Page 20 of Secret Submission

Julie was wearing one of her favorite date dresses, a bright emerald-green silk that cut low in front and had a slit up the front. The slit was really only visible when she walked, where it flirted around her thighs. With her hair pulled up high and back and her makeup on point, she felt sexy as hell, and when Connor looked up to see her coming toward him and his eyes widened, drinking in the sight of her, it felt like confirmation.

Lifting her chin, she sashayed right up to him and smiled. Did she have to tilt her head back to do so? Yes. Did she feel any less powerful? No. Not when the expression on his face was one of pure worship.

“Hello, Connor.”

“Mistress.” He said the word as though he savored it, filling her chest with warmth, his eyes still eating her up.

Yeah, whatever hard time Law gave her, she had a feeling Connor was going to be worth it.

Reaching out to take his hand, she slid her slim fingers through his giant ones. At some point, she would very much like to know what those fingers would feel like inside of her. Maybe even sometime tonight.

Hand securely tucked in his, Julie turned to smile serenely at Freddy and Tori, who were watching them with starry eyes. This was one of the reasons she’d decided to have their first evening together here at Marquis rather than at Stronghold.

“Thank you, Freddy. We’ll be back up later.” Turning away from the front desk, she only had to tug Connor’s hand a little to get him moving. He gave Freddy and Tori a little wave as they went.

Julie didn’t have to turn around to know the two were immediately bending their heads together to discuss her and Connor. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could hear the whispering. Amused, she led Connor down the stairs to the main dining room, where they entered through the back of the restaurant and made their way to the hostess stand.

The restaurant was packed, but thankfully, the acoustics were such that conversation was still possible without yelling. Julie had always appreciated the design of the restaurant—there were so many bare-bones places now where it was hard to actually talk if the tables were filled up because everyone’s voices just echoed against the walls and ceiling.

Not that she and Connor were doing much talking yet. Other than greeting each other, they didn’t say another word till they were seated at a corner booth. Julie detected Olivia’s hand in the table selection, even though the Domme wasn’t anywhere in sight.

The corner booth meant they were seated next to each other in a way, but they could also see each other. They could hold hands if they wanted to, while watching each other talk. It wasn’t as awkward as sitting on the same side of the table and also far more intimate than sitting on opposite sides of the table.

“Have you eaten down here before?” she asked as they picked up their menus.

“Yes, but it’s been a while. I’ve met Law here for dinner a few times.” Connor looked down at the menu, seemingly a little nervous.

“I haven’t,” Julie admitted, which made him look up at her in surprise. “At least, not for dinner down here in the dining room. I’ve come to brunch, and I’ve been to the bar a few times around happy hour, but this is the first time I’ve actually eaten in the dining room.”

“I would have thought you’d eat down here all the time.”

“I think it’s one of those things where you don’t often do the things that are closest to you.” She grinned at him. “Like living right outside DC, but never having been to the top of the Washington Monument.”

“You’ve never been to the top of the Washington Monument?” It wasn’t the first time that admission had garnered a slightly horrified reaction, and it made her laugh every time.

It also got the conversation rolling through the server coming to take their food and drink orders as they compared notes on what local features they’d never actually been to. While Connor had done the Washington Monument, he’d never been to the Cherry Blossom Festival—which was one of Julie’s favorite things to do every year—and neither of them had gotten around to visiting the Spy Museum. However, Connor did admit that was because he’d never been particularly interested in spies. His favorite museum was the Air and Space Museum, while Julie preferred the art galleries. Though, she did admit that she liked the IMAX movies the Air and Space Museum showed.

It was the most she’d ever heard Connor talk in one sitting, in part because she didn’t allow him to just sit back and listen to her. She wasn’t a huge talker herself, though she could hold her own, and she wanted to know as much about him as he did about her. It was only fair.

Talking about all the places they’d been turned the conversation to their families, who had taken them to such places. By the time their food arrived, they were comparing notes once they found out they were both only children.

“I have a huge family. My mom is one of four, my dad is one of five, and all my aunts and uncles decided to have multiple kids. I was an only child in most ways, but not in others since I was always spending time with my cousins.” She smiled at the memories since it was her cousins she’d gone down to visit the museums with.

“My mom was an only child and so was my dad, so no cousins for me. I have some second cousins that I met a few times. Or… cousins once removed?” Connor shook his head. “We just called them my cousins, even though they weren’t, really.”

“Were you lonely?” Considering what an introvert he was, her heart ached at the idea of a lonely little boy.

“Sometimes, but not usually. Somehow, I always got adopted into a group of friends. Someone always took pity on me and pulled me in to hang out with them and their friends.” He said it so matter-of-fact, but she couldn’t help noticing that he didn’t call them his group of friends. It was someone else’s group of friends he got to hang out with—an important distinction that explained a lot about why he’d been so nervous to tell his friends about his crush on her.

Did he think they weren’t really his friends, but actually someone else’s who he also got to spend time with?

“Who brought you into your current group?” she asked. Maybe it was Law, and that was why he was so protective.

“Asad.”

Well, there went that theory. But it was interesting. She wondered if knowing how protective Law was of him would help Connor realize that his friends valued him for him.

“Asad is definitely an extrovert. I feel like he’s done that with quite a few of his friends.” She smiled at him. “Olivia did something similar with me and Camille. She just decided we were going to be friends, and the next thing I knew, we’re having regular lunches together.”

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