Chapter 19
Casimir
“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched.” From several angles possibly, but that might’ve been because Atlee was sexy as fuck. “A couple…man and woman. They’re to your right and he’s nearly halfway out of his seat he’s so intent on figuring out what we’re doing.”
Atlee sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “That’s probably Brandon. He’s the idiot from work I told you about.”
“Ah, LGBT guy.” Atlee’s nod made me smile. “I’m not going to point out how weird the people around you are.”
“Thank you.” Rolling his eyes, he shifted just enough that I knew he could see our audience. “I don’t need the reminder.”
The way he sighed out his dramatic response had me trying not to laugh. “So Brandon?”
“Yes.” Giving up being subtle, he deliberately scanned the room for the first time in a while. “And a few other random people I know.”
Nothing in his reaction said he was having some kind of gay crisis about it, but I shifted to a more friend pose and raised one eyebrow. “How do you want to handle this?”
I was good either way, but Atlee looked confused as he turned back to me. “Handle what? Are they making you uncomfortable? I won’t be able to hold Brandon back. He’s about thirty seconds from curiosity exploding out of him and he’ll just land on the table.”
Atlee’s dry tone had me imagining Brandon actually ending up on the table and I had to fight back laughter. “I don’t mind meeting new people or being stared at, but I wasn’t sure how you wanted to play things.”
He’d asked me to date him and basically help out him, but it was the first time we’d confronted that idea head-on.
Looking even more confused, his head cocked. “I don’t understand the problem.”
He was adorable.
“No problem here.” Relaxing back in my seat, I stretched my leg out again so I could go back to resting it against his. “I’m just going to follow your lead if they come over, though.”
I was his Dom in private, not in restaurants.
At least, that was how it’d worked so far.
Atlee continued to surprise me with how easily he accepted a lot about his submission, but I wasn’t sure when we’d run into an interesting reaction. With most men that would involve their friends and coworkers, but I should’ve remembered Atlee never did anything conventionally.
“Alright.” Nodding to himself, he glanced down at the table. “If he starts coming over, just wrap your hand around your glass to brace it. He has no concept of personal space.”
He really was worried about that guy landing on the table.
“Oh, and they’re both kind of odd.” Blinking curiously, Atlee looked like he was mentally sorting through a math problem where trains were meeting in the middle. “Um, maybe like us but different?”
That was unexpected…but again, knowing Atlee, it shouldn’t have been.
“We’ll play it by ear, but it’s no longer theoretical.” It seemed like the coworker with ants in his pants couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. “Incoming in five seconds. Maybe less.”
Atlee barely held back a laugh and was back to looking delightfully neutral as the handful burst over and rattled the table just as he’d predicted. Everything wobbled but the heads-up made it easier to keep our glasses upright. “Brandon.”
It seemed like Brandon’s wife knew she had a handful with him judging by the barely restrained eye roll she clearly wanted to let out as she followed him over. I’d have loved to know what she was thinking but she definitely had all the manners in their relationship.
Before Brandon could say anything, Atlee nodded at the woman. “Andrea. It’s nice to see you again.”
Ever the well-mannered man, Atlee made proper introductions and even introduced me as his good friend.
There was enough of a pause and an adorable smile to make it clear I was more than that, which worked fine for me.
They knew him well enough that it got a giggle from Andrea and a pointed I told you so from Brandon.
In his defense it was quiet, but it had Atlee rolling his eyes because it hadn’t been quiet enough. “It was good to see you both.”
He was definitely hoping that would chase them off but Brandon was stubborn. The odd duck just smiled wider at me and ignored the not-so-subtle hint. “It takes some guts to jump into a relationship when he’s got such a crazy ex.”
How had someone not punched him?
As Atlee and Andrea both groaned, I shrugged. “Oh, she’s nothing compared to mine.”
That was so true Atlee tried to hold back a laugh and ended up choking as he coughed. Andrea shot us both a knowing look but Brandon frowned. “Huh?”
“Let’s go before someone takes the foot in your mouth and shoves it somewhere else.” Andrea seemed to thoroughly enjoy her husband’s insanity, so I could only assume he was a devoted sub in other ways.
Brandon on the other hand was still a bit lost. “Atlee understands I have questions.”
“His partner doesn’t.” Dragging him away, she glared at her clueless husband. “You need to learn a few more self-preservation instincts.”
His sigh said that wasn’t going to be a fun activity.
Atlee watched as they walked back to their table before he turned to me and frowned. “I was right about them being…interesting…right?”
Oh yes.
“I’m not sure what their relationship entails, but I’m just going to say I appreciate how smart you are.” That got a flash of a grin from Atlee before he smoothed it away. “And well-mannered.”
His chuckle made me smile. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been praised for that.”
“You should’ve been.” It was more important than people gave credit for. “And I appreciate how smooth you are…good friend indeed.”
I made sure he could see I was pleased with that description but it still made him squirm slightly. “I…”
Swallowing, he took a second to regroup. “I realized at the last moment that I shouldn’t describe you too personally. We haven’t exactly talked about that since the beginning.”
Ah.
That made sense, but I wasn’t sure where he was steering the conversation or if he even had a plan. We’d been talking about him getting mobbed by the neighbors in a strange conversation about insurance, but that’d quickly gone off track with Brandon coming over.
“Are you telling me what you were thinking or are you trying to ask how I see our relationship?” I thought he should’ve seen the question coming but the way he reached for his glass and took a long drink of water said otherwise.
Not good.
“Baby, glass down and hands in your lap.” The calmly delivered order seemed to settle something in him if I was reading his body correctly.
The way his shoulders relaxed and he leaned back in his chair told me this was the right direction, but I listened for anything close to a safeword before continuing.
