Nathan’s failed at everything he’s tried to do: school, work, relationships. When he’s picked up in a coffee shop with the promise of a spanking, he figures he has nothing to lose. But life with Daniel tests his will and his nerve. Can Daniel lure him in with the promise of something more, or will Nathan resist his attempts to train him to obedience? 

I met Daniel the day I was fired from my third job in two years. I’d gone straight from my boss’s office to the coffee shop on the corner, where the muffins were divine even if the coffee was undrinkable.

I was drowning my sorrows in raspberry and chocolate chip when an amused voice said, “Bad day?”

He was sitting at the table next to me. I hadn’t noticed him when I came in, which goes to show how distraught I’d been, because he was definitely someone I’d have noticed. Tall, broad-shouldered, his muscled thighs straining in his dark gray slacks—he sat with a confidence I’d yet to find in my twenty-eight years.

“Terrible,” I said, with a downward swipe of my eyelashes.

He wasn’t immune to the effect. I could sense his interest in the tension that sprang between us. I snuck a look and saw that the pupils of his clear gray eyes were dilated.

I might be a failure at everything else, but I could still catch the attention of a man. I knew I was attractive with my midnight hair and blue eyes, my artfully stubbled chin just a smudge past five o’clock. I never had a problem reeling them in, but finding ones that were good for me—well, that was a different story.

And the ones I knew were good for me always ended up boring me after a few dates. I don’t know why I was so flighty. It wasn’t like I wanted my freedom: I wanted Mr. Right. But he seemed to live only in my fantasies.

Mr. Right Now took a long slow sip of his coffee. I admired his ability to keep it down, it was that bad. “Why so terrible?”

I attempted to look wronged. “I was fired.”

Perhaps it was my imagination, but I thought his eyes chilled a little. “Fired,” he repeated. “Why?”

I shrugged. “My boss never liked me. She was always finding something to criticize. She’d get mad if I was even a few minutes late, or didn’t finish a report on time.”

The coldness traveled from his eyes to his voice. “Why were you late?”

His tone should have creeped me out, but instead I found it kind of a turn on. Big bad papa getting his stern on. “I don’t know. I never mean to be late. Sometimes it just happens.”

A small smile played on his lips. My eyes went to them—full, stern, and oh-so-kissable. “It sounds like she was right to fire you.”

I shrugged again. “Maybe.”

His eyes had lost none of their sternness, but his mouth was still smiling. “It also sounds like you’re due a spanking.”

All my blood rushed south. I’d played some of those bedroom games before and could take or leave them, but something in the way he’d said it was like a hardwired connection to my cock.

“You think?” I attempted to sound flirtatious, but instead it just came out hoarse.

“Yeah.” His eyes swept me from head to toe. I could see the bulge in his groin, and I was sure he could see mine. “Maybe I can make your day better.”

As lines went, it wasn’t the most original. But I said I was flighty, not hard to get.