“It’s not a matter of trust,” Xander.
“Did you sign yet?” Logan pushed through the door of the conference room.
“What are you here for?” Gabe asked.
“Going on a job. Have to go fetch an asset, I hear. You’ll be glad to sit this one out. It’s a helicopter ride.”
Gabe glared at his friends, his hands clenching into fists. “Even if it’s jumping out of a plane, I’ll take it right now. Come on, Xander. Give me something to do.”
Erik Knight was the next man to push through the door. He glanced at Gabe, at his bosses, and joined Logan against the wall.
“Sign it.” Xander held offered a black pen to Gabe.
“Yeah, too bad I don’t have a girl to rescue.” Gabe shook his head. “I can’t just bail. I told Stone I would take jobs for the next month.”
“River Stone isn’t known for his loyalty. A contract makes things super clear.”
He held Xander’s glare for a moment before he looked away and scrawled his name. He got the hint. He had to fix his stuff.
“Fine. Have fun. If you need a medic, I’ll still answer your call.”
“Glad to hear it,” Xander said.
Gabe stormed out of the conference room, out of the front door of Axis Management. He wouldn’t put it past Xander to act as if he was trying to be subtle while not being subtle at all. A lot of D/s couples had contracts. He and Ivy fell into kink together, and to be honest, he thought they were kind of dumb. He wondered if a contract would solve their communication problems. But did he really have to write ‘Don’t out your Dom’ in a contract?
His security gig didn’t start for six more hours. He stopped at Ivy’s favourite bakery and got that napoleon pastry thing she liked. He was slipping the key in the door as his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Dad, I can’t talk right now.”
“God forbid you don’t spare me a second or two. I am calling to invite you to dinner.”
“I don’t think I can come.” He turned the door, put his keys in the bowl on the hall table and slid his shoes off his feet.
“Get over here on Saturday. Your brother asked Chantal to marry him, and she said yes. That’s more than you’ve done. We’re going to have a nice dinner at Chops. Bring Ivy. Cole said she was trying to find work, so no excuse.”
“Fine, Dad. We’ll be there.” He poured himself a glass of water, catching sight of Ivy’s blonde hair shimmering in the sun. She was sitting on the balcony, her feet stretched out in front of her.
Damn, it felt so right to have her home.
He grabbed the pastry box and went outside to join her. “Hey, how was your day?”
Her sensuous mouth slid into that genuine shy smile of hers. Gabe reached over, running his fingers through her silky hair and dropped a kiss on her sparkly pink mouth.
“My day was incredible!” Ivy said. “Oooh! Is that box for me? I can use a refresh.” She grinned, skipping by him into the kitchen.
“What made your day incredible?”
Ivy strode over to the French press and poured herself a cup. “I got a job offer!”
“Hey, cool. Where?” Gabe set the box down on the patio table.
“I’m going to be a new co-host of a show called,Speak Darkly,and I’ll also write a column for it. I can’t believe it!” Ivy kissed his cheek.
“Co-host of what?”
“It’s a radio show that talks about sexy and kinky. It’s going to be so much fun. Julien Innes thinks I have what it takes to be their person for this. I think I’ll be good at it. I did that radio show for a while in school. Julien found the evidence of that if you can believe it.”
“No, not really,” Gabe said. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. “And Julien?”
“Yeah. Ella suggested my name to him. You know him?”
