Chapter 6

6

Julie

Walking into her upcoming interrogation—brunch, but she knew what it was actually going to be today—Julie was unsurprised to see Olivia already sitting there expectantly. The vibrant redhead was dressed incredibly casually, wearing a three-quarter-length sleeve Star Wars t-shirt and jeans. Her fiancé's influence, no doubt. Camille was already there as well, in a colorful blouse that only someone with her coloring could pull off, her expression confused but interested. She'd taken out her braids since the last time Julie saw her and had her hair pulled back from her face, the tightly wound curls now a large pouf on the back of her head. Damn, Julie would kill to have that kind of volume.

"I hear you have some news for us, but Olivia won't say what it's about," Camille said with bemusement after Julie had greeted each of them and sat down.

"That's because it's Julie's secret to tell," Olivia said, putting a slight emphasis on the word ‘secret.' Cute.

The server appeared to fill Julie's water glass and take her drink order before silently gliding away, giving her a moment to get her bearings.

She was a little surprised Olivia hadn't already spilled the tea but was appreciative. She was not surprised that Olivia had been torturing Camille with hints since she knew Julie would be there to tell her the whole deal, eventually.

"Well, I found out who my secret admirer is last night," Julie admitted, a smile coming unbidden to her lips as just saying the words threw her mind back to the events of the prior evening. The realization that Connor was her secret admirer, joining him in the booth, and the absolutely lovely way he'd submitted to her.

"Oh, really?" Camille's eyebrows shot up, and she leaned forward with interest. "You can't just stop there, woman. Who was it? Is it?"

Leaning forward, Julie dropped her voice a little lower, even though there wasn't any real need to. No one at this restaurant knew her or Connor or anyone else, but for some reason, it felt right to keep it quieter.

"Connor."

"What?!"

So much for quieter. Camille practically shrieked the word, jumping in her seat and slapping her hand down on the table at the same time, which cracked Olivia up so that she started cackling like a hyena. The server had just returned with Julie's bellini and was giving them all a rather skeptical look. She smiled up at him.

"Thank you."

"Of course. Are you ready to order?"

Ordering gave Camille a chance to come to terms with the new world order—really, Julie couldn't blame her for her response. She hoped it wasn't too indicative of how people would react when they found out, though. Connor was already on edge about that. She didn't think anyone would really be upset with him, but she understood where the fear was coming from.

They put in their orders. By the time they were done, Camille was past her initial reaction, a contemplative look in her dark eyes.

"So… Connor is a sub. You know…"

"We might have realized it if we'd been looking at his behavior and not him," Olivia said, finishing her sentence for her.

"Exactly." Camille shook her head. "I can't believe we all missed it."

"Well, we also believe people when they say what they want and what they are. There was no real reason to look deeper when he was so certain that he was a Dom." Julie had been thinking about that all night, especially since she'd been the instructor for his class. "He doesn't make a bad one, though I think that's partly because he's dedicated to giving people what they need. So, when a submissive needed something from him, he was able to top her in order to fulfill that need."

"That makes so much sense." Camille tapped her finger against the table. "Freddy is going to be so mad he didn't realize."

Olivia chuckled.

"I think a lot of people are going to be mad they didn't know." The redhead rubbed her hands together gleefully. "When does Law find out?"

"Tonight. Connor is going to tell him." Julie shot her a look. "And no one is going to give Law a hard time because I don't want him giving Connor a hard time."

"Aw, you're no fun," Olivia complained.

"That's not what Connor said last night," Julie retorted with a smirk.

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm behind." Camille put her hands up in a ‘stop' gesture. "I got the who but not the how—how did you find out Connor is your secret admirer?"

It took until their food got there to catch her up on the final note and Connor's appearance, then both of the other women on what happened after she joined him in the booth. Not that she went into too much detail, but they were also Dommes, and she wanted their opinions.

Some of what she was doing with Connor was uncharted territory, just because she'd never been with a submissive who entered the lifestyle thinking he was a Dom before. Camille and Olivia listened, their reactions mirroring each other's as she went into the night.

