Page 22 of The Best Bad Decision

Casimir’s smile peeking through said worrying would be a good goal too, though. He was tricky. “I’ve been looking forward to being happy with you.”

Happy.

Orgasmic happy or not pissed happy?

Had dating men been this complicated back in college or was growing up a lot more ridiculous than I’d expected?

Chapter 7

Casimir

He was an Olympic-level overthinker. However, it was the way he constantly questioned his abilities that was the most unexpected part. Between his family and his ex, he didn’t seem to believe that he could make anyone happy without jumping through a lot of hoops.

I physically hurt just thinking about it, but I made sure he couldn’t see that on my face.

“I don’t care what you read online, drama queen. As long as you can relax and can say you enjoyed yourself that’s what matters.” The internet was wonderful for a lot of reasons but it gave new subs completely unrealistic expectations. “If you walk away and just say it was great because you really enjoyed making me happy, that’s the important part.”

We had no idea what submitting would look like for him, much less subspace or anything else. Just getting him to relax and ease his stress levels down would be an amazing win to me, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“There is always a goal in mind for a project.” He shrugged as we headed up the stairs to my front porch. “I’m just saying I think your standard of success is too low.”

Type-A men were going to be the death of me.

“At this point, success to me is going to look like punishing you until you realize I’m in charge and I make the fuckin’ definitions.” Pausing in front of the door, I kept my body relaxed so the neighbors wouldn’t think we were fighting, but I put some umpf in my tone. “When we walk in the house the constant questioning will stop. Period. You will stand in the middle of the living room, shoes off and hands at your sides.”

No more debates.

No more being vague and careful.

It was time for shock and awe.

Atlee went still and blinked a few times. He couldn’t help himself and his mouth opened, but he got control of his naughty impulse before anything ridiculous escaped. As he clamped his lips together, he nodded.

Smart man.

“Very good.” I resisted the urge to touch his chest and just let us into the house before the temptation was too much and we gave the neighborhood a show. “You know what to do.”

Giving him a moment to follow directions, I locked the door and made sure the curtains were all closed before taking off my shoes and slowly following him. Atlee was doing good at keeping his automatic pushback to himself, but I wasn’t mistaking compliance for reasonable thoughts.

He was still mentally arguing about everything, but at least I didn’t have to listen to him be ridiculous.

“Better.” Standing perfectly straight when I walked in, his hands were at his sides but he looked stiff and I could almost hear his silent grumbling. “Quick recap to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Oh, he wanted to grumble about that too based on how his mouth tensed, but he stopped it just in time.

I managed not to laugh but I smiled as I moved behind him where he couldn’t see me. “I decided your bribe was going to be getting to touch me. You’re also consenting to being touched over your clothes and naked as long as you’re aroused. Your limits on touching me were over my clothes or naked. We’re not having penetrative sex of any kind.”

We’d discussed other things but those were the highlights I was keeping in mind for the time being. I needed to keep them at the front of my mind because as much as I wanted to explore Atlee’s sexy body, the more he talked, the more I realized that didn’t seem to make him feel submissive at all.

“We’re using stoplight safewords and I’ve explained how excited I am to be able to touch you more and to feel your lips on me again.” Making that clear in the car had been fun but I was pretty sure it was what was making him comfortable enough to be dramatic. I’d clearly turned him on and made him hard, but it wasn’t relaxing to him.

We’d have to figure out ways around that later.

Nodding again, he jerked slightly as I ran one hand over his shoulders as I continued my circle around him. “You were sexy in your suit earlier but I love this too.”

His uptight, preppy style was cute and had me fighting a constant urge to ruffle his feathers and make him messy.

He didn’t speak but his lips twitched and he looked lighter. Atlee liked the reminder that I thought he was sexy, so I continued to trail my fingers over his chest as I reminisced. “I fantasized about using that tie to restrain your hands. Hypothetically for another scene, what do you think about being tied up like that for me?”