Control: Dangerous Desire (Contemporary Submissive Romance) by Lucia Jordan Page B

the sting out of it. Don't worry, I'll
behave."
    She
smiled and rolled on to her stomach. Logan went to work rubbing lotion on her
sore bottom and before she knew it, she was sound asleep.
    *****
                Nicole
banged on the door harder and glanced up and down the hallway, hoping she
hadn't woken anyone with her banging. Damn it! Why wasn't she answering the
door? Nicole pounded her fist on the door again and this time, the door swung
open and she was greeted by a miserable looking scowl. "It's about
time," Nicole said as she pushed past her friend.
                "Nicole?
What the hell are you doing here? It's not even five in the morning yet."
                "I
know. I'm sorry I woke you, Alyssa, but I've done something bad and I need your
help."
                Alyssa
mumbled something incoherent and shuffled toward the kitchen. "Start
talking, girl. But don't expect any help until after I've had a pot of
coffee."
                Nicole
followed Alyssa into the kitchen and sat at the table. Nicole had no idea where
to start. She was embarrassed by what she'd done last night with Logan. It was
wrong—especially considering why she'd allowed it to happen. She propped
her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands. "I really
fucked up, Alyssa."
                "Okay."
Alyssa yawned. "Well whatever it is, it must be pretty bad to make you
drive all the way here. You never come to the city, Nikki, so lay it on me.
What did you do?" She said as she busied herself with making coffee.
                Alyssa
had been Nicole's best friend since middle school and they shared everything. Taking
a deep breath, Nicole said, "I went to work Friday morning and I got
fired."
                "Oh
my gosh, why?" Alyssa poured two cups of coffee and sat at the table
across from Nicole.
                "Thanks."
Nicole sipped her coffee, savoring the strong black liquid as it slid down her
throat. She was going to need several more cups if she were going to make it
through the next few hours. "My boss claims I sent a companywide email
that contained an inappropriate sexual joke. And with the new sexual harassment
policy in place, he had no choice but to let me go. The whole thing is so
ridiculous."
                "Was
it a funny joke?"
                Nicole
rolled her eyes. That was just like Alyssa. "That's the sad part. I never
saw the damn joke."
                Alyssa
laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty bad. Okay, so you lost your job. That's what
made you drive six hours to the city to see me?"
                "No."
Nicole shook her head. "It gets worse. I clean out my desk and of course
I'm crying, feeling like shit. I mean, Josh and I are supposed to be getting
married. Without a job I can't hardly pay for a wedding and I know he's going
to flip out." She took another sip from her coffee before continuing.
"So, I'm driving home, trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to tell
Josh I just got fired. I'm totally not paying attention and I rear end a car at
a stoplight."
                Bringing
her coffee cup to her mouth, Alyssa shook her head and tried to hide her smile.
"Damage?" she asked.
                "Not
much, but the guy was a real dick about the whole thing. I spent almost an hour
waiting for the police and giving my statement. I have to appear in court at
the end of the month. Got a nice hefty ticket that I can't pay because I don't
have a job."
                Alyssa
flung her head back and laughed raucously. Despite her best efforts, Nicole
laughed too. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Alyssa said as she got up and
poured both of them more coffee. "So you had a little fender bender.
What's the big deal? If you need me to loan you the money for the fine…"
                "No,
thank you for the offer, but that's not why I'm here."
                "There's
more?" Alyssa