Page 17 of Dominate Me

What in the hell was she doing here?

Anger immediately ignited in my veins. Had I missed the signs that she was just as manipulative as the woman across from me?

“You know what I want,” Meredith said, her voice tilted into the perfect submissive tone. It did absolutely nothing for me. “I’m desperate for it, Jensen. You know this, and I figured now that you’ve had enough time to get over Courtney, you’d be ready to take me in hand now.”

“That’s your problem, Meredith.” I glared at her and rose from my chair, tossing my napkin onto the table. “You reek of desperation and the way you just demanded, as if you know my needs, is the perfect reason why I won’t be your Dom, but also why most won’t. Let go of the control you force yourself to maintain and you’ll find someone.” I leaned forward, braced my palms against the table and lowered my voice. “That person will never be me. I’ve known you too long, have never wanted you in that way, and even if I had been, you’re still friends with Courtney for fuck’s sake.”

I was being harsher than I had ever been.

It was a dangerous move. While Meredith’s family and mine had always been close, it was her father’s company that brought a lot of my most important business to my desk. He’d always wanted me to be the main lawyer for his development company and I had always refused. I wanted to make a name for myself. Pissing off Meredith, who was slated to take over her father’s company when he retired and was already acting as vice president, was a risky move. It meant the potential to lose a lot of business should she force the issue.

Which furthered my resolve, as if it had been wavering. I never mixed business with pleasure.

As I stood from the table, my eyes immediately found Haley, but this time, her eyes were locked on mine.

Her lips parted and the glass of champagne she’d apparently ordered was frozen in front of her lush, bottom lip.

It was a genuine look of shock, one that couldn’t be feigned, and I forgot all about wondering if she was manipulating me.

There would have been no way for her to know where I’d be anyway.

My gaze stayed transfixed on Haley as I moved toward her. She looked away from me to Meredith at our table, and her jaw tightened before she turned back to the bar.

Before I reached her, I waved over my server and whispered for them to charge the dinner to my account explaining that Meredith and I needed to leave immediately.

Ignoring his baffled expression, I kept moving until I was standing directly behind Haley.

I wrapped my hand around her elbow and tugged her gently but firmly off her stool, until she wobbled on her feet.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, hissing out the question. “Spying on me?”

So the earlier assumption of manipulation hadn’t been completely forgotten.

She barely had time to set down her glass of champagne before I guided her down the hallway toward the bathrooms.

“Explain yourself,” I stated, letting go of her arm but effectively pinning her with my presence against a wall.

Pink rose on Haley’s cheeks and she backed herself farther against the wall. “What are you doing here?”

She looked up at me with those same damn, large green eyes I’d jacked off to every day, more than once, since Luminous.

“You didn’t come looking for me? You didn’t like what you had so much that instead of waiting for me to contact you like I promised I would, you didn’t search me out?”

She shook her head rapidly and was breathless when she answered. “No. Of course not, I mean, I was disappointed I hadn’t heard from you, but it appears you’ve had other matters to attend to.” Her lips pressed together at the insinuation. A flare of fire sparked in eyes. My hand itched to discipline that obstinate look. “And to answer your question, I’m here looking for a Mr. Rhodes. Not you.”

And...fuck.

My tongue ran across my upper teeth and I sucked in a seething breath. This was actually worse. “Haley, I am Mr. Rhodes, unless you were looking for my father, but he’s been dead for six years.”

“What?” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and those eyes widened. “What are you... No, I was looking for J.R....oh.”

Her lips curled into a perfect O as recognition took hold.

Closing my eyes, I focused on getting control.Never mix business and pleasure.

Dylan had drilled that into me from the very beginning of my mentorship. The lines between Dom-sub, Master-slave were hard enough to live out. Throw in a professional entanglement and things could get messy.

“You’re J.R. Rhodes.” Her bottom lip wobbled. “I called your office today. I need a lawyer desperately and your assistant said you were booked for three months, but then I heard her talk to you on the phone. She mentioned you being here tonight, so I needed a chance...I wasn’t...I was waiting for you to call.”

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