Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Domi
Damn him for looking so good.
Mitch in a regular shirt? Hot. Mitch in Dom leathers? Sexy as hell. Mitch naked? Total eye candy.
Mitch all dressed up in a suit with a shirt that matched his eyes exactly?
Devastating.
It was all she could do to keep from throwing herself at him.
Which was why she hadn’t managed to get an apology out yet, even though she knew she owed him one.
The suit had thrown her. Knowing her attraction to him hadn’t diminished in the slightest—even though she’d cried before going to bed the past few nights—made her defensive.
How had he managed to get so far under her skin?
“I wanted to apologize,” he said, becoming more serious at her question.
There was something different about him today.
Not just the suit. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what, but there was definitely something.
“On Wednesday… well, my dad and I don’t have the best relationship.
I’ve told you about him and my mom’s relationship.
” Domi nodded. “My dad owns a bar that’s also a nightclub up in Pittsburgh, the Outlands.
He told me he was down here for business, to talk to another owner to get ideas for expanding the Outlands.
Right before you came into the restaurant, he told me the club he was visiting down here is Stronghold. ”
“Oh my God.” Domi’s hands flew to cover her mouth, her reaction torn between horror and hilarity as the implications sank in.
“Yeah.” Mitch’s lips twitched with his usual good humor, sparkle beginning to shine in his eyes. “My dad owns a kink club, and I never knew.”
“Oh my God,” Domi repeated, starting to laugh. “I can so see that. The Outlands… is that like an Outlander reference?” That would make some sense since his dad was Scottish.
“No, it’s a Dungeons and Dragons reference.
My parents are massive nerds.” Mitch cleared his throat, pausing as the server returned with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order.
After telling her they needed a few more minutes, Mitch took a sip of his coffee and continued, fingers twiddling with the napkin in front of him.
“Anyway. When we started seeing each other, I thought BDSM would make the big difference, guarantee we wouldn’t have the same kinds of issues. ”
“Oh, Mitch.” She reached out to put her hand atop his where he was fidgeting with the napkin. “There are no guarantees in life.”
“I know, but I don’t do well with uncertainty.
Especially not after watching my parents go back and forth and never knowing when they’d end up seeing each other on the sly again.
” He gave her a wry smile, his fingers trapping hers.
Domi could have pulled her hand back, but it felt too nice to be touching him again, even in a small way.
“So, on top of finding out what my parents get up to in their free time, suddenly wasn’t sure what that meant for us.
Then you walked in, and it was the worst possible time.
I already needed to get away from my dad and think for a minute, but then I couldn’t, and yeah... ”
“I owe you an apology, too,” she said, a sense of relief flooding through her saying the words. “I shouldn’t have chased after you, but even after I did, when you asked for space, I should have respected that. I wanted to make you listen so badly, but I wasn’t listening to you.”
Mitch tightened his grip on her fingers, his blue eyes boring into hers.
“I want to try again, Domi Darling,” he said softly.
“Not to be like my parents, but because I don’t want to be like my dad.
I want to give us a real shot. I don’t want to hold back.
I… fuck. The past few days have sucked. I miss you all the time.
I hate not hearing your voice at the end of the day. I hate being apart from you.”
Tears started forming in her eyes, and Domi blinked rapidly. She’d worn her waterproof mascara, just in case, but that didn’t mean she actually wanted to cry. A little ball of unhappiness curled in her chest, pressing down like it was actually trying to crush her heart.
As much as part of her wanted what he was offering, as much as she wanted to try again…
She pulled her hand away.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said slowly.
Mitch’s face fell, which made the ball of unhappiness inside her grow.
She felt like the Grinch, with her heart three sizes too small and shrinking.
“Like I said, there are no guarantees in life, and… the past few days have been awful. I missed you, and it hurt being without you, but there was a part of me also relieved I’d kept my life separate.
I have Ana, and even though I felt like half my life was falling apart, her life was unaffected.
I think… I think you were right, and it’s better we end this before we get more involved. ”
Seeing the hurt, the disappointment on his face was too much for her. She shoved out of the booth as quickly as she could, espresso untouched, and headed for the door, tears already blurring her eyes. This felt even worse than Wednesday. It felt so final.
