But she isn’t ready for everything that it will take to be mine. The parts of me that crave obedience, the side that wants to share her with my brother so I can watch and hear her moan when she’s stuffed full of both of us.
No. She’s not ready.
But maybe she will be.
Maybe, if I take it slow, I can introduce her to a future she could learn to love.
Caleb, for now, can’t find out. He wouldn’t understand. He doesn’t need to know the details. I’ll keep the milk-thing a secret, for a while. I can’t scare her off. Not when she’s possibly everything I want and more.
Chapter 7
Joelle
The kitchen is scented with bacon, strong coffee, and toasting bread. I move through it on instinct, plating everything and pouring into mugs. I don’t ask the men if they’re hungry; men who work hard like they do always are.
Wade sits at the head of the table, and then the others take their places. Eli first, eyes darting, grin suppressed but still present like he has a joke permanently on his mind. Then Rick, who wipes his hands on his jeans. Caleb takes his chair last, lounging like he’s always been there.
No one talks at first. They eat with that focused silence only hungry men have, eyes down, forks scraping plates, coffee mugs lifted, food disappearing fast.
I don’t ask if they like it because I can tell that they do.
Then Eli breaks the silence.
“This is good, Joelle. Real good. Thank you.”
“It’s my job,” I say, clasping my hands in front of me.
“Sit,” Caleb says. “Eat with us.”
“Oh, I was nibbling as I was cooking,” I admit, thinking about the pounds I have to lose.
“Not the same as sitting and eating with company,” Wade says.
I concede and pull out the chair nearest to Caleb, fixing my plate with pancakes and bacon. Wade watches, passing me the maple syrup. When I chew on my first bite, the table seems to relax.
Stories flow. Near misses, drunken nights, a steer that broke through the fence and wandered into town. Eli does most of the talking, wise cracking, and raising eyebrows. Rick chimes in with dry one-liners that make us all wheeze. Caleb stays mostly quiet but smiles warmly every time I glance his way.
They treat me like I’m part of the inner circle. It feels warm like a family I’m not part of yet but maybe could be.
And yet, I feel like a fraud sitting here in Wade’s T-shirt, breasts aching with milk, pretending that what we did yesterday wasn’t gross and terrible. What would Caleb say if he found out? What if he already knows?
Wade wants me to try out for the job for days, and I’m full to bursting again. What am I going to do?
When the plates are empty and the last sip of coffee’s gone, Wade leans back in his chair and tips his chin toward the door.
“Back to it.”
No questions. They all stand. Rick nods at me and dips his head respectfully. “Thank you, ma’am. That was really somethin’.”
Eli winks. Caleb hesitates like he wants to say something, then follows the others out into the sun.
The kitchen’s quiet again. The air feels heavier with themgone, thick with a weird, buzzing anticipation.
Wade watches me from his chair.
I don’t move.
“Need anything else?” I ask.
