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Of course. Looking stunning in a black bustier with cream colored trim and a black skirt short enough to show off that she was wearing garters and stockings.
No collar.
Her eyes skittered around the room, darting this way and that, and he knew she was looking for him. The second she saw him, their gazes locked, and her chin lifted defiantly. Then she turned to look up at Master Michael, who had come in with her, and smiled at him. Behind her, Adam was stone-faced and disapproving.
Fuck this.
Fingers gripped his arm, digging in.
“Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t,” Rick said softly. “Go to your office and cool off. I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
To Patrick’s surprise, Maria turned her head to look at him and nodded in agreement and support. Relief trickled through him. Even if Lexie wouldn’t listen to Rick, he knew she would listen to Maria. He hadn’t been thinking about doing anything but going to his office and not leaving until she was gone, because he wasn’t playing whatever fucking game she was, but it was good to know Rick and Maria had his back.
“Go, before she comes over here,” Andrew said, his voice hard. “Don’t let her get any satisfaction from this bullshit.”
As much as part of him wanted to march over and claim her, she’d come in with Master Michael and without the training collar. Considering she’d run out on Patrick two days ago and hadn’t talked to him since, hadn’t answered a single call or text, and now was showing up here without her collar… he really couldn’t receive a clearer sign that she wasn’t interested in their agreement anymore.
He wasn’t going to force her into something only he wanted, or use the fact that she used to have a crush on him, if she no longer had those feelings anymore. Sure, he could probably seduce her, but that wasn’t going to create anything lasting. Besides, if she actually wanted to be with him, then this little stunt was more than just trying to top from the bottom, it was a downright slap in the face. A childish prod to try and make him dance to her tune.
Maybe it would be better if she could do what she needed, grow up a little maybe, before he tried anything with her again. In the meantime, he couldn’t just stand here and act like everything was normal, and he had nothing to say to her right now. All the tension he’d worked off was back, and he knew if he tried to talk to her now, he’d end up losing his temper and saying something unforgivable.
So he stalked to his office with a single-minded purpose that didn’t allow him to look back. Not once.
Dammit... Lexie’s heart sank as Patrick went straight to his office without even looking at her again. For a second, when she first walked in, she thought she’d seen that possessive need, that heat, in his eyes, and then he’d just shut it down again. It frustrated her how he could do that so easily.
“What the fuck was that?” Adam asked, hissing in her ear as his hand clamped down on her shoulder. Behind her she could hear Angel and Leigh chattering. Pretty much all of Angel’s focus had been on Leigh, which Lexie didn’t blame her for, but right now she probably could have used the backup. Adam was already pissed enough that Lexie was here tonight. She knew he’d texted Patrick, but going by the way Patrick had looked when she’d walked in, he hadn’t gotten the text.
“What was what?” she asked irritably, trying to shrug him off, but his fingers just dug in as he spun her to face him. Even more annoyingly, Michael didn’t seem interested in stopping him, he was too busy looking over the submissives in the Lounge area.
“That little show you just put on for Patrick,” Adam growled, keeping his voice low. “Looking at him, and then smiling up at Michael and pretending you’re with him. Like you weren’t already fucking with Patrick’s head by showing up with another Dom, especially Michael, and without your training collar.”
“Fuck off, you have no idea what’s going on,” Lexie snapped.
“I know I had to come in last night because Patrick stayed home,” Adam said, his blue eyes hard as icicles, stabbing into her. “Jared said he got completely shit-faced last night. I know you decided to show up without your training collar tonight, and now you’re trying to fuck with his head some more. If you had an ounce of sense in you, you’d be knocking on his door, getting on your knees, and begging for forgiveness for your disrespect.”
Tears sprang up in her eyes, and she tried to tell herself it was because she was pissed, but honestly she was a little hurt too. Adam didn’t know what went down between her and Patrick on Thursday, how dare he judge her?! At the same time, she felt a little sick knowing Patrick hadn’t come into the club at all yesterday. Patrick never missed a day at the club, definitely not to stay home and drink. She’d wanted proof he’d been hurting too, so she guessed she’d just gotten it. Somehow it didn’t feel as vindicating as she’d thought it would.
She really hadn’t meant anything by smiling up at Michael. It was just that he’d made a low whistling noise she’d found funny. But Adam wouldn’t have been able to hear it, probably, and who knew if Patrick had understood why she’d smiled up at Michael. Dammit. Okay, so she’d messed up a bit there, but that didn’t mean she should be the one to go groveling.
“Uhh... Adam, Lex? Everything okay?” Angel had finally noticed there was something going on between her boyfriend and Lexie. His grip loosened, and Lexie jerked away.
“Fine. I was just giving Lexie some advice,” Adam said, his voice bland and yet somehow still giving off a flair of extreme disapproval. Jerk. Lexie glared at him, throttling her urge to cry. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“I’m sure Lexie can figure out her own life,” Angel said, rolling her eyes. She reached out and grabbed Adam’s hand, smiling up at him. “Come on, I see Rick and Maria.” Adam sighed loudly as his girlfriend bounced forward, dragging him along with her. If Lexie wasn’t so annoyed with him, she’d be able to admit to herself how cute they were together.
“Come on, ladies,” Master Michael said, winking as he pulled both Leigh and Lexie under his arms. “Let’s go get something to drink.”
Something to drink sounded good. Lexie forced a smile onto her face, although it didn’t feel very real. Glancing over at Leigh, she could see the other woman looking around the club as if seeing it with new eyes. New, possibly interested eyes. Man, when Leigh let go, she really let go. Lexie had just thought Leigh wanted to hang out with the Stronghold gang tonight, but it almost looked like Leigh was considering doing a little something more.
Envy panged Lexie.
Yeah, she might not actually be with Patrick, but there was no way she was playing with anyone else tonight either. Maybe eventually, but not tonight. It was too soon, especially knowing he hadn’t even come into work last night. Maybe there was hope for them yet.
It was not the best night she’d ever had at Stronghold though. Patrick never came back out of his office, although everyone else seemed to stop in there to say hi to him at one point or another. No one stayed in the room long, and from what Liam said, apparently Patrick was elbow-deep in paperwork in there. Lexie couldn’t quite gather up her courage to go knock on the door, so she just sat out at the bar with Leigh, and they talked with whoever wasn’t scening at the moment.
More than one Dom came by the table, mostly flirting with Leigh, although one or two made a few comments as if they were trying to decide whether or not Lexie was available as well. It made her wish she’d worn the damn training collar, because their assessing looks made her more uncomfortable than anything else. Fortunately she and Leigh were never left completely alone for long, everyone came back when they were done with their scene to chat and hang, and that seemed to be the signal for the other Doms to leave them alone.
The other thing that got under her skin was the way her friends were reacting to her. Not Angel or Leigh, Angel was too focused on making sure Leigh was enjoying herself, and Leigh obviously didn’t realize anything was going on with Lexie and Patrick. She was out of the gossip loop, but it didn’t seem like anyone else was.
