Page 36 of Secret Submission

Julie sighed.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to?—”

“I don’t,” he said, reassuring her. She was watching him intently, clearly trying to read his expression. He smiled at her, hoping she’d seen the sincerity in his gaze, hear it in his voice. It was no hardship, and he wanted to help. “I’m happy to meet your family.”

“Right.” She sighed. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want you to meet them. I just also don’t want you to feel forced to.”

“I don’t. I’ll meet them to help, and also because I want to. If we keep seeing each other, it’ll happen eventually, anyway. Why not sooner rather than later? If it makes you feel better, you can join me on one of my video calls with my parents sometime.” That was the right thing to say. He could see her relax. Not all the way, but he’d take what he could get.

“That would be nice.” The smile that now curved her lips looked much more genuine than the previous one.

Their server appeared at their table again, effectively halting the conversation.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked hopefully as she picked up their plates. “Would you like to see our dessert menu?” Julie and Connor glanced at each other.

“I think I’m good,” Julie said slowly when he didn’t speak right away.

“Me, too.” He could always go for dessert, but he didn’t need it. However, answering in the negative made his nerves rachet up a bit more. That meant they’d be heading to Stronghold next.

On the other hand, getting it over with would probably be better than prolonging the wait. He wasn’t going to get less nervous.

“Just the check, then.” Julie was the one directing the server, but Connor was already reaching for his wallet. He hoped she didn’t think she was paying.

He wasn’t sure what the rules were when it came to being a submissive and paying for dinner, but he was still a gentleman, and they were on a date. Was it odd to feel a bit of relief when she let him pay without a fight?

Julie

The tension inside of Connor was twisting tighter and tighter as they walked toward the door to Stronghold. Julie pressed her lips together. Maybe she was asking too much of him. Maybe this was too fast. And on the same night that she’d asked him to meet her family, too.

Which might be a mistake if they couldn’t even go out with their friends together.

On the other hand, her family wouldn’t know their dynamic, which she was pretty sure was his problem with going into Stronghold.

She put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving forward, even though it was a bit of a stretch for her despite the heels she was wearing. As soon as he stopped, she shifted around to stand in front of him, her hand on his chest, head tilted back to look up into his face. The lights in the parking lot created odd shadows, making it harder to read his expression.

“We don’t have to go in.”

Taking a deep breath, he let it out, lifting his head to look past her at the front door of the building. Unlike Marquis, Stronghold was in the warehouse district, and that’s exactly what it looked like from the outside. There wasn’t much to see other than the front door and the long, featureless exterior walls. The club didn’t have a sign because they didn’t want to advertise what they were.

If you knew, you knew.

“I think I need to,” he said after a moment, his shoulders hunching slightly. “If I chicken out now, it’s going to be so much harder next time.”

Julie nodded slowly.

Letting her hand drop, she moved back to his side, sliding her fingers through his. It was a little odd to feel like such a big man might need her protection when she was practically a third his size, but she felt protective. Connor was a giant teddy bear. Everyone had thought so, even when they’d thought he was a Dom.

Now, he was her teddy bear, and she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him.

Not that she thought anyone would. In her opinion, he was worked up over a completely imaginary situation. But if anyone did give him a hard time about not knowing that he was a submissive when he’d first started his kink journey, she was going to cut them the fuck down to size. Then she’d send Patrick after them. If there was anything left worth sending him after. Which there might not be when she was done with them.

Connor looked down at her, giving her a lopsided smile that looked a bit more like a grimace.

“It’s not you, it’s me,” he quipped, making her laugh. Strangely, her laughter seemed to ease some of his tension. He took a deep breath as he straightened back up, squaring his shoulders. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Okay.” She squeezed his hand and started moving again. He moved with her, tension slowly seeping back into his frame as they got closer to the door. By the time they reached it, he was nearly rigid, but he still reached out with his free hand to grab the door and open it for her.

As he did, Julie made a calculated risk assessment.

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