Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(3)

“Mitch, will you listen to yourself? This is ridiculous. She wants you. She’s made that plain.”

“She’s a little girl with daddy issues.”

A sharp gasp had him turning around pronto. Shit. Why hadn’t he closed the door? Laurel Daley stood there, a clipboard in her hand and her face about three shades paler than normal. “Kai, I’m going to have to call you back.”

“She’s listening, isn’t she?” Kai sounded almost excited at the prospect. “I can be there in twenty minutes for a session if you like. I think if we all sit down, we can find a middle ground…”

He hung up. Kai could go on and on about therapy, and Mitch wasn’t interested. He set the phone down. “You could knock, you know.”

Yes, arrogance worked in situations like this. No wonder his wives always left him.

Laurel’s jaw tightened. “Sharon was at lunch so I was watching the front desk. You have a walk-in. Do you want me to tell him to go away? He claims it’s urgent.”

Urgent was way better than dealing with her wounded eyes. “What’s his name? Or rather company name?”

He was an expert at corporate law. He’d specialized this time around, taking on no partners who could potentially f*ck his wife and then take his business over. He was a high-priced consultant. His only real courtroom work anymore was when his friends needed him. He’d recently dealt with a tenancy issue for Sean Taggart’s restaurant, Top, and managed to get Case Taggart’s speeding tickets taken care of. Dude needed less road rage. So he didn’t get a whole ton of walk-in clients. It was usually Big Tag trying to get him to sue someone who had pissed him off. He only tried the lawsuits because his wife, Charlotte, had forbidden assassinations.

Yep, this was his world. He wasn’t sure sweet Laurel Daley fit into it. No. That wasn’t right. He didn’t want Laurel in it. She should be married with a few babies, depending on a husband who loved her and only her and had never made the kinds of mistakes Mitch had made.

“He’s with a firm called Dixon Technologies.”

It didn’t ring a bell, but he often dealt with tech firms. They constantly had intellectual property issues. “Send him in.”

“All right. I’ll try to put aside my daddy issues long enough to go out there and give him directions to your office.”

When she turned that smart mouth on him his cock pulsed, but then it pretty much did that whenever she walked into a room. He was thirty-eight. She wasn’t even thirty. Why couldn’t his dick pick a more appropriate focus?

Because I want that one. God, just f*cking look at her, man. Look at those breasts. Firm. Round. So sweet. And that bratty mouth. Come on, hands. Aren’t you itching to smack that pretty ass?

“Laurel.” He put a little bite to his tone.

She turned immediately and her eyes slid to the floor before coming back up. She steeled herself as though she needed to remember not to defer to him. Yeah, his dick liked that, too. He’d realized his mistake about five minutes after she walked through his door. Laurel was a natural submissive. She deferred to those around her, sometimes to the point of burying her own needs. It was exactly the kind of thing a well-meaning Dominant partner could help her with. A Dom with good intentions, who loved and cared for her, would protect her and teach her how valuable she was.

“What?” Her chin came up and a stubborn glint hit her eyes.

He knew her well enough at this point to know this was Laurel trying to shove her emotions deep. He’d said something that hurt her. He should gather her up and put her in his lap and stroke her hair while he apologized. Unfortunately, that would lead to f*cking her on his desk, so he settled for words. “I don’t suppose you heard the part of the conversation where I talked about how I wanted you to be happy?”

She was obviously unmoved. “Nope and I know you have a very creative mind so I’ll suspend my disbelief.” She stopped and her mouth softened slightly. “I take it you found out about me joining the trainee program at Sanctum.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t think it’s professional for the two of us to be at the same club together. I count on that club, Laurel. The few friends I have in life are there.”

“All right. I’ll let them know I won’t be coming anymore.” She took a deep breath and there was a hollowness to her expression he despised. It was only there for a moment and then her face was a polite blank. “Do you need anything? Coffee? You skipped lunch. I could get you a sandwich.”

“Just like that? You’ll leave it like that? I expected more of a fight out of you.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t join to cause you harm or to take something away from you. I joined because I wanted to explore that side of myself. Since you’ve made it plain that my presence takes away from your enjoyment of something you need, I’ll leave.”

How did she do this to him? She’d had him in knots since the moment he’d met her. “Could you give me a couple of minutes to catch up? I didn’t even know you were interested in the lifestyle.”

Now her inner brat made an appearance, those pretty blue eyes rolling. “Of course you did, Mitchell. That’s a complete cop out and unworthy of you, counselor. If you’re going to defend yourself at least do it properly. You’ve known I was interested in D/s since the moment you hired me.”