Broken Submission: Surrendering Softly (Contemporary Submissive Romance) Read Free Page B

her and Lily told herself she deserved it
for looking to bring more ‘life’ into her dreary existence. Whose
bright idea was it again to indulge in something fun and exciting?
Pamela had made it sound like a great adventure. Lily now wished
she’d never listened to her best friend. She’d certainly had never
dreamed it would entail running into the last man she’d have
expected to meet in such circumstances.
    She was
suddenly conscious of Vincent and Pamela rising to have a go on the
dance floor while Maxwell laughingly declined. The music pounded as
loudly as ever but nothing really registered, not even the alcohol
she now had swirling through her system. All she’d been conscious
of all this time was Maxwell. So close next to her she could reach
out and touch the hand he had placed negligently next to his glass
on the table. Thinking about the ways she’d fantasized about his
hands touching her body had goose bumps rising on her exposed
flesh.
    Something made
her glance his way and sure enough, he was regarding her with deep
speculation.
    “Now that we’re
alone,” he said thoughtfully, before tilting his lips in a mocking
smile. “If you can call this alone. But then the night is young and
who’s to tell where it might lead us. I’ll admit, sweet Lily, that
there’s always been something about you. Knowing as much as I do
about women – which is a whole damn lot – you always struck me as
not being exactly as you seemed. And now tonight has proven for
certain I was right.”
    “I don’t know
wh…what you mean,” Lily stammered, hating the tremor in her voice.
Showing him any kind of fear or nervousness was a mistake but she
couldn’t seem to stop the way her heart ran so fast she could
barely breathe.
    “The point I’m
trying to get at, Lily…is that I’m suggesting you buy my silence,”
Maxwell said plainly, meeting her wide-eyed gaze squarely even as
he smiled with barely veiled satisfaction. “If your boss – my best
friend – ever gets to discover his trusted and virginal-type
employee actually moonlights as a call girl, what do you think
he’ll do?”
    Lily almost
fainted. She felt torn with injustice as well as anger and shame.
“I’m not a …”
    “He’ll fire
you,” Maxwell went on with a cold gaze that froze her. “Kick your
bouncy little butt out on the street for daring to try and sully
the name of his prestigious law firm. James for all his magnanimity
wouldn’t like to know he’s been made a fool of. He’ll probably make
sure you never work in this city again.”
    “Why are you
doing this?” Lily breathed, shocked.
    Maxwell Craig
shrugged. “Let’s just say I hate being fooled. Did you enjoy
laughing at us all behind your thick-framed glasses and frumpy
clothes, knowing what a freak you hid inside? And I know you’re
freaky, Lily. I’m going to spend the rest of tonight proving that
single fact.”
    Lily’s chin
lifted with bravado she didn’t completely feel. “How do you propose
to accomplish that?”
    “Why, when I
get to fuck you of course,” he said factually before grinning and
taking a casual drink from his glass.
    Lily gasped,
blushing deeply as outrage coursed through her. “How dare you…”
    “Drop the act,
Lily,” Maxwell snapped, placing his glass down with a decisive
‘thump’. “As it happens Vincent is a potential client I’m hoping to
wheel in as a personal favor to James. That’s why I never let on
that we’ve met before. You work for James’ firm – or you do for
now. At present I have no wish to jeopardize that or the
possibility of not closing the deal with Vincent when he finds out
the ‘companion’ he hired for my pleasure is actually James’
employee. Imagine how messy that looks.”
    “Point of
correction. I wasn’t hired for your pleasure…” Lily began
heatedly.
    Maxwell
sneered. “I might seem genteel but trust me I know how this works.
You’re paid to provide companionship and whatever comes with that.
Don’t