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“Do you know her?” Daniel asked, obviously figuring out who had captured Alexander’s attention.
Grace almost collided with another couple as she rushed out the door. Only Justin’s quick reflexes prevented the impending disaster. She mumbled something, probably an apology, and then disappeared into the coatroom.
Alexander sat back down. “Yes. I know her.”
His friend looked confused by his tone. “I take it that’s not a good thing?”
“I don’t know yet.”
After Grace left, the night seemed to drag on. He couldn’t relax and enjoy himself. Daniel had tried to engage him in conversation a couple of times before giving up and leaving Alexander to his thoughts.
The temptation to swing by her house nagged at him during his drive home. It wasn’t that late and he was almost certain she’d be awake. But he forced himself to go to his apartment instead.
As he crawled into bed that night, Alexander replayed that handful of minutes when they’d locked gazes across the room. She hadn’t been wearing her necklace, the one he’d never seen her without. It only reinforced his notion that it was her collar. The collar Kurt had given her.
He ran a hand over his face in frustration and released a deep sigh. While he’d suspected she was a sub, that didn’t explain what she was doing at Serpent’s Kiss. Grace had told him more than once she didn’t think she was ready to move on. Yet, if she’d joined the club, surely that would mean she was ready. Didn’t it? And if so, what had changed?
There was also the question of what he was to do with this new nugget of information. Over the last month he’d come to care about Grace. Their friendship meant something to him. Aside from Daniel, she was his only real friend in St. Louis. If she needed a Dom, Alexander could be that for her.
But did he want to be? That was the real issue. Did he want to cross that line? Could he? Even if it meant she really wasn’t ready to fully move on and only wanted to relinquish control?
That, of course, didn’t even take into consideration the guilt he was experiencing for what he was already feeling when it came to Grace. She was his brother’s widow. He was supposed to look out for her, not take her into his bed. And yet as the thought took hold in his mind that’s exactly what he wanted to do.
Grace was sexy, smart, kind, and now he knew for certain she was submissive. All of that together had his lower half waking up. He hadn’t been with a woman since before his last deployment. Until then, that had been perfectly fine with him.
Shaking his head, he tried to push the thoughts out of his brain. Fantasizing about something that might never—and maybe shouldn’t ever—come to be was only going to add to his frustration. As much as he didn’t like it, the ball was in her court now. She was the one who’d changed the game by showing up at the club. The next move was hers.
***
Chapter 8
Grace didn’t sleep that night. Or the next. She kept seeing Alexander’s face every time she closed her eyes, that look of shock and disbelief. What was he doing at Serpent’s Kiss?
Okay, she knew that was a stupid question. If he was there that meant he was in the lifestyle. And instinctively, Grace knew he was a Dom. She remembered Alexander bringing her water that first day after she’d read Kurt’s letter. He’d taken charge and made sure she was all right, or as all right as she was going to be given the circumstances.
She’d thought for sure he’d call on Saturday, or show up at the café, but he hadn’t. The silence from him was worse than if he’d confronted her.
As she gathered up her dirty laundry on Sunday morning, she moved about in an almost robotic fashion, unable to turn off her mind. Friday night was supposed to have been a chance for her to feel things out—to see if she could fulfill her master’s last request. And if so, to take those first steps in trying to find a man she was comfortable enough with to submit to. Everyone she’d met had eased her nerves about this new mission she was on, and Grace had begun to believe that maybe she could do this.
Then she’d spotted Alexander and her instinct to flee had taken over.
Grace groaned as she tossed her clothes into the washer. Although Alexander hadn’t called her on Saturday, Katrina had. She wanted to make sure Grace was okay given her quick exit the night before. Justin was worried something had happened, but had no idea what.
It occurred to her that she should probably apologize to Justin. When she’d frantically told him that she had to leave—now—he must have seen the crazed look in her eyes because all he did was nod and offer to walk her out. If not for him, she would have bowled over a couple while attempting to leave as quickly as her feet would carry her.
In retrospect her reaction seemed over the top and irrational. She’d apologized to Katrina for her rash behavior even though the club mistress had been understanding about it. At the time it felt as if running had been Grace’s only option.
All it had done, however, was delay the inevitable. There was no way she’d be able to avoid Alexander forever. Sure, she could try, but somehow she knew he’d only tolerate that for so long. Sooner or later he was going to want answers and she felt she owed them to him. Kurt might have asked Alexander to deliver the letter to her, but after that, he could have left her alone. He’d done his duty.
Thinking about the time Grace and Alexander had spent together in the last month had her feeling nauseous. Not because it was bad in any way. On the contrary. If not for him, she might never have called Katrina. The reason her breakfast was disagreeing with her was because on some level she felt as if she’d betrayed him somehow.
She owned him an explanation. No more running. The next time she came face-to-face with him she needed to be prepared. Grace knew he would have questions. After the way she’d insisted she wasn’t ready to move on, he had to.
Grace was still trying to figure out what she was going to say to Alexander when she arrived at her mom’s. Before she could turn the car off, her sister was striding toward her. “You’re late.”
Grace glanced at her watch. It was five minutes past twelve. “Not that late.”
Her sister linked her arm with Grace’s as they made their way into the house. “Tell me it was because you were doing something fun—preferably with that doctor you’ve been hanging out with—and not something mundane like doing laundry.”
