“I’m not sure my hair can handle much more curl.”
“There is that.” He tugged on a loose piece, grinning down at her. He did love tugging her curls. Usually, Domi hated when people touched her hair, but with Mitch, she’d never minded—which probably should have clued her in to her feelings long before she’d figured them out.
“How about Tuesday? I have off that night.”
“Perfect.” A couple of days for her to adjust to the idea of going out on a date with him—and figure out what she was going to wear—and he took it as fact, she wouldn’t be going out with him while she had Ana. Domi liked that he didn’t try to push his way in immediately, even though he’d already met her daughter.
They sat, cuddling and watching the rest of Stronghold’s goings-on. They’d done this before, but it had never felt like this… as though they were a couple, and it wasn’t just aftercare.
When Rae and Master Eric were done, and it was time to go, Mitch walked them out to the car and gave Domi the sweetest kiss.
Once they were in the car, Rae gave her a look.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Do you?” Domi retorted. “I thought you said Master Eric was nice but didn’t really do anything for you.”
Something she hadn’t shared with Mitch, of course. She’d known he was fishing for information to bring back to Master Brian, and she hadn’t objected because she knew Rae had a thing for him, even if she wouldn’t admit it. Domi wasn’t going to go around spilling secrets.
“He doesn’t, but…”
“But?” Domi prompted when Rae hesitated.
Sighing, Rae brought the car to a stop at a red light, turning to look at Domi.
“You know that bitchy sub, Caroline? Well, she made sure to make a big deal out of the fact Brian was at Stronghold last night and scened with Alina. For some reason, even though I don’t want him, it still pissed me off, so when Master Eric asked, I said yes.” Rae’s lips twitched. “It might have had a little something to do with Caroline trying to get his attention before he asked me.”
Woah. Damn. Still, Domi couldn’t help laughing.
“You scened with him, so she couldn’t?”
“I am, one hundred percent, that petty.” Rae grinned, turning her attention back to the road when the light turned green. “It wasn’t a bad scene.”
“It just wasn’t as good as scening with Brian.”
The grin faded from Rae’s expression, and she sighed. She didn’t need to say it wasn’t; they both knew it was true.
“What if you didn’t have to call him Daddy?”
One shoulder lifted. From the side, it was harder to read Rae’s emotions, especially since she was clearly trying to keep her face blank.
“It’s still what he is. What he wants to be. And he needs to have his needs met, too. Which means he needs to find a submissive who wants that, and that submissive is not me… no matter how good our chemistry is.” Even keeping her face neutral, she couldn’t disguise the sadness in her voice. Damn. The situation sucked.
Everyone knew Brian and Rae had a thing for each other, but Rae was right. If she couldn’t give him what he needed, it was better to let it go and find someone who would—could.
Domi hated seeing her bestie down.
“I have a date with Mitch on Tuesday.”
“What?!” Rae shrieked, slamming one of her hands on the wheel. She shot Domi a quick glance, shaking her head, and her braids danced around her shoulders. “Girl! And you didn’t lead with that?”
“I feel weird about it.” Unable to hide her grin, happiness bubbling up inside her, Domi half-shrugged. “We’ve been…” She tried to think of the right word.
“Fucking for so long, dating seems strange?”
“Yup. That.” Both of them cracked up.
It did feel weird. Not like a step backward, exactly… but a step she hadn’t ever intended to take—one from which there was no coming back. Still, they could take that part of things slowly. It wasn’t as if they’d needed to be dating for her to develop feelings for him.
Heck, maybe the more she got to know him, the fewer feelings she’d have. Maybe part of her crush was because of the mystery. A week ago, she hadn’t even known what his job was.
Depressingly, that seemed more likely than anything else.
Still, it was better to try than to sit around and wallow, right?
Chapter Twelve
Mitch
The phone woke him on Sunday morning with his mother’s ringtone—Kylo Renn’s theme from Star Wars. His dad’s was Darth Vader’s. Usually, it amused him, but it was an unsettling way to wake up. He’d been having a very nice dream about Domi, but the ringtone killed his erection in record time.
Sitting up, he pulled his sheets up to his chest before answering. He always felt weird talking to his mom when he was naked, but somehow covering up with the sheets helped.
“Hello?”
“Hi, sweetie, did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I was getting up soon, anyway. It’s…” Mitch pulled the phone away from his ear to squint at the time. A few minutes before nine o’clock, which is when his alarm would have woken him up. Of course. He fell back against his pillow. Those few minutes probably wouldn’t have made much difference. “Almost nine o’clock. What’s up?”
“I was just calling to see how you’re doing. I haven’t heard from you in a couple weeks.” There was a slight chiding tone to her voice, the kind that never failed to make him feel guilty.
“I sent you some texts,” he said, even though he already knew what her answer was, and that she was right. He’d been dropping the ball between work and Domi, then Domi breaking up with him and him realizing he didn’t want her to.
“I know, but I like to hear your voice. Been busy at work?”
“Yeah, work’s been pretty crazy. I’ve been hanging out with my friends, too.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she said and almost managed to sound as though she meant it. She would have much rather he’d stayed closer to home, but he got the job offer in D.C., which was only a few hours away. Close enough to visit for a weekend but far enough, she couldn’t stop by whenever she felt like it. “I’m glad you’re making friends. Have you made any special friends down there?”
Which was her way of asking if he was dating anyone. Despite the way her relationship with his dad had gone down in flames, she still had the normal mom desire for her only offspring to be married. Or maybe she was just hoping for grandkids.
“No, Mom.” His standard response, complete with exasperation, was out before he thought about it. Though once he did have a moment to think about it, he didn’t want to change his answer. Things with Domi were too new, and he wasn’t sure where they were going to go yet. If he told his mom about her, when he’d never had any woman to tell her about, her expectations and hopes would go through the roof. It was better to keep her in the dark until he and Domi were more settled. See if they even had staying power.