"So, you're dating now?" Camille was the first to speak once Julie was done, she and Olivia glancing at each other in surprise. "Not that I'm against it, understand, but it just seems kind of fast."

"Well, we're not going straight into a committed relationship. We're getting to know each other first, which is what dating is for." Though, to be fair, it wasn't as though Julie dated much. She was far more used to scening with no commitment than dating… and, truth be told, she tended to be a serial monogamist more than someone who dated a bunch.

"That's true. I feel like the people around us just go from zero to full speed ahead very quickly, so that's what I'm used to." Olivia laughed. "On the other hand, all of them were in denial about how things would go in the beginning…"

"We're just dating."

"Okay." But she said it with a smirk.

As Julie narrowed her eyes, Camille pressed her lips together in obvious amusement.

"He just admitted he's submissive, and he hasn't even told his friends yet."

"Uh-huh." Olivia picked up her drink to take a sip. She was saying all the right things, but her tone indicated otherwise.

"Is it okay to tell Freddy?" Camille asked, cutting things off before they could devolve. Which was probably a good thing. Sometimes, she had to play the role of peacemaker, but she didn't seem to mind much.

"Yes, but ask him not to tell anyone else until tomorrow… and maybe check in before that." Just in case Connor didn't actually follow through with telling his friends.

Olivia frowned at her, as if reading her thoughts.

"He's going to tell them." She sounded very sure of it. Far more sure than Julie felt.

"I know he plans to, but…" Julie shrugged. She didn't want to set herself up for disappointment. Just in case. She could remember the number of times her ex had said he'd do something, only to never follow through. Not that he'd ever said he would tell anyone he submitted to her. That was a secret he would probably prefer to take to his grave since it didn't suit his idea of a ‘real' man.

But Connor wasn't John, and logically, she knew she should give him the benefit of the doubt. Emotionally… it was a bit more of a struggle.

Hearing Olivia say it helped, though.

"I'll tell Freddy to wait, just in case. I'll still tell him tonight, though, because if anyone could help talk Connor through any doubts, it would be Freddy." Camille smiled proudly, and she wasn't wrong.

There was an unhappy, queasy feeling in the center of Julie's stomach at the idea of Connor needing to be talked through it. Which wasn't fair. She knew that. If he needed it, he needed it, and it wasn't a reflection on her or his feelings for her if he did. It was just something he needed.

Now, if only she could get her subconscious reactions on board with her logical thinking.

She was starting to think she had a few more leftover issues from her divorce than she'd realized.

Connor

Pulling up to Law's house, Connor stared at the exterior for a long moment. It was a nice house, one in which he normally felt quite welcome. He'd spent a lot of time in this house, yet the walk seemed to loom longer than normal. Something about it appeared far more threatening.

One bright spot in his day—Sandra had been completely stymied in her search. She hadn't been able to find anything about his mystery date, though that wasn't going to stop her from continuing to look. Whether or not she'd eventually find Julie… well, if he was lucky, by the time she did, he'd feel more comfortable talking about him and Julie.

If there was still a him and Julie.

She had texted him today to tell him that Olivia and Camille were cheering for him and that they'd both offered up their partners to talk to him if he wanted to. Which made him feel better. Freddy might be a lot smaller and slimmer than him, but he was known as a ruthless lawyer in the courtroom, and there were quite a few dominants who stepped gingerly around him, even in the club. It didn't matter that he was a sub. Olivia's fiancé, Luke, wasn't someone Connor knew personally, but he was a fairly big, muscular, Alpha-type-looking guy. He might know what it felt like to have people make assumptions about who he was in the scene, except that he'd come into it as Olivia's submissive from the beginning.

Connor sighed.

This wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to get out of the car and go inside and tell his friends.

Julie had already told hers. He'd thanked her for letting him know about Freddy and Luke. He might reach out to them. Especially if things went poorly tonight.

