before?”
“Yes. Three times. Twice it was mutually causal, just bondage and submission, and once it got serious and turned into a long term, exclusive relationship.”
“Why did it end?”
“You’re digging right in there, aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. Three seconds after I meet you, you basically suggest we should fuck while I’m trying to lose weight. I think I’m allowed to ask some questions, so spill it, buster. Why did it end?”
“She was a thief.”
“What?” Violet had every right to snicker. It had been Grant’s same reaction when he first found out the truth about Ariana.
“She liked to steal. Money, clothing. She maxed out two of my credit cards and then, when I broke up with her, she tried to take my dog as a parting gift.” Max whimpered beside him, as if he were recalling the trauma of that fateful autumn night.
“She tried to steal your dog?”
“Yeah. Tried to take his doggy bowl and his toys too.”
“What kind of dog is it?”
“Rottweiler. His name is Max. He’s still a big puppy.”
“Cute. I like dogs. My landlord won’t allow them and I work too much to really take care of one, but I like them.” This is good, Grant thought. Let’s talk more about dogs and less about me being a complete dickhead.
“So, did you just approach the others all forward? Or did you at least wait until the second session?” Grant didn’t really know where she was going with this. At first she sounded angry and offended, but now she sounded interested. A little intrigued.
“It just happened. Well, one woman knew about me. She’d heard about my extracurricular interests through a friend, so she brought it up herself. But the other two, it just happened.”
“So what about me? Why didn’t I get that chance to ease into it? Test where the chemistry could go between us. Do I look that desperate?”
“No. It’s me. I’m the desperate one.”
“Oh, that sounds great.”
“No! No! That’s not what I meant. I think you’re beautiful, Violet. You’re funny as hell. I should have just told you that, but I’ve never had an adult relationship that didn’t involve my kinks in some way. I just got a little ahead of myself. I’m sorry.”
Violet was quiet for a long time, a really long time when you’re on the phone. He almost asked if she was still there, but he could hear her quietly mumbling to herself. Was she actually reconsidering?
“I’ve never done anything like that before. I’ve read about it and I’ve seen porn, but my sex life has been relatively tame.”
Grant tried his most soothing tone. “It’s not all about whips and chains.”
Violet responded in kind, her voice softening almost to a bashful level. “I know.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Grant asked. He didn’t see a hint of one online, but he should have asked before.
“Polite of you to ask. Now . No, I’m not with anyone. My last boyfriend and I broke up two years ago. He wanted to get married and have kids right away, but I wasn’t ready.” She paused again, her voice taking on that hesitant, almost innocent tone. Grant nearly groaned. She would make an excellent submissive. “Are you seeing anyone else?” she asked. “Are you fucking anyone else, I mean? I know this is Hollywood or whatever, but I believe in monogamy, even if it’s casual. If you’re screwing all of your clients, we’ll have to keep this thing between us to strictly sit ups.”
“I’m not seeing anyone, Violet. Sexually or otherwise.”
“Okay.”
Another pause.
“I need to work out early in the morning, like six, so I can knock it out before I go to work. Does that work for you? I don’t know what your schedule is like.”
“Six a.m. works just fine.”
“Can we start tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow would be great. We can meet at the gym.”
“Great. Sounds great. Do I need to wear leather panties under my sweats?”
“No. No leather anything. You just need to show up and I’ll handle the rest.”
“I’m