Page 73 of Stripping the Sub
It had been nearly a month since their first ‘outing’ together at the zoo and sometimes he felt like things were two steps forward, one step back with her. Sometimes both steps back. Whenever they were together she would start to relax and be herself, and then she’d suddenly tense up and draw back a little. Not just from him, from everyone. Everyone just kept treating her the same until she relaxed again and everything would be fine until the next time.
Michael didn’t like to ignore an issue, but he wasn’t sure pointing it out would help. Especially since Ellie didn’t seem inclined to talk about it.
He just wanted to help her and wasn’t sure how.
Maybe there wasn’t anything he could do.
But he wished he at least knew what was wrong.
When Patrick finally came in with Lexie and Luke behind him, Ellie perked up again and Michael found himself fighting back jealousy. He knew she was just interested in meeting Luke because she’d heard Michael talking so much about him, but considering they weren’t officially dating he wasn’t feeling secure enough to be okay with her interest in another man. Especially one as good looking as Luke.
So Michael made sure to stand close beside her as he introduced her to Luke, one hand on her back.
The other man just smiled amiably, shaking her hand and letting go, completely normal and not at all flirtatious or even overly friendly. Smart man.
“Michael talks about you a lot.”
“Oh?” Ellie sounded surprised and almost fascinated, which just served to make Michael frown. Why would she be surprised?
“Of course I do,” he said, looking down at her. Luke had already moved on to shaking hands with Justin, but his blue eyes were on Olivia, who was sitting back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, watching his every move. Michael ignored that for now, Patrick could deal with it. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She shrugged, her gaze sliding down towards the floor, and Michael inwardly cursed. Dammit, he’d made her withdraw again. Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he tugged her against him, watching her carefully for any signs of panic. To his relief, she snuggled in against him, her hand creeping around his waist almost tentatively. He dropped his lips to her ear to whisper.
“I promise I only said nice things.”
Turning her head slightly, she peeked at him. “Yeah?”
He couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward the extra couple inches to drop a kiss on her lips.
Slowly.
So she had time to pull away if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
Smug but cautious, Michael didn’t extend the kiss. “Yeah.”
Hoping no one had caught their private moment, Michael looked up again. He shouldn’t have worried. Everyone was watching Luke, who was leaning against the counter and trying to talk to Olivia, who was being polite but distant.
Dammit. Looked like he might lose the bet to Patrick after all.Luke was a pretty charming guy.Michael had thought he’d be able to win Olivia over immediately, but it looked like she wanted to be a harder case than he’d anticipated. The expression on her face was reserved, as if she was withholding judgment while she studied Luke.
Neither Rick nor Justin looked entirely pleased at Luke’s interest in Olivia. They all knew he’d expressed interest in the club. If he thought Olivia was a submissive, he was going to be in for quite a surprise.
“I’m looking forward to working with you,” he said, giving Olivia a wide, warm smile.
Olivia nodded her head. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Her tone said anything but.
“Hey Luke, can we get you a beer or sangria or anything?” Michael asked, deciding to rescue the poor man, who looked like he was trying to think of something charming to say to Olivia. At this point, he was better off being pulled back. Olivia remained reserved, and the more anyone pushed her, the more likely it was she would bite someone’s head off. Since they hadn’t finalized the deal with Luke yet, Michael would prefer not to lose the man before he became their newest partner.
Afterthe deal was set, it would be funny if he tried to be dominant with Olivia.
She’d hand his ass to him on a silver platter.
“Water would be great, actually,” Luke said, turning towards him. As Patrick grabbed a glass from the cabinet, Lexie started telling Rick, Maria, and Olivia about Luke’s rescue dog Molly, who was apparently too cute to be believed and the reason they’d been running late. Lexie hadn’t wanted to leave the adorable mutt.
“She’s a total cuddle whore,” Lexie said. “She’s like, fifty pounds, but she thinks she’s a lap dog.”
