Break Me Read Free Page A

road was packed as always. First shift was stragglin’ in and commuters were headed out toward the metropolis not too far down the highway. I liked small town life too much to move to the big city. Had grown up in a college town and that was about as big as I wanted to ever get.
    Karim was a nice place. I could see staying around and settling for a long time. Being invited to The Club by my boss had been an eye opener. First floor normal night club and bar. Downstairs held private play rooms. There was a third floor, but I’d never been up there. Everything was top secret and I was good with that. The pictures on the wall in the Members Only area from special events had caught my eye. I’d been to BDSM clubs before, both stateside and in Europe while with the Marines, but the atmosphere of this one was different and me being me, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was cool with that. People were nice and welcoming. I played with a few submissives, but none had struck my fancy the way Claire had. Seeing her picture though had been a gut punch. And not a little unexpected. How did a guy fall for a woman in a picture?
    “You been a little absent, bossman.”
    I looked over at Hugo, one of my project foremen. “Dead on my feet, man. That’s all. It’s been a long ass week. The overtime has been nice, but I’m beat. Two days off can’t come quick enough.”
    “I know that’s right,” Toro agreed.
    No one knew why he was called Toro and he never would tell any of us the history behind it. It was the name he’d used on all his employment paperwork, but still… We were all curious. Didn’t help that he looked like he’d been in more than one fight with a bull.
    “We got more work comin’ in or is it gonna slow down some soon?” Hugo asked.
    “Should be slowin’ down in a week or two and we’ll go back to our normal load.” I hoped so, at least. I wasn’t lyin’ when I’d said I was dead tired. It had been a few long months of extra work. Demand was higher than production and I’d had to hire more people. It was good for the area and good for the company. We just needed a break for a bit to catch our breath and rest.
    While the guys around the table talked families and sports, my thoughts drifted to the dance Claire and I had been doing since we first met. I wasn’t the typical Dom in The Club and I was nothing at all like the one she’d been with before. I was younger, by several years, for one.
    And I only saw shots of him in a suit. I only wore suits when someone made me. Otherwise, it was jeans and T-shirts or casual slacks and a button down.
    I’m blue collar and I didn’t get the impression that he’d been less than executive level.
    I didn’t know what had happened and why they were no longer together. I hadn’t figure out how to ask it, either. I only knew no one at The Club would talk about it and Claire was harboring pain from it.
    I’d thought about her all night, wondering if she was doing okay. Up until I pushed her to say my name, I knew she had liked me being there and we’d had a good, casual friendship going. Would we still, or would she close herself off? She liked me. I saw it in her eyes, in her consistent serving of coffee when there was always someone else available to do it. She was attracted to me, too, whether she was ready to admit it or not.
    The waitress dropped off plates of food, and brushed against me more than was necessary. She’d been doing so every time I came in when she was on shift. I wasn’t interested and hoped I wouldn’t have to come out and tell her so. Until I knew there was no chance this side of hell, I would pursue Claire. My desire for her wasn’t something I was used to, but I wasn’t willing to fight it. I’d seen too much during war, seen too many lives ended before they had really begun. I didn’t question things like attraction or happiness in simple things any longer.
    I dug into the stack of blueberry pancakes the waitress set in front of me.