Her face flushed slightly. “I had a friend who talked about it. I was interested in the theories behind it.”
Liar. He still knew her tells, and the flush was proof she wasn’t telling him the truth. He had the insane urge to lower his voice and explain to her that lying wasn’t acceptable between them. He could explain that if he was going to be her Dom, there would be rules, and he would be happy to discipline her when she broke them.
Or she was simply embarrassed to be sitting here talking to him about something that was often viewed as sexual. “Okay, so you told Nolan Byrne you were reading up on the lifestyle so you could get some time with the boss? Has he hit on you?”
“What? No. Nothing like that.” She pushed her glasses up.
“Really? Because I’ve been in the lifestyle for a very long time, and I would be surprised if a single Dom didn’t hit on a cute little sub.”
She grimaced. “He might think I’m more in the lifestyle than I really am.”
His stomach dropped. “So you told a man you’re suspicious of, a man who has a mega shit ton of money and power, a lie about your lifestyle in order to get close to him so you can prove he’s doing something wrong?”
She shrugged and yawned again. “Maybe.”
He groaned in frustration. “Maddie, what did you tell him?”
“I got antsy when we talked about it. Look, I’ve been around this guy for five years. I stayed out of his direct orbit because he can be hard on his people. But I needed to get close to him. I need access to his private system. So when I got the chance to move to his inner circle, I took it. I told him I’ve been in the lifestyle for years and that I have a Dom.” She looked him in the eyes, a grimace on her face. “In particular I told him my Dom is you.”
Deke had two reactions to her words. His dick practically jumped for joy. His heart did a little flip, too, because damn she was bringing back all his emotions. He’d loved her, like soul-deep teenaged loved her.
His brain was trying hard to tap those brakes. There was something going on with Maddie and he needed to be professional. She seemed to have a real problem if the expensive fake ID was any indication.
“Okay, you need someone—me in particular—to pretend to be your Dom so you can get your boss into The Reef to build enough trust with him that you can get close to his private system?” He wanted to make sure he fully understood the situation she was bringing him into.
She sighed with seeming relief. “Yes. I’m so glad you understand. I’ve got six weeks before launch, and I probably really only need you to come out maybe once or twice. I’ll pay all your expenses, and I’ve got a guest room you’ll be perfectly comfortable in. We can talk about compensation, too. I would prefer to pay for this as a project rather than by the hour, but I can be incredibly generous. I’ll need you to broker a deal with whoever owns The Reef. He seems to not like Nolan at all, and we’ll probably need to do a small scene or something. I’ve studied up on everything, so you don’t have to educate me.”
Oh, he was going to educate her. Did she think she could treat him like some kind of prop? Did she actually believe he would sit back and look pretty and be quiet? “If you want my help, we’ll bring it to the group. I’m not for hire by the hour, Maddie.”
She seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open. “Good. Like I said I would rather make it a project. So I need to talk to the group in order to hire you? I don’t know how your company works. Do you have a pamphlet or something with costs?”
Should he explain that he would be taking over everything? And she would be hiring way more than him. In his brain he was already putting together his team. He would need backup, and this was a tech job, so MaeBe would be getting out of the office. Of course if he took MaeBe he would have to take Kyle. “Don’t worry about the costs. We’ll work something out, but I need you to understand that I’m not going to be a prop. I know you’re incredibly smart and independent, but you came to me for a reason.”
“Because Angie told me you were a Dom, and I thought it would be easier to work with someone who knew about the lifestyle,” she admitted.
A few things went through his head. First, he was having a long talk with his youngest sister because she needed to keep her mouth shut, but the second was all about timing. “I take it this came out when she was in LA right before Christmas?”