“I’ll take the grilled chicken salad with balsamic vinegar dressing.” She glances at Lincoln with a smirk on her face. “I don’t need anything too heavy with the plans he has for us later.”
Lincoln rolls his eyes and runs his hand through his hair. “Jesus woman. You’re really asking for a red ass later, aren’t you?”
She shrugs one shoulder with a smirk on her face. “I’ve told you time and time again, I like your punishments.” I look between the two of them. Ansley winks at me and Lincoln gives me a questionably apologetic look.
“I’ll take the steak with some mushrooms and a side salad. Medium rare.”
I nod at them and walk back into the kitchen to give the order. The pub is beginning to fill up for lunch hour, but no one else comes to sit at the bar. Lincoln glances at Ansley and they have a conversation with their eyes I can’t decipher, but I’m sure they’ll let me in on whatever this is about soon enough.
“We have some questions for you,” Lincoln finally says. I lean against the bar and wait.
“Liv talked to me at Caroline’s house. She told me a bit about your relationship,” Ansley says. I narrow my eyes. Olivia didn’t tell me that and she didn’t mention it in her journal entry this week. “I talked to Lincoln about it, and we have some questions.”
“About me and Olivia’s relationship?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
“No,” Lincoln answers. “That’s your business.” Ansley scoffs, but doesn’t say anything else. “Ansley and I have some elements of BDSM in our relationship. We were hoping you’d be okay with us asking you questions about it.”
“Oh,” I’m surprised and glance around. “I can answer questions, but not here. You two are welcome to come over and eat dinner with us. I can talk to Olivia and see if she doesn’t mind talking about it, and we can both answer your questions.” Lincoln nods, but Ansley gives me a skeptical look.
“Are you sure Olivia would want to talk about that?” she asks me. I raise an eyebrow at her.
“Well, she did talk to you, so I’m assuming yes.”
She thrums her fingernails on top of the bar. Lincoln glances at her with a skeptical look, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Is she just your submissive?” Ansley asks.
Lincoln sighs and sits back in his chair. I stare at her for several seconds that turn into minutes and she returns my stare waiting for me to answer.Is she just my submissive? No. She’s more than that.
“No, she’s more,” I say, trying to figure out exactly what I should say. Ansley nods slowly and places her chin in her hand as she continues to watch me, her gaze never wavering.
“I suggest you tell her that,” she says just as their food is brought out.
I wait until their food is placed in front of them and their server walks away before saying anything. “Why would you suggest that?” I ask her.
Ansley takes a bite of her salad and nods appreciatively as she chews it. “Thisisgood,” she says before taking a sip from her water. I want to shake her and tell her to hurry up and answermy question. “I don’t think she knows she’s more,” she says before taking another bite of her salad.
James said something similar earlier. I rub my hand along my jaw as I look between Lincoln and Ansley. Lincoln digs into his steak and keeps his thoughts to himself.
“Why wouldn’t she know that?” I ask. “She stays at my house, and I make sure she’s safe. When we have sex, it’s not just in our roles…”
Ansley raises an eyebrow at me that makes me stop. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve taken things beyond our roles. The first time I did that was the night I told her about my fantasy of fucking her on my bike. That wasn’t a scene. That was Victor and Olivia.
“Listen, I’m not going to apologize for sticking my nose in your business. Liv is one of my best friends. Obviously, there are things I don’t know and I’m learning about her because she’s a very private person. But there’s one thing Idoknow. You’re the very first relationship she’s ever had, and she’s going to take everything you say at face value. If you’ve only told her or talked to her about the Dominant/submissive relationship between the two of you, that’s all she’s going to think it is. She won’t ask for more because that’s not who she is. She’ll take what you give her, but only up to a certain point. If this is more, you have to tell her it’s more or she won’t know.”
I exhale deeply as Ansley’s words sink in and I think back to the question James asked me earlier.Fuck, she doesn’t know.
Chapter sixty-four
Olivia
My mouth pops open at all the supplies on Grant’s truck. I look at it then Victor. “What is all this?” I ask him.
He walks over, cups my face, and kisses me. I stare up at him, a little surprised, but enjoying the attention. He stands behind me and wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest as we watch Grant begin to unload everything.
“Well, I thought it would be nice if Grant built you a greenhouse,” Victor says. “What do you think?” My heart begins to beat wildly in my chest.He’s having a greenhouse built for me. What does that mean?
“I love it.”
