she wasn’t going to push it. “ I’m going to want to make up for some lost time.”

“I think that can be arranged,” she said with a purr in her voice. “ I’m supposed to meet with Neil to schedule some lesson time, but other than that, I’m all yours.”

“Lessons? For what?”

“Oh, he’s going to teach me how to use a single tail.”

“Really?” Surprise colored his voice even as the image of her wielding a whip came to mind. “ Anyone in particular you’re planning to use that on?”

She chuckled. “ Don’t worry, big guy, it won’t be you. I imagine I’ll be working on pillows and balloons for a while. It’ll probably take a couple of years to be good enough to actually use it on a person.”

“And even then, it won’t be me.”

“Nah, but you can watch.”

“Now, that I might get in to,” he told her with a chuckle.

She sighed. “ Great . Now I’m even hornier than I was before this phone call. Remember where we left off for tomorrow night, will you?”

“You got it, sweetheart. Have fun tonight.”

“You, too. See you tomorrow.”

He smiled as the phone clicked in his ear, his body tight with anticipation. Until he remembered his lunch date, and that he’d just lied to Lola about it.

Talk about a boner killer.

He was looking forward to lunch about as much as he would a root canal, but he needed to follow through. Kayla sounded lovely, and it would be rude to cancel ten minutes after making the date. Besides , she might be just what he’d been looking for.

He buzzed his secretary. “ Carol , make lunch reservations at Mama Lucia’s for twelve-thirty, will you? Two people.”

“Sure thing,” she replied.

He thanked her, and shoving aside his uneasiness, got back to work.

Lunch was a disaster.

He was fifteen minutes late, having gotten a phone call from Everybody’s Favorite Client five minutes before he was due to leave. Talking Howard down usually took twice that, but he’d managed to foist the call off on Grant halfway through.

Which he would no doubt pay for, but he’d worry about that later.

When he stepped into the restaurant, the hostess informed him with a smile that his party was already waiting, and showed him to a small table by the window.

Kayla looked up at his approach and stood, a serene smile on her face. “ Simon ?”

“Kayla.” He nodded at the hostess, then gestured for Kayla to sit again before doing so himself. “ I apologize for being late. I had a client concern come up just as I was leaving.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” she murmured, the same serene smile on her lips. “ I’m sure it was important.”

He frowned slightly. It had been important, and he was pleased she wasn’t pitching a fit over it, but the calm serenity was a little strange. “ Still , it was rude. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Of course.”

He smiled back and picked up the menu. “ I’ve eaten here before, so if you tell me what you like I can probably steer you in the right direction.”

“Oh, whatever you’re having is fine.” She smiled at him. Soft smile, soft voice, soft eyes. “ I’m not picky.”

Oookaaay. “ I’m thinking lasagna.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Great.” He set the menu aside. “ So . Tell me about yourself.”

She blinked, owl like. “ What would you like to know?”

“Anything you’d like to tell me,” he replied. “ What brought you here from Boston ?”

“Oh.” Her eyes dropped to the tablecloth as she toyed with her tableware. “ Well , Derrek and I broke up, and I didn’t want to stay there after that. And I’ve always liked the way Chicago looks on television.”

He almost laughed until he realized she wasn’t kidding. “ Being from Boston , at least you’re used to harsh winters. So hopefully that won’t be a shock to you.”

She looked puzzled. “ Are the winters here very cold?”

“They can be,” he said and looked around for the server. He caught her eye, relieved when she started heading their way. “ But you get used to them.”

The server arrived, depositing a basket of fragrant garlic bread sticks on the table before pulling her order pad from her apron pocket. “ Are you ready to order?”

Simon gestured for Kayla to order first, which seemed to confuse her. “ Oh . Um . Lasagna ?”

He sent her a reassuring smile before turning to the server. “ Two , please.”

“You got it. What kind of dressing would you like on your salad, hon?” she asked Kayla .

“Oh. Um .” She looked between the server and Simon as though hoping for one of them to rescue her. “ I don’t…”

Simon stepped into the breach. “ The house dressing is excellent,” he told her, and she sent him a grateful smile.

“Yes. Yes , the house dressing,” she told the server.

“I’ll have the same. Thank you.” The server walked away, and Simon picked up the basket of bread to offer it. “ Would you like one?”

“Oh.” Her fingers hovered over the basket for a moment before she finally selected one. She laid it carefully on her bread plate. “ Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He bit into his own breadstick, grateful for a reason not to talk for a moment.

After a moment, it became clear that she wasn’t going to speak unless he prompted her. “ What do you do for a living?”

“Um. Right now I don’t have a job,” she said in her soft voice, her eyes still on her plate. “ I just got here a couple of days ago.”

“I assume you’re looking for work?”

“Um. I guess so.”

Simon frowned. She guessed so? “ What kind of work do you do?”

“I worked as a secretary in Boston ,” she told him, finally looking up from her plate. “ A receptionist, really. My …boyfriend, he was a lawyer. I worked for his firm.”

Four whole declarative sentences. “ Is that the kind of work you’re looking for here, or do you want something different?”

“Um. I guess if I have to work, I’d do the same thing. Be a receptionist.”

Alarm bells were going off. If she had to work? He cleared his throat. “ If you could do any kind of work, what would it be?”

Her eyes widened. “ Um . A housewife? I guess.”

“That’s nice,” he said, and she beamed. It was the most emotion she’d shown since he’d sat down. Major alarm bells. She was looking for a husband, a meal ticket. Jesus , Michael —what the fuck were you thinking?

“I’m sure you’d be good at it,” he said for lack of anything else to say, and watched her smile widen.

The server arrived with their salads, and he vowed then and there to leave her the biggest tip of her life.

He walked back into the office an hour later to find Grant waiting for him. “ Grant . Did we have a meeting?”

Grant shook his head. “ No , I was just going to leave you a note about Howard . Now I can tell you in person.”

Simon dropped into his chair with a grunt. “ Great .”

Grant hesitated. “ You okay?”

Simon stared at the ceiling. “ I had lunch with that submissive Michael told us about last night. Kayla .”

“Yeah?” Grant settled into a chair. “ How’d that go?”

“Remember the Hindenburg ?”

Grant rubbed his hand over his mouth to hide his smile. “ That bad, huh?”

Simon let out a harsh laugh. “ Worse . She’s pretty, nice, and definitely submissive. But she has all the personality of an overcooked noodle.”

“Ouch.”

Simon sighed. “ And that’s probably unfair. But Jesus , she couldn’t even decide what to have for lunch on her own.”

“Well, she wants a D /s relationship,” Grant began, and Simon shot him a sardonic look.

“She ought to be able to figure out if she likes lasagna without direction,” he said drily. “ She's also looking for a husband.”

“So?” Grant shrugged. “ A lot of women—and men—are looking for a husband.”

“Yeah, but…” Simon shook his head. “ She wants a Dom to run everything—from what she wears to what she eats to how she wears her hair.”

“And that’s not what you want?”

“I’d like a D /s relationship, but if the house catches on fire, I don’t want to worry she won’t be able to find her way out without me leading her by the damn hand.”

“Sounds like this wasn’t the great fit Michael thought it would be.”

“And don’t think I won’t mention it to him,” Simon said darkly, and Grant laughed.

“You can tell him tonight, while we’re debauching ourselves in honor of my upcoming marriage,” Grant said. “ In the meantime, let me tell you about Howard . To start, he wants around the clock protection.”

Simon groaned. The day just kept getting better and better.