Turn around! Go back! Part of her head screamed.
Yeah, she was a masochist, but not for this kind of pain.
Mitch
Staring dumbfounded after Domi, it felt like his insides were cracking open, and there was nothing but ice inside. She was walking away. Maybe it was for the best?
No.
Do something, you stupid fool.
Grand gesture.
Tell her how you feel.
What do you have to lose?
Domi. Domi was what he had to lose.
That meant he had everything to lose if he stayed silent. In the face of that, what was his dignity worth?
He would hate himself forever if he didn’t at least try.
Scrambling onto the booth, Mitch stepped onto the table, barely aware of the clatter of silverware or the coffee that sloshed over his shoe.
“Dominique Ortiz!” Shit. That came out even louder than he’d intended, but Domi whirled around and gasped when she saw him.
The restaurant had fallen silent, everyone staring at the crazy man standing on a table in the middle of brunch.
If she walked away now, everyone would see her reject him, but it didn’t matter.
It was time to face his fears, to show Domi he was willing to put it all out there for her.
To tell her the full truth because even now, he’d been holding back, unwilling to make the declaration when he hadn’t been sure how she would react… if she would reciprocate.
“If you don’t have feelings for me, if you don’t think you could fall in love with me, given the chance, then walk away now.
I’ll let you go. I won’t bother you about this again.
But if you’re only walking away because you’re scared, because you have the feelings, but you’re afraid to act on them, I know how that feels. Because I love you, Domi.”
Her mouth dropped open, but no noise came out. It felt as if the entire world had come to a halt. There was no noise, no movement, everyone in the restaurant staring at him while he made a complete and utter fool of himself—and it didn’t matter.
None of it mattered except Domi.
“I’ve been in love with you for weeks, but I couldn’t admit it, not even to myself.
I tried so hard not to be like my dad, but I became exactly like him.
I can’t fix what I’ve already done, but I know he would have never done this.
He would have never made himself this vulnerable.
” She was still standing there, staring at him without reacting.
Fuck. Maybe he needed to let her go. “So, it’s okay if you don’t love me back…
I just… I just needed to try.” He dropped his hands, feeling increasingly foolish.
The whole room waited with bated breath. They’d stopped watching him and were now watching Domi, waiting to see what she said. If she’d walk away from him now.
Maybe he should get off the table.
“Be like the girl from Transformers! Get in the car!” a woman shouted from the other side of the room.
Domi’s head whipped around, her nose wrinkling in confusion. “What?”
The dark-haired man sitting next to the woman who had called out had put his hand over her mouth, and Mitch had a jolt of surprise.
That was Master Justin and Jessica. The third part of their triad was sitting across from them.
Master Chris caught Mitch’s eye and gave him a thumbs-up, then jerked his finger back at Domi.
Oh, right.
Because he was as big a nerd as his dad, he knew exactly what Jessica was talking about, and fuck, it made sense.
Looking back at Domi, he held out his hand in front of him, beckoning, hoping she could come take it.
“In the Transformers movie, one of the main characters hesitates to get into the Transformer when it’s a car.
The guy asks her, won’t she always wonder what it would have been like if she’d gotten into the car.
I know I’ll always wonder, Domi.” She took a step closer to him.
“You’re right. There are no guarantees, but there are missed chances.
” Another step. Then another. “I love you, Domi. I don’t want to miss my chance.
” She was almost to him, eyes shining with tears.
Her hand reached out, and Mitch crouched down so her fingers could touch his.
“I think… I love you too, Mitch.”
The entire room exploded in applause. Mitch grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto the table with him.
She squeaked in surprise but went willingly, then laughed against his lips as he kissed her with all the relief, love, and joy threatening to explode his heart.
Kissing him back, she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him, and he could feel the wetness from the tears on her cheeks, could—
“Mother fucker!” He jerked away from the kiss, jumping in place, one small spot on his ass burning from a fiery sting that felt exactly like…
Mistress Olivia glared up at him, tapping her crop threateningly against her hand.
“Get. Off. My. Table. Now.”
Whoops.
Cheekily, Mitch saluted her, pretending his ass didn’t have a spot that felt as if it had been stung by a bee, and jumped down before helping Domi down. Olivia watched them with narrowed eyes, looking as though she wanted to hit him with the crop again.
