Perfect Alignment

Chapter 4-2

“I know. I still want you to be careful, though, all right?”

“Yes, I will.”

“I get off work at seven tonight. Are you interested in company? It would take me a while to get up there, but I have tomorrow off, so I could stay as late as we’d like.”

The flutter in her stomach turned to a leap in her heart that she tried to repress.

“That would be nice, as long as you don’t mind the long drive after a full day at work.”

“I think I can handle it after a day of sitting here waiting for cars to drive by too quickly.”

“Do you have a club you go to up here? Would you like to go to the one I told you about? Or…”

“Why don’t we play it by ear?” he suggested. “I’ll bring my bag of toys and something appropriate to wear. But I might just like to keep you to myself, if you’re okay with that.”

She smiled. “I think I could make do with that. I’m glad you’re coming up. And I’m glad you called.”

“My pleasure. What are your plans for the day?”

“Shopping and lunch with a friend.”

“That sounds nice. I should go. I need to keep the streets safe for sexy speeders who might be coming back this way.”

“How hard was it for you not to warn me to be safe again?” she asked.

“My tongue might be bleeding a little.”

She laughed. “You take care of that tongue. I’m rather fond of it. I’ll see you tonight.”

The ridiculous grin she was sure she was wearing faded away slightly as she hung up the phone. Damn.

Tempted to order up a big room-service breakfast because she was in such a good mood, she took one look at the prices and laughed her ass off. Her mood would be better spent taking a walk outside and enjoying the summer day anyway.

The trip into Boston seemed especially long and Drew had to set the speed control to keep himself from getting pulled over. He couldn’t spend too much time thinking about how he wanted the night to progress because it just made him more impatient to get to Emma’s hotel. Unless she was dead set on going to her club, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t make it out of her room.

He’d considered waiting until the next day, when he was off. Going up early enough to take her out to dinner. And couldn’t believe the thought had crossed his mind. He didn’t date submissives. Didn’t date within the lifestyle. Not that he dated much outside the scene, but definitely not within.

With his job, it was just too dangerous. He wasn’t willing to risk his livelihood over someone he’d just met. And yes, he realized the complete ridiculousness of that idea when he’d already risked everything by taking Emma to his house. Hell, just by taking Emma at all. The moment he’d asked her to step out of the car, he’d done the one thing he’d sworn never to do—let his lifestyle choices put his career in jeopardy.

The smart thing to do would be to quit while he was ahead, while she presumably had no reason to go crazy on him and rat him out to his superiors. But then again, if he hadn’t called, that might have pissed her off enough to do exactly that.

He really didn’t think Emma would act out that way, but what the hell did he know? Not her, not really. What he did know was that he hadn’t been able to convince himself not to call. But he had managed to keep from offering a date-date, instead keeping things on the play-date level. There was still a risk, of course. Usually when he played with someone at the club, he kept his personal details to a minimum. Unless he’d known the person long term, they were unlikely to be able to track down his job and cause trouble.

Emma would have no difficulty in doing so, but he had a hard time imagining that she would. Damn. His mind was just going in circles as he tried to justify the actions he’d already taken. At this point, it didn’t really matter. What was done was done, and what would happen would happen. Because there was no way he was turning around, no way he wasn’t going to meet with Emma at least one more time.

As he’d expected, traffic snarled up even more coming into the city. He switched the radio from music to talk, hoping to find a lively discussion to distract him. When that didn’t work, he called his best friend. He’d gone to college in New York with Toby and they’d both begun exploring b**m around the same time. Toby had stayed in New York but they still managed to see each other once or twice a year. When his best friend’s wife had been killed in a bad car accident two years before, Drew had taken a week off to be with his friend, support him through the funeral and nurse him through a much deserved drinking spree.

“Hey, buddy,” Toby answered.

“Hey. Entertain me so I don’t go road rage on these poor, unsuspecting fools I’m surrounded by.”

“Where are you? You can’t be at home. Podunk doesn’t have traffic.”

“Tell that to the thirteen people I wrote citations for in the last few days.”

“Oh, poor baby, are those mean citizens you’re supposed to be protecting actually making you work?”

“Bite me.”

“Yes, Sir. Just tell me when and where.”

Drew laughed.

“Sorry, I’m on my way into Boston, not New York. And the subbie I’m looking to hook up with has much better equipment than you do.”

“Ah, you wound me. But if you tell me more, I may forgive you. Details, man, details.”

“I pulled her over for speeding.”

“And got her number? Nice.”

“Eventually I got her number.” He let that hang for a minute of silence.

“No. No way mister straight arrow banged a hottie on shift.”

His lips quirked. Toby, a high school teacher, had a tendency to sound like his kids, and Drew knew him well enough to know he hadn’t meant to be disrespectful.

