Free Cardinal's Rule by Tymber Dalton Page A

at Cris anyway.
    She thanked God it had been Bob who’d been there and not Ross or Loren. They would have killed him.
    Aw, shit.
    She sent Bob to the kitchen to start dinner while she made her safe call.
    “I was about to come over,” Loren said. “You’re never late with a safe call.”
    “I know, I’m sorry. Things got hectic.”
    “You okay?”
    “Yeah. Bob came over for dinner after my client and I lost track of time.” She decided omitting the details about Cris would be the wisest move.
    “Bob… Bob ? From the club? Your boy, Bob?”
    “Yeah, we went out for dinner yesterday and—”
    “What? Wait, you and Bob went out for dinner? When?”
    “I thought I told you that?”
    “No you didn’t freaking tell me that! That’s…that’s good, right?”
    Okay, this she did not need tonight. She had no patience for Momma Loren’s twenty questions.
    “Yes, it’s good. He’s here tonight making me dinner.”
    “Oh.”
    “Not like that. Bob and Tilly dinner, not Mistress and boy dinner.”
    “Oh!”
    “Yeah, oh. Now can I get back to my date, Momma Loren?”
    Her friend laughed. “I want all the delicious details! Call me tomorrow.”
    Tilly got off the phone, then washed her face and returned to the kitchen. Bob’s expression
    softened when he saw her. He pulled her to him for a hug.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    “Yeah. Just in shock. I wasn’t expecting to see him.”
    He looked down into her face. “How about you go take a shower and get into sweats or
    whatever you like to chill out in and let me handle making you dinner.” He stroked her cheek. “You look like you’re wiped out. Go relax.”
    “I hope you don’t want me to be Domme-y tonight.”
    He smiled. “I want to spend the evening with Tilly. Despite my jokes about boy cooking and
    cleaning, I had kind of hoped Mistress Cardinal would decide to take the night off.”
    She stared into his blue eyes. “Yeah?”
    He nodded. “I want to get to know Tilly. I want to get to know her very well.”
    Tilly didn’t have to force her smile.
    * * * *
    Tilly wished she could pull her mind from the memory of Cris looking up at her from the floor,
    but she couldn’t. Especially not when after dinner she sat curled up on the couch with Bob, watching TV and talking with him.
    Her gaze repeatedly went to where Cris had knelt behind the coffee table.
    “I’m sorry this isn’t the evening I had in mind,” Bob softly said.
    Distracted again. She looked at him. “What?”
    He stroked her cheek. “It’s okay. That had to be a really bad shock earlier.”
    She’d taken a shower and changed into an oversized T-shirt and comfortable shorts while he
    cooked dinner. No make-up, and her hair wonky from air drying. He had such sweet, blue eyes, but now all she could think about was Cris.
    Not to mention Landry’s offer.
    She snuggled against him. His body felt very comfortable holding hers. “I’m sorry I’m not good company tonight.”
    “It’s okay. I understand. Want to try again next Thursday? I’ll bring dinner and cook for you.”
    She snuggled closer and closed her eyes. “I’d like that. That’d be nice.”
    “Is it really just me and Tilly tonight?”
    Cracking open one eye, she caught his playful smirk. “Yeah. Why?”
    “Because I don’t want Mistress Cardinal beating me for this.” He placed a long, slow, sensual kiss on her lips. With a mind of their own, her hands slipped around his neck, relaxing into his embrace and for once driving all other thoughts out of her mind for a few blissful moments.
    When he broke their kiss his playful smirk remained. “Was that okay?”
    She smiled. “Way more than okay.”
    He glanced at the time. “I hate to say this, but I need to head home.”
    “It’s only ten-thirty.”
    “I have a Sunrise Rotary meeting in the morning. I don’t feel like getting my balls busted by them two weeks in a row for being late.”
    “Rotary, Hallmark ornaments, and as big a bookworm as I am.