Lake and I watched as Rey familiarized Ben with the tiny critters. Lake wrapped his ankle around mine and we smiled at each other.
Without thinking, I mouthed, “I love you,” to him.
Lake’s eyes widened, then he blushed and flicked his gaze off mine, before glancing back and smiling widely. “I love you, too,” he mouthed back.
Chapter 23
Lake
Having him say those words later that night while we were basking in the wonderful, slightly hurty—on my part—afterglow of the thorough railing I’d gotten was even better than the covert way he’d mouthed them to me earlier.
I was still floating a little the next morning when I woke up, feeling the twinge in my ass. There were bruises shaped like his fingertips around both of my hips, and I spied a dark bit of skin on my shoulder where he’d sucked the blood to the surface in the throes of fucking me into the mattress.
For someone who had never had much interest in sex, Theo had really gotten into the swing of things and I felt incredibly lucky being the one who was with him when that happened. He’d told me he’d never understood the way some people went on and on about sex, not until now.
It wasn’t as if I thought I was the reason he saw things differently, but I was happy that he got to have it now and even happier for it being with me. In my opinion, maybe he’d needed a person who fit him like I did, but it could’ve just been some sort of stars aligning type of deal. Human sexuality was a weird fluctuating thing, and I was happy to be there for the ride.
And ridden I had…
“Lake?”
I snapped out of the memories from last night’s round two, and blushed when I realized Sierra was trying to get my attention.
“Yeah?” I’d been nervously walking around the yard, checking this and that, knowing Anderson would arrive any minute now.
“First of all, take a deep breath,” she said knowingly. She stepped fully out of the office and walked to me. Taking hold of my shoulders, she shook me a little. “There’s no need to be nervous.”
“And secondly?” I gave her a wavering smile.
“Secondly, anyone who is old enough will take one look at how you’re walking and know how thoroughly not available you are.” Her expression was positively wicked, and I blushed crimson.
“Uh…well…” I took in that breath, let it go, chuckled, and winked at her. “That might’ve been the goal.”
She cackled. “I wasn’t sure but it does make sense. Who wouldn’t want to mark their territory or well, I guess be marked as someone’s territory when an ex comes around.”
“It’s probably not for everyone, but I certainly don’t mind,” I said, huffing with amusement. “To be fair, I think as much as I need this, Theo needs it even more.”
Sierra got serious, too. She grimaced. “That man has the weirdest lack of self-worth. Somehow he doesn’t get that he’s the heart of this place. Ruth always said that if the day came Theo understood how much he means to everyone, to this place, he’d either hide and never come out, or his head would swell until it popped.”
I chuckled. “I mean, sounds like Theo. I’m ninety-nine percent sure the latter would never happen.”
“Absolutely not. That man is too good for his own, well, good.”
A rumble of an SUV came from the road, and I took in another deep breath as it turned into our yard.
“Where is he now?” Sierra asked as we watched the car approach.
“He took Izzy and Bucky to the reserve. I think he’s hiding.”
She made an understanding little sound, then let her expression morph into her customer service one as soon as Anderson parked in the lot.
I hadn’t seen Anderson in about a year. When I’d gotten the job at the bookstore four years ago, we’d agreed that being seen together would be weird. Technically, he’d been my boss, even if not directly.
I’d gotten the job in a way I didn’t really like. When I’d told Anderson I was considering leaving sex work, he’d jumped at the opportunity to try to provide for me. His first instinct of making me his sugar baby hadn’t gone well for him, but he’d managed to help out anyway.
I’d always loved reading and books, and so he’d used that to make sure I had prospects. His word, not mine.
We’d stopped seeing each other a few months after I officially quit escorting. It just…fizzled. With my new job, I didn’t have the time nor energy to try actually dating him, and with him being the CEO of the chain, it would’ve been inappropriate anyway.
