Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
The diamonds glittered around her neck, and for one insane moment, I wanted to ask her to take them off. If she was this excited about a dinner, then she should spend the night as my date and not as my submissive.
It was a dangerous line of thinking, and I immediately dismissed it. “You seem excited,” I murmured. “Your boyfriend never took you out?”
Her cheeks colored just a little. I’d ruined the mood by bringing him up. It brought me just a little satisfaction knowing that she was struggling with her so-called relationship. “Maybe it’s medieval to think that the men should pay on dates, but I always paid when Ralph and I went out, so it didn’t really feel like romance. Not that this feels like romance. I understand the boundaries,” she said quickly. “But I’m not ashamed to feel a little giddy when it comes to putting on a pretty dress and fancy heels and going out to a nice dinner.”
“And dancing.” The idea was impromptu, but if she was this excited about dinner, I wanted to know how she would feel to go out and twirl in her pretty dress.
“Dancing?” Her eyes rounded, and her jaw dropped a little. “I would love to go, but I’m not great at it. Which is an exaggeration. I’m a horrible dancer. I don’t have a lot of practice.”
Did this woman believe in herself when it came to anything? Although timid, she was a survivor. While uneducated formally, she was highly intelligent. Her worst trait so far was that she never seemed to believe in herself.
“Practice makes perfect,” I murmured. Unable to help myself, I rested my hand on her knee and gathered the fabric up. She inhaled sharply and looked nervously at the driver, but I had no intentions of baring her to the world. Instead, I just skimmed my fingers along her knee and contented myself with stroking her silky smooth skin. “How do you feel?”
“Right now?” she whispered, turning her face towards me. Her lips parted just a little, and I had to resist the urge to move my hand higher up her thigh.
“Right now.”
“Excited. Happy.” She bit her lower lip. “A little wet.”
So fucking perfect. “Sore?”
“Not anymore.”
Good. Tonight, I could enjoy her fully again. My invitation of hosting little Gemma for the weekend meant that I’d have to keep my hands off Daisy. My desire to spend some time with the little angel hadn’t been thought out properly.
As we pulled into the parking lot, I leaned over and quickly whispered all the things that I planned to do to Daisy tonight. As my driver opened the door, she was still rooted to the seat with her hands fisting around her dress. “Daisy,” I reminded her with a chuckle. “We’re here. Let’s go, sweetheart.”
“Right. Sorry.” Hastily, she stumbled out of the car and straightened her dress. Amused, I followed behind her and instructed the driver to wait for us. Pressing a hand to the small of Daisy’s back, I pushed her gently to the door.
Showlett’s was an expensive and ritzy steak house in the heart of Manhattan. It was impressive from the parking lot all the way inside, and Daisy was too busy looking at everything to pay attention to where she was walking. I ended up anchoring my arm around her waist to steer her away from other customers, make sure she didn’t trip over the curb, and to keep her from marching right passed the hostesses podium as her eyes caught the shimmery fountain in the middle of the restaurant.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. She was star struck, and this was hardly the cream of the crop for me. I conducted business meetings here on a monthly basis, but it was a good think that I hadn’t aimed higher. I might not have even gotten her through the door.
“Brick,” she whispered as we walked to my normal table. “The curtains have tassels!”
“Whoa.” Pulling her closer to me, I managed to catch her right before she walked into the dessert cart. “Eyes front, darling. You can look everything over when we’re seated.”
“Are those plants real?”
“I don’t know, Daisy.” I didn’t care either, but if it bothered her all that much, I would find out.
“Can I toss a penny in the fountain and make a wish?”
“I don’t have any pennies, but we can find something for you to toss in there.” Gripping her arm, I pulled her along until we finally made it to the table. It wasn’t until she was seated that I breathed a little easier. “You’re a handful, aren’t you?”
Daisy snorted. “I just wanted to toss a penny. For a man with a ton of money, you must not have much fun if you think that’s a handful.”
Before I could respond, the manager stopped by our table with my normal red preference, but I waved my hand. “Champagne, tonight.”