Her enthusiasm was adorable. “Sounds perfect. Shall we?” He gestured for her to precede him and then followed. She stopped briefly at the archway to the kitchen and stepped inside. She shook out a few treats for Rusty on the tile floor and then stood. Dex heard four soft chirps telling him she had entered an alarm code, and then a stream of intermittent chirps followed her out of the kitchen and toward the front door.
The restaurant turned out to be only a few miles away from Kate’s place. It was pretty busy for just after midnight on a weeknight, but as Kate had mentioned, it looked like a great late-night place for food, or just a place to meet friends or study.
—
When they were seated, Kate opted for Diet Pepsi, and Dex ordered a coffee. She watched him as he glanced over the menu. He was an attractive man. Hell, he was smoking hot. But he was also kind, caring, thoughtful, and a very strong Dom. He treated her like an actual person with wants and needs of her own, and not just as a sub.
She had never met a Dom quite like him, and had to admit that she was drawn to him in more than just the kink department.
She would have to be careful not to become too emotionally invested, especially since she planned on moving away from L.A. as soon as she could.
“Do you know what you want to order?” His deep voice resonated in places she wished he would have touched during their scene. While she respected the fact that he hadn’t taken advantage of her when she was flying high in subspace, she did want him inside her.
Stat.
Before she could get lost in a round of sexual fantasies involving Master Dex, she cleared her throat. “Do you mind if we start with the garlic Parmesan fries? They’re pretty amazing.”
A slow smile spread across his handsome features. “I defer to the lady since you’ve been here before.”
She gave him a small smile in return. “Fair enough. You won’t regret it. How about you? What are you going to have?”
In truth, she was waiting to see what Dex planned to order to make sure her choice wasn’t ridiculously more expensive, since he was picking up the tab. Even though nothing at Norms was that pricey, it was something she had done for as long as she could remember. Probably stemming from the fact that she didn’t want people to think badly of her. She had grown up in a very rich family, and she refused to act like her father, who always insisted on the most expensive thing on the menu, no matter where they were.
Kate was always conscious of that. She wasn’t a gold digger. She had money of her own, and a good business that brought in money. But there were so many women who were looking for a sugar daddy that she always felt compelled to make sure men knew she wasn’t one of them. Then again, she supposed Dex would be more worried about that if she had suggested a really expensive place. But she hadn’t been lying when she told him Norms was one of her favorite restaurants. They had great food, and she could bring her laptop and work there in the wee hours of the morning, any night of the week.
“Get whatever you want.” Dex’s voice surprised her, and made her realize she’d lost herself in thought for a moment. Kate cringed. Had he seen through her ploy to price compare?
She laughed inwardly at the matter-of-fact way he had just busted her on a tactic that had worked well with most of her dates.
This is not a date, she reminded herself. I don’t date my Doms.
She sipped her Diet Pepsi. “At this time of night, I usually get breakfast. I’m not sure why, but Belgian waffles and eggs always sound terrific after midnight.”
He scanned the menu’s breakfast offerings one more time. “They do sound pretty good. I was going to go for the steak and eggs, but I’ll have to remember this place for another night when I’m craving waffles or French toast.”
Once they had ordered, Kate felt his heavy gaze settle on her and searched for something to say. She had a thousand things flowing through her mind, but they all sounded incredibly lame inside her head, so she bit them back.
“You seem preoccupied. What did I interrupt with my text earlier? I hope you weren’t buried in a project.” He ran a hand across his jaw. “I know how hard it is to get your concentration back once it’s broken.”
She smiled as she remembered what she had been doing when she received his text. “I had just been getting ready to jump in the shower when I heard my phone chirp from the laundry basket.”
Dex laughed. “Forgot the phone in the jeans, huh? My mother washed her iPhone last month doing that. Luckily, I had set her up with the insurance when I took her down to get a phone that brought her into the current century.”
Kate cringed at the thought of washing her phone. “I’ve never actually done that, but I’ve come close a few times. I think that’s one of the dangers of working at home. In between projects, or on a sanity break, I’ll dump laundry in the washer. There have been a few times I stripped off my jeans, thinking I’d toss them in too, and caught myself right before turning on the machine.”