“Shit.”

All heads turned toward her. She cringed, her cheeks going hot. So much for blending into the background. Blondie jumped up from his seat to help her.

Grant pinned her with a hard look, like an arrow shooting across the room and fastening her to the wall. “Is there a problem, Charlotte?”

His words should have embarrassed her—he was admonishing her in front of all these people—but hell if she didn’t go wet from his authoritative tone. Her nipples went as hard as pebbles against the thin blouse. Fuck. “I’m sorry, sir. Just a little clumsy.”

He gave a put-upon sigh, letting her know she’d just earned a mark in the punishment column. “Kade, thank you for helping. Now back to what I was saying…”

Grant returned to his presentation, and Charli crouched down as best she could to help Kade. “Thank you, I’ve got it, really.”

“Clearly,” he said, his smile wry. He gathered the last of the brochures and handed them to her, then took her wrist to help her to her feet. His thumb brushed across the abrasion marks Grant’s rope had left. He shook his head, as if disappointed.

He bent close to her ear. “His?”

It was a simple word. A simple question. But the idea behind it had something strange welling up inside her. An ache that seemed to open up a fissure right down the center of her chest. She nodded even though it wasn’t true. She wasn’t Grant’s. Not really. Would never be.

“Lucky bastard,” Kade whispered before returning to his seat.

She stood there for too long. Kade’s interest was flattering. A week ago, a guy like him would’ve never given her a second glance. But for some reason, she wanted to cry. She stared at Grant, watching him captivate the room with his knowledge and his easy humor. He was so vibrant, so full of confidence. But she knew what lay beneath it, saw how lonely and lost he’d been last night.

She’d only seen that look on one other man—her father. And that grief over love lost had sucked the joy out of the last fifteen years of her dad’s life. A broken heart had killed him slowly and painfully.

And she’d be damned if she was going to stand by and let Grant do the same thing to himself. She may not be able to compete with the memory of his wife, but after that kiss last night, maybe she had a shot of reminding him he could feel something.

Because like it or not, she was starting to feel more than lust toward the cocky cowboy.

Maybe it was time for the trainee to turn trainer.

NINETEEN

Charli kept herself together for the rest of the meeting. She served cheese and samples of the wines, helped hand out more documents, and adjusted the slide projector when Grant asked. She was finally getting used to the heels and managed not to trip again. But as soon as she got a minute free, she scrawled a note on the back of one of the handouts and set it on top of Kade’s legal pad.

She pretended to take a strong interest in the presentation, but she didn’t miss the curious look or the barely concealed smile when Kade read her note. When she refilled his water glass a few minutes later, the slight nod from him was all she needed. The plan was a go.

Now the question was, could she actually pull it off?

Grant wrapped up the meeting, and everyone started to gather their things to head out. Many went toward the front of the room to shake hands and talk shop with Grant, and the room grew exponentially louder as people chatted amongst themselves. But after exchanging a few quick words with the man next to him, her recruited partner in crime made his way over to her.

Kade wasn’t as tall as Grant, but he still had an inch or two on her, and he walked with the swagger of a guy who knew he didn’t have to try too hard. When he got close enough, he put out his hand. “We weren’t properly introduced. Kade Vandergriff.”

His accent was refined twang—old Texas money, she’d guess. She gave him her hand. “Charlotte Beaumonde.”

Instead of shaking her hand, he brought it to his mouth and laid a kiss on it. “A pleasure, Charlotte.”

Her gaze shifted toward the front of the room, and she caught Grant peering in her direction. She looked back to Kade and put on her best attempt at a seductive smile. “Thank you so much for helping me, Mr. Vandergriff…with the brochures. I can’t believe I was so clumsy.”

“No problem. I can’t resist a beautiful woman in distress.” He leaned a shoulder against the wall, putting his back to Grant and the front of the room, caging her a bit in the corner. Amusement colored his features. “I have to say you must be a particularly brave sub or one who gets off on being bratty. Baiting your dom isn’t usually wise, especially if you’re dealing with someone like Grant.”

She tilted her head and laughed a little, like he’d said something wildly charming. “I have my reasons.”

“Wish I could stick around and see the ramifications. I have a feeling it will be quite entertaining to watch.”

He said it with good humor, but her cheeks warmed anyway. They were putting on a show for someone else’s benefit, but she could sense Kade was being genuine. He was flirting with her and helping her out because he found her attractive. The thought gave her a secret little thrill. Maybe this whole thing was transforming her. A week ago she would’ve never felt confident enough to even faux flirt with someone like Kade.

“He’s watching us,” she said, leaning a bit closer to Kade. “Maybe he doesn’t mind.”

“We’ll see.” Kade’s voice had dropped to a conspiratorial level. “Want the true test? I’m going to touch you, Charlotte. If he really sees you as his, that’ll piss him off more than anything.”

She bit her lip, attempting to look coquettish, and Kade reached out to push a hair that had escaped her French twist behind her ear. His fingers lingered at her nape a bit too long.

“You’re quite enticing, Charlotte. I have a feeling you keep a dom on his toes. When your training ends with Grant, you should look me up.”

