Jackson snorted and pushed back the brim of his hat, giving Julian a better look at the surprise on his face. “You haven’t been a playboy a day in your life. You’re the opposite. You demand commitment from your lovers before you’ll even bother to touch them.” His eyes narrowed. “Is that what’s bothering you? You’re upset because you slept with Dani without a contract?”
It did bother him. It went against his own rules. “That contract is there to protect both of us. You know that, Jackson.”
“I know that you think the contract can protect you, but it also builds a wall around you. I’m encouraging you to stay for the week. If you don’t want to work the herd, I can handle that, but give Dani a call. Hang out with us. Spend time with Dani. You don’t have to promise her anything. She’s a big girl who has a better head on her shoulders than even she knows. See where it goes. No contract. No promises. No end date.”
It sounded very strange and oddly intriguing. “You’re asking me to play Dani’s boyfriend.”
“No, I’m asking you to be Dani’s friend who she just might happen to sleep with. You did sleep with her, right?”
“There was very little sleeping involved.”
“Did she not enjoy submitting?”
Julian felt his dick go hard at the very thought. “She submitted beautifully. I could have tied her down, and she wouldn’t have questioned it.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t. Did you use the playroom at all?”
He hadn’t even thought about it. Once he’d gotten Danielle on the bed, he’d been too busy fucking her. He’d fucked that pussy over and over again. He’d fucked her from behind, slamming his cock inside as his hands molded the gorgeous, voluptuous curves of her hips and her ass. He’d propped her ankles on his shoulders and enjoyed the super tight entry he got that way. At one point he’d picked her up and put her in the shower. He’d soaped her hair and suckled her breasts. She’d been perfect.
“We didn’t need the playroom,” he heard himself say. He took a much longer sip of the Scotch and tried to shake off the images of Danielle waiting for his command. “Besides, she made her decision today.”
“And you know damn well she would have stayed if you’d given her any indication that you wanted it.”
“Perhaps she and this Finn person are meant to be.”
Jackson groaned. “God, I hope not. Damn. That would be like Abby and Sam without me, only worse. At least Abby can take charge when the occasion calls for it. Those two are true subs. I’m not surprised he hadn’t slept with her. He isn’t aggressive enough. I bet the women he has slept with took charge, or he was ordered to sleep with them by his Dom.”
“He didn’t sound like he’d had a Dom.”
“I didn’t say he knew he’d had one, but any relationship that worked for Finn had to have a dominant partner there. He’s one of Lucas’s friends. Lucas likes the hell out of him, but he thinks Finn’s fooling himself. He’s been trying to get Finn to go to The Club with him.”
Julian toyed with his glass. He thought about how angry Finn had been. “He didn’t seem submissive to me.”
“Lucas is sure, and I’ve seen the way his eyes slide down when I look at him. He knows instinctively who could master him.”
Yes, Julian could believe that. Finn had a certain look about him. If Finn was a sub, then it had taken a lot of love and no small amount of bravery to stand up to him. Julian admired bravery. “If he is, then he’ll need to change. Or Danielle will. Otherwise the entire world will walk all over them.”
Julian didn’t mention that they would always be missing a piece of themselves that went beyond sexuality. They might be happy, but they would never be complete.
“Or they could find a Dom,” Jackson said. “That’s why Lucas has been trying to get him to The Club. I know he was planning on asking you to match up Finn. He’d even mentioned that he thought you and Finn would get along. Lucas said you were taking applications.”
Julian felt his lips curl slightly at the admonishment in Jackson’s voice. His protégé had never understood the screening process. Of course, now that Julian thought about it, Samuel would never have made it through his screening process, and he was the only person he’d ever offered a permanent contract to. Danielle wouldn’t have made it, either. The thought of finding Danielle another Dom caused a knot to form in his stomach.
“I thought it was time,” Julian said.
“Maybe it’s time to try something else. Give Dani a call tomorrow. See how she’s doing. Look, tell me honestly you’re not worried about her, and I’ll back off.”
There was something about the way Jackson said it that warmed Julian. Jackson truly gave a damn about him. It wasn’t that Jackson needed him. He’d passed that long ago, and yet he continued to come back. He’d known Jackson Barnes for almost twenty years. He’d been Jackson’s mentor, his patron, and at one point his partner in crime, but now it really hit Julian that Jackson was his friend.
“I am worried about her.”
A slow smile spread across Jackson’s face as he poured another finger of the fine Scotch. “Then call her. I have her number right here in my cell. If that ex of hers is causing trouble, then we can take care of it. And if Finn comes with her, well, maybe you can see if you can help him, too.”
He slid the phone across the bar, but at that moment, the door flew open, and Julian realized he wouldn’t need to call to find out how Danielle was doing.
She was already here.
The door practically slammed back into his face. Finn had to quickly put a hand out in order to keep his nose in the right place. Dani was pissed, but he wasn’t backing down. If she felt the desperate need to dance, then he was going to dance with her. Well, he would watch from someplace safe. She definitely wouldn’t let him dance with her.
Hell, she wouldn’t let him get near her. She’d slammed the damn door in his face more times than he could count today. And when she’d finally smiled sweetly at him and asked if he could retrieve a CD from his car because she really needed to hear a song, she’d locked the door and not let him back in. He’d sat on the porch texting her until she’d finally walked out wearing a ridiculously short denim skirt, cowboy boots, and a shirt that had to be two sizes too small. When he’d opened his mouth to mention the fact that she’d put on some Barbie doll clothes instead of real actual human clothes, the look on her face had had his mouth closing. She’d announced she was going to The Barn, the only honky-tonk for miles, and that he could drive her or she would walk.
She had not said a word in the car. Now she marched across the smoky, loud bar like a woman on a mission.
Finn felt his whole body sag. He’d fucked up and had no idea how to fix it. He only had a few days before he had to get back to work, and somehow, he had to convince Dani to come with him. He was pretty sure if he didn’t break through to her soon, he never would.
“Excuse me,” a familiar, though unwelcome, voice said.
Finn sighed when Val started to walk past him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Her skirt was even shorter than Dani’s, though she had sticks pointing out of it instead of real legs. Dani’s denim skirt hugged her luscious ass, and Finn would swear if she bent over, those sweet cheeks were going to pop out. Val’s skirt was flat against her body.
“It’s a free country, isn’t it? I told some of my friends I would be here.” Her cold eyes slid around the room like a predator seeking prey. When they narrowed, it seemed to Finn that she’d found it. “Wow, who the hell is that? Damn, that man is fine.”