Page 15 of Secret Submission

One bright spot in his day—Sandra had been completely stymied in her search. She hadn’t been able to find anything about his mystery date, though that wasn’t going to stop her from continuing to look. Whether or not she’d eventually find Julie… well, if he was lucky, by the time she did, he’d feel more comfortable talking about him and Julie.

If there was still a him and Julie.

She had texted him today to tell him that Olivia and Camille were cheering for him and that they’d both offered up their partners to talk to him if he wanted to. Which made him feel better. Freddy might be a lot smaller and slimmer than him, but he was known as a ruthless lawyer in the courtroom, and there were quite a few dominants who stepped gingerly around him, even in the club. It didn’t matter that he was a sub. Olivia’s fiancé, Luke, wasn’t someone Connor knew personally, but he was a fairly big, muscular, Alpha-type-looking guy. He might know what it felt like to have people make assumptions about who he was in the scene, except that he’d come into it as Olivia’s submissive from the beginning.

Connor sighed.

This wasn’t getting him anywhere. He needed to get out of the car and go inside and tell his friends.

Julie had already told hers. He’d thanked her for letting him know about Freddy and Luke. He might reach out to them. Especially if things went poorly tonight.

He really hoped it didn’t go poorly tonight.

A knock on his window made him jump, which made him hit his head because there was only about an inch of space between him and the roof of his car. Muffled laughter filtered through the closed door, and he ruefully rubbed where he’d hit his head as he looked out the window to see Asad and Morgan standing there.

“Doing okay there, buddy?” Asad asked, grinning widely. The two of them made an attractive couple—Asad with his tanned skin, black hair and eyes, and muscular frame, next to Morgan with her extremely pale skin and long red hair. She had bright green eyes that stood out against the pink and cream of her cheeks, and her hair and makeup were always done to perfection.

“I’m fine.” He waved his hand at Asad, motioning him back—Morgan had already started to move out of the way—so he could get out of the car. She tugged on her boyfriend’s hand, pulling him with her. “Just… thinking.”

“Very deep thoughts, I saw,” Asad teased. He was always joking around and teasing. It was how he showed he cared. Connor didn’t mind because it meant Asad did most of the talking for him.

Actually…

“I was thinking about my date last night with Mistress Julie.” Saying the words out loud made his chest clench, but it was easier to say them to Asad than just about anyone else. Even Q, who was a switch. Maybe because Asad never took anything too seriously—other than Morgan—so he was the least likely to be upset about Connor’s deception.

Asad froze, blinking like a deer in headlights, as though he couldn’t understand the words Connor had just said. Which made his anxiety ramp up again, but Morgan’s expression lit up.

“That was a date? You’re her secret admirer? Oh, Connor, that’s lovely.” Letting go of Asad’s hand, she rushed forward to throw her arms around Connor. Since Morgan wasn’t exactly free with her hugs, he appreciated the gesture as he hugged her back, doing his best not to crush her. It was a fast hug, because that was all Morgan did, but a much-appreciated one. She stepped back, brushing her hair back from her face as she turned to Asad. “Isn’t that lovely?”

“You’re her secret admirer?” Asad repeated blankly, rather than answering Morgan.

The little bit of ease that her hug had given Connor wasn’t lasting very long, but he managed to nod. If Asad freaked out, he was just going to get in the car and drive away because if Asad freaked out, he couldn’t imagine what everyone else’s reaction was going to be. His nerves were ramping up as Morgan frowned and reached for Asad’s hand again. He was about to get back in his car and flee when Asad suddenly broke out into a gleeful grin.

“Holy crap! Law is going to freak! This is amazing! Let’s go tell him!”

“Asad!” Morgan called after him in exasperation as he bounded toward the front door, leaving her and Connor behind. He spun around to look at them.

“Come on! Hurry up!” He waved his hand impatiently.

The weight on Connor’s shoulders lifted. Not all the way, but a lot of it. Asad wasn’t mad. Even the prospect of needling Law wouldn’t distract him if he’d been mad. He didn’t get mad often, but when he did, he wasn’t going to be goofing around and annoying his friends.

So, that was one person who wasn’t upset with him. Two if he counted Morgan.

“The date went well?” she asked as they started walking toward Asad, who was impatiently hopping back and forth, still waving them on. Connor took shorter steps than usual… to keep up with Morgan, of course. Not because it would drive Asad nuts when he was trying to get them to hurry. Funny enough, Morgan was taking her time, too.

“I think so. She was surprised, I think, to find out that I was her secret admirer?—”

“I bet,” Morgan murmured.

“But we had a good evening. And she said she’d be interested in seeing me again, and not just at Marquis. I think we’re going to date, and I’m going to… explore.”

“I’m happy for you.” She tilted her head to look up at him, smiling, and he could feel that she really meant it.

“I’m happy for you, too, but I’m even happier for me,” Asad said gleefully, grabbing Morgan’s hand now that she was in reach and pulling her along with him. She shot Connor an apologetic look over her shoulder. “Tonight is going to be so much more entertaining than I anticipated. Come on!” He got to the door and opened it, pulling Morgan in along with him, no knocking needed. Law tended to leave it unlocked when he knew people were coming over.

Taking a deep breath, Connor followed them.

7

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