“Well, it was after shift, and no, I’m not going to give you details. I’ll just say that after the ticket was given and the official transaction complete, we took things to a different level.”

“Nice. And now you’re driving into the city to see her?”

“Yeah. She goes to college near me, actually, but is spending a few days in Boston.”

“Mmm, young and experimental?”

“Twenty-three and been experimenting for a little while. She was wearing a necklace with that b**m emblem, so not a newbie.” He changed lanes to get around idiots who seemed to have no clue what they were doing. “And…we had a good time and I’m driving up to meet her rather than waiting until she goes back home.”

“Ah, come on! You have to give me more than that.”

“I used my police issue handcuffs on her.”

“That’s more like it, give me more.”

“I’m not giving you details, you perv.”

“Even if I beg?”

“Even if.”

“Fine, let’s talk about me then. Are you still up for a visitor?”

Vacations were hard for Toby. His wife had also been a teacher and they’d taken a trip every summer, something they planned together. The first summer after she’d died, Toby had spent the whole vacation at Drew’s house. The second year he’d stayed home, and Drew had gone up to visit for a long weekend. This year Toby had decided to do a summer trip on his own, but he was starting off with a short stay at Drew’s.

“Of course. I took a couple of days off work. Looks like the weather will probably hold for a nice sail.”

“I think you’re right. You going to invite your new friend along?”

“We’re not dating. We’ll be playing tonight, and hopefully she’ll be up for doing that again. But don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not starting a relationship.”

There was a long pause. “Well, you’re definitely starting a relationship, but not the kind you mean. I get that. Well, actually no, I don’t get that. Why are you determined to limit the type of relationship you might have?”

“Okay, it’s a relationship. A club relationship.”

“Without the club.”

“The actual setting isn’t really the point, it’s the attitude and expectations.”

“Exactly.”

Neither spoke for a minute and Drew tried to expel the irritation that was building. “I like club relationships. I like keeping things within those boundaries. I don’t see any reason to change that.”

“Like meeting the right woman?”

“Emma is a great person, we had a lot of fun. I’d like to continue having fun with her. But no, I’m not interested in introducing her to my parents, or my coworkers, or whatever it is that people expect when they’re in the kind of relationship you’re talking about.”

“The kind of relationship where you share your lives together?”

“Yeah, that kind.”

“Does she know that?” Toby’s voice was sharp, surprising Drew. They’d had similar conversations, once before Caroline had died, and once after.

Drew sighed. “I’ll make sure we’re both clear on what we want before we set anything else up.”

“So, how about introducing her to me? Are you going to use my visit as an excuse to not see her?”

“How about you let me have this, our second encounter, before you get too far ahead of yourself?”

Toby sighed again. “Fine.”

Drew changed the subject before his friend could go off on another tangent. “Have you mapped out the rest of your trip yet?”

Toby only hesitated a moment before describing the Civil War sites he planned on visiting. This first real trip alone was going to be tough and Drew wished he could make it better for his friend.

“Toby, are you sure you don’t want some company for all that?”

“You know you would hate this kind of trip. I’ll be fine. I’m not ready to think about a relationship myself, but unlike someone I know and love, I’m aware that I need to live my life and not get hung up on only thinking about the worst that can happen.”

“Toby. That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll shut up. For now. I’ll see you in three weeks.”

When he’d hung up, Drew jerked the Bluetooth out of his ear and dropped it on the passenger seat. When Caroline had been alive, he’d begun thinking it would be nice to find someone like her in his life. Someone permanent, someone to share the good times and the bad. Since he’d long before determined he couldn’t risk inviting someone in the lifestyle into his professional life, he figured he should give vanilla dating a try.

It hadn’t taken long to discover that a vanilla relationship wasn’t going to cut it for him, either. And then bad weather mixed with a truck driver who’d maybe not had enough rest had resulted in a car accident that had taken his friend’s wife. Drew had discovered that the good times weren’t worth having if losing her was the ultimate bad time. Toby still hadn’t dragged himself back to the life he’d had before. Probably never would. The hole Caroline had left was just too great.

Trying to shake off the black mood, Drew turned the radio back on to a music station and followed the map he’d memorized to the hotel Emma had chosen. He pulled up to the front and grabbed his bag, taking a ticket from the valet. A quick glance at his watch showed he was fifteen minutes early.

A small bar area off to the right was mostly empty. He was able to get a glass of ice water quickly, and took a seat. The drive should have given him plenty of time to get himself ready, but being annoyed with the other drivers, talking to Toby…thinking about Caroline. No, he needed to get his head in the game, bring his control to the forefront, and give Emma a fantastic evening. Dwelling on the pain that Toby had endured, the might-have-beens and the maybes, was useless.

When the glass was empty, he took a deep breath and rose. He made his way to the room number Emma had given him and checked his watch. Exactly on time. He knocked, unsurprised when she answered almost immediately.