“I brought you a present,” he said, before she could decide whether or not she should scold him for showing up at her office door. He strode across the office quickly, holding it out in front of him like a shield, as an expression of bemusement cross her face.

Placing it on the desk in front of her, he grinned. Olivia’s lips pursed.

“This is not as cute as you think it is,” she said, but her tone of voice wasn’t entirely convincing as she reached out to stroke the soft leather of the flogger’s strands.

Luke thought it was pretty cute. A little flogger bouquet with a crop centerpiece. It almost looked like a floral arrangement. He’d found it at the same kink store he’d bought his pants from. They had some interesting stuff there.

“Sure it is,” he said cheerfully, sitting down in what he was starting to think of as ‘his’ chair. Olivia eyed him, her lips still pursed, but she didn’t tell him to get out. “Besides, after last night I figured you could use a couple extra implements on hand. One of those floggers is pocket sized.”

“Men’s pockets maybe,” she said, a reluctant smile sliding across her lips. “Women’s pockets suck.”

“Purse sized, then,” he said, refusing to be defeated. Especially when she was smiling for him.

“So, heard about last night already?” she asked, a little ruefully. “Gossip is getting even faster around here.”

“Actually, I was at Stronghold with the guys when Hilary texted Liam,” he explained, not liking the idea that she would think he was part of the gossip chain. He didn’t mind when gossip benefited him, but he didn’t want to really be a part of it. Olivia was definitely more close-mouthed than the rest of her friends.

She snorted. “I bet that was fun to watch them panic. I told her she should just wait until he got home to tell him. They all freak out when they can’t be there immediately.”

“They were definitely doing that,” he said with a grin, leaning back in his chair. “Even Jake got caught up in it a bit.” And himself, but he wasn’t going to admit that right now. Olivia had obviously taken care of herself and wasn’t feeling any lingering upset or anything.

One thing led to another, and he and Olivia ended up talking—about the night before, the guys, the girls, Stronghold, Marquis... She slowly relaxed, seeming to forget that he was her ‘boss’ and just treated him like she would anyone else. Luke would have liked a little more flirting, but he could also deal with just getting to know her a little better for now.