Page 157 of Masters of Control

“I’m so glad you’re not going to be working there anymore,” he said, reaching over to take her hand. She squeezed his fingers.

“Me, too. I just have to get through this last month and make sure all my clients are taken care of, but I already feel so much better knowing I have an end date.” She sighed with relief and shook her head. “I feel like I’ve just lost a huge weight from around my neck.”

“You did,” Olivia said. “They were dragging you down and have been for a while.”

“It’s true. I don’t really want to talk about that, though.” Camille laughed. “I’m feeling too good. What else can we talk about that’s not a downer or reminiscing on negativity?”

“Lexie wants me to be Master Asad’s fake girlfriend, but I’m not sure if I should,” Morgan blurted out.

Freddy nearly choked on the water he’d just taken a sip of.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Freddy

Morgan’s announcement that Lexie wanted to set her up with Master Asad as a fake girlfriend caused a bit of a bombshell. Camille, Freddy, and Olivia all knew about his need for a fake girlfriend to take to his brother’s wedding, but Julie had to be brought up to date. Olivia was the only one who’d known Lexie planned on asking Morgan to be the sacrificial victim.

Freddy shook his head.

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?” Morgan asked, looking worried.

“I think there’s several things that could go wrong, but Lexie had good reasons for seeing if you would do it. Have you said yes?”

“Yes.” She brightened again. “I was thinking it would be good for me to give Brian some space. He’s been very mopey lately, but he won’t talk about why. At least, not to me.”

Probably because he was moping about Rae and her new boyfriend but didn’t want to discuss with it Morgan since in some ways she was part of the problem. Though why Brian hadn’t anticipated that when he asked Morgan to move in… but it wasn’t like he and Rae had even been flirting when he’d asked Morgan that. The two of them were so busy pretending they weren’t into each other, they kept hurting each other.

Both of them were way too stubborn, but it wasn’t like either of them were asking for his help, so he stayed out of it. As long as things didn’t spill over onto Morgan or anyone else, at least.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Olivia said, leaning forward. “Just make sure you talk to him about what you are and aren’t willing to do that weekend. Going as his fake girlfriend doesn’t mean you have to be his real sub.”

“Oh, I don’t mind being his sub, we’ve scened together a few times. He’s very generous with orgasms.” Morgan smiled delightedly. “Hopefully, it will work out.”

The look on the server’s face as he came up to the table with a tray of food was priceless.

Camille

Lunch with Freddy and Morgan was very interesting. She knew they were friends and hadn’t been the least bit threatened to find them going out to lunch together, but she couldn’t deny she was curious about Morgan as a person. Getting to spend some time with her was both enjoyable and eye-opening. Not in the least because she got a good look at what Freddy was like as an Alpha Submissive.

That wasn’t really a thing, but in her head that’s what she was starting to think of him as. He was completely submissive to her, but he reacted like a protective Dom when it came to the other submissives, and it was especially clear with Morgan. If he had to go toe-to-toe with another Dom to protect her, he would.

A turn-on for Camille.

Then again, she’d always found confidence sexy, so it wasn’t that surprising.

Once they had their food, and their poor server had fled the scene, conversation picked back up.

“Is there any reason you’re unsure about being Asad’s date?” Julie asked Morgan.

“Well, I wasn’t, but then my friend Noelle said she didn’t think I should,” Morgan said a little hesitantly, glancing at Freddy. His expression went blank, and across the table from Camille, Olivia’s jaw tightened as anger flared in her grey eyes, making them look almost molten silver.

“Oh?” Julie asked archly, before anyone else could respond. “Did she say why?”

Looking down at her salad, Morgan pushed one of the croutons to the side of the plate.

“She’s worried about me going away for a weekend with a guy I’m not actually with, like I might get attached to him or something.” Morgan shrugged her shoulder. “I mean, I like Master Asad… I mean, Asad, but I don’t like him that way. I think. I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship again. Faking it for a week seems like a good way to test it out, and I like that it’s something I can do for him.”

“That makes sense to me.” Freddy’s grip on Camille’s fingers had tightened. He wasn’t happy hearing about Noelle trying to talk Morgan out of it. “I don’t think it’s up to her to know whether you’re ready to do something. It’s up to you.”