He leaned forward too, almost mesmerized by those eyes, those lips. Catching himself, he straightened up and cleared his throat.

“I’m trying to tell you I have certain other…proclivities. In the uh…sexual area.”

“Huh?”

He shook his head and smiled. “I like a little kink, sweetheart. More than a little, actually.”

Her eyes grew wide in her face again. “Kink? Really? How come I never knew this before?”

“I don’t exactly advertise it.”

“Oh, but...” she leaned over the table again. Surely any minute those bad boys would pop right out of that dress. “Do you mean you like it when someone whips you and ties you up?”

He frowned. “No, Amanda. I’m the one who does the whipping and tying.”

“Oh,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “And you—you want to do that to me?”

“No!” he shouted, and several heads in the restaurant turned toward them. He lowered his voice and took her soft hand in his. “No, Amanda. I certainly do not. You’ll be my wife and the mother of my children. Women like you are to be cherished and cared for. Some, like you need a little more care than others. They need to be put on a pedestal and protected always. I would never dream of doing kinky things with you.”

“Oh,” she said again, and was that a hint of disappointment in her voice? Surely not. “I see. Then why exactly are you telling me this, Mac?”

“Why? Well, because you need to know. You need to be able to decide if I’m too, um, too different for you. Too kinky, you know? You see, I don’t plan on giving my activities up after we get married.”

Amanda seemed to consider that carefully for a few moments and then nodded. “And how would that work exactly, Mac? Are you telling me you’ll want to have affairs?”

The waiter came over with their chicken parmigiana, and they waited until he left again. “No, Amanda, not affairs. But I would keep subs.”

Amanda picked up her knife and fork, as calm as if he’d told her he would keep tools in the garage. “I see,” she said. “You’d keep subs. I assume you mean submissives. Kind of like keeping puppies? And exactly what would that consist of, Mac? Would you keep them in a torture chamber in the basement?”

“No, not like…” Exasperated, he tried again. “No need to be insulting, Amanda. Since you seem to know the terminology, I assume you’ve heard of a Dom?”

“Yes. I read those books, just like everybody else.”

He nodded and continued. “Well, then you probably know that a Dom is into control. Some Doms like to whip their subs, or spank them. Sometimes a sub is tied down when that happens. A sub is a submissive—someone who gets off on being dominated by another person. By a Dom--like me.”

“And then you have sex with them?”

“Not always, no, but that’s definitely a possibility.”

“I see.”

“It’s just sex, Amanda.”

“I-uh-I really don’t know what to say to that, Mac. I had no idea.”

“If this is a deal breaker, then I’ll understand. But the way I envisioned this, our marriage would be entirely separate from my other activities.”

She stared silently back at him. This wasn’t going quite as he’d planned. He tried again.

“Look, some men play golf or fish, some spend hours in front of the television watching football. This will be something I’ll compartmentalize—separate from our family life. It’s not like an everyday thing. I’d take an occasional weekend, or maybe just a Saturday night here and there.”

She nodded slowly. “I think I understand. You want me to turn a blind eye to your extra-marital sexual activities—your very kinky activities-- in exchange for a big house and lots of babies for me.”

He leaned back in his chair, his lips a thin line. Trying hard to curb his temper, he wondered if he’d made a mistake, a really bad tactical error. Maybe what he was asking for was too much for any woman. Or maybe it was just Amanda. It seemed she had a bit of an attitude and a smart mouth. Funny, he’d never noticed that so much before. He knew she was a bit of a klutz and kind of adorably spacey, but not a smart aleck. Okay, he could work with that. She’d have to learn to curb that sarcasm of hers, but he could teach her that. He had to admit he liked the fact that she had a little spice in her nature. He decided to call her bluff.

“My activities are non-negotiable. So should we finish our dinner, and I’ll take you home?”

“No,” she said, sitting up straighter. “Not at all. But I do have another proposal for you. I wonder if it would be something you’d be willing to think about?”

“Another proposal? What kind? What do you mean?”

“Take me as your sub. Train me in whatever you need me to do. You know I’m a very quick study, and a hard worker. I can do this too. Train me to satisfy you. Then you could have your cake and eat it too. You’d have a suitable girl to take home to your mother, a good wife and mother for your children one day and someone to satisfy the kink you say you need, only within the marriage.”

Mac felt his eyebrows shoot up. He threw his napkin down and glared at her. “If you’re not going to take my proposal seriously…”

Amanda put her hand over his. “Make no mistake Mac. I am serious.”