“Can’t leave her here.” Stone frowns at Alex.
“I mean, you know, security and all.” Alex crosses his arms and glances over at Blake.
Blake shrugs. “It’s not like she can get attacked in a private kink club when we’re all there. If anything, there’s more risk here where she’s expected to be.”
I glance up at my friends and meet Gabe’s interested gaze.
Fuck. I search for the words to explain this, a lie that would work, but I’ve got nothing.
Gabe raises his hands and shrugs.
He’s cool with it, but Amy will never forgive me for outing her to him.
NINE
Amy
I can’t takea step without tripping over a big bag of testosterone in jeans. They’re everywhere—putting in cameras, swapping out light fixtures, adding motion detectors—and it’s making me nuts. I can’t step away for a second without one of them following me. Tyler’s the worst of all. He should be backing me up since this is his investment, too. We shouldn’t be burning through money like this.
Instead, he’s taking their side. My plan for a quick refresh of paint, linens, and artwork has exploded into plumbing, tile, and even electrical upgrades. Blake’s appalled at my lack of charging ports in the outlets, s although I did get props for my GFCI outlets in the bathroom. I didn’t bother to point out that I had to pass an inspection to even open this place.
Alex is talking about a safe room in the basement now that it’s organized. A freaking safe room? I put my foot down on that one, but now he’s decided—after finding out his showerhead dripped for a bit after he shut off the water—to identify every substandard piece of plumbing indoors and out. I argued that I couldn’t afford to replace everything, and Tyler nudged me aside and went to Glenwood with Alex. I swear, they brought back an entire big-box hardware store.
Stone moved into the room we finished, so I’m sneaking more paint supplies into his old room that Cade and Eliot cleared out this morning. The ceiling drank up more paint than I expected.
“I told you to wait for me.”
I jump about a foot and spin to glare at Tyler. “Don’t sneak up on me.”
He crosses the room, and I back up until I hit the far wall. He approaches, a hair from touching me, and my breath catches. The gold in his green eyes has flared into flames. Fuck, he’s so goddamn attractive when he’s pissed off. In a low rasp, he asks, “When are you going to learn to obey me?”
That word,obey, sneaks into my panties and lights me up. His words are more invitation than threat. Something is wrong with me. I should be enlightened and hate his alpha-hole tendencies when they rear their ugly head. But some part of my brain gets happy and gooey. I growl and sidestep him, ducking under his arm. “Don’t hold your breath.”
His hand settles on the back of my neck. “I could hold yours.”
His tantalizing words are a whisper across my ear, and my lungs freeze. “Please, Sir” is on the tip of my tongue. I’m barely able to shake my head because the image that pops into my mind of his hand at the base of my throat makes my empty pussy clench.
His fingers skate down my spine, and he taps my ass. “Are you sure?”
I’m not sure of anything. I should have run when I considered the option days ago before he had backup. Before I spent so many nights sharing a bed with him. Before I forgot that I don’t need a dominant lover.
“Yep.” I manage to get the single word out in a convincing tone. I meet his heavy-lidded gaze. “Ready to paint?”
“I’m ready to give you whatever you need. Just ask.”
So many possible requests flutter through me, leaving goose bumps behind. “Uh.” I hand him a paint roller. “Walls.”
I can barely lift the fork at dinner by the time we finish hours later. Alex made a smoked pork loin that’s unbelievably good. But all I want to do is drag myself back to the guest room and keep working. It’s like some part of me thinks that if I can complete the remodel faster, they’ll leave, and I can return to my normal, boring innkeeping world. Each day without a threat to my safety makes me forget why they’re here. And it makes me get even more used to their presence, their company, their friendship—and I can’t allow that. Because if I get used to the nightly gatherings—practically family dinners—I’ll be even more lonely than before when they go, especially when I lose Tyler.
“Did you get enough?” Tyler asks.
I glance at my mostly empty plate and nod.
“You guys are on cleanup.” He helps me from the chair. “I’m taking her to bed.”
“Brown chicken, brown cow,” Alex sings out in a sexually suggestive tone.
Cade’s and Blake’s laughter follows us to the stairs. It takes my tired brain a second to translate what Alex said to bow chicka wow wow. Heat rushes over my face.
