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WADE LEE
I pacedin front of the wide front window that let me look into the sleek interior of Sew Much Better Than the Rest while rubbing the thumbnail of my left hand with my right one, using it as a bizarre worry stone. Such a peculiar sensation was twisting around in my guts, and I wasn’t certain if it was good or bad. I could barely breathe.
My messenger bag bumped against my hip as I turned away along the sidewalk, not sure if I was heading down the street to the bus stop or simply making another loop while I continued to think. I was so out of it that I nearly smacked into a wrought iron lamppost. The humid morning air tugged at my breath. It took me five minutes to pace to the bus stop, then toward the front of the shop again. I got close to the door this time before I turned away.
This was just so strange.
Who wanted to buy me suits? Expensive suits? No one ever spent money on me.
Maybe Albion was messing with me, and I would go in there and get everything set up and then... what? I didn’t know. Be stuck with the bill? I certainly couldn’t afford the thousands of dollars for those suits. Panic began to crescendo in me until I felt like my skin might vibrate right off my body. I rubbed my thumbnail so fast it felt warm, then stopped abruptly on the sidewalk before swinging around to turn back and look at the shop again. The sun peeked through clouds overhead and gleamed brightly on the glass, beckoning me inside. I bit my lip until it ached.
Maybe this was a reward?
But Albion hadn’t even fucked me yet, and he hadn’t said the clothes were a reward. I wish I knew how this BDSM stuff worked. I had a lot of ideas and had seen a few bad movies on the topic, but I’d never done this. Maybe it was normal for a Dom to buy their sub clothing? I wished there was someone I could ask. Was this how these things went? My stomach twisted, and I thought maybe I should eat the breakfast bar in my bag, but I gagged at the mere idea.
Xadrian hadn’t even bought me dinner without keeping tabs on how much I owed him—and that was a rare occurrence. Granted, we’d had a weird dynamic that wasn’t anything as defined as what was happening with Albion. Sometimes I was pretty sure Xadrian hated me.
My feet carried me closer to the front door of the shop while the rest of me fought to scrabble away. Albion wanted me to look nice for him, right? Wasn’t that what he’d said? Warmth that settled into my chest had me smiling for a few seconds. But the money....There’s no way in hell the man who calls me Shoelicker really wants to spend piles of cash on me.This had to be some sort of test.
And I’m failing right now. I should leave.
Decision made about Albion’s motivations, I whirled away from the door and stormed toward the bus stop. My heart spun faster than the clunky pace of the wheels on the bus as I sat stiffly on the seat during the ride to the office. My skin felt too tight and my eyes were hot. My nose clogged as I continued to spiral. I hated disobeying, but Albion couldn’t have actually wanted to buy me suits. Maybe what he really meant was I should try to dress nicer with clothing I already owned. I ran a hand over my face. Yes, that had to be it.
The office should’ve been nice today, since I was doing real work, but all morning while I sat with my back to the wall on the floor of Albion’s office, I felt like my body was going to shake apart. My heart jackhammered in the base of my throat. It was exhausting keeping a blank mask on my face. Guilt, so heavy it made me feel sick, clung to my insides as I finished the assignment Albion had given me early.
“This is acceptable,” Albion said quietly as he reviewed my work at his desk right before lunch, and I let out such a huge sigh of relief he cracked a tiny smile.
The guilt got worse, not better. “Thank you, Sir,” I murmured.
He nodded and his dark eyebrows danced up and down. He reached out and almost touched my hip but aborted the motion last second. With him leaning closer, his cologne swirled into my nose, and the crisp fresh scent had sparks racing around in my groin, perking up my cock.
I wanted to melt into a puddle of contented goo because it sure seemed like he was happy with me, but I knew better than to let myself do that. It would be nice to fall to the floor and nuzzle my face against his thigh and just wallow in his presence.
“Okay,” he said, sliding my laptop back in my direction. For a second, I thought he might reach out and touch me for real, but then he turned back to his laptop. Disappointment sank its fangs into me, and I rubbed at my left thumbnail with my fingertip. He grabbed my wrist, and I glanced up into his intense face.
“You’ll sit in on the client meeting this afternoon and take some notes for me,” he said, eyelids hooded. Now this I could tell was a real test.
I nodded once. “Yes, Sir.”
“And when we’re finished, you’ll ride back to my place with me.”
“Yes, Sir,” I said again, and I couldn’t hold in my happy sigh.
His lips twitched, but he didn’t say anything, maybe because we were at work.
He pointed at the end of his desk. “Get a chair. Work there until it’s time for the meeting.”
“Yes, Sir,” I murmured, stuck in a loop.
The look he gave me wasn’t exactly nice, but it wasn’t mean, either.
I held in a smile and rushed to do as he’d said. As I hurried around the desk and pulled the chair to the spot he’d indicated, his expression closed down, but I didn’t care because I knew right now I was doing what he wanted without any confusion. I felt very delighted with my small success.
There was nothing better than knowing I was doing exactly what would make him happy.
The day flew by with a minimum of fuss.
Albion continued to be pleased with my behavior through lunch and the meeting—at least, as far as I could tell. I took the notes he asked for, and Mr. Wheaton, an older gentleman with slicked-back steely blond hair, seemed to like me well enough and even shook my hand before he left.
