Page 21 of The Dom

The knots of tension that had still been twisting up my insides eased. He wasn’t angry at me for keeping this from him for so long.

But even as my shoulders relaxed, his eyes narrowed. “Ashlee, why did Nate fire you?”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that side of things.

I had to answer as honestly as I could without making Nate seem like a bad guy. Yes, he’d overreacted, but I refused to be one of those women who pulled other people into her relationship squabbles.

“He found some articles about the company, including a picture of the two of you together and some notes where I didn’t refer to you by name, so he thought I’d come to Manhattan Records with the intention of seducing him.”

Finley’s eyebrows shot up. “He thought you did what?!”

“We’ve worked it out,” I said, holding up a hand. “When he came to talk to me about the flash drive, I told him the truth, and we worked it out.”

“Still…”

“I just want to move past it,” I said, silently pleading with him with my eyes. “Please.”

“All right,” he agreed, but his face still held lines of concern. “Is it okay if I ask a couple questions?”

“Of course. Anything you want to know.” I was almost as excited to tell him about my life as I was to hear about his. I hadn’t wanted to let my expectations get too high, but now that we were here together, talking, and he wasn’t pushing me away, my previously restrained hopes were soaring.

“Does your mom know you found me?”

“Yes, and I have Nate to thank for that. She was there when I told him.”

“And she’s okay with you meeting me? As much as I want to get to know you, I don’t want to come between you and her.”

Any hidden doubts I may have had about the sort of man Finley was disappeared with that declaration.

“She is,” I assured him. “She gave me her blessing.”

“Good.” Something like relief crossed his face. “Then I guess it’s up to us to figure out where things go from here.”

He was right, I realized suddenly. It was entirely up to us.

Thirteen

Nate

I hadn’t asked Ashlee if she wanted me to be there when she told Finley, and she hadn’t said anything either way. She was strong enough to do it without me, I didn’t doubt that for a minute, but she’d lose none of my respect if she wanted my support. The more time I spent with her, the more I saw what an amazing woman I’d had working for me without me even knowing it.

I did need to check on dinner, which gave me the chance to let her and Finley have a few minutes to talk alone if that was what she wanted. After checking the salmon, I set the timer for a few more minutes before heading back to the library.

Before I reached the door, I heard Finley asked why I’d fired Ashlee, and I stopped. He sounded annoyed, and I knew my friend well enough to know that the emotion wasn’t aimed at her. I could only think of one reason why he would ask that question in that manner.

She’d told him.

A rush of pride went through me, and I could honestly say I’d never felt anything like it before. It was more than just a basic admiration for someone. I’d had times where I’d expressed pride in a sub’s restraint or obedience, but it had always been about sex, control, and the like. Not that there had ever been anything wrong with that, but I’d never felt this level of pride for something not in a sexual scene.

I continued to listen as Ashlee explained what had happened between us, ashamed at how she was protecting me by saying that I’d ‘overreacted.’ That was far too kind. And then she even credited me with her having told her mother about finding Finley.

At what felt like a pause in the conversation, I started moving again, stepping into the library before they could continue. My eyes automatically sought out Ashlee and found her looking paler than when I’d left, but she gave me a genuine smile, and I relaxed. She looked as if a weight had been lifted.

I crossed over to her and kissed the top of her head. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” I looked over at Finley. “Everything okay?”

“Apparently, I’m a father.”

It was only now that I could hear how completely shell-shocked he sounded. Understandable. It wasn’t every day that a college impulse became a twenty-three-year-old daughter.

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