Free Sweet and Dirty by Christina Crooks Page A

Resisted. “Ro. I hope you won’t take this wrong, but I’d like to go process all this.”
    He was nodding before she even finished. “I understand. You’ll be back? You’ll be in touch?”
    She eased away. “Certainly.” It would be foolish to leap into a relationship with Ro, the way her heart and her body wanted. Too crazy and too soon. Even if he was the most intense thing she’d ever experienced. The pile of doggy-doo that was her old life was still being scooped. Ted living in her apartment made things extra messy. How could she explain him to Ro? She’d have to confess her lack of spine in kicking Ted out, and that would just confirm his diagnosis of “submissive.”
    She had to get rid of Ted. She swallowed. “Ro, I really should go.”
    He gazed at her. “Okay. At least promise me you’ll come back on Friday. It’s The Dungeon’s first Crime and Punishment Party. Should be lots of fun.” His eyes sparkled as he offered her a small, wicked smile. “No participation required.”
    Lizbeth was already nodding. “Definitely!” Then, because she couldn’t resist the cruel curve of his lips, she stepped against him and planted a good-bye kiss before leaving to deal with her unwanted roommate.
     
    Days later, she was still trying to get rid of Ted.
    “This is so great,” he enthused as they passed through another savory cloud of aroma outside another popular Santa Monica promenade restaurant. “I’ll miss this when we go back home. Let’s read the menu.” He pulled her, too hard, to another plastic-laminated menu just off the restaurant’s patio seating area. Giorgiana’s Italian Cottage, was this one. Smallish and crowded with beautifully dressed, exquisitely tanned men and women. Most everyone looked thin, healthy, and suspiciously blond.
    “Quaint,” Ted observed. The touch of his finger to his lip was an affectation he’d developed seemingly overnight, as was the precise walk, so different from the head-down stride he’d had in Alabama. Los Angeles was bringing out a strange side of him. It was as if he’d absorbed the week’s bright sunshine into himself, only to emit its glow during the city nights. Or maybe his exuberance was pride in his new clothes. He’d always lived in loose jeans or khakis with a knit shirt in a neutral shade. The purple shirt he wore kept shocking her with its splash of vibrant color, and his new black jeans fit snugly over Doc Marten boots.
    She felt her legs swish against the medium-length black silk skirt she’d chosen. Tonight was a special occasion.
    She planned to instruct Ted to go back home. Alone. Immediately.
    She wasn’t sure why it was so hard to unload him. It had something to do with his inoffensive fondness of her, expressed in countless small ways that would’ve had her delirious with joy, back in Alabama. And it had something to do with his enthusiasm for Los Angeles and all the exciting activities it offered—an enthusiasm she definitely shared.
    But mostly it had to do with her lack of spine. Tonight, finally, that would change, she swore to herself.
    He was humming a new Kylie Minogue song and smiling at a group of men behind them in the line to check in with the restaurant host, who was yet another handsome man. Though not, of course, as attractive as Ro.
    She missed Ro. The nights away from him were torture. The only thing that cooled her ardor was his pronouncement that she was submissive. That still rankled.
    All the more reason to redouble her efforts at becoming more dominant. No way was she going to stay a victimized little dog, not here in what was supposed to be her big-city fresh start, her new life.
    Seated at their intimate round table, next to the sidewalk and near enough to a heat lamp to remind her of Ro once more, Lizbeth silently rehearsed her eviction speech.
    A scrape of Ted’s chair drew her attention, and she felt her first misgiving when Ted scooted so close their arms bumped.
    She should have just tossed his