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“It’s not a dating agency,” Ella said with a roll of her eyes. “Regardless of how they market it, I don’t like the idea of you letting some random dude, who could be a fucking sociopath murderer for all we know, do sex stuff to you alone in his house.”
“For the one billionth time, it’s perfectly safe, Ella,” I said. “The sisters who run the agency wouldn’t let anything like that happen to the people who work for them. I promise. They do so much background check stuff, there’s no possible way that anyone - those who work for the agency and those who use the agency - could hide anything. They spend a mad amount of money digging into people’s personal history.”
“Why do I have to be in Australia while all this is happening?” Ella said with a sigh. “This is the worst fucking timing for my job to give me a year-long international assignment.”
“Girl, this is your dream. Don’t you dare wish it hadn’t happened,” I said. “I’m thrilled for you even if I miss you like crazy.”
“I miss you too,” Ella said. “And I’m also insanely worried. What do you even really know about this Mr. Steele? And what kind of name is Mr. Steele anyway? Is he a Superman wannabe?”
I laughed. “It’s a fake name, you dork.”
“That’s what I mean. What kind of guy picks Steele as his fake name?” Ella said. “It’s hinky as hell.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said. “I think it sounds perfectly normal. As normal as my fake name is.”
“You should have used something other than your middle name,” Ella fretted. “What if he can find out who you really are?”
“He’ll only know me as Charlotte, and it’s a common name,” I said. “Ella, honey, you need to chill out before you give yourself a stroke. It’s going to be fine.”
“Why are you so calm about this?” Ella asked. “Not even a week ago, we had a three hour video chat that ended with you hyperventilating into a brown paper bag over the fact that you hadn’t chosen anyone yet and were gonna be fired by the Twisted Sisters.”
I laughed hard because Twisted Sisters fit Celeste and Catherine in a weird kind of way.
Ella grinned at me before sobering. “Seriously, honey. Why are you so calm?”
“I think I’m still in shock that this Mr. Steele even agreed to have me, uh… work with him. He’s incredibly good looking, and I’m… me.”
Ella’s cheery face immediately turned thunderous. “You are a stone cold fucking fox, Riley Charlotte Gates. Of course he would pick you. A man would have to be dead inside to turn down the chance to have you on your knees calling him sir.”
I blushed to the roots of my hair, wishing I’d never told Ella the specifics of my kink and the things I would have to do if I chose someone at the agency to work with. “Please tell me you’re by yourself right now.”
“Totally alone in my apartment. It’s two in the morning, and I just got home from the club,” she said. “And if you can’t even talk about your kink without blushing, there might be a problem.”
“It might work for me,” I said. “Add to the ‘good girl’ act, right?”
“Fair point,” Ella said.
I hesitated and said, “Do you think I’m weird for wanting this type of kink, Ella?”
She gave me a warm smile. “You know I don’t, love. Your kink isn’t anything to be ashamed of, and I hope you never feel that it is. We all have our thing, and, honestly, praise kink isn’t all that kinky. Who doesn’t like to be told they’re amazing, you know?”
“I know, but it’s more than just that for me,” I said. “I crave it, and even just thinking that I can please someone enough to get their genuine praise in the bedroom gets me…”
“Hot and bothered,” Ella said with a grin. “It’s not weird, Ry, I promise.”
“Okay,” I said. I glanced at my watch. “Oh shit, I gotta go. My lunch hour ended four minutes ago. Jamie’s gonna kill me.”
“No, he won’t. He loves you,” Ella said. “I still can’t believe he’s leaving the company.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said morosely before blowing Ella a kiss. “I love you, Ella. I’ll text you later.”
We ended the video call, and I hauled ass across the parking garage to the elevator. I stabbed the elevator button with a cold finger and checked through my emails on my phone. There was a new one from Celeste, and shivers wracked my body that had nothing to do with the chill I felt.
The elevator arrived, and I stepped inside, punching the button for my floor and opening the email as the doors slid closed. I read the short note, my heartbeat thumping in my ears. Mr. Steele had requested me for our first play session… tomorrow night at seven.
“You can do this,” I whispered as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. “It’s no big deal.”
* * *
