A Dom is Forever (Masters and Mercenaries #3)(57)

He laughed, a smile spreading across his handsome face. “Which just shows how desperately you need me. That’s a horrible name for what should be a very posh musical group. Don’t you know they’re all named something like the Bachman-Barnes Quartet or The Buckingham Strings?”

For the first time ever, she felt comfortable with him. “Yeah, I’m more a rock and roll girl. So stay and help me. I can pay you in oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I put the oatmeal in so I can eat them for breakfast and still hold my head up. Because of the oatmeal.”

“So you eat like a five-year-old. I like it.” Simon winked at her as she led him into the small room that served as both dining and living room. His eyebrows rose at the sight of a leather jacket draped across one of the dining room chairs. “New coat?”

She wrinkled her nose his way. She wasn’t going to hide the fact that she now had a love life. “That belongs to Lee.”

Simon chuckled a little as he crossed to her CD player. “So you found a boyfriend?”

“I did. He’s asleep.” She grabbed the cookies and brought them out. “Do you want some tea?”

“Coffee, please. I got used to it when I went to school in Boston.” The smooth sounds of a violin filled the air. “I’m going to turn it up a bit so we can get the full effect.”

Lovely music filled the space. And it was a bit loud. She started the coffeemaker. In seconds, it had filled the cup.

“I like it,” she shouted over the music. She wasn’t sure why he needed it so loud, but he seemed content.

He gave her a thumbs-up and grabbed a cookie. She sat on the couch next to him. He leaned over. “Mozart. They’re quite good, but the cellist is slightly out of time.”

She couldn’t hear it. It all sounded nice to her.

“Hey, I was getting everything ready for this audit thing, and I can’t find a couple of files.” He’d moved close, leaning over to talk in her ear. “Do you know if Molina keeps files in his office?”

“Which ones?” She asked, her voice rising.

“Uhm, let me try to remember. Oh, I wrote them down.” He grabbed a folder out of his briefcase and handed it over. “I’ve been looking for them because I need to reconcile the accounts with the donors.”

She looked at the names, a little chill going through her. Bates. Hughes. McMillian.

Hughes and McMillian were donors Thomas had turned down for various reasons. Bates was the current file he was paying close attention to. The three donors he’d met with personally. The only files he kept in his office. Why did those files keep coming up? It was Thomas’s company. He could turn down a donation if he wanted to. It wasn’t her place to question him. And yet she found herself curious. “I’ll check on it for you.”

She kind of wanted to get a look at those files. Why had her boss turned them down? When she’d asked, he’d blown her off saying they didn’t meet the criteria, but she wasn’t sure what the criteria was. Why was there a criteria at all? Money was just money.

Maybe there were tax implications. But the real thing that bugged her was the personal meetings. Molina always met with them personally before turning down their large donations.

And no one else thought it was odd? Molina didn’t like to meet with anyone. He often avoided meetings, leaving the department heads to handle the day-to-day business. He preferred to stay in his office or at his house most of the time.

One of the doctors in her study had been disbarred for embezzling funds from the grant. He’d used some interesting accounting practices. He’d filed false receipts for all kinds of medical equipment but pocketed the funds for himself. It had been an enormous scandal. The doctor had a gambling problem and had gotten behind on paying his bets off.

Was Thomas in some kind of trouble?

“Is there a party going on?” Lee walked across the room wearing only his jeans, his big body on display. He turned the CD down and then his eyes were on Simon.

And he didn’t look happy about her guest. She’d done as he asked and spent a good portion of the morning researching BDSM and Doms and subs, and one of the things she’d figured out was that Doms tended to be bossy and possessive.

And protective and wonderful.

She stood and walked over to Lee, cuddling up to him. One of the best websites she’d found was a sub’s blog where she talked about all the best ways she’d found to handle her Dom. It was a sub’s job to soothe the savage beast. Sure enough, his arms curled around her and he hauled her close. “Lee, this is Simon Weston. He’s a friend from work.”

“And he’s brought some work with him.” Lee didn’t sound like he approved, but after giving her a little squeeze, he held a hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

Simon stood up, taking his hand. “And you. I just brought some CDs over for Avery. She’s heading the big ball this year. It’s coming up in a couple of weeks, you know.”

“Oh, I’ll be around,” Lee assured him.

And she would have a date. She hadn’t expected that. She would have to get Adam to go shopping with her. She’d just planned on wearing her old black dress. She needed something sexy.

A little smile curved his lips up. “Cookies. I like it. Is there any milk to go with these?”

She kind of liked the idea of him enjoying milk and cookies. He was such a big, rough guy. “In the fridge. I’ll get it.”