to my desk to chat, I pretended to be covered up with work to do. She looked at me a little suspiciously, but finally left, saying she’d talk to me later. I kept acting busy all afternoon until she left for the day.
I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. I was out of coffee, and I wanted to kill time before the “date.” As the hands of the clock crept closer, I started to really get cold feet, but I forced myself not to think about it, and around five-thirty, I got in the shower and let the hot water beat down on me for a long time. Afterward, I felt a little better and dressed in some new jeans and a black sweater to go meet him. I spent a little extra time messing with my hair, mostly because of nerves, and a feeling that I’d made a mistake in agreeing to this. But I still wanted him to regret letting me go.
About forty-five minutes later, I walked into Mario’s, and Tim was waiting for me in the entryway, casually chatting up the girl who was seating people. He looked good—like he had maybe come straight from work, with dress pants and a charcoal button-up shirt. He turned and saw me and came over to give me a huge hug. He smelled just like I remembered, a combination of Juicy Fruit gum and his coconut shampoo. It was nice. Familiar.
The girl at the door seated us right away and the waiter came over to ask if he could get us started on drinks. Without asking, Tim ordered two margaritas and asked him to bring us the onion rings appetizer. He looked at me after the waiter left and smiled. “That’s okay, isn’t it? You still like both of those, don’t you?”
It was easy to just nod and smile. Hell, I did like margaritas and I loved Mario’s onion rings. So there was absolutely no reason to be irritated—and yet I was, a little.
After the waiter brought our drinks, he took a long sip and leaned back in his seat. “So what have you been up to, Jordan? I’ve heard a few things.”
“What kind of things?”
He began to fiddle with the lime on his glass. Looking up at me, he had a sly expression. “A guy I work with—you know him. James Lawson? Anyway, he said he saw you at a club in downtown Atlanta a few weeks ago. A sex club.”
Inside, my mind was racing, but I managed to smile and lean back in my seat too. “Oh really? I didn’t know Lawson was into that.”
“I could say the same thing about you. He said you were up on a stage and some guy was tying you up. Is that right?”
“Well, I don’t know, Tim. I was at a club a few weeks ago. And I did let some guy tie me up. So yeah, it could have been me.”
“Jordan, what the hell? I never knew you did that.”
I shrugged. “There’s probably a lot you don’t know about me, Tim.”
He looked surprised and then shook his head, smiling. He winked at me. “Maybe I’d like to know more.”
The onion rings arrived, and I started to nervously munch on them. I glanced up at him from under my eyelashes. “How’s your new boyfriend, Tim?”
“That’s all over, Jordan. Soon after you and I broke up. Neil and I just weren’t right for each other.”
“Oh? Pity.”
“Well, I’m not all that broken up about it. Say, why don’t you take me to this club of yours? Sounds interesting.”
“Interesting isn’t exactly what I’d call it. Besides, I never knew you were into kink of any kind.”
“I guess it goes to show you we never really knew each other all that well even though we were living together. What do you say? Do you want to go? Just to watch?”
“It’s not a show, Tim. Besides, I’m not a member. I went with my friend Tori.”
“Tori? Are you still hanging out with that bitch?”
“She’s not a bitch. She’s my friend, so lay off.”
He frowned at me and downed more of his drink. He would need another one soon at this rate.
“Okay, then if you can’t get us in your little club, then go with me to a sex party. A guy I know at work has them at his house on weekends. Probably having one tomorrow night. I can get us an invitation.”
I shook my head. “What is this sudden obsession you have