Joel caught sight of her and winked.“Maybe I just needed someone youthful.”
“How serious are the two of you?”
“Well, It’s still pretty new.Right now we just need to get through the filming ofCanyon del Oro, the movie we’re starring in together.”
It was a perfectly reasonable answer.Why, then, did a knot twist in her stomach to hear it?Was it because the public at large always knew more about her personal relationships than she did?No, it was more than that.His comment was just a painful reminder that they didn’t have a relationship at all—they had a verbal contract that extended through the filming of this movie.And when that ended, would her contract be renewed?Or would she be handed her humiliation on a platter?
Tears burned her eyes.How could she even begin to enter the dating world again after she’d given her whole self—her dignity, her body, her vulnerability—everything to this man?
She walked away, heading outside to the patio for fresh air.
“Hey.”Joel wrapped his warm arms around her from behind.
She stiffened.
He stilled.“Hey,” he said again.“What’s up?”
“Nothing, I’m just getting tired.Would you mind if I got a cab home?I know you need to stay and circulate.”
Joel turned her around to see her face.“What is it?”he asked.
She shook her head “Nothing.I just want to go home, that’s all.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, studying her face.“Give me fifteen minutes.”
She nodded mutely, her heart sinking.She would have preferred to be alone with her insecurities, so she could get them under control.For all her acting abilities, it seemed with Joel, she was an open book.Always bared to him.
She stayed outside, taking deep breaths, and telling herself she would be all right without him.
“So what happened?”Joel asked his silent date on the ride home.
“Nothing.I told you that,” she said.
“You’re lying.”
She said nothing.
He hated moments like these, where he wasn’t sure whether to push in dom mode as Daddy, or back off and just be Joel.He opted for pushing.“Do you remember what happened the last time you put walls up when you were upset?”
That wrung a small smile from her—a good sign, but she still didn’t speak.
He parked in the garage and met her as she attempted to bolt inside without waiting.“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Joel, I’m really tired.”
Her use of his name struck hard, but he persisted.He picked up her hand and with the most gentle of touches, bent it behind her back, holding it there as he guided her forward, toward his office.“I’m sorry, love, but we need to talk.You have one more chance to tell me what’s going on or I will help you talk.”
Her cheeks colored, but she clamped her teeth together in a stubborn refusal.
He opened the door to his study.“Bend over my desk.”
She took two steps toward the desk, then stopped, turning back.Not an outright refusal, but it seemed she needed more help.
He picked up her hand again, returning it to her low back and propelled her forward until she reached his desk.He pushed her torso down and delivered a flurry of sharp spanks over her dress.“Reach your hands straight out in front of you to grab the other side of my desk.”He held his breath, still not sure whether she would comply.
She reached them forward and he exhaled.She did want this.
He lifted the skirt of her dress and peeled the snug-fitting gown up over her hips.She wore a pair of the new panties he’d bought, satin with a heart-shaped cutout in the back to show the cleavage of her ass.He ran his hand over her luscious curves.“I might have to leave these on while I spank you.”He hooked his fingers in the elastic.“On second thought, they will make a beautiful frame for my work when I’m finished.”