He really hoped it didn't go poorly tonight.

A knock on his window made him jump, which made him hit his head because there was only about an inch of space between him and the roof of his car. Muffled laughter filtered through the closed door, and he ruefully rubbed where he'd hit his head as he looked out the window to see Asad and Morgan standing there.

"Doing okay there, buddy?" Asad asked, grinning widely. The two of them made an attractive couple—Asad with his tanned skin, black hair and eyes, and muscular frame, next to Morgan with her extremely pale skin and long red hair. She had bright green eyes that stood out against the pink and cream of her cheeks, and her hair and makeup were always done to perfection.

"I'm fine." He waved his hand at Asad, motioning him back—Morgan had already started to move out of the way—so he could get out of the car. She tugged on her boyfriend's hand, pulling him with her. "Just… thinking."

"Very deep thoughts, I saw," Asad teased. He was always joking around and teasing. It was how he showed he cared. Connor didn't mind because it meant Asad did most of the talking for him.

Actually…

"I was thinking about my date last night with Mistress Julie." Saying the words out loud made his chest clench, but it was easier to say them to Asad than just about anyone else. Even Q, who was a switch. Maybe because Asad never took anything too seriously—other than Morgan—so he was the least likely to be upset about Connor's deception.

Asad froze, blinking like a deer in headlights, as though he couldn't understand the words Connor had just said. Which made his anxiety ramp up again, but Morgan's expression lit up.

"That was a date? You're her secret admirer? Oh, Connor, that's lovely." Letting go of Asad's hand, she rushed forward to throw her arms around Connor. Since Morgan wasn't exactly free with her hugs, he appreciated the gesture as he hugged her back, doing his best not to crush her. It was a fast hug, because that was all Morgan did, but a much-appreciated one. She stepped back, brushing her hair back from her face as she turned to Asad. "Isn't that lovely?"

"You're her secret admirer?" Asad repeated blankly, rather than answering Morgan.

The little bit of ease that her hug had given Connor wasn't lasting very long, but he managed to nod. If Asad freaked out, he was just going to get in the car and drive away because if Asad freaked out, he couldn't imagine what everyone else's reaction was going to be. His nerves were ramping up as Morgan frowned and reached for Asad's hand again. He was about to get back in his car and flee when Asad suddenly broke out into a gleeful grin.

"Holy crap! Law is going to freak! This is amazing! Let's go tell him!"

"Asad!" Morgan called after him in exasperation as he bounded toward the front door, leaving her and Connor behind. He spun around to look at them.

"Come on! Hurry up!" He waved his hand impatiently.

The weight on Connor's shoulders lifted. Not all the way, but a lot of it. Asad wasn't mad. Even the prospect of needling Law wouldn't distract him if he'd been mad. He didn't get mad often, but when he did, he wasn't going to be goofing around and annoying his friends.

So, that was one person who wasn't upset with him. Two if he counted Morgan.

"The date went well?" she asked as they started walking toward Asad, who was impatiently hopping back and forth, still waving them on. Connor took shorter steps than usual… to keep up with Morgan, of course. Not because it would drive Asad nuts when he was trying to get them to hurry. Funny enough, Morgan was taking her time, too.

"I think so. She was surprised, I think, to find out that I was her secret admirer?—"

"I bet," Morgan murmured.

"But we had a good evening. And she said she'd be interested in seeing me again, and not just at Marquis. I think we're going to date, and I'm going to… explore."

"I'm happy for you." She tilted her head to look up at him, smiling, and he could feel that she really meant it.

"I'm happy for you, too, but I'm even happier for me," Asad said gleefully, grabbing Morgan's hand now that she was in reach and pulling her along with him. She shot Connor an apologetic look over her shoulder. "Tonight is going to be so much more entertaining than I anticipated. Come on!" He got to the door and opened it, pulling Morgan in along with him, no knocking needed. Law tended to leave it unlocked when he knew people were coming over.

Taking a deep breath, Connor followed them.