Moose inched closer to her, eyes narrowing as hers nervously peered into his, searching. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but Moose flinched, and his brows furrowed as he watched her breathing change.
“Nah, we ain’t playing that game. Tonight. Seven sharp. Meet me at Artisan Bistro. Don’t make me come find you.” Mooseleaned in and applied a gentle peck to her cheek, sending a shudder over her entire body.
When he walked away, her eyes stayed glued to his tatted backside. She didn’t take orders from anyone, but Moose had her ready to submit from the lustful glint in his eyes to his assertive tone. Everything about him screamed MAN, and every instinct she had screamed at her to run in the opposite direction. Yet, she was drawn to him in a way she couldn’t depict in the range of fervor he stirred in her.
“I see thinking you run shit is a Blackmoor trait.”
“Fuck around and find out,” Moose warned, simpering sexily over his shoulder.
Kong turned to Ayla, mouth open, ready to speak when Nay slid up beside him. Draping her slender arm across his shoulder, she leaned toward his ear, lips practically touching his lobe.
“That was cute. You’re always doing something for charity.” She let her gaze wander over to Ayla in contempt. “It’s hot, and I’m bored. You promised me a good time tonight, too. I thought we could start with a shower.” She grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.
Shaken, but not as stirred as Nayelli wanted her to be, Ayla blinked slowly before peering down at Kara and Kyro finishing their ice cream. Clearly, Nay was trying to get a rise out of her like she’d been doing all week. She showed up when she wanted, pranced around in tight, designer labels, and hung all over Kong when he was around.
Ayla didn’t doubt the two were fucking, but Nay put more emphasis on it than Kong seemed to. There was no romance or any intimacy that she had witnessed between the two. Whatever they shared didn’t seem to go beyond the bedroom, which told her it was mainly physical and convenient. She tried not to analyze the situation too much, but she couldn’t help it when she looked into Kong’s eyes and saw somberness residing there.
“Come on, kids!” Ayla snapped out of her daze and forced a smile across her face.
Kong didn’t have to explain anything to her. She was his employee. Nothing more or less. He’d been very accommodating, and she was comfortable living and working at the estate, even with Nayelli and Phoebe constantly lurking around, trying to make things harder for her. Audiemar had no complaints, and the children were slowly but surely adjusting.
The two still had a long way to go, but it was nothing that Ayla couldn’t handle. The adults in the situation were what she sometimes grew concerned about. When she was up at night, going over content or trying to come up with new ideas, she could hear Kong or his father moving around. Both restless, like they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Her bedroom was just off from the kitchen, so she listened to them creep inside, eating her leftovers and desserts before retiring to their rooms. It often brought a smile to her face, and secretly, she did admire Kong. He seemed so disconnected and withdrawn, not just from his children, but from life itself. She guessed it was because of his wife. Yet there wasn’t a single picture of the woman, from what she could tell around the house.
“Let’s go get our table cleaned up so we can load up the car. I’m sure your father will want to clear out soon.” Ayla briefly lifted her eyes to Kong’s, who remained stiff as Nayelli draped herself over him like cheap jewelry.
When Ayla grabbed Kara’s hand to walk away, and she didn’t fight her, Kong was impressed. His daughter was very independent, a lot like her mother, and often didn’t want to accept help or any type of leadership from anyone. Her tantrums had minimized in the few days Ayla had been with them.
Once they were far enough away, his jaw tightened, and he shrugged Nay off him before facing her. The anger flickering through his stare alarmed her.
“What’s wrong?”
“The fuck was that?” He sneered, watching her face crumble into a frown.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t ever do no shit like that in front of my kids again. When we at the house, we choose to be discreet, so why the fuck you wouldn’t think to do that shit in public?”
“Kong, what are you talking about? We go out together all the time. People have seen us,” Nayelli reminded him.
“That’s one thing, but my kids don’t need to be confused by what the fuck this is!” he spat, sending her neck rearing.
“And what exactly is this to you?” she asked, both of her precisely threaded brows lifting, then forming a bridge above her piercing champagne tinted eyes.
Kong inched into her space, voice low so only she could hear.
“A mutually beneficial situation that gets us both what we want. No strings, no confusion.”
“So, I’m just some toy to you that you occasionally pick up, have your way with, and then put back on the shelf? How is that fair to me, Kong?”
“Fair?” he snarled, looking her up and down.
“Yes, fair! I care about you. I want this to be more than you fucking me into a coma!”
“What you require, I can’t provide.” He backed up and shook his head. “You knew that three years ago when we started this. I told you then, don’t put everything into us because I didn’t envision a future with you or anybody else.”
“I refuse to believe that, Kong.” She moved her head in denial. “You feel something for me.”
