Rhymes with Orange [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations) Read online

  Vulnerable.

  At five six, she had always been a little on the large side, as far as dancers went, but definitely would never describe herself on either end of the spectrum in terms of weight. By her own norms, she was only five pounds heavier than her average weight, although at a month after the accident she’d weighed in at fifteen pounds heavier.

  Yoga might have been out of her grasp, but yoga pants damn sure were her friend back then.

  Finally, she dragged herself out of the tub and dressed in a loose, comfy jersey-knit sundress that didn’t chafe or scratch or feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. Something she’d normally just wear around the house.

  If Coop didn’t like that, it was his problem.

  She wasn’t going tonight to impress him. If anything, she wanted to see if he could deal with imperfect her as a friend. Mikayla and Carson wouldn’t be so eager for her to spend time with Coop if they didn’t think he was a nice guy.

  She arrived twenty minutes early, before Coop. Mikayla already had the door open before Dani made it all the way up the walk. A delicious cloud of aroma wafted out around her, making Dani’s mouth water.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “My chicken broccoli fettuccine, just for you? Yes, it is.”

  “Oh, my god, I love you.” She kissed Miky’s cheek on her way in the door.

  “I know.”

  Dani turned. “Wait, is this a bribe?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You’re sneaky.”

  “Yeah, well, Coop’s single and a nice guy. I figured if I rewarded you for coming over tonight with your favorites you might be willing to spend time here, either with him or other safe people of our choosing.”

  “Ah.”

  Miky grinned. “Yes, I admit it, I’m being sneaky. I dangle good food in front of you, it’ll get me the desired results a lot faster.”

  * * * *

  Coop still wasn’t sure how to broach that conversation with Dani. If he brought up too much too soon he worried she might think he was trying to pressure her for play. If he didn’t give her all of the details, she might think later on he was trying to keep stuff from her.

  Play it by ear, I guess. Maybe I’ll ask Mikayla how to handle it.

  He arrived ten minutes early and found he wasn’t there first, shooting that plan out of the water. An SUV he didn’t recognize sat in Mikayla and Carson’s driveway. He parked his next to it before he grabbed the fruit salad he’d picked up at Publix on his way there from work and headed up the driveway.

  The smile Mikayla wore as she opened the door before he even made it up the driveway told him pretty much everything he needed to know about tonight. That, and the fact that she looked like she was about to vibrate in place from happiness that he was there.

  “Easy, momma,” he said, keeping his voice low as he hugged her one-armed so he didn’t drop the fruit salad. “Don’t go marrying us off just yet.”

  “It’s that obvious, huh?”

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  “Dammit, she told me that, too.”

  He handed over the fruit. “Whatever you made smells delicious.”

  “Thanks. Come on in.”

  She led him into the living room, where Carson was sitting and talking with Dani. Carson stood to shake with him, but he noticed Dani didn’t stand.

  Although she did give up a winning smile and leaned forward a little toward him, extending her hand.

  “Nice to see you again,” Dani said.

  “Likewise.” He liked that she squeezed his hand before letting go.

  Carson stepped around the coffee table and took the matching chair so Coop could sit next to Dani on the couch. He was careful not to jostle her when he lowered himself to the seat.

  “Honey,” Mikayla called out. “Can you come help me for a minute?”

  “That wasn’t obvious at allll,” Dani called back, showing a smile that already had Coop wondering how he could coax her into repeating.

  “Shut up, you,” Mikayla called back.

  Carson smiled as he stood. “Excuse me while my obvious excuse has been issued.”

  “They love you,” Coop said when they were alone again.

  “Yeah. I love them, too.”

  “Do you miss living in New York?”

  “I can’t let myself miss it because I can’t do it anymore. So it doesn’t matter.”

  He turned so he could face her. “I like how direct you are.”

  “Hang around for a while. I’m told I go from direct to obnoxiously blunt in .25 seconds.” The corner of her mouth turned up a little.

  “You sound like you’re not a doormat.”

  “Last time I checked, I didn’t have welcome printed on my forehead.” Yep, definitely the start of a smile.

  He liked how feisty she was. “So were you able to coordinate with Ted?”

  “Yes, thank you very much, by the way. I was a little surprised to actually meet him there.”

  “I hope he’s able to help you as much as he’s helped Hunter.”

  “You sound like you’re not just a Master, but a good friend to him.”

  Crap. Perfect opening. “It’s…complicated.”

  Her head cocked. “I come from the world of theatre. Can’t be more complicated than that.”

  “Oooh, yeah.”

  “Complicated how?”

  He wasn’t sure how to proceed, not a problem he was used to having. “You’re sure you want to know?”

  “If you’d like to tell me, sure. If it’s none of my business, that won’t hurt my feelings, either.”

  “Okay. I’m not sure what Hunter and Todd and myself are, exactly. They were there when I gave Bethany the boot last weekend, and I had them stay the whole weekend.”

  “Ahh.”

  There was a subtle intonation there. Not bad, but assuming just a little too much. “Not quite there,” he said. “We took things a step or two farther than we had in the past.”

  “So you’re…still single?”

