It didn’t make any more sense when he said it the second time.
“Are you out of your mind?” she asked.
“Not the last time I checked.”
She leaned back in her chair and glared at him. “I think you have some nerve traipsing into my office and asking me to model for you. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we tried that once before and it was you who said we shouldn’t do it again.”
“That was over fifteen years ago, Meagan.”
“Some things a girl doesn’t forget.”
Like having his body hot and hard against hers. His smooth voice whispering sexy little nothings in her ear.
And, days later, his insistence that not only could they not see each other anymore, but that it would be for the best if she found a new photographer.
“I had no idea you could hold on so tightly to something that happened so long ago,” he said.
“Forgive me if I’m trying to abide by the boundaries you set up.”
“Fifteen years ago.”
She stood up. Luke had consumed enough of her time today. “If you don’t have anything else, can I walk you out?”
He stood, ready to leave, she was certain, but then he looked down and his lips curled into a smug smile. “Boundaries, huh? I haven’t seen that cover in years.”
Those damn magazines Abby brought. She’d forgotten they were on the corner of her desk. Of course he would see them. Of course he would. If she’d only spent her time cleaning her desk instead of touching up her lipstick.
“Abby brought those by. Someone she knows found them and recognized me.”
His finger traced the image of her face. “Is that right?”
“Yes, your name wasn’t even mentioned.” She added that just to show him how little she thought of him and his visit and his photography skills.
He lifted his head and the grin that had started out in the corner of his mouth spread to his entire face. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shakespeare.”
Still smiling, he moved to her side of the desk and stood much too close. “You see, sweetheart, when you have to constantly say something, it comes across as if you’re trying to convince yourself of the fact.”
She rolled her eyes. “I forgot. Not only are you a photographer, you’re also a freaking mind reader. Tell me, is it your experience behind the camera or as a Dom that makes you think you know everything?”
He chuckled and the sound was warm and inviting and seductive. “Now, you know I don’t claim to know everything. But I know this.” He stroked her cheekbone with the back of his hand. “I still make your blood race and your heart pound. You and I have unfinished business and one of these days, we’re going to see it to completion.”
Damn him for knowing her so well. She jerked away. “In one of your better dreams, maybe.”
He ignored her barb. “I know because you make my blood race and my heart pound and I’m not going to ignore it forever.”
She breezed past him and opened the door. “I don’t expect you to ignore it forever. Ignoring it for the next fifty years will suit me just fine.”
“Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. No need to walk me out. I know the way.” He hesitated at the door and turned back. “We were great together once, Meagan, and frankly, I think we’d be even better now. If you change your mind . . .”
“If I change my mind, I’ll have myself committed.”
He tipped an imaginary hat and left.
***
She thought that would be the last she heard or even thought about Luke for a long time. Since she’d already made up her mind not to go to his club anymore, she wouldn’t see him there and the truth was, they really didn’t travel in the same social circles.
But even though she didn’t see him, she wasn’t able to banish him from her thoughts quite as easily as she thought she should. After the day he stopped by, he popped into her mind at the most inopportune times. Like when one of the Doms she casually played with happened to call. She told herself she turned down his offer of playing because she was really busy with work, but deep inside she knew better. It was because of Luke.
Since he’d mentioned taking erotic pictures of her, whenever she thought about playing with anyone, an image of him came to mind.
A week after his visit, she finally got around to putting the magazines away.
That, she decided, was that.
But two days later, she sat at her desk, trembling, as she reread the e-mail on her screen for the fifth time.
It’s reckoning day, bitch. I bet after all these years, you thought no one knew what you did seventeen years ago. That’s exactly what I wanted you to think. But now it’s time to pay up or be exposed for the lying whore you are.
Luke DeVaan has some things I want and you’re going to get them for me. I don’t care how you do it. I’m sure a slut like you can think of something.
We’ll start easy with a little test. Find out the location of his next building site and reply to this e-mail. You have three days. If you fail, you will be punished.
Don’t fuck up,
The Taskmaster
Seventeen years ago? She swallowed. She had been so certain only her brother knew what happened that summer. If the person who sent the e-mail had any idea, it could not only damage her life and her brother’s, but also ruin the reputation her father had worked so hard for.
The e-mail address was generic. She drummed her fingers on her desk and tried to think of someone she knew that could discreetly look into who it belonged to. The problem was she’d have to let them read the e-mail and she did not want to go into what happened that summer seventeen years ago.