She heard Vic say, “That’s a lie. I don’t believe it for a minute. And when you decide you need someone to talk to about whatever just happened, find me. I can’t speak for anyone else, but you can always trust me. I’d never hurt you, not in a million years.” Laura turned to apologize to him for the way she’d talked to him, but he was gone.
Vic walked into the men’s locker room and leaned against the wall. He knew damn well something had happened, but the ice princess wasn’t going to tell him what or take any help from anyone. And he was done with trying to get someone who didn’t want to be around him to open up to him. That was a dead-end street, and he’d walked down too many of them already.
From Renovating a Heart,
Book 3 in the
Love Under Construction Series
An hour and fifteen minutes into his Wednesday work day, his phone buzzed. “Steve, your nine thirty appointment is here.”
“Yeah, okay, it’s . . .”
“Miss Markham?”
Steve wracked his brain – he didn’t know a woman named Markham. “Send her on in.” He put his jacket and his professional face on, then took his seat behind the big mahogany desk.
The door opened and Angela, Steve’s assistant, ushered the woman in. Steve’s eyes went wide and a huge smile spread across his face. “Kelly!”
“Hi Steve! Wow, nice office!”
“Thanks! I didn’t recognize your last name. Glad to see you! Want something to drink?” She shook her head. “So what can I do for you?” he asked, motioning for her to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Pinkness spread across her cheeks and her hands shook as she pulled a document out of her purse. “I talked to Nikki. She said you were the person I needed to talk to; she said you’d understand.” Steve unfolded the document she passed to him.
It was a submissive’s contract. He blinked a couple of times to be certain he was seeing it correctly. Sure enough, the submissive’s name was plain on the top of the document: Kelly Markham. Now he understood why Nikki had sent her to him. “This was very well done. Did he break the contract with you?”
“Sort of.” Kelly’s gaze fell to her hands in her lap. “He passed.”
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! How long ago was this?”
“Nine years.” She sniffed. “I still miss him every day.”
Steve came around from his desk chair to the armchair next to Kelly. “So how can I help?”
“He made this out thinking it would protect me. Then when he died and we weren’t married, his kids took everything, even some of the gifts he’d given me over the years. I’m about the same age as they are, so they saw me as a gold-digger who just wanted him for his money. They even called me a pervert because they didn’t understand our lifestyle. I would’ve married him if he’d ever asked, but he never did. But he loved me, he really did, and I loved him. Even though I could’ve used the money, I just gave up – it wasn’t about money to start with. And I’ve done okay until Friday when I lost my job. We think they want to close the branch of the insurance company where I worked, and they just laid me off. I’ve got three months’ severance and I’ll draw unemployment, but it’s not much. I know Dom/sub contracts aren’t legally binding, but I was wondering if . . .”
“No, they’re not. But this one clearly shows intent. He genuinely thought he’d protected you by making this contract. I wish it had worked.” Steve thought for a minute. “You know, I don’t want to get your hopes up, but let me see if I can find something, a case precedent or a loophole, anything, that could help. Can I make a copy of this?”
“Sure! Please! How much will you charge me? Because I don’t have any . . .”
“You’re Nikki’s friend, and you took Laura in when she needed a place to hide. Just consider this my way of repaying you.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t . . .”
“Oh yes, you can and you will.” Steve took the contract out to Angela and asked her to make him a copy. When he came back, he asked Kelly, “Did Nikki by any chance tell you . . .”
“That you’re in the lifestyle? Yeah. That’s why she told me to come and talk to you.”
“Did she tell you that I have a fetish club in Lexington?” Boy, I’d love to see her in nothing but a smile!, he thought.
“No! She didn’t! I’d love to visit sometime.” Kelly’s eyes were sparkling now.
“I’d love for you to visit. We’ll be open tomorrow night. If you’d like to come by, I’ll show you around.”
“I’ll do that. And thanks, Steve. I really appreciate this.”
“No problem.” As she left, he handed her a card for the club with his signature on the back. He was glad she’d come in, and he hoped she’d come by and like the club enough to stick around, because he was itching to see those tits bare. He knew they were fake, but they were real enough for him.
I hope you enjoyed these excerpts from the Love Under Construction series, and don’t forget the free introductory volume, The Groundbreaking, to learn the back stories of the main characters in the series. Check your favorite online retailer for the format that works best with your electronic device.
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