Page 32 of Becoming the Owners
“That’s my punishment right there.” His drama was delightful even when he wasn’t naked. “You just using my name. Yep, that’s my punishment.”
“Good try, but no.” Bopping his nose with one finger had him glaring at me. “Do you have to go back to work or are you done for the day?”
It was late enough in the afternoon that it could go either way, but based on how much stress he’d been wearing on his shoulders lately, I’d have to go with he usually worked a lot more. Before he could answer, I stroked his cheek and forced myself to pull it back. “If you tell me you need to work to get stuff done that just has to be done, I won’t say anything. But I really don’t want you to work yourself into the ground without a damned good reason.”
He shot daggers at me with his gaze.
“That’s just rude. You’re supposed to make big, sweeping, controlling decisions so I can ignore them.” Conner actually folded his arms over his chest and huffed. “Where do you get off being sweet and sensible?”
God, he was sexy when he was nuts.
“It’s the best way to manipulate you, of course.” My answer had him narrowing his eyes and trying to decide if I was fucking with him or not.
After a moment, he barked out an answer. “Fine.”
Taking that to mean he still didn’t know if I was fucking with him, I smiled as he stepped closer like he was challenging me. “I have a few more calls to make and then I can stop, but this doesn’t mean I like being manipulated.”
God, I wanted to kiss him.
But his drama gave me a fun opening I couldn’t miss, so I stayed on track. “And I don’t like being manipulated either. Next time, let me know how I should behave.”
It took about two seconds for his brain to remember the spanking part of our conversation. Curiosity and questions flashed through his eyes but there was heat there too. Conner was at the very least curious and thought he’d like it, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for it yet.
“I’ll make things more clear next time.” There wasn’t even a flinch as he talked about us spending more time together. “And I’m out at work. I don’t hire anyone who’s an asshole. When I was telling my foreman and a few people like that about the club, they laughed and were surprised I hadn’t dragged them to do weird shit before.”
His frown had me wanting to press my lips between his brows, but I behaved myself as he huffed. “I’m starting to think they know about the club and cage stuff.”
I couldn’t decide if he was fucking with me or being serious, so I played it straight. “Then it’s good that you’ve got other ways of managing your stress now, including having a Dom who isn’t afraid to use guilt and manipulation when necessary.”
Conner just started grumbling under his breath before he took a deep breath. “Yes, lucky me.”
Cutest crazy man ever.
“So, do you need to go back to your office to make calls? What’s the best way to handle this so you get your work done?” I was being serious about not fucking with his job.
Guilt was going to work much better.
He took a breath, mentally shifting as he stopped planning how he was going to hide my body in a shallow grave. After a moment, he looked down and seemed nervous for the first time. “Um…Well, I could do them from your place if you don’t mind me using your kitchen to make a few calls?”
Before I could respond, he hurried to keep going. “I was thinking we could order in and just hang out but if you wanted to go out, that’s fine. I’m not—”
“Wait, birdie.” When he paused, I kept my gaze on his and did my best to be clear. “I don’t have any expectations about what we’re going to do, but I have a few questions. Is that alright?”
When he nodded, I continued with the same even tone. “Do you need to go out for attention or just because you want to?”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to please me or if he was being honest about what he wanted. His tone hadn’t exactly been confident when he mentioned going to my place.
That got a smile from him. “For attention, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not an idiot. You will need a lot of attention, pretty bird.”
And this week, he hadn’t gotten nearly as much as he’d been needing lately.
His smirk said I was right but he wasn’t going to admit it. “I don’t need to go out. I think staying in would make it easier to talk.”
“I think that sounds like a good plan.” And it might let me cuddle him sooner than I’d expected. “How about you follow me back to my place and while you’re finishing up work, I’ll order delivery?”
That got an immediate nod and he perked up, his eyes back to naughty and twinkling. “But it’s my treat since I was naughty.”
