The Exposure
Page 18
After she’d been working a few minutes, Luke stepped away. She was surprised to find she missed his presence. Determined not to dwell on it, she refocused on the spreadsheet before her, though she felt as if she was looking for a needle in a haystack.
She scrolled through the list of addresses. Would V have listed the same one? After several minutes of looking, it didn’t appear he had.
“Meagan?”
She had focused so intently on the computer, she jumped at the sound of her name. “Damn it, Sir.” She turned to face the interruption. “You scared me half to death.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you heard me.” He held out a slip of paper. “Here’s the name he used to get in. Thought that might help.”
“Yes, thank you.” She looked at the paper and frowned. She didn’t recognize any of the information. Interesting. But opening up the alternate name on the computer, she saw the connection. “There we have it.”
“What?” Luke peered over her shoulder.
“He listed his real name as a reference. Talk about a ‘fuck you and your security system, too.’”
“Shit.”
“Right?” She clicked through the rest of the information. V really was a disgusting pig. She felt even worse than before that she’d agreed to be with him tonight. Before she could allow herself time to think about that, she had to take care of Luke’s request. “And the thing is your staff never would have caught it. Nothing else matches. You’re going to have to start collecting driver’s license information, Social Security numbers, or something.”
He pulled up the stool beside her. “This is worse than I thought.”
“I have to say it and, trust me, it’s not that I’m trying to weasel my way out of anything, but you need someone with a lot more knowledge and experience than me to fix this.”
“I thought we’d taken care of security when we reopened.”
“You didn’t have the members reapply, or at least, I wasn’t asked to. Did you have anyone run background checks?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Not yet. I was going to ask Jeff Parks to do it in a month or so.”
“Might I suggest you have him do it sooner rather than later?”
“Yes. Definitely.” He shook his head. “I thought it was okay to wait since almost everyone had been a member for so long. But I see now a clean sweep is in order.”
She nodded. It was scary when she thought about it. If no one had ever done a background before . . .
She didn’t want to dwell on that.
“Meagan,” he said, and she lifted her head to find him holding out a robe. “You can get dressed if you’d like. I don’t see the point in you doing anything further.”
“Thank you.” She slid off the stool and slipped the robe on. “And, Sir, I am sorry for how I acted. Truly. I’ve Topped in a scene before. I wouldn’t have put up with my attitude either.”
“I appreciate you saying that.” He nodded. “I was thinking. Would you have time to have lunch next weekend before we start shooting?”
She raised an eyebrow and he laughed.
“Honestly, I just thought it’d be a good idea for us to talk. Get to know each other.” He waved toward her. “When we both have our clothes on.”
It would be dangerous to accept his invitation. She could already see how easy it would be to fall back into the schoolgirl crush she’d had on him years ago. And how much more would this grown-up Luke appeal to her?
But, on the other hand, it would be a good idea for her to get closer to Luke in ways other than photography. There was still The Taskmaster to think about, after all. She would have to keep in mind that being with Luke this time was the means to an end. Nothing more. If she did that, she should be able to have lunch with him without getting any emotions involved.
She hoped anyway. “I think that would be fine. Should we meet somewhere?”
“You could come by the house. Might be easier than going somewhere and then having to go to my place. Just do it all in one location.”
“I’ll do it on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to give me a tour of your house. It looked fascinating.”
His laugh was easy. “It’s a deal.”
* * *
Luke always regretted that he wasn’t much of a cook. It wasn’t because he didn’t try; he did. It just seemed as though everything he cooked tasted like cardboard. Cooking should be simple. All he had to do was follow the recipe. But it never was that easy.
Before Meagan came over on Saturday, he went to the local farmers’ market and got fresh produce for a salad. He had some cooked chicken left over at the house from the night before. He’d throw it all together for a quick lunch. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to eat anything too heavy, anyway.
Meagan arrived on time, stepping out of the car and looking incredible. He couldn’t help but remember how she looked the weekend before, naked and needy before him. He’d wanted so badly to touch her, but to punish himself along with her, he’d given her that ludicrous spreadsheet to work with.
He shook his head and watched her walk to the door. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Interesting choice. He hadn’t told her anything about the way he wanted her to wear her hair, but the ponytail worked perfectly for what he had planned for today. And unlike last week, she didn’t have any makeup on. Perfect. Though he thought he might have her put on some red lipstick after lunch.