  “The reason I updated my FetLife profile Sunday was that I spent the past year wasting my time with a partner who ignored what I told them about me and what I was and wasn’t willing to compromise. So while I am open to eventually having a relationship with someone else, they have to understand completely that I won’t give up my friendship or my relationship with Hunter and Todd. Even if my relationship has firmly moved from Master/slave/slave’s boyfriend to some sort of poly situation. I won’t compromise. Play is different. But I don’t just go hooking up for sex.”

  “They’ll always come first.”

  “Exactly. And due to the complicated nature of what it looks like might be happening, they’d also have to meet and sign off on anyone I had a relationship with.”

  “And for play?”

  “Definitely for play, too. Bethany wouldn’t even socialize with them with me, like at a restaurant.”

  “Ugh.” Her nose wrinkled.

  “Exactly. The good thing is, without Bethany, now I can work around Hunter’s schedule more flexibly with my free time.”

  “So you’d never just grab a new partner, bring them home, and tell Hunter to deal with it?”

  He frowned. “Hell, no. Ohhh. Let me guess.”

  She cocked her fingers at him like a gun and pulled the trigger. “No fair guessing that fast. Domly dom was domly.”

  “I learned my lesson. This time, I date in the right pool. No ’nillas.”

  “What would it take to consider playing?”

  “With you?”

  She looked around before looking back at him and smiling. That smile.

  He’d made her smile.

  “I don’t know. Can you handle a mouthy, not quite so agile, has lots of issues play partner?”

  “Maybe.” He offered her a smile in return. “You don’t know what I like to do, though. Maybe I’m too hard-core for you.”

  “Dude. I was a chorus dancer in New York City. I think you have that backw
ard.”

  * * * *

  Dani really liked Ned. She couldn’t help it. It was just something about him. Something soothing. Playful.

  No bullshit.

  They talked for a few more minutes before dinner was ready and Mikayla called them to the table. When she went to stand, she realized she’d gotten too comfy and was having trouble.

  Ned had stood, but was waiting. No swooping in to help her, no leaving her behind.

  Just…waiting.

  “Sorry. I think I need a hand.” She held hers out and he let her hold on to him as he helped her stand.

  “No problem. I like giving a hand.” He winced.

  She laughed. “Duuude.”

  “I know, I know. At least you don’t have to worry about me doing Domly Dom mode.”

  “That’s such a relief, you have no idea.”

  She decided to keep her hand on his arm all the way into the dining room. Then he helped her ease down into her chair, and helped her scoot it in. He was a gentleman.

  When she glanced at her friend, Mikayla wore a grin. “Honey, tone it back. You look like you’re going to poison Gotham’s water supply.”

  Ned roared with laughter. “Are you sure you didn’t know Tilly before now?”

  “Why’s that?”

  The other three looked at each other. “Prison orange isn’t her color,” they recited before laughing.

  By the time dinner ended, Dani was tired, but she also realized she didn’t feel the slightest bit stressed. Having “alone” time with Ned was even better than chatting with him at the munch.

  “Will we see you at the club this weekend?” she asked him. “I’m volunteering there Friday and Saturday night.”

  “You snagged another victim, huh?” he teased Mikayla.

  “Duh.”

  “Not me,” Carson said. “I’m exhausted from work this week and it’s only Tuesday. And I have a hellish week ahead of me.”

  “Maybe I’ll stop by then,” Ned said. “I was actually wondering if you’d be free on Thursday,” he asked Dani. “For dinner. My treat.”

  She could be a total tool and say she didn’t know why she said yes, but she absolutely understood why she said yes.

  Because he was hot, and nice, and sweet, and…

  Where was I going with that?

  “Yes. I’d enjoy that, thanks.”

  “Yes!” Mikayla not-so-quietly cheered.

  Dani slowly shook her head. “Could you try to be a little less obvious? Just a little?” She held her thumb and forefinger just barely apart. “One tiny little bit? Dial it back down to eleven or something?”

  “Hahahaha. No.”

  Dani looked at Ned. “You sure you want to go out with me? Crazy bestie is part of the overall experience package. Figuratively speaking.”

  “I’ll see you an overprotective bestie and raise you Hunter’s family, to whom he’s deep in the closet.”

  “Yeah, I guess it could be worse.”

  “Of course it can,” Mikayla helpfully said in her no-bullshit way. “You could have been that cab driver.”

  * * * *

  When Dani had to leave to go home, Coop walked her outside to her SUV, where they stood and talked for a while longer.

  “Thank you for tonight,” she told him. “I appreciate you being so cool about my crazy brain.”

  “I actually think you’re being cooler about the fact that I’m a sadist who has a slave.”

  “For the record, if we decide to play together at some point in the future, I wouldn’t mind seeing if we can head in that direction.”

  “I think I’d probably like that, too. But we’ll need to work toward you meeting Hunter and Todd before we can go that far. Just to give you warning about that.”

  “They sound like great guys.” He followed her gaze and saw that Mikayla was watching them through the front window. “I’m looking forward to meeting them,” she added.

  “She’s going to want a detailed report of what we talked about, isn’t she?”

