“Just not able to have a good night’s sleep,” Luke admitted.
“That’s what normally happens to me when I’m having woman trouble.”
Luke snorted. “Isn’t it always woman trouble?”
“Nine times out of ten.”
“Come on inside. I made some coffee.”
Fritz agreed and the two men each got a cup of coffee and sat in Luke’s office. Fritz said that he had come by to look at the outside of the club.
“I thought Nathaniel said you couldn’t start anytime soon,” Luke asked.
“He is correct and nothing’s changed. I just had some free time and thought I’d stop by.”
“You work too much.”
“Says the man already at work with half a pot of coffee gone before eight.”
“It goes back to what you said before. Woman trouble.” Luke wasn’t sure why he felt comfortable opening up to Fritz. He knew the man to be a Dom because he’d attended the opening of the New York club as a guest of Cole’s.
“Anything in particular?”
“I don’t think she’s being entirely honest with me. I’ve caught her sneaking out of bed twice. Well, perhaps caught isn’t the right word. I haven’t confronted her yet. The first time she went to my office and looked through my files. I didn’t follow her last night, but I’m sure she did it again.”
“And you don’t want to ask her why?”
“No, I’d much rather she confront me with what she’s doing.”
Fritz smiled. “This is just my personal opinion, but sometimes subs need a little help.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you happen to have a time set up to play with her again?”
“As a matter of fact I do, next weekend.” It would be their last photography session. He thought back to the night before and how before they went to bed, everything seemed to be headed in the right direction.
He’d been momentarily stunned when she admitted she wanted to continue seeing him. He was surprised she didn’t pick his jaw up off the floor and hand it to him.“We normally start at ten and go for as long as we want.” There was no way to know how long this last session would take. Sometime before Saturday, he needed to pull all the photos together to ensure he had what was needed for the book.
“I have a way to get unresponsive subs talking,” Fritz said. “If you want, I can outline it for you, or if you’d like a third, I’m willing to help.”
“Yes, I’d love to hear your thoughts.” He looked down at his desk and at the mess he called his calendar. Meagan’s name was listed every Saturday. He didn’t want to think about how lonely his Saturdays would be without her. Screw that. How lonely all his days would be without her.
What the hell, Meagan? What the hell? he asked himself for what seemed like the five thousandth time.
For the life of him he couldn’t figure out what she was doing in his office. His mind went wild trying to decipher her motives. Was she trying to sabotage him?
He couldn’t fathom that notion. Not after the previous night. If these past few weeks had been an act, she deserved an Oscar. She’d been too genuine in his arms. He prided himself on knowing when a sub was pretending. He’d bet his house that she was not pretending last night.
Some small part of him tried to convince the rest of him that maybe she was only wanting to look at the pictures of herself. After her first midnight visit to his office, he’d pulled her close and brought up in a roundabout way that he wanted her opinion on the photos he’d taken so far.
He listened as Fritz discussed his plan. It was unlike anything he had ever done before. It was beyond anything he’d ever contemplated. It was perfect.
* * *
Luke knew Meagan would probably figure out something was up. While no one had ever said he wore his heart on his sleeve, it wasn’t hard to know how he felt. He hadn’t called her all week, and they’d exchanged a few texts back and forth, but nothing in detail. Nothing to do with their feelings for each other.
On Saturday she watched him with curious eyes, looking for something, anything. He schooled his features so he wouldn’t give anything away. In order for this to work, she needed to be completely caught off guard. She complied with everything he asked her to do quickly and with no complaint. Any other day, he would be thinking of ways to reward her. But not today.
Fritz waited in the room off the studio. There was a two-way mirror, so he was able to see the entire session. Luke wondered if he was able to pick up on Meagan’s unease. He probably could; after all he was a very experienced Dom. He thought ahead to the scene Fritz had planned. Was it the right thing to do?
He wasn’t sure. But he knew he had to do something about Meagan’s visits to his office.
You could just ask her, he told himself. But he knew Meagan. It wasn’t that she would be dishonest, but he wanted to ensure he was told the entire truth.
The day before he had looked over the pictures he had from their previous sessions. There weren’t that many he needed to take today. Which was a good thing. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep up the “everything’s great, everything’s fine” facade.
As he took the final shots for the book, he mentally prepared himself for the scene to come. You have to do this, he told himself. You have to know.
“I think that’s it for the bondage scenes.” He took a deep breath and scrolled through the last few pictures he had taken.
“Is that all? Should I get dressed?” She was naked at the moment, and Fritz did not want her to start out that way.
He nodded to a hanger he had on the far wall. “Go put a robe on.”
She raised an eyebrow at his odd request. Normally, he would have her remain naked or else he’d have her get dressed. To have her put on a robe suggested something else would follow the session. If she was smart, she would pick up on the fact that something was different today.