Page 5 of Releasing Reenie

“Are you looking for a relationship, Reenie?” I tipped my tumbler, twirling the ice in my glass, watching her eyes widen a fraction at the directness of my question, and maybe the unexpected nickname. I couldn’t help myself. Maureen didn’t quite fit her outside of the campus. She recovered quickly, took a sip of her wine all the while holding my gaze.

“I’m not. I wasn’t.”

“So what is it we’re doing?”

She leaned back, uncrossing and recrossing her opposite leg. “For once in my life, I’m really not sure.”

It was an unguarded answer and, for some reason, it made me feel a bit like I’d won a prize.

“I like you,” she continued, “but you’re not my usual type. You feel a little dangerous to be honest.”

This made me smile widely. “I like being called dangerous. Hopefully you mean that in a good way.”

Our food arrived and I cursed the waitress under my breath for her timing.

Maureen picked up her fork and her lashes fluttered up until she locked eyes with me again.

“I’ll let you know.” Her smile was cheeky, and as she lowered her eyes to spear tortellini, warmth spread through my chest.

I stabbed a piece of my steak, trying to decide if it was time to push, or if I wanted to hold on to this a little longer.

“What about you? Are you looking for a relationship, Trent?”

I chewed, staring at the blue flecks in her gray eyes, and swallowed. There was an inaudible hum between us?some connection I felt deeply but yet couldn’t fully understand. It was unnerving. “I think I am.”

“And even though I’m not sure, you still want to try?” She assessed me a moment before looking down at her food.

“I do. But there’s something I need you to know.”

Her eyes flitted up to mine again as she slipped a button mushroom past her lips. “Hm?”

CHAPTER 3

Maureen

“I like you, feel a real connection with you, but before things progress, I need you to know that I’m a Dominant, a Daddy Dom actually.”

Trent’s last words rang in my head, and suddenly they were all I could hear aside from the blood thrumming in my ears. The whole restaurant, the noises of which had been a pleasant humming bustle around us only moments ago, disappeared into a blur that seemed to roar around me.

I couldn’t breathe. The date had been going so well too. The food had been excellent, the conversation engaging, and Trent’s smile had kept me enraptured through the whole evening. Perfectly straight, white teeth, tan skin, full lips that I knew were soft, and oh, those dimples! Those dimples were my weakness. I could have happily stared at them all night.

Then suddenly, without warning, they’d disappeared, and he’d fallen serious. And popped out with the one thing I’d needed him not to say. He was a Dom. A Daddy Dom, no less. And yes, I’d called it in the stupid little game I played, butthinking it, knowing he fit the type, was very different from hearing it out loud. It was different from hearing what he’d said next, too.

He wanted a submissive, or a woman who was willing to be one. Out of the bedroom, it didn’t matter, but in the bedroom was a must, a dealbreaker. It was that important. Because of course it was.

And now I was sitting here, barely cognizant of what was going on around me, aware of nothing other than the fact that Trent was sitting in front of me, wearing a crooked half-smile and anxious eyes, awaiting a response.

I looked at his chest. It wasn’t moving, not even a little bit. He was holding his breath, reminding me I was too.

I took a breath. He didn’t.

“I…um…” I could barely get the words past the lump in my throat. I knew I wouldn’t be able to speak them out loud. Couldn’t watch his reaction as I played the Grinch to his hopeful Cindy-Loo Who. “I…. Excuse me.” I jumped up and rushed to the bathroom, shoving the heavy door closed behind me, relieved when I found it empty.

Suddenly unable to stand up straight, I doubled over, balancing with my legs bent, my hands splayed on my knees as I gasped for breath.

This was the worst possible outcome for a date like this one. It had all been going so well, and then, BAM! I couldn’t go back out there.

Expelling several puffs of air until my lungs stopped burning, I made my way to the counter where the sinks were and splashed cold water on my face, makeup be damned.