Surprise and delight shot through Kelly when she discovered the belt had come loose. Paula could’ve easily taken back control, but she hadn’t. If Kelly had been standing she would’ve done a happy dance. Deep down, she’d always suspected, hoped at least, Paula was a submissive at heart.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” She pulled the panties out of Paula’s mouth, kissed her on the lips, and headed for the bedroom door.

“Wow. Am I dreaming?” Paula asked, her husky voice barely recognizable.

On the other side of the bedroom door, Kelly felt like she’d stepped out of a dream and into a nightmare.

Horrified, she stood frozen to the spot, mouth open.

“Hey, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Paula eyed her curiously.

Paula? Kelly’s head spun. Her vision blurred. If Paula was standing there looking at her with concern in her eyes, who the hell was in the bedroom?

Well, shit.

Mortified, Kelly trembled. Her stomach lurched. “Look out.” She pushed passed Paula, shot into the bathroom, and made it to the toilet just before the contents of her stomach made a reappearance; beer, a shot of tequila, chips and dip. Yuck.

“You okay?” Paula asked, rubbing Kelly’s lower back.

Groaning, Kelly heaved again. Her throat burned. Her stomach ached as though it’d been turned inside out. “I think I drank too much,” she lied, suddenly feeling very sober.

“Oh, darling. I shouldn’t have left you on your own for so long. Come on.” She tugged on Kelly’s arm. “Come and lie down, I’ll get you a bucket.”

Alarm shot through Kelly. “No!”

Holy crap, what a mess. She didn’t want to go back into Paula’s room. What if the other woman was still in there?

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“I just wanna go home.” Kelly staggered to her feet, keeping up the façade of being drunk. “I’ll get a cab.”

“Nonsense,” Paula replied. “Colette can drive you.”

As much as Kelly would rather not spend time alone with Paula’s personal assistant, Colette, she was in no state to argue. “Sure, thanks.”

Sticking her head out the door, Paula spoke in a hushed tone to someone who was obviously waiting to use the bathroom. “Murray, do you know where Colette is?”

“Nope, sorry. I haven’t seen her for a while. Last we spoke, she said she had a headache and needed to lie down.”

No, no, no. Oh please, no, not her.

Kelly’s stomach clenched. She clutched the cool hand basin with both hands, hung her head, and focused on taking slow, deep breaths.

“Give us a minute.” Paula closed the door and turned back to Kelly.

The care and concern radiating in her eyes made Kelly feel like crap. Her stomach ached, her head ached, her heart ached. A part of her wanted to come clean, but what was Kelly supposed to say?