“You’re sweet.” And he was—sexy even, but all she could think about was the man at the front of the room. Grant glanced over from his conversation when Kade’s fingers were still against her skin. Grant’s lips pressed into a hard line, but he turned back to the man he was talking with.

Her heart sunk. Damn. Maybe this wasn’t going to work at all. Maybe what she’d thought had happened between them last night really wasn’t anything more than sex. Maybe she was the only one developing a stupid attachment.

Epic fail, Beaumonde.

Grant couldn’t even hear the words coming out of Chef Lane Donovan’s mouth. Blood was roaring in Grant’s ears, and his temperature was rising faster than the desert in summer. What the fuck was Kade Vandergriff doing with Charli?

Seducing her?

By the looks of it—yes. Charli couldn’t seem to stop smiling, and the fucker had just touched her. Touched his sub.

Asshole.

Kade was a friend, a colleague, and a member at The Ranch. A good guy. But right now Grant had the urge to throttle him. Grant dragged his attention back to Lane. “Can I give you a call on Monday and we can discuss the details? I want to make sure we get you exactly what you need to complement your spring menu.”

“No problem.” Lane reached out for a handshake. “I’ve got some time before I need to confirm the wine list. We can get the details worked out next week.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Grant saw Charli put a hand to Kade’s chest in that oh-stop-it thing women did. He ground his teeth together. Well, Charli had certainly honed her flirting confidence in the last few days. With a quick good-bye to his friend, he freed himself from his conversation with Lane and headed toward the back of the room, forcing himself to be calm. This wasn’t a playroom at The Ranch; the same rules didn’t apply.

But Charli’s eyes widened when she caught sight of him coming her way, so his expression must have been more charging bull than he’d intended. Grant laid a hand on Kade’s shoulder, squeezed firmly enough to make a point. “Vandergriff, glad to see you could make it out here today.”

Kade turned around, wearing an easy smile, and shook Grant’s hand. “Of course. Your wines always do well in our locations, so I wanted to see what the new products were going to be.”

“And I see you’ve already met Charlotte,” Grant added.

Kade gave Charli a too-friendly look. “Yes, she was telling me her position with you is temporary, so I was letting her know that I’m in the market for a permanent…assistant if she was interested.”

The words and the unspoken meaning behind them were like a fist to the jaw. Grant’s fingers flexed, the urge to pull Charli to his side almost impossible to deny. But Vandergriff wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. Grant’s agreement with Charli was a short one. If she discovered she liked the submissive role, she could move on to whichever dom she wanted. And Kade was a great one. Hell, if Charli had been a normal trainee, he’d already be looking for which dom to match her with at the end of training. And Kade would’ve probably hit the list.

But dammit if Grant didn’t feel like punching out every one of Kade’s perfectly straight teeth at the thought. And that feeling was one of the most dangerous ones he’d had in a while. He couldn’t feel territorial about Charli. She was going to walk away in a little over a week. Even if he offered to extend their arrangement, she’d never settle for what he was willing to give. She’d naturally gravitate to doms like Kade who were in the market for a relationship, who wouldn’t flinch at the idea of a kiss or sleeping in the same bed, who’d be capable of truly loving her.

Something tightened in his chest. Fuck. What was going on with him? He wasn’t this guy. He was possessive with his subs, but he didn’t do jealousy. The feeling was so foreign he almost hadn’t recognized it.

Whatever attachment he was forming to Charli needed to be broken now. She wasn’t really his, and he needed to stop acting like she was going to be. This was training. And fucking. And fun. In a few days they were both going back to their own lives. He needed to get that through his thick skull.

He sucked in a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was about to do. “Charlotte, it is highly inappropriate to discuss employment with someone else while you’re still working with me.”

She looked down, the fake glasses sliding down her nose a bit. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“This is going to require disciplinary action,” he said, his voice sharp but low enough so that no one else in the room would hear.

Her head snapped up. “What? But—”

He raised a finger, quieting her protest. “Don’t try to backpedal now. I need to discuss a few things with Kade, then you and I are going to have a chat.”

Grant clapped Kade on the back. “You got a few minutes, Vandergriff? I’d like to iron out the details about the tastings you wanted to set up at your locations.”

Kade’s surprise was evident, but he recovered quickly, smoothing his expression. “I could probably stay for a bit.”

“Great. Come with me.” Grant nailed Charli with a hard glare. “Ms. Beaumonde, get this room back in order. Then I expect you in my office. Dawdle and you’ll regret it. It’s the door at the end of the hall.”

Fear flared in her eyes, and he could see her pulse hopping against her throat, but she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He turned around and headed out of the conference room with Kade at his side. Grant was going to fix his little jealousy problem and make this good for Charli, but boy, was it going to take every ounce of his willpower to allow it to happen.

TWENTY

Charli stood in front of Grant’s closed office door, trying to hold herself up on shaky resolve. Voices murmured on the other side. Kade was obviously still with Grant. And she had a feeling he may not be going anywhere anytime soon.