Not me. This was all Maria,I replied by jerking my head towards Maria. True, they were the same cookies Mama had made that ill-fated morning, but it was purely coincidence that we were baking them now. A very welcome coincidence if Freddie’s excitement was anything to go by.
“Well, then it’s a good thing these cookies are for big people, not little kids,” I replied, trying to show Sophia I took her declaration very seriously. “And I was thinking, once the cookies are done, maybe you’d like to go shopping. I didn’t pack very well when I left to come down here and I only have a few outfits.”
“I need to shop, too!” she exclaimed. Everything being said with exuberance was something that’d take some getting used to. “Daddy said he’d take me, but he hates shopping. It makes him grumpy and he talks to himself a lot. Maybe if you’re with us, Daddy will be happier.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her it’d take far more than that to change Freddie’s outlook on spending time at the mall.
“That sounds like a great plan. Why don’t you go upstairs and change out of your play clothes while the cookies cool,” Freddie instructed her. Maria made herself scarce soon after, leaving us alone again. “You don’t have to come with us. I can handle a few stores with her.”
“I’d hate for people to think you’re a lunatic, talking to yourself,” I teased. “Besides, I do need to go shopping if I’m going to stay in town to make sure Maria’s okay.”
“Is your sister the only reason you’re thinking about staying in town?” Freddie eased his way closer to me, pausing to listen for any indication that we were about to be interrupted again. Satisfied by the silence, he pinned me to the edge of the counter. “I don’t want to sound greedy or selfish, but I was rather enjoying what we were doing earlier. And I know you won’t expect more from me than what I can give.”
Even though I’d been the one to offer him a no-strings arrangement, hearing him list that as a benefit to experimenting with me stung. But it was good that he was setting clear expectations before we started anything.
I placed my hands on Freddie’s hips, tugging him close enough our midsections were plastered to one another. “That makes two of us. And if the offer is still on the table, I’d like to stay here with you.”
“It absolutely is,” he confirmed.
“I can pay you rent,” I quickly added, not wanting him to think I expected free room and board. “I can’t afford much since I’m still paying for my place in New York, but I’m sure I can help out.”
Freddie brushed the hair away from my face, and I leaned into his touch when he didn’t lower his hand. “I don’t need your money, Peter.”
“I want to help you,” I insisted. While I hated many of the beliefs Papa tried to instill in his family, I held firm to never letting anyone else carry me through life.
“I don’t want your money,” he repeated, this time firmer and through gritted teeth. I worried he was upset with me, but then he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead. It was nothing, but it was everything all at the same time. “You said earlier you liked taking care of people. If you really want to help out, having a second adult around the house would be far more valuable than money.”
“What? Like I could be your manny?”
Freddie’s nose wrinkled at my retort. “First of all, don’t ever use that word in my presence. It’s weird, like someone decided that nanny was too feminine so they tried–and failed–to make it more masculine.”
“Then what would I be?” I asked as I slowly rubbed the small of his back.
“You’d be more like a house-elf,” he quipped and we both started laughing. “You know, except you’d be allowed clothes, at least when Sophia’s awake. And I promise to treat you with respect at all times.”
Freddie might’ve been teasing, but he didn’t realize he’d touched on a fantasy I’d long forgotten. It wasn’t long after I’d moved to New York that a model friend of mine started talking about the “arrangement” he had with an older, wealthy fashion designer. Whenever he wasn’t on assignments, he stayed at the designer’s home, tending to whatever chores were left for him in the morning. In return, he was rewarded, both in material possessions and sheet-burning sex. I’d never thought it was something that I’d pursue, but we weren’t that far off from my fantasy already. I sucked in a ragged breath and decided to test the waters.
“And what would you do if I slacked off on my chores?” I asked playfully, grinding my stiffening erection against him. He wasn’t hard, necessarily, but he was definitely perking up to the idea. “Would you… punish me?”
“Oh fuck,” Freddie moaned. He buried his face against my neck. “You can’t say shit like that when we’re not alone.”
“Why’s that?” I goaded, shoving my hand between our bodies to stroke him. “You thinking about all the ways you could punish me? Have you ever done that before?”
“Nuh uh,” he grunted, canting his hips, chasing my touch as I pulled away.
“Is it something you’ve thought about doing?” His only response was a muffled moan against my shoulder. I knew it wouldn’t take much to get him off at that point, but I’d much rather show him how torturously sweet anticipation could be. Freddie struck me as the type of man who’d, until this point, viewed sex as a perfunctory act. For as long as I was here, I planned to show him how it could also be hours of blissful entertainment, even when he was at work and I was at home.
“Tonight,” I promised him. “After Sophia’s in bed and I take Maria home, we’ll spend some time together.”
“Please tell me that’s a euphemism for I’ll finally get to see you in nothing but those lace underwear,” he pleaded.
“That can probably be accomplished. Anything else you want?”
“Wanna taste you.” His response surprised me, but that was definitely a request I’d happily accommodate. “Want everything with you.”
“There’s no rush,” I responded. Maria’s excessively loud conversation with Sophia warned us it was time to put a lid on the sexual tension for a bit. It would’ve been so easy for me to follow Freddie into his room and give him the show he’d asked for as we got ready for the day, but that’d lead to a lot of nothing getting done before he had to go to work.
Shopping took longer than expected, which left Freddie beyond grumpy and nearing unbearably irritable. It was a good thing Maria and I had followed him to the mall because he had to take Sophia to his mom’s house and rush to work.
