“Well, I’m glad she’s all right.”
“Me, too.” I met his gaze. “I wish I could say the same for Ben.”
“Any reason he can’t forgive Addison?” Langston probed.
“She flat-out told him to leave her alone in the office unless it pertains to business. That’s a serious statement. We have no desire to force her into anything. She apologized for saying it, but he’s hesitant to cross that line again.”
“Can’t blame him there.”
“When a woman says no, it means no,” I said. “He’s seen firsthand the repercussions of men ignoring that.”
“Yeah.” Langston glanced at his desk. “I know about his mom and sister.”
It explained why Ben was always so cautious with women, so apt to ensure he had their trust and approval before he interacted with them.
“So, what do you think she’ll do?” Langston asked.
I shrugged. “While we wait for her, I think she’s waiting for us. Since any advance we make could be considered sexual harassment, there’s only one way to work this out. Wait to see if she makes a move.” I threw my hands up. “It was a no-win situation and it’s starting to piss me off. What I want to do is walk into her office, place her over my knee, and swat her ass until she can’t take anymore.”
Langston chuckled. “I feel your pain. And I’ve been in your shoes.”
But again, thinking about Addison’s reaction brought up the thought of my own transgressions and how I’d set this shit in motion.
Like I said, no-win situation all around.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my desk and my head in my hands. “The biggest issue is that I started all this shit.”
“Yeah? Finally going to accept that fact?”
I lifted my head to stare at my friend and business partner.
“What?” he asked, seemingly innocent. “Don’t act like we don’t know you run anytime shit gets heavy.”
“Fuck. It’s just…”
“Don’t make excuses,” Langston said firmly. “It won’t fix anything.”
I sat up. “You don’t think I don’t fucking know that? I do. This isn’t… I don’t like feeling as though I have no control.”
“Again,” he replied, “I know exactly what you mean.”
“I wasn’t expecting this. I wasn’t expecting Addison to throw me a curve ball. One that knocked my steady world on its fucking side. I need to get back on stable ground.”
“No, you need to admit you’re human. That you make mistakes.”
I stared at Langston. “And how do you propose I do that?”
“Well, you could start by having a chat with them.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
He smirked. “Then I think you should let them punish you.”
The notion horrified me. “What?”
“Oh, come on. Isn’t that how we forgive our submissives? They do something wrong, we punish them for it, and everything’s kosher again.”
Okay, fine. He had a point there.
“Why don’t you fess up, then let them decide on a punishment for you. That way you can call it even and move on.”
Could it really be that fucking easy?
Oh, hell, who was I kidding?
Punishment. Me?
Right. Like I’d ever give up enough control to let that happen.
*
BEN
WELL, I’D BE DAMNED.
Punishing Mr. Parker? It had never crossed my mind.
I knew I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on the conversation taking place in Mr. Parker’s office earlier, but I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t meant to, honestly. I’d gone into the bathroom in my office, which happened to share a wall with his office, and that was when I heard him and Langston. I figured it was from the ventilation or something, but their voices had come through loud and clear.
Rather than walk away, I’d found myself listening as my Dom finally admitted this entire debacle was his fault. It made me love him more than I already did. The fact that he could admit it to anyone was a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, even if he did come forward and admit he’d been scared, there was another factor at play here. One that neither of us had confronted. I was just as guilty as Mr. Parker was. I’d been avoiding Addison since Friday night. I wanted to accept her apology, to move forward, to get back to having her in my bed every damn night and waking up to her beautiful face every morning. She completed me in ways I’d never even known I needed, and without her, I felt the loss.
But she had been the one to pull that stunt, taking her anger out on me and changing the dynamic. It still pissed me off when I thought about it.
Fucking shit.
Why the hell couldn’t I just let it go? That would’ve made everything a whole hell of a lot easier, but there it was. I was doing what I accused Mr. Parker of doing—retreating rather than addressing the issue. It was a chickenshit move, one that I was using to protect the feelings she had so hastily thrown away with a simple outburst.
