Page 35 of Submissive Lies

“None taken.”

“What all that boils down to is that I’ve become indispensable to my bosses in many respects. Because, you know, not many people will do what my dad taught me and make that extra effort.”

“Smart man.”

“He is.”

“He’s got a very smart daughter, too.”

I blushed. As much as I hated that I was doing it, I did.

-Oh, this bastard is smooth. You are so fucked.-

He’s just being sweet.

-Uh huh. And he is going to sweet talk his way right into your panties.-

It’s. Just. Dinner.

-Oh, sure, sure. Hey, by the way, has Thomas called yet? Hmm?-

Shit. I started to reach for my bag to grab my phone and check it again, but I stopped. No. I was enjoying Steve’s company too much right now to ruin it by looking at my phone. I knew what I was likely to find. Nothing. I knew there’d been no call, because if there had I would have known. And I was betting there was no text either. Those thoughts alone were enough to start irritation building in me, and I forced apart fingers that wanted to clench. No. Fuck the phone and fuck Thomas Kiernan. I didn’t know what his problem was right now, but I’d be damned if I was going to let it impact this evening. I’d check the phone at the restaurant, deal with whatever bullshit reason he had for ignoring me later. Right now, I was going to live in this moment. Because—goddammit!—I hadn’t felt so good, so me in a long, long time and I was selfish enough that I wasn’t about to give it up for whatever game Thomas was playing.

I hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going while I sat thinking, and when I felt the cab slowing, I looked out to see we were pulling up to a two-story building. I gave a quick examination of the brick façade of the structure. As the cab glided to the curb, I caught sight of the warm and subtly lit interior of the restaurant. People seated at tables could be seen through the floor to ceiling windows that stretched across the front of the building. Above the front door was a simple neon sign with a single word: GRACE. I had been taking all this in and hadn’t noticed Steve exit the cab. He came around, opened my door, hand extended. I stood on the sidewalk as he turned back to the cab and paid the driver. Even from my cursory examination it was clear this restaurant wasn’t an establishment for the budget conscious. This place was fancy. The crisp white linens on the tables, the elegant clothing of the clientele visible through the windows, the understated yet refined architecture of what seemed to be a repurposed warehouse of some sort, it all screamed sophistication. This was an upmarket joint. And by all appearances expensive.

That made me a little nervous. I’d been in plenty of places like this in my career, usually with clients, or with my bosses. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy going to a nice restaurant like this, however, I saw no reason for Steve to fork over what I was certain would not be an inconsiderable sum of money just for the pleasure of dining with me. The thought of what this would cost him left me uneasy.

-Because he’s an I&D guy, and how much money can he be making, right?-

I didn’t say that. Maybe he’s not aware of what a place like this…

-Yeah, he’s pretty dumb. You should say something. Just to set him straight.-

It was arrogant to second-guess him, but he didn’t need to put himself into debt just to sit across the table from me while we ate and flirted. We could do that anywhere.

As Steve finished with the cabdriver, I glanced at the people standing just inside the door. Compared to some of them, what I was wearing bordered on being under-dressed. Steve looked fine, but that was my bias speaking. As far as I was concerned, he looked fucking hot. Still, between my thoughts and taking everything around us into consideration, I began to tense up.

Well, one thing’s for certain. If he was trying to impress, he definitely nailed it!

Steve put his hand against my lower back, escorting me as the doorman ushered us in. Steve held a murmured conversation with a young woman at the reception counter as I scanned the room, lips pursed.

“Yes, of course. It will just be a moment,” the woman said, smiling.

Steve turned away from the counter with a self-satisfied look. The moment his eyes caught mine, however, the smile slipped. His eyebrows etched a sharp thin crease into his face, and all that satisfaction slipped away.

“Is there something wrong?” He took a step closer to me, leaning down to whisper the question into my ear.

I should have taken the tone as a warning.

“This looks…” I paused, searching for the right way to say what I was thinking.

“Jen…” His face came away from mine, and his eyes went resolute as he stared down at me. He didn’t look angry, but there was no mistaking his demeanor. Whatever I was thinking, he was determined to cut off my apprehension. “Don’t. Please. It’s fine.”

The heat in my cheeks increased, and I turned away from his gaze, self-conscious as I looked at anything other than him. “I… it’s just that…” I stammered, and instinct had my face angling downwards. “I don’t want to…”

“Jen. Stop.” His hand landed on my arm, squeezing gently. “I made the reservation, okay? I need you to trust me.”

Oh, shit.

---