Nothing.
“Very good.” The quiet praise took another weight off his shoulders and I could almost feel his stress easing again. “I’m simply trying to gather information before I answer. I couldn’t tell what you were thinking, so I asked.”
“You asked.” Repeating me softly, he nodded and looked to be processing something more complicated than I’d intended. “You need information.”
Because I was his Dom.
Since he still seemed comfortable with that, I nodded. “It’s necessary for a variety of reasons I shouldn’t talk about in a nice restaurant.”
That got a smile out of him. “Are you saying if it was a cheap restaurant you’d have behaved differently?”
Brat.
“No, but if we were someplace less refined, we’d be having a more hands-on discussion.” I knew a bar about an hour from us where the rules were much more flexible, but Atlee might not be ready for something like that. “I’m trying to be subtle.”
Oh, he wanted to laugh but he kept a tight rein on his self-control by just nodding. “Thank you.”
Well, if he was being an adorable brat he couldn’t be too stressed.
“You’re welcome.” I’d have to decide later how I’d make him second-guess teasing me. “But I’m going to have a different response fairly quickly if I don’t get the information I need.”
As he licked his lips, I could see at least part of his fascinating mind wondering what would happen if he played stubborn.
Luckily for both of us, he wasn’t feeling the need to test me too much.
“When I started the original sentence it was just giving you information, but by the time I finished it…”
He shrugged as his words trailed off, but after a moment he continued. “By the time I finished it, I think it was shifting toward wondering when I could ask what you’re thinking about…us.”
“That was very clear. Thank you.” Rubbing my leg against his, I did my best not to make him wait to hear how I felt. “I’m going to preface this by saying you are not responsible for my emotions.”
Oh, that stubborn look was sneaking in and I knew I wouldn’t like his thoughts.
“If we were someplace more private…” Letting the threat trail off had him swallowing hard and shifting in his seat. “But we’re not.”
He should’ve been on his knees for this conversation but Brandon had pushed it without realizing it.
“So what I’m going to say is that I know we started out just dating to make your life easier, but I’m thoroughly enjoying getting to know you and…
helping you explore new sides to yourself.
” I hated having to behave but the nice French restaurant we’d gone to wasn’t the place for me to use words like submission and BDSM.
Something tickled Atlee because his lips twitched, but he kept his thoughts to himself and simply nodded.
“That doesn’t mean we have to be on the same page.” Unfortunately. “I’m not delusional. You’re coming out of a long-term relationship. You originally were just asking for help. You’re exploring a new side you hadn’t recognized before. There is a lot going on.”
There were a thousand reasons I shouldn’t get my hopes up about how he would respond, but every time I saw him kneeling for me or just hiding his sexy grin, I wanted more.
Hope was very dangerous when it came to sweet, sexy men.
Letting out a long breath, Atlee nodded. “That’s true, but what’s also true is that when someone recently tried to remind me that dating you just because I was lonely would be stupid for both of us, my first thought was that it was ridiculous.”
Judging by Brandon’s nosy enthusiasm, I was betting that was one of our lovely neighbors who could worry about anything.
“You’re not a rebound relationship or something I’m going to regret when my head clears.
You’re helping clear my head and to see things I should’ve realized before.
” He was still frustrated about that judging by the way his face tightened, but he didn’t get distracted by whatever he was thinking.
“I actually got very offended when Valerie tried to insinuate you were just a way to get back at her.”
“Really? That’s how she’s trying to spin this?” It was an interesting approach but not the best she could’ve come up with.
Nodding, Atlee rolled his eyes. “She’ll be waiting once I’m through punishing her.”
Good fucking grief.
“She’s turned finding new stall tactics into a new hobby.” But why? “Okay, I’m going to derail the conversation slightly.”
I waved my hand when he chuckled. “I can’t help it. Are you stupidly rich or something? Do you have Scrooge McDuck-level gold in your basement? A patent that’s going to make you millions? Winning lottery ticket?”
Why was she holding on to him so desperately?
Atlee was a great guy but she hadn’t appreciated that at all, and just getting pregnant couldn’t change it that much. Hell, just hiring a nanny would’ve been so much easier. She didn’t like him enough to be this much of a pain in the ass.
Blinking slowly, Atlee cocked his head and I could almost hear the files he was flipping through in his head. It was adorable, but I forced myself to sit still and behave while he considered the question. “I don’t think so, but let me know if you see any holes in this.”
I loved the way his submission and logical brain processed new situations almost as much as I loved what a cute nerd he was as he thought through a problem.
“We had a simple prenup done when we got engaged that said her money is hers and mine is mine. The house is mine because she didn’t want to be tied to it financially since she’d been thinking about buying a rental property at the time.
Um, I know she has a decent retirement set aside already because I managed that before I made her get a new advisor. ”
I had to laugh. “She wanted you to keep managing her money even with the divorce going on, didn’t she?”
His sigh and wince said everything before he nodded. “Yes.”
Good grief.
“I’m glad you made her find someone else.” That didn’t help us figure out what she was doing, though. “Lottery tickets?”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, those are stressful.”
He was so cute.
“Did she get fired?” I hadn’t heard anything like that but with her behavior it was possible.
“I…” Pausing, Atlee thought for a moment before answering cautiously. “I don’t think so. No one had mentioned that and it hasn’t come up in the divorce. Even if she had to get a new job, she’s very marketable and moving to a new area should go a long way into hiding her past mistakes.”
We were definitely missing something, but it didn’t look like we were going to figure it out at the moment. I wasn’t worried, though. Figuring out what crazy was going to do next was my specialty because I’d dated it so many times.
It looked like that streak was over, though.
As long as Atlee was willing to see where our interesting relationship would take us.