Page 1 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

PROLOGUE

Tess

My dress feels like a second skin as I slip into it. The black dress is elegant, tailored, and somehow manage to command attention without demanding it.

For almost three years, I've slipped into Indigo's black dresses after lectures, exams, group projects, and late-night study sessions. They paid for my bachelor’s degree in business administration, my apartment, and more instant noodles than I care to admit.

Tonight, I wear it for the last time.

The low pulse of the music reaches me before I step through the curtain separating the staff corridor from the club floor. Warm amber light spills across polished wood and dark leather, softening the room without hiding anything. Every piece of furniture has a purpose. Every rope, every crop, every cuff has its place. Nothing resembles the sensational stories people love to tell about places like this. If anything, Indigo reminds me of a luxury hotel where every detail has been considered long before the guests arrive.

"Relax your shoulders." Kate Williams steps beside me, all effortless confidence and quiet authority. Even without the black leather she favors when she's on the floor, people instinctively give her space. As Indigo's head Domme, dungeon monitor, and one of the club's owners, she has spent years making sure every guest leaves safer than they arrived. Her gaze lingers on me for a moment before the corner of her mouth lifts. "Last night jitters?"

I let out a quiet laugh. "Something like that."

"You'll be fine." She smooths an imaginary crease from my sleeve. "You always are."

Three years have blurred together into faces more than scenes. Nervous first timers. Experienced submissives. Men and the occasional woman who arrived carrying burdens they couldn't quite put into words and left standing a little straighter than when they came in. The implements were never the point. The scenes were about people. About recognizing fear before it became panic, uncertainty before it became regret, and knowing that trust is something you earn long before anyone places it in your hands.

Kate hands me a slim folder. "Tonight’s guest is a newbie."

I glance down.

Michael. Forty-three. Recently divorced. Curious but anxious. No impact play. No restraint. No humiliation. Wants structure. Needs reassurance. Tends to apologize when nervous.

The corner of my mouth lifts.

Nervous guests have always been my favorite. They remind me that courage isn't walking through the door without fear. It's walking through despite it.

Kate studies me for a long moment before she sighs. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too."

"Not just me." She gestures toward the club floor. "You've got regulars who'll ask where Mistress T disappeared to. Chris is going to sulk for weeks."

I laugh. "Chris doesn't sulk."

"No?" One eyebrow arches. "He'll brood quietly while pretending he's fine. Which is somehow worse."

The image comes easily. Six feet of muscle, built like he could lift a pickup truck, looking utterly lost because his Mistress's favorite colleague had moved on. He adored Kate with a devotion that never failed to make me smile, and Yvonne would undoubtedly spend weeks teasing him about it.

Before I know it, I've wrapped my arms around Kate.

"Thank you," I whisper. "For taking a chance on me. For teaching me. For... all of it."

She hugs me back just as tightly.

"You've never needed me as much as you thought you did."

I pull back, blinking hard.

Kate points toward the club floor. "Go."

"Kate..."

She waves a hand. "Before you make me cry, Chris sees it, and then I'll never hear the end of it."

My laugh escapes before I can stop it.