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“I feel like I have totally messed this up and I’m so nervous. I’m never nervous,” Catherine said, shaking her head.
“If I’m making you nervous, maybe I should go?” Piper sidestepped her.
“Please don’t.”
The simple request was so heartfelt it stopped Piper in her tracks.
“I know this may sound odd and I’m sorry, but when I saw you on the steps of the Ranch yesterday, I was instantly drawn to you. I was hoping to just get to know you a little bit. Would that be okay?”
Well, she had come to the Ranch to get out of her comfort zone so she supposed she should say yes, but that wasn’t what came out of her mouth. “Why?” she asked honestly.
“Why? Why not?” Catherine smiled. “First off, are you here alone or do you have a Top with you?” She looked around as if some adultier-looking adult was going to walk up and magically claim Piper.
The fact that she had only been at the Ranch for a day and she was constantly being identified by someone as a submissive made her wonder how she had hidden it from everyone else for so many years. Or maybe she hadn’t hidden it as well as she thought she had? That was a problem for another day; right now she needed to figure out what the pretty lady therapist wanted from her.
“I’m here alone. I don’t have a Top. I haven’t had one for about twenty years because I’m not a good submissive,” she over-explained.
Catherine tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows. “Were you not a good submissive or were they not the right Dominant for you?”
Piper shrugged. “If you ask Kay, she will say he was not a good Dominant and maybe he wasn’t, but I wasn’t very good either.”
“Is Kay here?” Catherine asked.
“No. I’m here all alone.” She looked down at her feet. Why did it hurt so much to say out loud? She was all alone in life, period. Not just at the Ranch. It wasn’t a sad thing, it was just life. Her life.
Catherine took another step toward her and she instinctively stepped back.
“Sorry, little one, I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable, you just looked so sad. Can I give you a hug?” She opened her arms but didn’t move any closer, allowing Piper to make the decision.
A hug actually sounded really nice. She didn’t usually hug random people but there was a comforting air about the woman now that the initial awkward feeling was beginning to fade.
She took a tentative step forward and allowed Catherine to hug her even though she couldn’t quite reciprocate because of the items in her arms. Catherine sighed, a sound of contentment that made Piper feel like she’d done something good even though she hadn’t done much of anything.
“You smell like strawberries and coffee,” Piper blurted out.
Catherine laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s nice.”
Catherine put her hands on Piper’s shoulders and stepped back holding her at arm's length. “Will you have dinner with my husband and me tonight? Here, of course. At one of the restaurants.”
“You and your husband?” So she was married. Most likely to the man who’d picked her sandwich up off the floor and returned it to her. The invitation to supper sounded really intimidating. “I don’t know.” She shook her head. She would like to get to know Catherine, maybe, but she was married? Did they want a date?
Catherine’s face fell a little. “I understand this whole thing is a little surprising, but it’s just dinner, no strings attached.”
“Can I think about it?” She needed to call Kay. She didn’t know how to navigate this. She was at the Ranch for new experiences in a place she should feel free to be herself, but all she had done was find herself in awkward and uncomfortable interactions the whole time. This was a bad idea.
“Of course you can. Let me give you my number and you can call or text me to let me know? Sam and I get off work at five today so if you could let me know before then, that would be great.”
Piper nodded. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.” Maybe?
She followed Catherine to the checkout area and set her things down. “Please put that all on my account, Becky.” Catherine instructed.
“Sure, Ms. Cat.” The bubbly girl with thick-rimmed glasses smiled and began scanning the items Piper had chosen.
She watched in a stunned silence as the complete stranger paid for her purchases and handed her the bag.
“I wrote my number on the back of the receipt, okay?”
