Page 66 of Over the Line

She also purchased a bolero jacket made of the same material. It had a thick silver zipper and plenty of buckles.

“You’re looking like a chickie who wants to get some when she gets back to Colorado.”

“Does this mean you’re going to see him?” Jacqueline asked.

“I…”

“Did he contact you?” Lea demanded.

“Yes.” Grinning, unable to help herself, she showed them a picture of Chewie and the new, replacement shoes.

“Holy shit. If it doesn’t work out—”

“You’re getting married,” Sydney and Jacqueline interrupted Lea.

“I’m just saying.”

“Don’t,” Jacqueline warned.

In the end, Sydney also paid for Lea’s lingerie. “It’ll be my gift for the bridal shower.”

“Thank you!” Lea kissed Sydney’s cheek.

It would save her from buying a more expensive gift later because she’d run out of time to shop. Now she just had to land another gig in order to pay her credit card bill.

Toward the end of the day, while they were enjoying Italian food at a highly rated restaurant, Sydney checked her phone.

Nothing.

Alone in her bedroom, she laid out her two-piece outfit on the bedspread, snapped a photo of her ensemble, then sent the image to him.

Afterward, she and the girls took a moonlit stroll along the beach.

By the time she returned to the hotel, he’d responded, with a picture of his own in which he’d superimposed the shoes over her skirt and jacket.

They still hadn’t discussed seeing each other.

The night before her flight home, he sent a message showing a snapshot of a flogger hanging from the fence in front of his house.

And it wasn’t just any whip. It was a red one, the same shade as her new shoes. And, God help her, the same shade as she hoped he would turn her skin.

A shudder chased its way through her body.

Suddenly she wished she didn’t have to guide a multi-day hike along the Continental Divide when she returned to Colorado. Damn it. He was making it difficult to resist him.

For a million reasons, she shouldn’t return to the Eagle’s Bend Ranch. He was a Dom, not a Top, and he eventually wanted to remarry and have children. And she would never be a woman who wanted that.

But still, a wayward, wicked part of her was desperate to see him again.

Rationalizing that as long as he agreed that they were just sceneing, no harm could come from playing with each other, she replied with her return date, and she added she wouldn’t have cell signal for much of the upcoming time.

He answered that he was looking forward to seeing her whenever it worked out for her.

Her body tingled, making her wish the hookup would happen tomorrow.

A couple of days later, after she and her friends parted ways at the airport, Sydney traveled back to Colorado, becoming more excited for the future with every passing mile.

She only spent about twelve hours at her Evergreen condo, just long enough to wash her clothes then pack for the extended hike.