Page 45 of Dominate Me

Jensen had been self-assured and confident. He’d been amusing and laid back.

He’d been everything I ever wanted in a boyfriend down to his manners and chivalry.

He’d been too much.

He’d curled me into his side, his hand clamped around my shoulder as if he couldn’t bear the thought of me being separated from him.

He anticipated everything I needed or wanted and then delivered them before I could think to ask.

He had played the perfect boyfriend. I hadn’t known for sure if it was for Lance’s benefit or Anya’s, but as the night progressed, it turned into something else. Something I was learning I wanted, but already knew he refused to give me. Playing I could handle. I could learn to live with that if that’s only what he gave me.

But in one night, in a matter of hours, Jensen made our situation murky and as he drove through the quiet, dark streets of Denton, it all became too much.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” he said.

How could he have missed it? I’d barely spoken a word since we got in the car twenty minutes ago.

“Tonight was strange,” I admitted.

“How so?”

The sign for Portsmouth Inn appeared after he turned a corner and I relaxed as Jensen pulled into the entry drive.

When he came to a stop in front of my carriage house, I faced him.

“Do you remember the night we spoke at Raccoon Brewery?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll remember you specifically stated we wouldn’t date. We’d play and have sessions but anything that occurred between us was training.”

His eyes narrowed. “Get to the point, Haley.”

Was I going to do this? I had to, to preserve my sanity at the very least. “I think we need to take a step back.”

“Pardon me?”

“The phone calls, the getting to know each other...tonight, even. It’s become too friendly.”

Silently, I pleaded with my eyes for him to understand what I couldn’t bring myself to say. I was falling for him. I was starting to like him.

His hands twisted around the leather steering wheel and he pulled his gaze off me. “I see.”

As the silence stretched, a weight settled in my stomach.

“Tell me something, Haley,” he said, turning back to me. “Did you not like being out together tonight? What would you have had me do instead? Ignore you?”

I wiped my forehead, pressing my fingertips at my temples. Was all of this supposed to be this stressful?

“I don’t know, Jensen. But I’m trying to find what works for me in this. I’m trying to understand the rules, the guidelines...to follow what you set, but your mixed signals aren’t helping.” Another moment’s pause. Another weighted silence. I reached for the door handle.

“Stop.”

I did without hesitation, but I didn’t look at him as he spoke.

“It’s my job, as your Dom, to take care of you, Haley. To see that you’re getting what you need even if you don’t understand what those needs are yet. If I crossed that line, then I apologize, but I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t pleased to see you out tonight, even if it was by coincidence. This doesn’t mean we can’t, and shouldn’t, become friends.”

The words were meant to give me comfort. Instead, they gave me hope. Something I couldn’t have.

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