Page 168 of Masters of Control

He didn’t need her help to get a date, dammit.

Considering his mom never hovered over him when he was a kid, it was damned annoying when she’d suddenly decided to once he was an adult, as if trying to make up for lost time. Like getting him married off would solve everything.

If anything, he needed help keeping anyone from getting too invested in him as a romantic partner, which was why he liked BDSM. Everything was nice and neat, and expectations were clearly laid out.

Bringing a woman home to a family event was going to muddy that, even though it was a fake relationship.

Walking into Marquis’ restaurant, Asad looked around. The place was already busy, with most of the tables full and the bar both loud and packed. He glanced around, and it only took him a moment to spot Morgan’s red hair among the tables. She was sitting perfectly still, hands folded neatly on her lap, staring at her menu.

He happened to know she had the menu memorized since she occasionally worked on the second floor of Marquis.

Maybe she was nervous, though she hadn’t seemed so when the owner of the kink club they both belonged to had suggested her as the perfect solution for Asad’s dilemma. Patrick’s submissive, Lexie, seemed to think it would help Morgan out as well, which Asad privately agreed with. She had a traumatic past, it was true, but the Stronghold and Marquis Doms had gone a little overboard trying to protect her from what he could see.

Getting away from all the Doms breathing down her neck for a week was supposed to be good for her. And Asad got a fake girlfriend who was gorgeous, happy to be there, and not looking for a relationship.

The only thing that sucked for him was the ‘no sex’ rule, which even Lexie had supported. He and Morgan had scened together before at the clubs, but Lexie had pointed out that having sex while on a trip to meet his family could cause some emotional entanglements. Asad wasn’t worried about that for himself, but Morgan…

So far, she hadn’t fully latched on to any of the Doms, but that was partly because they’d all gently rejected her the first go-around when she’d been like a lost little baby bird, trying to find a place to land. Once she’d realized she didn’t need to do that, she’d changed. But it would be better not to muddy the waters, so Asad had agreed.

No sex.

Which really was too bad, he thought, as he waved to the hostess and made his way past her to the table where Morgan was waiting for him. The scenes they’d had together had been hot as hell, and she was gorgeous. Keeping his hands to himself wasn’t exactly his natural state, but it was only for a week.

As he approached the table, Morgan looked up and met his gaze. Her face relaxed into a smile. Fuck, she really was gorgeous. Her makeup was flawless, as usual. He knew enough about women and makeup to know that looking so natural took a lot of effort.

“Hello,” she said, still smiling. The color on her full lips made them look like a delicious pout. “You’re late.”

“I am. I’m sorry,” he said cheerfully. He was only a minute or two late, but anyone who spent time with Morgan knew that wasn’t an argument they would win. She wasn’t saying it to be censorious, the way his mother would have. She was just stating a fact. “You look lovely.”

As always, Morgan preened at a compliment.

“Thank you.” She paused for a moment. “You look very handsome.”

“Thank you.” Asad sat down across from her, smoothing his hands over the button-down shirt he was wearing. He hadn’t wanted to dress up too much, but on the other hand, he hadn’t wanted to appear slovenly next to Morgan, who always looked incredible. The dark purple dress she was wearing tonight dipped low in front and made her skin appear even creamier than normal, and her auburn hair glowed where the curls spilled over her shoulders and down to her breasts.

Sometimes, he wondered how her hair would look straight, but she never wore it that way.

“How was your day?” he asked, glancing down at the menu.

“It was good. Yours?”

“Exhausting.” He flashed a grin at her. “But looking up now.”

Morgan frowned for a moment, then her expression cleared with understanding.

“Your day is better because you’re seeing me?” She sounded pleased, and Asad nodded.

Sometimes, his efforts to be charming with Morgan backfired. She took things very literally and often seemed surprised anyone would put in the effort to compliment her. That was why Asad made it a point to do so as often as he could—not that he was being insincere. He always kept his compliments legitimate.

A moment later, the server arrived with a glass of water for him, and they both put in their orders. Asad hadn’t needed to look at the menu any more than Morgan did—Marquis was his favorite place to eat or hang out at the bar, even when he wasn’t heading up to the second floor where all the kinky stuff was.

“So, what did you want to talk about tonight?” Morgan asked, placing her hands on the table, one atop the other, her head tilting to the side in curiosity.

“I figured we should try to get a little more natural about being a couple. Talk about things that might come up with my family, and well, everything that we didn’t really talk about before.”

The night that Patrick and Lexie had suggested Morgan as his date, he and Morgan had agreed to a few things—namely that she would go with him, and he would pay for everything. He’d given her a bit of information about his various family members, but that had been it, other than agreeing to meet and talk again.

“Like what?”