“Excuse us, gentlemen,” Abby said, totally oblivious to the shock their entrance had caused. She nodded at Luke. “We’re just passing through.”
Damn it. She should have told Abby about the breakup.
But of course, Nathaniel, being Nathaniel, reached out and grabbed Abby as she passed and pulled her into his lap. “Glad you could stop by,” he said with a grin.
Abby made a noncommittal noise.
“I’m glad Nathaniel waylaid you,” Cole said and looked over to Meagan. “You, too. We have a few questions and since none of us are women or submissives, we need your help.”
Meagan risked a quick peek at Luke. His lips were pressed together tightly, and from the looks of it, it was taking all his strength not to speak what was really on his mind.
“We’d love to help,” Abby said from her spot on Nathaniel’s lap. “Wouldn’t we, Meagan? Look, there’s a seat beside Luke—you can sit there for a few minutes.”
And there was nothing she could do in response to that other than sit beside the man who now hated her. She schooled her features as best she could, knowing she wasn’t going to be anywhere near I’m totally okay with this, but hoping she wasn’t giving off the Please God let there be a hole in the floor and let me fall right through it vibe either. But as soon as she sat down and Abby looked their way, the smile disappeared from her face and she knew it hadn’t worked. Either the expression on Luke’s face or her own told Abby everything she needed to know.
Meagan cleared her throat. “What can we do for you? I’m a woman, but I don’t identify as a submissive. I’m a switch.”
There was nothing from Luke. No words. No movement. She wasn’t sure he was breathing.
Of course by now, everybody had noticed the tension between her and Luke.
Cole cleared his throat. “Switch works.”
Across the room, Abby looked as though she was bursting to ask what was wrong with Meagan. Instead she turned to Cole. “What are your questions?”
“We were discussing the new club. For the dressing rooms, should we separate by gender or by role?”
“If you do it by role,” Meagan mused, “where does that leave switches?”
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at Cole. “She makes a good point.”
“So we go by gender,” Cole said. “Do you think everyone would be okay with submissives and Dominants sharing the same room to change in?”
“I’m okay with that,” Abby said. “I’d rather share with a Domme than a man.”
“How would same-sex players feel?” Meagan asked.
The men nodded and Nathaniel replied, “We’ll have to take that into consideration.”
Meagan really hoped that was all the men wanted to know. Normally, she wouldn’t mind discussing a new club, but with Luke right beside her still not moving and still not talking, she wanted only to escape as quickly as possible.
“How is your New York club set up, Luke?” Cole asked.
“The dressing rooms are set up by gender.” Luke’s voice was tight. “But there are separate role-specific rooms as well.”
Meagan knew for a fact there weren’t any rooms designated for switches. Any other time, she would be jumping all over Luke to bring that up. Not today.
“Do you have a room for switches?” Nathaniel asked. Beside her, Luke tensed even more and Abby whispered something into her husband’s ear. Meagan would bet money it was about her, but Nathaniel only nodded and didn’t give any indication as to what his wife had spoken to him about.
Luke responded with, “No.”
“How does that work?” Cole looked at Meagan. “If there’s not a room designated for switches, which one do you use?”
Meagan balled her hands into fists so tight, she knew she’d have nail marks on her palms. She shot Abby a let’s get out of here look. However, Cole had asked her a question. “I know before I get to the club which role I’ll be in for that particular night. I dress appropriately at home, and use the corresponding room when I arrive at the club.”
“Thank you,” said Cole.
“I think we could set up something similar,” said Nathaniel. “Luke?”
“I don’t see why not.”
An uncomfortable silence followed, and she felt as if everybody was watching her even though she knew that wasn’t the case.
Abby gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. “If you guys don’t have any more questions for us, we’ll be on our way.”
“Thank you,” Nathaniel said.
Meagan stood up and followed Abby out of the room. As soon as they were outside of earshot, Abby turned to her. “So, what the hell happened between you and Luke?”
* * *
Luke braced himself for the questions as soon as the ladies left the room and he wasn’t surprised when Nathaniel spoke first.
“Luke? Is everything okay?”
No, he wanted to shout. Everything was not okay. It could not be further from okay. At the moment, though, he wasn’t sure he wanted to explain everything to the gathered men. Especially not to Nathaniel, who had never cared for Meagan and simply put up with her because Abby worked for her and genuinely liked her.
It shouldn’t have made a difference. He shouldn’t care what people thought of Meagan. Yet somehow he did. He cleared his throat. “Meagan and I have been working on a project and it’s over now. In more ways than one.”
Sitting in a chair near Nathaniel, Fritz remained silent. After Meagan had left a couple of days ago—well, after he kicked her out—Fritz had seen how upset he was and didn’t push the issue. He left after telling Luke to call him if he wanted to talk. At the time, talking was the last thing on Luke’s mind. But maybe talking now would be beneficial.