“Definitely.”
“Even if that’s true, what difference does it make? She wants what she wants.”
“She can want on.” I smacked my palms on the bar top. “I’m done with her demanding shit, she’s exhausting.” Topaz’s expression was so easy to read, and it infuriated me.Sure you are. That’s what she was thinking. One stupid fucking night in shackles and she thought she had me sussed. “I mean it, Topaz. I’m fucking done with it.”
“Yes, Mr Morgan,” she sighed.
“You can tell Faye to come straight to the office when she gets back. I think it’s about time we had a little chat.”
***
Faye
I was drenched, chilled to the bone. My messy bun had collapsed into a soggy mess, despite my best efforts, and my legs were aching from Andy’s over-exuberant bondage. I was stressed, and scared, and ready to bail, and yet I was still there. Still in the club, still standing up to face him in his office.
“Topaz said you wanted to see me.”
He propped himself on the edge of his desk, crossed his ankles like it was the most casual conversation in the world. And yet, it wasn’t. He was prickly and brooding. He looked as pissed off as I felt. “Get dried off, it can wait.”
“No.” I folded my arms. “Just spit it out. What haven’t I done this time?”
“Just about everything,” he said. “But that isn’t what we need to be chatting about.”
“What, then?” I laughed. “Are you still pissed that I tied you to a gurney? Did it embarrass you? Humiliate you? Poor Andy, diddums.”
“You aren’t helping my mood.” He ran his fingers through his hair, then linked them behind his neck. “What’s going on here, Faye? What is this?”
Oh fuck. The talk.
I shrugged. “We’re at work, it’s your week. What else do you need to know?”
“There’s a lot I need to know. I don’t like ambiguity, it makes for problems later on. We’re either on the same page, or we’re not. We need to be on the same page, Faye, for the sake of this club.”
“And this is exactly what our problem is,” I groaned.
“Sorry?”
“You and your control-freak issues. That’s what our problem is.I don’t like ambiguity. We need to be on the same page.Why do you have to control everything? Why can’t things just be as they are?” My tone was snarky and rude, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“It’s not being a control freak, Faye, it’s being smart.”
“Be smart, then. Be whatever you want to be.” I stomped over to my desk, sat down and ruffled through paperwork.
“I’ll ask again. What’s going on between us?”
“We’re fucking,” I said. “And you’re being a control freak cock, as usual.I’mjust trying to get on with running this club between us in the best way I can. Making the most of it.”
He laughed. “That’s pissing rich, isn’t it? Like you’re the professional party.”
“I’m not the one who wants to have a big relationship conversation in the middle of work time.”
“You have some front, you really fucking do.” He shifted to face me then pointed his finger in the general bar direction. “Like I don’t see you, thick as thieves with our spunky little barmaid, jabbering on all day about me, and my faults and what I should and shouldn’t be doing. Have the relationship conversations with me, not our fucking staff. That’s just common fucking respect.”
“That’s crap,” I snapped. “Like Topaz and I haven’t got better things to talk about than our stupid sex games.”
“I know you’ve been speaking with her,” he said. “I can see it all over her face. I can see it all over yours.”
“She’s a friend. I can speak to my friends about whatever I want.”