She was quiet for a long moment. “That’s a good start.”
“I’m sorry for snapping at you, Marly. The last woman to step foot in that room was my ex-wife. I thought I could handle you in there, but… obviously, I wasn’t ready.”
I glanced up from my lowered gaze. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry if I didn’t read your signals. I was so focused on being ‘in charge’, I steamrolled right over them.”
I exhaled in relief, the tension melting from my shoulders, but my stomach was still twisted in knots. “Can I please tuck you in now?” I needed it. With that intense fight… I needed to feel her touch, brush her hair, put her to bed so I knew she’d be there in the morning. My stomach was dense; heavy and felt like it was lined with led as I awaited her answer.
“What time is it?”
Fuck.“Seven minutes ’til midnight.”
“Then, no. I need one night this week where I put myself to bed.”
My heart fell. What if she was gone in the morning? What if I’d ruined the only other potential candidate to play Holly in this movie? What if I’d ruined whatever friendship was blooming between us?Friendship.It didn’t seem like quite the right word. She had a fiancé. But still… whatever it was, it was more intense and calling her a friend didn’t do it justice.
“But,” she said, “as a compromise, I’ll let you brush and braid my hair. Inyourroom.”
“In my room?” Back where we’d had our fight. Back where Layla haunted me at every corner. Did she know? Could she sense how badly I needed a connection right now? Warring feelings of tension and relief coiled around my spine—I didn’t want to go back in that room with her. But also, thank God she was allowing aftercare in some form. That she was learning to read me. It was a double-edged sword.
“Yes. Because as a wise Dom once told me, it’s part of the job to push those boundaries without crossing them.” A smirk tugged on her lips and I couldn’t but chuckle. It was a sweet release—her smile, my laugh.
“He sounds like a smart man.”
She shrugged, grabbing her hairbrush and whooshing past me into my room. “He can be. But I’m also learning he can be a stubborn jackass sometimes, too.”
Oh, Poppy. You don’t even know the half of it.
