“Yup.” Master Andrew nodded. “In fact, I know exactly what to make you. You need a breakup drink.” He turned away to grab ingredients off the shelves behind him.
Groaning, Mitch let his head fall to the smooth wooden surface of the bar and banged it a couple times.
“What’s going on? Why is Mitch banging his head?” Brian asked from behind him. A hand patted him on the back. “You okay, buddy?”
“Domi ended their arrangement today,” Kincaid said blandly, his tone neutral, mimicking Mitch’s words.
“Aw, Domi broke up with you? I’m sorry, Mitch.”
Mitch groaned and banged his head again. Today sucked. Hard.
“Here you go.” Master Andrew slid something next to Mitch’s head. He turned and looked at it.
The drink was pink on the bottom, yellow through most of it, and had an umbrella sticking out of it with a maraschino cherry stuck on a little toothpick. Brian and Kincaid were looking at it with something akin to horror—they didn’t do mixed drinks. Heck, Brian barely drank liquor.
“What is that?” Kincaid asked.
Mitch smiled. Master Andrew knew him well. “Pineapple upside-down cake.”
“Will your man card be revoked after drinking that?” Kincaid quipped, his lips twitching.
“Hell, no. Only the bravest men drink these.” Mitch straightened and picked up the drink with a flourish, feeling a bit more like himself. “The ones completely secure in their manliness.”
“And those without tastebuds,” Brian muttered, his lips twitching. The drink was sickeningly sweet, but it was also exactly what Mitch needed right now—something sweet to soothe the beast.
Chapter Six
Domi
“Do you think the green is unprofessional?” Rae asked, peering into the bathroom mirror. Even the bathrooms in Marquis were posh, with lots of gleaming black-and-ivory tiles with red accents, a couch, and a little sitting room with extra full-length mirrors just inside the main door before reaching the actual bathroom. Rae was standing in front of the gilt mirror above the sink, more drunk than sober, staring at the lime green braids threaded through her hair almost suspiciously.
“I’m the last person you should ask,” Domi said with a snort. “I wake up and put on ‘work pajamas.’ Sometimes, I don’t even do that.” One of the many benefits of working from home.
Rae rolled her eyes.
“You still know what looks professional.” She frowned into the mirror.
“Is someone at work giving you a hard time?”
“Not exactly, but Sheila from HR has made a few comments about keeping hair colors more to natural colors.” Rae made a face. “As if her fire engine red is natural. That’s only natural on the Little Mermaid.” Domi giggled.
“I don’t think the green is unprofessional,” Domi said, tilting her head and looking at it. It wasn’t as if the green was all over Rae’s head, just a few braids scattered against the black. Though Domi had to admit, she didn’t think she’d seen too many accountants with green hair.
“Ugh, I want to quit so bad.”
“You know what you have to do then,” Domi said in a sing-song voice, stepping to the side, so she could bump her hip against Rae’s. Her bestie had been writing erotic romances for years, but the only person who had ever read them was Domi, who totally thought Rae could make it as an author. So far, Rae had refused to put them up anywhere anyone could see them.
To Domi’s surprise, instead of her usual denial, Rae ducked her head. Was that… was she blushing? It was hard to tell with her dark skin tone, but Domi was pretty sure Rae was blushing.
“Rae? Did you publish something?”
“Not exactly,” Rae said, still avoiding Domi’s gaze. “I put up one story on a free site for people to read.”
“And?” Domi was practically bouncing on her tiptoes, waiting for the verdict. “Has anyone read it? What did they think?”
“They seem to like it.” Rae shrugged as if it was no big deal. Rolling her eyes, Domi dug into her purse to pull out her phone.
“Where is it? I want to see.” It only took a little begging and pleading before Rae gave in and shared the web address. Domi pulled up Their Sexy Secret—her favorite one Rae had written—and squealed when she saw the rating and the comments. “Rae, this is amazing! They love it!”
“Not everyone,” Rae muttered. Domi hip-checked her again, still not looking up from the screen.
“Oh, shut up, almost everyone does, and you can’t please everyone. Look! This person thinks you need to publish it for real, and this person is saying they’d totally have bought it, and—”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Rae interrupted her. Yup, definitely blushing now. Rae gave it away by rubbing her cheeks as though she was attempting to rub away the heat filling them.
The door opened, and another woman walked in. Both of them jumped, looking up almost guiltily. To Domi’s surprise, they knew the new occupant. Domi recognized her from the times she and Rae had come to Marquis for their submissive class before it was officially open. A pretty white woman, she worked in the kitchen and looked like she’d just come off her shift, although she’d changed out of her chef’s coat. Her hair was still pulled back in a utilitarian ponytail, and the tight tank top she was wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination. Damn. Domi wished her boobs looked like that. Heck, she wished she had half the woman’s rack.
“Hey, Avery,” Rae chirped. Right, that was her name. Rae was actually good at remembering names, unlike Domi.
“Hi, Avery!” Domi repeated.
“Hi,” Avery came to a halt, looking at them apologetically. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your names.”
That made Domi feel a little better about initially forgetting hers.
“That’s okay,” Domi reassured her. “I forgot yours, too. Rae remembers everyone’s name, though. I’m Domi, and this is Rae.”
“Nice to see you again,” Avery said with a smile. Something flickered in her expression. “Hey, um… this might be a little weird to ask, but you two were going to that, uh, class upstairs, right?”
She knew they had been, but the uncomfortable way
