Authors: Bebe Wilde
Just then, Roman came in, saw it, stopped in his tracks,
then
smiled. “Oh, you found that.”
“Oh! No!” I said quickly. “I was just looking for some batteries and… I wasn’t—”
“
It’s
okay, it’s fine,” he said, waving his hand. “It’s nothing.
A joke.”
“A joke?”
I asked.
“It’s called a cat
o’nine
tails, I believe,” he said. “Some people call it a flogger. One of my associates gave it to me as a gag gift, implying that I was whipped by a former girlfriend. He didn’t know the half of it,” he said, giving me a knowing wink.
He had taken something that would have embarrassed most people and turned it into a joke. I stared at him, realizing that he was perfectly imperfect and he was confident in that. Many people might be embarrassed to have someone find something like that in their house but him? He shrugged it off. He was cool. I’d never met anyone like him before in my life.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked,
then
kicked myself. I then realized I was still holding the flogger. I threw it on the desk. I felt so embarrassed and stupid. But I couldn’t stop myself.
“No,” he said and chuckled. “I’ve given up on love. But it’s not for lack of trying. I have been divorced twice.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, it didn’t work out.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t a very good husband,” he said.
Neither was my ex. He turned to stare at me, nodding to
himself
. “What is it?” I asked.
“You’re very vanilla,” he told me. “Aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, aghast.
He ignored my response and continued, “But I wonder… Is there a moaner in there just waiting to come out?”
Was he serious? Was he really saying this to me?
He grinned. “I’m just teasing you,
Teagan
.” He stood back to take me in. “Still dressed in the school
marm
look?”
I glanced down at my dress. It was an off-white, tea length one that had a layer of lace on top. It was one of my best dresses. It made me look sophisticated but still young and pretty and approachable, which was the exact image I wanted to portray to the world. Dressing like this had helped me sell a lot of houses.
“A woman like you needs to wear something else,” he said.
It was going from bad to worse.
“A woman like me?”
I said, trying to contain my irritation.
“Yes, a woman like you,” he said. “Show off your curves a little. You’re
vampish
but you hide it. I can see that. But that dress fails you in that. It doesn’t lie. It makes a man wonder what’s under it.”
My mouth dropped. Was he really saying this to me?
Really?
I studied him, his rugged good looks. He
looked
dangerous, like he would just fuck you and leave you panting on the bed once he was done. He’d leave you wanting more and when a man does that… Well, it was too much to think about. I liked the thought of it, though. It excited me. I hated to admit that, hated what it might mean, but he did. He excited the hell out of me.
But at the moment he was being an asshole and just a little too forward.
“However, I don’t really think you’re vanilla,” he said and bent across the desk and picked up the flogger, touching it. “There’s more to you than meets the eye,
oui
?” He smiled at me.
I shook my head, not knowing what to think. “Listen, you’re being a little too forward,” I said. And the situation was getting a little too weird. I needed to leave the room and get back to work.
ASAP.
He ignored me and said, “Would you ever consider playing a game with me?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, appalled and confused. What
the hell
was he talking about?
“Play along,” he said. “Trust,
Teagan
, trust comes first. Trust me.” He shook the flogger a little. “May I?”
“May you what?” I asked.
“Test the waters,” he said and came around the desk so he was standing next to me.
I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I said quickly, “No.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“What do you mean?”
Without answering, he smacked the flogger against my legs gently. It burned just slightly but didn’t hurt. He bent to whisper in my ear, “I can do more, of course, but that is your call. But now, you have
work
to do.”
My heart was about to beat out of my chest. I didn’t know what to do. Had that just happened?
He stood up and tossed the flogger back on the desk and started to exit the room, pausing at the door to say, “Just put that back, please.”
I nodded and grabbed it, shoving it back into the drawer. Just then, Hailey entered, pausing to lean in the doorframe and said, “Sorry,” to Roman with a smile before turning to me. “Did you find the batteries?”
I shook my head quickly. “No.”
Roman stared at her, then back at me. “When you have your broker’s open, I’d like you to wear the dress.”
And with that, he left. I blushed, thinking about the dress he’d given me to wear while showing his house, a black cocktail number that was sexy and tight-fitting and was now hanging in my closet, tucked away from sight.
Hailey stared after him and asked, “What’s he talking about?”
“Nothing,” I said hurriedly.
She stared at me and smiled a little.
“What is it?” I asked and got up from the desk, feeling a little weak and odd.
She shrugged and said, “Well, did you find the batteries?”
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, no.
I didn’t. It’s okay. I’ll pick some up later.”
She continued to smile.
“What is it, Hailey?”
“Roman,” she said. “He’s kinky, isn’t he?”
“What?” I asked.
“Roman,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “He’s kinky, isn’t he?”
“How would I know that?”
“Just by the look on your face and on his,” she said. “He excites you, doesn’t he?”
I couldn’t think of an answer.
“What a man,” she said and giggled, giving me a look.
“Hailey, shut up,” I said. “We have a business relationship. That’s all.”
“Oh!” she said,
then
leaned back. “You’re sleeping with Kier again.”
“I am not,” I said. “Well, once.
So what?”
“If you keep doing that, you’ll never find anyone.”
“I’m not looking for anyone.”
“Yeah, that may be true, but that guy,” she said and jerked her head in the direction Roman had disappeared. “He is looking for someone. And I think he’s got his sights set on you.”
I stared at her. “That is completely and totally untrue.
And absurd.”
“Tell him that.”
I blushed.
“But you need to stop sleeping with Kier,” she said.
“A girl’s got needs,” I told her.
“Girl, get a vibrator.”
I had one. It wasn’t the same.
