Submitting to the Lawyer (Cowboy Doms 4)

Her brown eyes lit with interest. “Me too. The library has been great about ordering anything I request.”

“I won’t have time this week, but maybe next week we can go over together. Sydney, are you finding your way around here any better?” As Avery and Tamara jumped in to tease Sydney about her penchant for getting lost, the last of Nan’s tension melted away. God, she’d really missed them and was glad to be home at last.

The best way to spread the news of her tea shop reopening, Nan knew, was through Dale’s Diner. Walking down to the corner on Friday, clutching the flyer she’d made up, she hoped Gertie, the gruff, no-nonsense owner didn’t give her too much grief. The widow had a heart of gold but spoke her mind for all to hear. Entering the popular eatery, she cringed as Gertie pierced her with an angry look from behind the counter.

“Hi. I’m back.” Nan’s wry tone bounced off Gertie, as she’d known it would but still had to try.

“Girl, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Pointing to an empty stool, she snapped, “Sit.”

With a rueful shake of her head, Nan crossed the black and white tiled floor, waving to a few people who called out a friendly hello. “I’ve heard that a lot this week,” she admitted as Gertie set a glass of iced tea in front of her.

After a silent moment enduring the older woman’s careful scrutiny, Gertie replied, “Landed yourself into some trouble.” She nodded and slapped a menu down. “Good thing you got your butt back where it belongs. Today’s on the house. We’re out of meatloaf.”

“Order up, Gert!” Clyde, the head cook called out, lifting his hand and smiling at Nan. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks, Clyde.” Nan watched Gertie stomp over to the open shelf where he’d placed two steaming plates.

Picking them up, she tossed back at Nan, “Be right back, so don’t dally deciding what you want. I’m busy.”

God, it’s so damn good to be home. At least, she thought so until a deep voice she knew well said from behind her, “That old woman hasn’t changed, has she?”

Dan Shylock slid onto the stool next to her and Nan stiffened in immediate awareness. As happy as she was with the sweeping, familiar warm rush of pleasure his nearness and deep tenor always produced, she needed to be very careful. His astuteness as both a Dom and a friend who knew her well meant she needed to school her features carefully before she dared look up into those dark, compelling eyes again.

Nan huffed a small laugh, shaking her head. “No, she hasn’t, thank God.” Taking a deep breath, she turned and smiled. His tipped Stetson shadowed his tanned face, but she could still see the curve of his lips and the sharp, assessing look in those dark brown eyes. “Neither have you. Hi there. Long time, no see,” she quipped, keeping it as light and casual as possible considering the way her stomach cramped with worry over what he might see that she wasn’t ready for.

Dan cocked his head and took his time looking Nan over, his welcome smile slipping as he glimpsed a wariness reflected in her honey-gold gaze she’d never exhibited toward him before. The new shadows under her eyes and pinched tightness around her soft mouth set off his inner alarm. The woman and submissive he’d known for several years had looked at him with teasing flirtation, strong-willed independence and lustful need, but never with such a guarded expression, as if she were trying to keep something from him. It both hurt and pissed him off almost as much as her long absence followed by her return without a word from her.

“Yes, too long.” Removing his hat, he ran a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair, noticing the extra inches of her sable tresses. He liked the way the ends curled around her shoulders but would miss sifting his fingers through the shorter strands as he cupped her scalp. “I was on my way to see you when I spotted you coming in here. No offense, hon, but you don’t appear as if your time away agreed with you.”

His Dom radar went on high alert when she shifted her gaze away from him, her fingers toying with the silverware in front of her. “I had issues to deal with is all.” She shrugged, the gesture as evasive as her answer and unlike the outgoing woman he knew who didn’t shy away from anything or anyone.

“You couldn’t do that without cutting yourself off from everyone?” he prodded, dissatisfied with the vague reply.

Nan tensed before glancing back at him with a familiar look of determination. “No,” she returned succinctly, “I couldn’t.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” And Dan was. He’d always held an extra fondness for Nan, ever since he’d noticed the gleam of interest and expectation on her face when the Master training her had released her to explore her submissive needs with others. He’d been the first to snatch her up for a scene and the two of them had been dancing to the same tune until she’d left for a short vacation and stayed away for far longer than planned without an explanation to anyone.

For years Dan had cherished the comfortable fit of their unique, two-sided relationship. The occasional Dom/sub scene they indulged in had never interfered with the casual friendship they’d developed away from the sex-charged club atmosphere. She embraced sexual dominance with cock-hardening submissiveness but maintained her fierce independence outside the club and possessed an admirable streak of loyalty toward her friends. Those traits were a perfect fit for what they both wanted out of a relationship but were also what made her silence these many months and the changes he could see on her face suspect. For the first time since he’d known her, he found himself struggling against the urge to go all Dom on her here, in public and outside the club, to demand answers she didn’t want to give.

“Dan, didn’t see you come in. May as well take your order too,” Gertie said, her sudden appearance dispelling the awkward moment between him and Nan.

They both ordered the cheeseburger and fries, only he added a shake with his. He noticed the flyer advertising her re-opening right before she held it up for Gertie. “Do you mind if I put this on your bulletin board, Gertie?” she asked.

“You know I don’t, girl. I’ll even send them down the street after they come in here. We’ll get you back up and in business in no time.”

Her face softened with her smile. “Thanks.”

“That’s what friends do around here, be there for each other. You’d do well to remember that.” Gertie turned and called out to the kitchen, “Two cheeseburgers and fries,” without pausing as she stomped down to the other end of the counter.

“Looks like I’m not the only one unhappy with your long, unexplained absence.” Unable to resist, Dan pinched her chin and turned her face toward him, holding her there even though her eyes darkened with annoyance and she tried to jerk free. “In case you’ve forgotten, you can come to me with anything, tell me anything. I don’t judge, you know that, or you should.” He released her and changed the subject as her expression turned rigid. “I have a new foal, born seven months ago. Pretty little filly. You’ll have to come out and see her sometime.”

Nan’s face lost her rigid irritation and her eyes lit with interest, a familiar look it relieved him to see. She loved horses, and he knew she’d always wanted one of her own, but not until she could buy enough acres to stable it herself. That was part of her independent streak that right now was causing her to remain mute on her reasons for staying away.

“I’d love to.” Her rigid shoulders relaxed with the eagerness in her eyes. “Thanks. Maybe next week, after I get the shop going again. Are you still working with military parolees?”

“Sure, just let me know, and yes, I hired two new guys several months ago.” The troubled vets used the time, space and work he offered to transition back into civilian life and acclimate themselves to their freedom from both drugs and prison before returning to their loved ones or heading out on their own. Of the previous eight men he’d sponsored, only one had lapsed bad enough he’d ended up back on drugs.

Gertie returned with their orders and Dan shoved aside his curiosity and concern to savor spending time with Nan again. The instant rush of excitement upon see