Fulfilled by Allyson Young Page A

catch, pulling her shirt on. She folded the towels and took them back to the bathroom where she avoided looking in the mirror at all costs. She scooped up her coat and purse, toed into her shoes and went to stand by the door, like a dog waiting to be kicked out into the cold. Loser. Stupid loser.
    “Lois. Little one, don’t take on like that. I just need to explain…”
    She shook her head and stared at the floor. He hardly sounded the Dom, and it frightened her even more. He sighed again and pulled the door open. She walked through, planning her next move. She had enough money in her purse for a cab, a really good thing, because she wasn’t letting him drive her anywhere. He took her arm and led her in the opposite direction down the hallway and they went down a flight of stairs to a restaurant. Not really a restaurant, but there were tables and chairs set in an atrium. Her brain catalogued wonderful smells emanating from the commercial kitchen and a couple sat at a table by the window, sharing breakfast. Her stomach roiled and rejected the idea of food. Jonathon escorted her to sit as far away from the others as possible.
    “Coffee?”
    She wasn’t hungry. She wanted to go home and lick her wounds and remember the best parts of their time together. “Please. Black.”
    “What do you want to eat?”
    “Coffee’s good.”
    “I wasn’t giving you an option about breakfast, Lois. I was giving you a choice. You need to eat.”
    He was annoying her, pretending to care for her, playing the Dom while he set the scene to reject her. She set her lips and forced a few words through them. “Toast. Thank you.”
    He stalked away, and she focused on a pattern of sunlight marbling the floor tiles and spilling onto a fall of ivy. This could be a soothing place and was so at odds with the rest of the club. She supposed everybody needed a peaceful place. She would need to find one of her own, maybe a million miles away on a yet undiscovered island. She hoped he’d soon be back and get it over with because it still didn’t make any sense. Not that it had to make sense. Her chest hurt in an interesting way. She’d never felt it before, and she didn’t like it at all.
    A tray thumped onto the table, and she flinched. He placed a plate with toast in front of her along with a cup of coffee. His plate was loaded with eggs, sausage, hash browns, and pancakes. Apparently kissing off a woman was best done on a full stomach. She made a pretense of eating and sipped at her coffee while he devoured his breakfast. She thought she might spit up.
    “Okay. Here’s the deal. You want kids, and I can’t make any. So we should stop this here before we go any further. I can’t give you everything you need.”
    Bloody hell. That’s what this was about. He was sterile and thought it was the deal breaker. He had to have considered it the night before. He’d noticed her connection with Nathan, knew of her career choice, so the likelihood was there. But he’d had sex with her anyhow. So either he was a horndog, or he couldn’t help himself because all that stuff he’d said about attraction or wanting her was true. She wanted to believe the latter. Heck, she did believe it because she felt the same way. And now he was pulling that crap about what she needed and what was best for her. Bullshit. There, she’d sworn. That was his fault, too. Mixed messages were not okay, and she itched to slap him. This was about hurt man pride and pricked ego. One didn’t need a lot of experience to see that truth from a mile away.
    “Good morning, Jon. And Lois. I see you pushed up the dating schedule, Jon.” Patrick’s voice would freeze the gates of hell open.
    She didn’t give Jonathon the opportunity to answer. “I share the responsibility, Master Patrick. I wanted this. And there were no Lifestyle components involved because I have yet to see your physician.”
    Patrick stared at her, but his face softened, and his eyes weren’t quite so arctic.