“No standing on tables in my restaurant.” She pointed the crop at him threateningly and dropped it after he and Domi nodded their agreement.
Behind Olivia, her boyfriend Luke—and one of the actual owners of the restaurant—was at the bar cracking up.
She gave Mitch a terse smile. “Good job on making the right decision, though.”
Resting her crop against her shoulder like it was a bat, Olivia sauntered away, causing quite a few whispers throughout the rest of the restaurant.
No one said anything directly to her. Past her and Luke, at the end of the bar, Mitch could see the door to the kitchen was wide open, and people were watching from in there as well. He hoped they’d enjoyed the show.
As Olivia moved away, Rae and Avery came rushing out of the hallway next to the booth where he and Domi were sitting, and Mitch blinked in surprise. Had they been there the whole time?
“Holy shit, that was amazing!” Rae slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a massive hug.
Mitch did his best to hug her back, although he refused to let go of Domi’s hand, so it was a one-armed effort.
“I was cheering for you the whole time.” She suddenly pulled back, glaring up at him. “But don’t you ever hurt Domi again.”
“I’ll do my best not to.”
“Do better than that.”
Chuckling, Mitch squeezed Domi’s fingers as Rae pulled away from him, looking between her and Avery. He should have known Domi wouldn’t show up undefended. Avery grinned at him. She might not be as exuberant as Rae, but she clearly approved.
“Do you two want to join us?” There was plenty of room in the curved booth for all four of them.
“Yes, please, I’m starving,” Rae said, already moving to sit before Domi could protest.
“Hey! This is my date!”
Chuckling, Mitch dropped a kiss to the top of Domi’s head.
“I’ll take you on a real date,” he promised. “Soon.”
“Will you wear the suit?” she asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Fine.” She said, sighing and letting him scoot her into the booth.
Domi
Was she making the right decision?
She had no idea.
But sitting next to Mitch, tucked under his arm, with her friends, felt a hell of a lot better than walking toward the door had.
There were no guarantees, but he was right… that didn’t mean something wasn’t worth trying.
And she was in love with him.
That was no small thing. Maybe it was stupid, but seeing him willing to make a fool out of himself—not in the usual Mitch-way, goofing off to try to make people laugh—literally putting himself out there where everyone could hear him and watch him be rejected…
It had made her realize how cowardly she was being.
How few risks she was willing to take, even when she’d thought she was giving him a real chance.
They still had some work to do, but she was determined to try in a way she hadn’t before. It seemed he was as well, so she needed to meet him halfway.
The server came by with napkins, and Mitch helped her clean up the mess he’d made when he’d jumped on the table.
They all ordered some more drinks—as well as asked for menus for Rae and Avery, not that Avery needed one.
The server clearly recognized her and hurried away even faster than she’d been moving.
Domi was looking over the menu, enjoying being snuggled next to Mitch for the first time in days, when a handsome man in a chef coat stormed up to the table and glared at Avery—dark hair, blue eyes, and seriously hot, even though he looked ticked off.
He planted his hands on his hips, and Domi totally got a yummy Dom vibe from him.
She could understand why Avery was attracted, even if he wasn’t in the lifestyle.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were eating here this morning?” It wasn’t a question but a demand for information directed straight at Avery, who looked taken aback.
“I didn’t know I needed to tell you all my meal plans,” she responded dryly.
Nick scowled.
“Only when you’re going to eat here.” He reached out, snatching the menus from their hands. Domi was so surprised, she let him without a fight. Even Mitch surrendered quickly. “I’ll send food out.” Without even saying goodbye, he stormed off again.
They all looked at Avery, who covered her face with her hands and groaned.
“There is seriously something wrong with me that I found that hot,” she said.
“No, no, it was hot,” Domi reassured her. Mock growling, Mitch snuggled her closer and nipped her ear, sending a flash of heat through her. She turned her head toward him, patting his thigh reassuringly. “Don’t worry, you’re hotter.”
“Damn right.” Mitch nodded decisively, making all of them laugh.
Was there a part of her still worried? Of course, but… maybe it was all going to be okay.