Free Bound to be Tempted: Emergence, Book 4 by Becca Jameson

accident.
    His anxiety was absurd, but he felt it all the same, just as he had on Wednesday when she hadn’t answered his text after work. He’d irrationally wigged out between one text and the next.
    Every time someone new came through the door, he prayed it was her. It was totally unnecessary since he’d specifically told her he had to work until about midnight. There was no reason for her to show up before he got off work. She wouldn’t be doing a scene with someone else at Emergence tonight, so she’d simply be sitting around waiting on him.
    But Carlton secretly hoped she would show up earlier because the idea of being able to see her in person, even from a distance, while she waited for his shift to end, made his palms sweaty. Like a teenage boy headed for a first date, he couldn’t wait to get it started.
    Normally Carlton worked the entire night until they closed, but tonight he’d made arrangements for someone else to take over at midnight so he could leave with Maggie.
    He could kick himself for telling her she didn’t need to be there until midnight. That was too late for her to be out driving around. A single woman in a car in the middle of the night was always a bad idea.
    At eleven forty-five Jason stepped up to the front. “Where’s Margaret?”
    “No idea.” Carlton looked away, pretending to be intently watching the surrounding area.
    “Are you sure she’s coming here? Maybe she intends to meet you at your place.”
    “She’s never been to my place. And I didn’t give her the address. Besides, we discussed it several times. She said she’d meet me here.”
    “Well, maybe she doesn’t feel like being under a microscope, so she didn’t want to get here too early.”
    Carlton nodded. Hopefully that’s it . He glanced at his phone for the hundredth time and saw no calls or texts had come in.
    At midnight his replacement ambled toward the front and relieved him. Even if Maggie didn’t show, Carlton’s nerves were shot from stressing about it. If she’d gotten cold feet, he needed to confront her anyway. Not talking to her at all wasn’t an option.
    Carlton headed to his office to make sure nothing pressing needed attending and to lock the door. When his phone pinged in his back pocket, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, grateful he was alone.
    Time to face the music .
    He pulled the cell from his pants, holding his breath.
    I’m out back in my car .
    The exhale he released lasted longer than he believed possible.
    And then a second text.
    Sir .
    He chuckled. God, he wanted this woman. He was so going to enjoy training her to suit his style.
    And she was so going to enjoy every moment of his training.
    Carlton locked his office and stepped out the rear entrance of the building. There she was, sitting in her car, a smile on her face as he approached.
    There is a god .
    He leaned over as she rolled the window down.
    “Sorry. I didn’t feel like facing off with Jason tonight or dealing with any Doms who thought it was their job to rescue me from my solitude.”
    “I should have thought of that.” He nodded as he leaned lower toward her face. “Good choice. You’ll follow me?”
    “Yes. Sir.” The pause she left between her first word and his title made him stifle a smirk. She was out of practice. And in fact hadn’t called anyone Sir for as long as he’d known her, since she’d been with a series of women in the past.
    Carlton tapped the side of her car and nodded behind him. The only reason he turned from looking at her face was because he feared he would fall over if he didn’t pay closer attention to where he was going. Luckily he only lived ten minutes from Emergence. It was going to be the longest ten minutes of his life.
    He watched her out of his rearview mirror far more than necessary during the drive, as though she might get cold feet and make a turn in another direction. Or perhaps he simply didn’t like having her out of his sight.
    When he finally pulled into