Eloise scowled. “I’m not a fun, easygoing girlfriend. I work too much and get stressed out. I don’t listen.”
Reed tried to hide a smile, but a brilliant cheesy grin broke across his mouth. “Oh, lemondrop. If you agree to a dynamic with the two of us? You won’t have to face all of those struggles alone. We can address your listening problem too.”
“You can’t just spank me until I promise to be a good little princess.”
“Hang on.” I held up my hands in the shape of a T, indicating a timeout. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves again. I’m off tomorrow night. Can we meet here around seven?”
“Yeah, I’m done with work by four tomorrow,” Reed confirmed.
“I can if one of you will pick me up at the bar around six-thirty? Then I’m free to come over.” She checked her phone, confirming her schedule.
“Sounds like a plan. I expect your letter and your assignment to be done by then.”
“Or?” Reed placed his hands on his hips.
I stood up, stepping to his feet. “Or you can finish the task over my knee tomorrow evening. It makes no difference to me.”
He clenched and released his jaw while his eyes studied mine. I hoped my face conveyed how serious I was, but I would not allow him to continue to hide. Not when he was a good partner and a damn good Dominant, but his stress seemed to make him forget those things. Things I knew from our years of friendship.
“You’ve never held me across your lap, King.”
I cupped his face in both of my hands. “Not yet. But I will if that’s what you need to focus on the assignment.”
“Can you come back here after your shift tonight?”
I hated the raw vulnerability seeping from the tone of his question. Underestimating our connection wasn’t something I meant to do. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
“Yeah, I can do that. But don’t wait up, I’ll let myself in and you need rest. Let’s go.” Holding my hand to Eloise, I waited for her to place her palm in mine before tugging her to her feet.
“I’m sorry if I’ve made everything complicated, Reed,” she said almost under her breath.
“Life is complicated, lemondrop. It’s all right.”
He hugged the two of us at the same time as we politely and somewhat awkwardly said our goodbyes. So much had been tossed at me in a short amount of time, but I looked forward to the challenge. I thrived in high-pressure, high-stakes environments. Two brats would be a cakewalk. At least that’s what I told myself as I led Eloise to my car. But life had a funny way of reminding me that like everything else, it was unpredictable.
Seven
Eloise
Leaning against the leather cushions in Kingston’s luxurious SUV, I tried to squash all the questions spinning through my brain. The sun had set a few hours ago, leaving us with only the moonlight to outline our features. We had been sitting in comfortable silence since he pulled onto the main road that ran through the majority of our town, but I needed answers.
“Did you threaten to spank Reed?”
Kingston licked his lips as he navigated the roads toward my home. “Which time?”
“Tonight? He seemed different but we haven’t spent a lot of time together.”
“I’m pretty sure you heard me tell him if I had to bring him to the couch I was going to take off my belt and swing it at his ass a few times to get him to comply. So, what’s the real question on your mind?”
“Would you have spanked him in front of me?”
“With his consent.” He glanced at me as he continued driving before shifting his focus back to the road.
“Have you done that before?”
“Spanked Reed?”
“Are you purposely being obtuse?”
