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"Ainsley Listen tofilled her chest and belly when she looked at hi "What?"

"Would you stay if I asked you?"

"Stay where? In Sundance?"

"Yeah"

"And do what?" She froze when he continued staring at her with that Dom look "I can’t ever…be that"

Ben frowned "Be what?"

"A lifestyle submissive Like Layla With the collar, the full subservience and the discipline whippings"

"For Christsake!" he bellowed "That’s what you think I want from you?"

He never bellowed and Ainsley shrank back

"God, Ainsley, do you really think I’ monster? That I purposely set out to fuck up your professional life so I could force you into a lifestyle that you’re not suited for, for my own selfish purposes?"

When he put it like that, she felt petty Bitchy Ben knew all her vulnerabilities And he’d never used theainst him You’re about to use them now

"No But this circuetting into with this Do"

"And now?"

"Now I knoas na&iu but a tourist"

"What are you saying?" Ben deive him false hope Confess what the last feeeks had meant to her Confess what he meant to her She had to take a hard stance and make a clean break, no matter if it would break her "I knew exactly what you hen Ifor you You’re still a Dom You still need the club The friendships you’ve otten at the Rawhide are iive that up"

Realization dawned in his eyes His jaent rigid "But it’s changed everything for you You can’t be a part of it At all"

"No Even if by some miracle this loan fiasco blows over, I can’t be in a relationship, even casually, with ais a conservative industry and women have an even harder row to hoe than ht Because no one has ever lost their job due to a sex scandal," she snapped

That shut him down for a minute or so "It doesn’t have to be this way"

"Yes, it does" Ainsley briefly squeezed her eyes shut against the tears and the pain "I don’t want to change you But you need to understand I can’t do this"

When she looked into his wounded blue eyes, her heart went into free fall

"So this is it? You’re cuttingthis the wrong way, Ben, it’s not--"

"Just stop Please Stop justifying it This…fuck…it’s…" His voice caught "I can’t…"

With an econorabbed his hat off the sofa table

He didn’t look broken-hearted when he walked out He just looked broken

Thursday was the longest day in the history of the world

She’d put a couple of contingency plans in place on the off chance it’d work in her favor

Ten minutes before the phone conference was scheduled to start, she left her office Turton left his office at the same time Not a coincidence and she felt manipulated

"Ainsley? Turton?"

They turned and looked at Leslie "I know you’ve got a conference call scheduled with the districta loan situation, as the sole loan officer in this branch, I want to lead the call"

Turton harrumphed and walked into the conference room

Ainsley and Leslie followed