Read Online Dom for Sale by Christine d'Abo - Free Book Online Page B

dishwasher.
    Christ . “Con, I thought I asked you not to do that anymore?”
    “You said with dishes in there! It’s empty.”
    Once again I had to applaud my self-restraint when it came to dealing with my best friend and roommate. “You and Stephen knew the Dom from the auction, right?”
    “Gareth?” Connie shut the dishwasher and flicked it on before I could protest further. “Yeah, he plays rugby with Steve on Sundays. He’s a prof in the English department at the university.”
    Fleeting memories of Master Gareth’s introduction came back to me. “So he’s smart.”
    “And currently single.” Connie rested her hip against the now shuddering dishwasher. “His wife died in a car accident four years ago. Steve said it nearly destroyed Gareth. She was his sub as well as his wife. He’s only started getting back into the scene this past year, though he hasn’t done very much.”
    The knot of tension that had taken up residence in my chest since he’d walked away from me pulled tighter before it finally started to slip. “That’s horrible.” I crossed my arms, trying to fight off the chill I suddenly felt. “You said you and Stephen did a scene with him.”
    “Yup. Totally hot too. Steve was trying to help him get back into things. It was one of the reasons we wanted you to buy him. We both figured you’d be perfect for each other.”
    So it really wasn’t just me who’d been set up that night. “It was why you and Stephen gave me the money.”
    Connie shrugged. “We wanted to make sure both our favorite peeps are going to be okay when the two of us go off and get married.”
    Whoa. “What?” I think my voice went up three octaves. “Congratulations!”
    There was hugging and laughter and questions then. I might be a tad neurotic, but I pride myself on being a good friend. “Have you set a date?”
    “Not yet. Probably next spring. I need to sit down and plan everything out. Need to know how many people I plan to invite. How many plus ones to plan for.”
    Subtle Connie.
    The sigh that escaped me was pretty much the most pathetic sound I’d ever made. “He made it pretty clear he wasn’t interested.”
    “He’s a man. Just because he’s a Dom doesn’t mean he can’t be an idiot about his personal life.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    Connie slapped my arm. The bitch. “No yeah buts. He’s teaching a night class tonight. Go talk to him.”
    Which is how I found myself leaning against the cold, beige-colored cinderblock wall of the university’s basement hallway, waiting for Gareth’s nineteenth-century literature class to end.
    Being a business major, I never got into the whole love of stories thing, but there was something engaging about listening to Master Gareth—well Professor Baxter, or I guess I should’ve started thinking of him as simply Gareth—go on about the themes of family and power in whatever book they’d been discussing.
    The class was dismissed with a clap of his hands and a cheer. “Okay, be prepared to discuss George Eliot and Silas Marner . Yes, you have to have read the book. The movie doesn’t count. And yes, I can tell the difference.”
    A few of the students eyed me as they shuffled past and out into the night. I doubt any of them had a clue what their professor got up to after hours. I know I would have been shocked as all get out to learn one of my profs was into sexual domination. Mind you, most of my professors were stodgy business guys who didn’t seem aware of anything beyond microeconomics. Clearly, I had chosen the wrong major.
    Gareth was shutting down the AV system when I stepped into the lecture hall, the glow from the screen casting interesting patterns across his face. The students left the room surprisingly quickly, leaving us alone.
    “Hi.” My heart pounded in my chest and my hands were damp. I don’t think I’d been more nervous about anything in my life, and that included the auction.
    Gareth instantly froze. I wasn’t sure if Connie or