* * * * *
And now I was at Roman’s house again, moments before the broker’s open was about to start, smoking a cigarette outside,
waiting
in nervous anticipation. Hailey was inside making sure that everything was perfect. We had an open bar to go along with the catered food as well as decorations. I had to show that I was still successful. If I showed even one ounce of weakness or desperation, they’d eat me alive.
I hadn’t seen Roman since that day, which I referred to in my mind as “the flogger incident.” Just after Hailey told me to get a vibrator, I had caught a glimpse out the window of Roman leaving the property in his big black SUV. He looked so cool and handsome, it stirred something in me. It was a longing I had never felt, not even with Kier. I knew it was because he was so different and I’d never run across anyone like him before. But I didn’t have time to think about him or about what he meant or what might happen between us. I shook the incident off and refocused on my work. There was too much to be done to delve into fantasy land.
After I finished smoking the cigarette, I looked around for a place to dispose it. There was a vintage ashtray on one of the wicker side tables. I tossed it in and noticed that there was at least three other butts in the ashtray. I wasn’t aware Roman smoked.
But why would I be? I didn’t know anything about him. Fuck! I had to get this man out of my mind. I had
work
to do. And besides, I needed to quit smoking again myself. It was just all the stress that kept me reaching for the cigarette. Once I got this house sold and got back on my feet, I’d quit, I promised myself.
I went inside and made sure that the food was laid out to
perfection, that
the sombreros were everywhere they needed to be, that the bar was ready to serve drinks. This was it. I had to get some good feedback. I had to have someone fall in love with it so they would want to sell it to one of their clients. I had to do it. I would do it, I reassured myself.
Soon, the broker’s open began and the best agents in town showed up, walking around the house in awe. Many of them told me, “I wish I could buy it for myself. This place is phenomenal!”
It was. It was phenomenal. Yes. But do you have anyone in mind?
No, they didn’t. The place was great but most people were looking for family homes. Could you imagine raising a kid in a house like this? The stained concrete floors were incredible but not kid-friendly at all.
And the built-in Italian leather sofa?
Ah-ma-zing! But not right for my clients. Nobody was interested in it even as an investment.
I was disheartened, to say the least. The feedback was good; however, it was bad, too. I knew this house would be a hard sell but the way they told it, while it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen, it was unsellable because no one would want to buy it.
There were about a hundred agents that came that night, all enjoying my feast and my free drinks, donning the sombreros, sipping margaritas and not a fucking single one of them had anyone in mind to buy the place. Even that bitch Miranda showed up and I knew she’d rather die than help me sell a house.
Which was just as well.
By the reactions I had gotten, I knew the market was in a tighter crunch than I had thought. The house wasn’t
that
unsellable. It was a fantastic house but no one was buying right now. That was the fact of the matter. Right or wrong, good or bad, sad but true, the market wasn’t dictating a sale of this sort. Maybe it was time to move on to something else. But this was what I loved, selling houses. What could I move on to?
“How’s it going?” Hailey asked, coming up beside me.
“It’s not,” I said. “It’s worse than I thought.”
She nodded. “Yeah, no one wants to spend this kind of money on a house like this right now.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“Here,” she said and handed me a margarita. “I had them make it for you. Extra salt on the rim and a couple of lime wedges.”
“You’re sweet,” I said and took a long sip. It did taste good and I needed
it, that
was for sure.
She stepped back to take me in. “I must say, I’m digging the new look.”
I glanced down at the dress. It was the black cocktail dress that was made of knit jersey and fit like a glove. It was the one Roman had referred to on “the flogger incident” day. I thought I’d try it, that maybe it would bring me some luck instead of my usual frilly “girl” dresses. He’d also given me a pair of black leather stilettos but in lieu of them I had paired the dress with a pair of five-inch stilettos Kier had given me, ones he had received as a gift for me from a famous French designer, who’d told him to “Get her back.” Like that was every going to happen. Even so, they were silver and covered with crystals. Who was I to say no to free shoes? My hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and my makeup light and fresh. I looked good.
Just not good enough to get a referral, apparently.
“And you’re
rockin
’ the stilettos, too,” she said, nodding with approval. “Soon, you can be a video vamp.”
I laughed because, in a way, I did look like one of those girls in that Robert Palmer video swinging a guitar or whatever, just like I had imagined Roman had wanted me to look. I shook my head at her and said, “Just thought I’d try something new.” I didn’t tell her it was because Roman expected me to wear his dress. How awkward would that conversation be?
Just then, I saw a few agents leave together, pause at the front door and give me a wave. It was over now. A few stopped by on their way out, telling me they loved the place and they’d see what they could do. I told them I appreciated it and thanked them for coming. Soon, they were all gone and it was just me and Hailey and the catering people who were cleaning up.
I turned to Hailey and told her that it was okay for her to leave, that it had been a long day and that I’d lock the house up.
“I won’t not take you up on that,”
she said and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “See you tomorrow!”
I waved at her and went into the kitchen. Everything was packed up except the leftovers. I grabbed an empanada and took a bite and smiled at the catering team. “I’ll finish up, y’all,” I said. “Just leave it.”
They agreed and I got to work cleaning the kitchen and tidying up. Once I was done, I noticed that there was one lone sombrero sitting on the couch. The agents had taken every last one but this guy. I had to wonder why people always loved to take these things. It wasn’t like they were going to wear them in public or anything. I picked it up and put it on my head, staring at myself in the mirror across the room, a gigantic one that took up most of the wall. As I stared at myself, I tried to find the sunny side to all of this but instead felt like crying.
“How did it go?”
I whirled around to see Roman standing in the living room staring at me. I had been so
startled,
my heart had almost leapt out of my chest. I also felt like a jackass for wearing the sombrero. “I didn’t hear you come in,” I said. “It went well.”
“What’s this?” he asked and waved his hand at the hat.