I don’t know her, though.It could be she’s uninhibited with all men.I doubt she’s promiscuous, but I can’t be sure.Just because she’s friends with Madison, made excellent grades, and has a stellar resume doesn’t mean she didn’t also party hard and sleep with lots of men.
“How often have you been coming to Edge?”I ask.
“Most weekends.”She grazes her fingertips over the supple leather of the bench next to her without looking.
“Did you come here before you graduated?”
She smiles at me.“If you’re asking if I came before I was twenty-one, no.I never used a fake ID to come here.The owners are very strict, as I’m sure you know.I wouldn’t have gotten away with it, nor would I have risked getting banned.I wanted to join as soon as I was old enough, so I did.”
“So your fake ID was only for other bars.”I smirk.I know all about the night she, Madison, and a few other girls went to a bar and got wasted a few weeks before graduation.That was the night I asked Myles to pick up Madison because her car was stolen—the night I inadvertently set their relationship into motion.
Kelsey rolls her eyes.“You sound very self-righteous, Mr.Kennedy.I have no reason to lie to you.I did use a fake ID to get into bars for the last few years.I turned twenty-one a month before Madison, though.I was legal the night you sent Myles to pick up your daughter.Yes, we were all drunk.Yes, we thought it was hilarious that her daddy sent his friend to rescue her from herself.No, we wouldn’t have driven home.I’ve never driven drunk.No, I don’t drink every night.And before you judge me, maybe think back on your own behavior at that age.”
I like that she holds her head high.She’s hiding nothing, as far as I know.She exudes confidence and it makes my cock flinch.
A soft chuckle escapes my lips.“Kelsey, at exactly your age, I got drunk in a bar, had unprotected sex with a woman I didn’t know, and she got pregnant.”
Kelsey winces.She hadn’t thought of that, though she’s a smart girl.She could have done the math.
“For a lot of people, that would have ruined their lives.I was lucky.Madison is the best thing that has ever happened to me.I’m sorry her mother didn’t have the strength to stick around, but I’ll always be grateful she was honest and left me my daughter.”
Kelsey holds my gaze, inhaling deeply.“You’re a good man,” she finally says softly.“Maddie is lucky to have you.”
“I like to think I was a good father.She seems to have grown into a well-adjusted adult.Yes, I was blindsided to find out she was in a relationship with my best friend.I’m still working through my feelings about that.But she’s a good kid.”
“She’s awoman,” Kelsey points out, probably to emphasize the fact that she herself is also a woman.
“Indeed,” I agree, not taking my gaze off the unbelievably sexy body only feet away from me.My thoughts about her are filthy.I have no business entertaining them.If I stop now, she doesn’t need to know they exist.
I never should have brought her up here, but I knew that even while guiding her with my hand on the small of her back.Touching her.Standing close enough to smell the light floral scent of her shampoo.I need to back off.She works for my company.She’s off-limits.Not because there’s any particular rule about fraternization, but because it’s inappropriate for me to think the things I’ve let seep into my head about this woman.
Just because she came up here with me doesn’t mean she feels anything for me.She probably just obeyed me because I’m older, I’m technically her boss, she’s a friend of my daughter’s, and she’s respectful.
Any other thoughts I have are unwarranted.
I push to standing.“I’d say you weren’t lying when you told Claudia you were fine.You seem of sound mind.I guess you don’t slide into subspace easily.”
“I’ve never experienced subspace,” she tells me.
I’d like to take you there…
I shake that thought from my head, like all the others, and head for the door.Hopefully, she will think I brought her up here to monitor her for a while.“I’ll escort you to the dressing rooms.Did you drive here?”
“Yes.I don’t drink when I come to Edge.”
“Good.You shouldn’t.It’s best not to mix kink play with alcohol.”I turn toward her with my hand on the doorknob.“Do you have someone you check in with so they know you get home safely?”
She hasn’t moved from the middle of the room yet.Is she disappointed that I’m taking her downstairs?She licks her lips.“No.I’ll be fine.”
I shake my head.“I’ll give you my number.Text me when you get home.Please.”
“Yes, Sir,” she murmurs as she finally joins me at the door.
My heart skips a beat when she calls me Sir.It was probably simply a polite gesture, but I can’t help hoping it was more than that.Did I imagine the capital S that would indicate a more submissive definition of sir?
Chapter3
Kelsey
