signed yet. I took my friend at his word. I screwed up. God, I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“Hey,” he said, his tone sharp. “Never say that about yourself. It was an honest mistake. You trusted your friend.”
“Trust. Ha! It bites me in the ass again,” she said bitterly.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll get another act.”
“It’s not quite that easy, K— Mr. Vandergriff,” she said, realizing they should keep it formal in case anyone was still in the hallway, listening. “That band was a big reason I’ve sold so many tickets to the event. This is going to be a disaster when I tell people they cancelled. And the event can’t afford to lose that money. I’m already behind on the goal.”
Panic was seeping in. She could see the doors of Bluebonnet being locked for good, those kids having no place to help them anymore. All because she couldn’t remember to send a freaking contract in time.
“Take a deep breath. We’ll figure out something on Monday. I promise. I have a friend who knows one of the guys in Darkfall. They’d be a big draw. I’ll see if they’re available.”
“But I don’t want you to have to do that. This is my fault. I need to fix it.”
“Tess, first lesson in running a business that I learned was knowing how to delegate and accept help. If you try to do everything yourself, you’ll fail. No one can do it all on their own. I certainly don’t.”
“But I feel like I should be able to handle this.”
“And you are,” he said gently. “You’re doing a great job. But be smart and strategic. I have a connection you can exploit. Use that.”
She nodded, hearing the wisdom in the advice even if it was hard to accept. “Okay. Thank you. It would be great if you could ask them and—”
He lifted a hand to halt her. “I will, promise. But right now, neither of us can do anything about it, so I need you to put a pin in it and we’ll work on it next week. All right?”
She nodded, her panic ebbing. She would handle it. Kade would help. Yes. Okay. She would delegate that task. That didn’t sound so bad.
Obviously considering that matter settled, Kade stepped inside, shut the door behind him, and turned the lock. “Plus, I’m not here to talk about work.”
“Oh?”
“I have something for you.”
He had a small unlabeled shopping bag in his hand. She peeked at it, her stomach giving a flutter. He never stopped by her office for personal reasons. They always kept things completely professional and purposely distant at work, but she had a feeling that was about to change. “Is that right? I thought we agreed to no more gifts. You’ve been giving me too many things.”
“You declared. I never agreed. Quitting time was an hour ago, by the way. You’re the only one left on this end of the building.”
She glanced at her computer screen. “Oh, I know, but I wanted to finish up a few things. I’m still trying to figure out some financial stuff from Bluebonnet, and then I got that call.”
“You’re done for the day now,” he said—a proclamation, not a question.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I thought we weren’t meeting until eight.”
“Change of plans.” He set the bag on her desk. “Things have been a little hectic this week, so I thought it’d be a good time to sneak out of town for the weekend.”
She wet her lips, looking at the bag again, nerves creeping in. “Where to?”
He met her eyes with a seeking gaze. “Ready to give me real control?”
“Meaning?”
“To submit to me fully.”
“But haven’t I been—”
“Not just allowing me to call the shots in the bedroom but giving over complete control in every way. Surrender.” He reached in the bag and pulled out a black leather collar.
Her breath caught, her brain snagging on the word surrender. “Oh.”