He opened the door, expecting to see her smile, and was caught off guard by her frown.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Sorry. What?”
She scrolled through the list of addresses. Would V have listed the same one? After several minutes of looking, it didn’t appear he had.
“Meagan?”
She had focused so intently on the computer, she jumped at the sound of her name. “Damn it, Sir.” She turned to face the interruption. “You scared me half to death.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you heard me.” He held out a slip of paper. “Here’s the name he used to get in. Thought that might help.”
“Yes, thank you.” She looked at the paper and frowned. She didn’t recognize any of the information. Interesting. But opening up the alternate name on the computer, she saw the connection. “There we have it.”
“What?” Luke peered over her shoulder.
“He listed his real name as a reference. Talk about a ‘fuck you and your security system, too.’”
“Shit.”
“Right?” She clicked through the rest of the information. V really was a disgusting pig. She felt even worse than before that she’d agreed to be with him tonight. Before she could allow herself time to think about that, she had to take care of Luke’s request. “And the thing is your staff never would have caught it. Nothing else matches. You’re going to have to start collecting driver’s license information, Social Security numbers, or something.”
He pulled up the stool beside her. “This is worse than I thought.”
“I have to say it and, trust me, it’s not that I’m trying to weasel my way out of anything, but you need someone with a lot more knowledge and experience than me to fix this.”
“I thought we’d taken care of security when we reopened.”
“You didn’t have the members reapply, or at least, I wasn’t asked to. Did you have anyone run background checks?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Not yet. I was going to ask Jeff Parks to do it in a month or so.”
“Might I suggest you have him do it sooner rather than later?”
“Yes. Definitely.” He shook his head. “I thought it was okay to wait since almost everyone had been a member for so long. But I see now a clean sweep is in order.”
She nodded. It was scary when she thought about it. If no one had ever done a background before . . .
She didn’t want to dwell on that.
“Meagan,” he said, and she lifted her head to find him holding out a robe. “You can get dressed if you’d like. I don’t see the point in you doing anything further.”
“Thank you.” She slid off the stool and slipped the robe on. “And, Sir, I am sorry for how I acted. Truly. I’ve Topped in a scene before. I wouldn’t have put up with my attitude either.”
“I appreciate you saying that.” He nodded. “I was thinking. Would you have time to have lunch next weekend before we start shooting?”
She raised an eyebrow and he laughed.
“Honestly, I just thought it’d be a good idea for us to talk. Get to know each other.” He waved toward her. “When we both have our clothes on.”
It would be dangerous to accept his invitation. She could already see how easy it would be to fall back into the schoolgirl crush she’d had on him years ago. And how much more would this grown-up Luke appeal to her?
But, on the other hand, it would be a good idea for her to get closer to Luke in ways other than photography. There was still The Taskmaster to think about, after all. She would have to keep in mind that being with Luke this time was the means to an end. Nothing more. If she did that, she should be able to have lunch with him without getting any emotions involved.
She hoped anyway. “I think that would be fine. Should we meet somewhere?”
“You could come by the house. Might be easier than going somewhere and then having to go to my place. Just do it all in one location.”
“I’ll do it on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to give me a tour of your house. It looked fascinating.”
His laugh was easy. “It’s a deal.”
* * *
Luke always regretted that he wasn’t much of a cook. It wasn’t because he didn’t try; he did. It just seemed as though everything he cooked tasted like cardboard. Cooking should be simple. All he had to do was follow the recipe. But it never was that easy.
Before Meagan came over on Saturday, he went to the local farmers’ market and got fresh produce for a salad. He had some cooked chicken left over at the house from the night before. He’d throw it all together for a quick lunch. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to eat anything too heavy, anyway.
Meagan arrived on time, stepping out of the car and looking incredible. He couldn’t help but remember how she looked the weekend before, naked and needy before him. He’d wanted so badly to touch her, but to punish himself along with her, he’d given her that ludicrous spreadsheet to work with.
He shook his head and watched her walk to the door. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Interesting choice. He hadn’t told her anything about the way he wanted her to wear her hair, but the ponytail worked perfectly for what he had planned for today. And unlike last week, she didn’t have any makeup on. Perfect. Though he thought he might have her put on some red lipstick after lunch.
He opened the door, expecting to see her smile, and was caught off guard by her frown.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Sorry. What?”