  Dani grinned, and he thought maybe it was a bad idea to feel this good about someone this soon. “What do you think?”

  Sure enough once Dani had pulled out of the driveway, Mikayla was standing in the doorway waiting for him to walk back. “Well?”

  “I thought Tilly was a hard-core matchmaker,” he snarked. “You make her look like a pussy.”

  “Geez, don’t tell her that.”

  “What, do I look suicidal?”

  Mikayla’s smile faded. “Thank you. Seriously, Ned. Thanks.”

  “Just don’t go hunting me down to hurt me if we don’t become anything other than friends.”

  “I’ll settle for friends, just to know she’s got someone else in her court who understands her.”

  “She seems fairly well-adjusted,” he said. “I’m curious why the overboard treatment.”

  “Because I met the so-called friends she had up there. And the dumbass ex. They weren’t friends. They were acquaintances. In college, she met people. Knew people. Not just people who’d walk away when things got heavy or deep, or dark. You’re good with Hunter, and you know how to handle the dark. She needs people like that in her life.”

  “I hope you’re not putting more faith in me than’s justified.”

  “No, I’m just saying that you’re a good guy. I want her to have good people in her life.”

  “A guy who might beat her?”

  “A guy who might free her and let her really be herself instead of an act she thinks she has to keep up for everyone else.”

  Chapter Ten

  Ned knocked on Dani’s door at ten minutes before seven Thursday evening. She opened it wearing what she hoped was a playful smile.

  “You’re a little early. You were a little early Tuesday night, too.” She let him in and didn’t miss how he waited for her to initiate the hug, which he seemed happy to receive from her.

  “I’d rather be early than late.”

  “Fair warning, preventable lateness and ambiguity on timeframes are triggers for me. I’d rather you text or call me if you’re running late to let me know.”

  “Well, good news, I come well-trained in that department. Hunter gets twitchy if I’m not there within five minutes of my stated arrival time.”

  “A well-trained Dom. Imagine that.”

  “Yeah, not very Domly of me, huh?”

  She snickered. “Let me get my purse and a jacket. Thanks for not getting scared off by Miky or my issues.”

  “It’s fine. You’re not a serial killer, right?”

  She turned, looking horrified. “Well, not anymore.” A slow, playful grin filled her face, making him laugh.

  She liked the sound of his laugh. She liked it even more that he totally got her snark and enjoyed it. Second on the point of contentions list with Clayton had been how he’d never gotten her sense of humor, while she could have her friends and coworkers rolling on the floor laughing.

  As they were walking out to Ned’s SUV, he said, “I’m glad you like to be forthright with stuff. That makes my life easier. Please don’t ever hold back because you think it’ll overwhelm me or I’ll think it’s stupid. I need to know what your triggers are. It’s no fun for either of us if I accidentally trigger you and we have to spend our time together with me trying to apologize and undo whatever it was I did.”

  “I’ll tell you, don’t worry.”

  How many times had Clayton practically—or literally—rolled his eyes when she told him something? When she clearly stated a trigger and he either “forgot” it or walked all over it. After their first six months of dating, after they’d moved in together, he’d quit being attentive to little details like that.

  But…

  Warm water and a comfy soup pot had kept her trying to overcome those speedbumps. Throwing herself into her work helped, too. Sometimes there’d been weeks where they spent less than six hours together awake at any given time, depending on her work schedule and his, when the theatre was dark, w
hen he had days off.

  No time for the water to start boiling.

  Dammit. Stop thinking about that tool tonight.

  Ned held the door for her and offered his arm for her to hold on to as she carefully climbed in. “Is this too high for you? I could always swap cars next time with Todd or Hunter.”

  “No, it’s okay. I drive an SUV, remember? I prefer them, actually.”

  He looked like he wanted to smack himself. “Of course you do. And you survived a car wreck. Sorry.”

  “Uh-huh.” She smiled. “No worries.” He looked adorably doofy in a Domly kind of way.

  Once he was sure she was safely tucked inside, he closed the door, rounded to the driver’s side, and got in. “Thank you for trusting me to drive.”

  “If I’m going to maybe eventually be trusting you to tie me up and beat my ass, I’d better be able to trust you to drive my ass.” She tossed him a playful smirk.

  “Did I happen to mention snark is a massive turn-on for me?”

  “Good to know.”

  * * * *

  Yeah, Coop knew he’d be going home and rubbing at least one out tonight. Definitely. He understood that people could be stress-snarky.

  Dani seemed to be truly snarky-snarky, but not in a mean way.

  It wasn’t just turning him on. It was making him want to give serious consideration to turning his back on every last damn common-sense rule out there when it came to dating and BDSM dynamics in general and having some really serious conversations with her right now to keep her from slipping through his fingers.

  That frightened the crap out of him.

  Especially on the heels of what he’d just been through with Bethany, and where things seemed headed with Hunter and Todd.

  Despite everything she’d been through and was currently dealing with, that Dani kept a sense of humor and was able to express it amazed him. And if it was simply a defense mechanism she used, even better, because it spoke volumes to her personality.

  How long had it been since Bethany had been playful or made him laugh?

  Too damn long.