Just as well Jake’s office was soundproof, he thought wryly.
“Yes, allow. I’m the Dom remember?”
“That does not give you permission to take over every aspect of my life.”
“I don’t want to have control over every aspect of your life,” he told her calmly. “But this was about safety, and I am in charge of your safety, Laken.”
“This happened before we agreed to that.” Her gaze narrowed.
He shrugged.
Letting out a loud sound of exasperation, she stepped towards him, poking him in the chest with her finger. “And what about my bills? I haven’t received any overdue notices in two weeks. Have you paid those too?”
“Yes.”
She watched him for a moment before throwing up her hands. “Were you even going to tell me about the car? What were you hoping that I just wouldn’t notice?”
“I was going to tell you when I took you to buy another car. A safer one.”
She gaped at him. “You can’t just buy me a car.”
“Watch me.” He stared down at her until she shook her head.
“Duncan, you cannot buy me a car, it’s too expensive.”
“I made the mistake once of putting my career before you. I did it because back then I thought that getting some money behind me was the most important thing. If I had money then my wife and children would never go without like I had. My kids would never have to wear worn-out hand-me-downs or go to bed hungry. My wife would never want for nothing. I focused on securing a life for myself and I lost the most important thing in my life. I would give up very cent that I earned to go back in time so I could have been with you that night, Laken.”
“Oh, Duncan.” She softened visibly, but he wasn’t done yet. There could be no misunderstanding. She would accept whatever he needed to do to keep her safe.
“Every cent I earned was for you, Laken. It can’t change what happened, but I will use it to keep you safe. So when this is all over and I can ease up on this need to keep you with me constantly, then you will let me buy you a car.”
There would be no negotiation. No argument.
Laken shook her head and hugged him. “All right.”
He relaxed. Standing back, she slugged him in the arm. “But you still should have told me what you’d done. I need a car to take some of my clothes into Freestown.”
“Did you just hit me?”
She bit her lip, looking a little nervous. “Come on, it’s not like it hurt.”
“Are you allowed to hit your Dom?”
Laken sighed. “Sorry.”
“Did you or did you not leave the store without alerting me, Laken?”
Laken bit her lip. “I was angry.”
“I don’t care what the reason is. Unless your life is threatened you stay in the store. It may make me a bit of an asshole, but I didn’t want to get you a car yet so you were reliant on me to get around. Because then you would stay where I put you. I was relying on you to keep your promise to stay at the shop.”
“Stay where you put me?” Temper sparked again.
He stalked her back towards the desk then loamed over her, placing his hands on the desk, trapping her between his arms.
“Yes, sugar. Stay where I know you’ll be safe. Where I know someone is watching over you when I can’t, so I don’t have to spend every minute of my day worrying that something has happened to you.”
She bit her lip. “You’re right; I got into a snit and stormed off without thinking. I’m sorry, Sir.”