Free Balance by Zahra Owens Page A

before.
    The inspector didn’t seem too pleased with anything, though. He simply nodded stiffly when Nando showed him all the things they’d already done to accommodate for the regulations and seemed to be overly occupied with minute details like the correct way to mark emergency exits or the fact that there was no notification that the front door needed to be kept unlocked during business hours. He even managed to find one loose electrical wire and didn’t like the fact that a garbage can was too close to the back exit.
    Although Nando had been over most of these things with the fire chief and had been given the all-clear, he was afraid this Balance | Zahra Owens
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    inspector had the power to make him close his shop and send his customers home.
    “These are the improvements that will need to be made,” the inspector stated as they returned to the front desk and he handed Nando his written report. “I’ll give you a temporary license and six weeks to make the necessary adjustments. When all these are met, I’m sure you’ll receive a permanent one.”
    Nando couldn’t hold back a deep sigh of relief. The man’s expression hadn’t changed the entire time he’d been inside the shop, and even as he curtly nodded his goodbye, he still looked like the most even-keeled person Nando had ever seen.

    TEN hours later, the man sitting opposite Nando in the lounge of the club was just as soft spoken as the inspector, but clearly nervous. Nando had no problems reading him now.
    “Why don’t we pretend this is the first time we’re meeting?” Nando suggested, trying to put the man at ease.
    “I’m Nando Arenas, and I’m the official welcome wagon here at the club.” He extended his hand toward Cooper again.
    “Can I call you Cooper?”
    Cooper nodded nervously but didn’t take Nando’s hand, so he retracted it. One thing that hadn’t changed was the man’s reluctance to make eye contact. They were going to have to remedy that, Nando thought.

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    “Why don’t you tell me what brought you here?” Cooper shrugged. “I was curious. And someone suggested that you could show me the ropes.”
    “The ropes of what?” Nando asked, although he already knew the answer. He just hoped Cooper would give him some things to go on besides the obvious.
    “I came in a couple of nights and just… observed.” Cooper’s voice was soft but not too hesitant, as if he knew what he wanted, but he just wasn’t entirely confident about telling anyone.
    Nando tried to prevent himself from smiling. “Did you see anything you liked?”
    Cooper nodded. “There was a guy who was tied up with rope.”
    “Shibari,” Nando said. He knew what Cooper was talking about. Although he didn’t hang around the club every night, especially not now he had a business of his own to manage, he knew what was performed on the stage in the Pit, where most of the passive players spent their time watching. “I should probably introduce you to Hikari. She’s the Shibari master.”
    “No,” Cooper replied. His voice was still soft, but he sounded determined. “I want something else she can’t give me.”
    Nando waited, hoping Cooper would actually tell him what he wanted. Newbies got a choice when they signed up, so the fact that Cooper had requested a man told Nando he was probably gay and that he wanted more than simply being tied up. Although not all encounters he had with Balance | Zahra Owens
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    newcomers were sexual—some people, after all, just wanted to be paddled or spanked—Nando certainly didn’t mind when they were.
    “Look at me,” Nando requested when Cooper stayed silent. “I can’t give you what you need when I don’t know what you want.” Nando chose his words carefully. Although they were basically in a public lobby, it was late, and most patrons were in the private rooms or in the Pit, so they were virtually alone. “I believe in getting your cards out in the open. That way nobody walks away