“How do you know that?”
“Well, there was the winking, plus he gave me the thumbs-up sign. And later, Alex told me all about it. She said she likes submissive men. So I guess that’s where the handcuffs question came from. Because, you know, inquiring minds want to know.”
He frowned. “You wanted to know if I was submissive?”
“Oh, God, no,” I said with a laugh. “You’re the last person in the world I’d call submissive. But still, I wasn’t sure about the whole naked, handcuff-wearing question.”
He tilted his head and pierced me with a questioning look. “So you’re asking whether I would be interested in getting naked, being bound and gagged, and then agreeing to sit passively on a couch as though I didn’t have a care in the world? While you did . . . what?”
I tried not to smile. “I hereby withdraw the question.”
“Not fair.”
“Alex says they do a role-playing game. She’s the Black Ops interrogator and he’s . . . well, I made her stop talking, so I’m not sure what role he gets to play.”
“Probably just as well,” he murmured. “But let’s be clear. I’m not submissive.”
I laughed. “That was clear from the first minute we met.”
Derek Stone was indeed the last person in the world I would ever call submissive. He was—how had Alex put it last night? He was a domineering alpha type and proud of it. Derek was the Big Dog. Leader of the Pack. He ruled not only the porch but the entire yard and all the fields beyond.
“Good,” he said. “I’m glad we’ve straightened that out.” He shot me a look. “We have straightened it out, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we have.” I nodded smartly.
“Excellent. But now this begs the question.”
I didn’t like that gleam in his eye. “What question would that be?”
He leaned closer and pressed his forehead against mine in an intimate gesture I had always found endearing. “How would you like to be naked on a couch, wearing handcuffs, darling Brooklyn?”
A shiver zigzagged up my spine and across my shoulders. “The handcuffs don’t appeal to me,” I said carefully. “But we could talk about the rest.”
He grinned wolfishly and kissed me once more. “That visual will stay with me all day.”
? ? ?
Saturday was one of those exquisitely warm October days in San Francisco that made all the dreary cold and rainy days of winter worth it. The sky was a deep blue with barely a cloud to be seen from here to the horizon. A slight breeze blew in from the East Bay with just enough oomph to remind us that we did indeed live in cool San Francisco and not in some insipidly warm place down south.
It was so pretty outside that Derek and I decided to start the party upstairs on the rooftop patio. I dressed in a pale crocheted top; a long, crinkly skirt; and strappy sandals. Derek seemed to approve.
I held open the door that led to the patio as Derek carried a tray of glasses and utensils up the stairs. He had worked too late the night before, so I’d forgotten to ask him a question I’d had on my mind. Now as he reached the top step, I said, “Did Alex survive your background check?”
He stopped. “Are you looking for a yes-or-no answer, or do you want to know the details?”
I glared at him. “I want to know that you’re not going to arrest her and ruin our party.”
He gave me a lopsided grin and carried the tray over to a side table. “As long as she behaves herself, I shouldn’t have to arrest her.”
I barely kept myself from pouting. “That’s not the most encouraging response you could’ve come up with.”
“Darling Brooklyn.” Derek came up close and squeezed my shoulders affectionately. “Nothing will ruin the party. The background check was clean and I’m looking forward to meeting our new neighbor.”
I was still stressed out about the party but I felt my muscles relax by a degree or two. “You’re just looking forward to getting more cupcakes.”
“That, too,” he conceded with a quick laugh.
“Me, too,” I confessed. “The woman is a genius with frosting.” I returned downstairs with the empty tray and loaded it up again with cocktail napkins and plastic cups for the kids’ drinks.
Our plan was to serve appetizers and drinks upstairs on the patio while the sun was out and the air was still warm, then move downstairs for a casual dinner around the dining room table. We had expanded the table as far as it could go and had added a sturdy card table at one end to make room for twelve adults and the three Chung children. Their mom, Lisa, had assured me that her kids wouldn’t feel excluded if we wanted to set the smaller table off to the side and have them sit by themselves, but I thought it would be more fun to include them at the big table.