“And we need it. If Showalter isn’t here yet, then it’ll look odd if we’re not drinking. It’s a bar, for crying out loud.”
“Yeah, okay.” A drink sounded too good to pass up, so Shelby wasn’t going to argue with her. She rubbed her hands on her short skirt and headed for the front door of the club.
They entered the club and paid the outrageous cover charge. Except for Shelby. She’d been informed she was on Mr. Showalter’s guest list and didn’t have to fork over the hundred bucks.
“Drink time,” Viola said. “Grab us a table, babe. I’ll get you a beer.”
The area around the bartender was crowded, but that wasn’t a deterrent for Viola. She grabbed Shelby’s hand and yanked her along. She smiled and squeezed her way through the group to get to the counter. Shelby hunkered down behind her as she forged her path. Once they made it, Viola ordered several shots for the two of them and a light beer for Dave.
“There’re a lot of people here.” Way more than there usually was. Lord, she didn’t know if she could let herself be on display.
“Just breathe. You’ll feel better with a little liquid courage.”
They watched as the bartender poured their shots and beer. Viola handed him her card, and Shelby clutched the tray of drinks. When she turned, though, she came face-to-face with someone she hadn’t expected to see.
She blushed as Master Jedrek crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her. Damn, he was intimidating.
“Hello, Sir.”
“Shelby. Are those your drinks?” he asked, skipping the pleasantries.
“Their ours,” Viola said, stepping up beside her as she tucked her card back into her minuscule purse.
Jedrek’s nostrils flared, and his gaze heated when he looked at her partner in crime…and work, technically. That was more of a reaction than he’d ever shown Shelby. Jedrek gritted his teeth as he continued to look his fill. He wasn’t being overtly obvious, but the time she’d been around him was enough for her to grasp that he wasn’t one to express himself…at least not like this. It was too bad. He was barking up the wrong tree if he was interested in Viola. Thank God Dave wasn’t standing here watching this man drink up his wife.
“And you are?” he asked, his voice dropping.
Viola didn’t seem fazed by his response to her. Maybe being blissfully unaware was a side effect to marriage.
“I’m Shelby’s friend, Viola.”
“My married friend,” Shelby specified. Viola looked puzzled, but the heat in Jedrek’s expression slammed shut. Shelby swallowed. “Um, Viola, this is Master Jedrek. He’s one of the owners of the club and a Master Dom here.”
“Jedrek. What kind of name is that?”
His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but Shelby noticed his agitation. The man was scary with a capital scare. Why was Viola being so blunt with him? Hell, Shelby knew Viola got flack for her name, so one would think the woman wouldn’t comment on someone else’s.
“A family one. Why are you here?”
“To support my friend. What’s it to you?”
“Viola!” Shelby squeaked. She looked at Jedrek, but he was glaring at Viola still. “I’m sorry, Sir. She doesn’t mean anything by that. She’s just worried about me.” She looked at Viola and whispered, “Knock it off.”
“Why? I’m just being honest. It’s one thing to engage in kink in the privacy of your own room, but another to make someone do it in public.”
Jedrek raised an eyebrow. “No one is making Shelby do anything. She’s free to leave at any time.”
“Yes,” Shelby said. “And I don’t want to.” She looked at Viola, but her friend hadn’t taken her eyes off Jedrek.
“Whatever you say, Sir.” She sneered the title. Shelby blanched at the tick in Jedrek’s jaw.
“It’s Sir for her. Master for you.”
“In your dreams, buddy.”
Shelby had to defuse this situation before Jedrek snatched up her friend and hogtied her. He could do it. She knew first hand. “Viola, we should find Dave. Remember, you were the one who said maybe he will get inspired tonight,” she said, trying a different tactic by mentioning her husband and the interest she had in the lifestyle.
It worked. She finally gave Shelby her attention. Shelby watched Jedrek, though, as he covertly scanned the crowd. Probably looking for Dave, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to know where Shelby was headed since Mason wasn’t here…or if he wanted to scope out Viola’s husband. Not that it mattered if that was the case.
He looked at Shelby again, but she wasn’t sure if he’d found his target. “Does Master Mason know you’re drinking tonight?”
“No, Sir. Um, he didn’t say I couldn’t. He’s going to be late, so I thought it’d be okay.”
“And it’s a free country,” Viola said.
Jedrek growled. As in an I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned into a huge grizzly bear sound. She was so going to hurt Viola for poking him. His gaze snapped to Shelby. “You can have two. No more.”
Viola’s jaw dropped and she started to protest as he turned to leave, but Shelby grabbed her arm with her free hand and yanked her away. “Quit pissing off the big, bad Dom.”
“What a dick!”
“Cool it.”
They wound their way around the crowd to the table Dave had secured. He pocketed his phone and grabbed his beer as they sat.
“This was the best I could do,” he said before taking a sip.
“It’s fine, babe.” She pushed a shot toward Shelby. “Here. Drink as much as you want. That guy isn’t your boss.”
Shelby picked up the shot glass and downed it, enjoying the burn. “I’m not disobeying him. That’s one of Showalter’s friends. Besides, he was the one who tied me up last week. I don’t want on his bad side.”
Viola’s eyes grew wide, but Shelby shook her head, knowing where her thoughts were going. She knew Shelby had slept with Mason that night, but she’d never gone into any details with Viola or her team. “He wasn’t there for the other stuff.”
“Well, I still don’t like him.”
“Who?” Dave asked.
“Some jerk at the bar.”
“Drop it, Viola. We’re here to work, not bitch about the partners of Scene.”
“Fine,” she grumbled, picking up a shot glass. “I still say you should drink as much as you want.”
“Not if she knows what’s good for her,” another man said from the side, and they all snapped their heads in his direction. She gaped at him, another man she recognized, but this one wasn’t from a previous scene.
“Master Emory,” she breathed. He was her tormentor for tonight.
“Emory Strom,” he said, offering his hand to Dave. He looked at Shelby after shaking the man’s hand. “Mason called. He said for us to get started.”
She blinked, not understanding. “Huh?”
He smiled, and under different circumstances, she’d find him attractive in that pretty-boy kind of way. “He booked the main viewing room. If we start late, we might not finish before the next scheduled scene.”