“She only knows about it from books.”
Leo groaned. “Not Lexi’s books? Where the Dom always surrenders in the end? I’ve begged Aidan to spank her ass until she writes one of us who isn’t a pussy.”
“I like Lexi’s books,” Shelley admitted.
“They are not a true representation of D/s,” Leo argued.
“They’re a representation of love,” his sister shot back.
“I suppose so.” Leo stared at Shelley for a moment before turning back to Trev. Leo’s face split into a smile. He held his hand out. “I am so glad to hear that you’ve taken a submissive. How did you hide this? No one knew you were seeing anyone.”
Trev swallowed before he answered. “Um, I didn’t meet her at The Club.”
“He met her yesterday.” Shelley still sounded slightly outraged. “And she’s the most innocent woman I’ve ever met.”
Leo’s brows climbed up his forehead. “Really? That explains a lot.”
Trev fumbled for words. “I’ve met her before. It’s just that she was a kid back then. We went to the same high school. We didn’t run with the same crowd.”
“Mou…Beth doesn’t have a crowd. She has Bo,” Shelley explained.
Not anymore she didn’t. Trev wouldn’t tell her she couldn’t see him anymore. He wouldn’t come between Beth and her friend. Not exactly. He did intend to keep her so busy that she wouldn’t really have time for anyone but him.
“Bo? As in O’Malley?” Leo put a hand to his forehead as though trying to ward off one of the killer migraines he got from time to time. “Fuck. Please tell me you didn’t screw Aidan’s brother’s girlfriend.”
Shelley waved him off. “Mouse…Beth, god that’s hard, isn’t Bo’s girlfriend. She’s just his friend. Don’t get me wrong, she’s one of the nicest people around, but she’s very naïve when it comes to men.”
Leo calmed a bit. “And she doesn’t belong to Bo? Because the last thing you need is to give Aidan a reason to fire you. He’s looking for one already.”
That was news to Trev. “Why? I know what I’m doing. I thought he wanted me.”
Leo’s jaw tightened the way it did when he delivered bad news. “Aidan wasn’t exactly thrilled when Julian asked him to take you on. He thinks you’re dicey, and he knows you’re only going to be here for a year. He would rather find a permanent foreman. He’s doing this as a favor to Julian.”
Trev felt his stomach turn. That was all he needed. Now he had to deal with the guilt and shame of being a fucking charity case. “Tell him it’s fine. I’ll go back to The Club. I can spend my last year of probation there. As long as Julian will give me a place to stay, I’ll work for free. When I get my contract money, I’ll buy my spread and no one will have to worry about me.”
He still had a shred of pride. At least he was trying to have it.
“Trev, you can’t leave. You just got here.” Shelley’s dark eyes practically pleaded with him.
And then there was Beth. He didn’t want to leave. He’d spent one night with her, and the thought of not seeing her again had him in knots. He’d promised her he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Slow down, Trev. I know this situation isn’t perfect, but you can make it work. You didn’t want to be stuck in The Club. That’s why you decided on this path. You knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Leo said.
He also hadn’t known it was going to be so damn hard. A single vision of Beth’s face as she’d rolled into his arms, her skin flushed from orgasm, her mouth smiling and eyes wide with wonder, flashed across his brain. “I’ll stay. I’ll keep my head down and get my work done. And I’ll tell Aidan that he can keep searching for a permanent foreman. If he finds one, I’ll just work as a hand.”
He couldn’t leave her. Not after taking her virginity. He’d failed too many people over the years. He took his promises seriously. If he had to swallow a little pride, it was worth it.
Leo sighed. “Well, we can work it out with Aidan. I didn’t call him. I hoped to find you in the proverbial ditch somewhere.”
Trev laughed. “Yeah, that would have better than having to haul my ass out of a bar or jail.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” Shelley looked between Trev and Leo, a frown on her face.
“Trev? Are you down there? I took your rules seriously.”
Trev turned at the sound of Beth’s soft voice. She reached the top of the staircase. She had taken him seriously. She wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothes. Her gorgeous, curvy body was on full display. The only thing she was lacking was a collar. He would have to fix that.
“Well, hello.” Leo’s eyes warmed as he took in Beth.
Shelley slapped at Leo’s arm, earning her a stare from the Dom.
“Oh, my god!” Beth screeched the words, and her hands flew over her breasts and down to her pussy as though she couldn’t decide which to protect. She stumbled as she tried to fly back up the stairs. Her nicely shaped backside came into view.
He needed some toys to go along with the collar. A whole training set of anal plugs would be required because he was definitely going to get his cock up that perfect ass.
“Trev?” she called out from what Trev assumed was her bedroom.
“Yes, darlin’?” He couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice.
“Did they see anything?”
Trev had to put a hand over his mouth to stop the laugh. “Nothing that wasn’t lovely.”
“It was a wonderful way to begin the day, Beth. It’s very nice to meet you,” Leo called out.
“Oh, my god!” The door slammed.
“Don’t worry about it. She says that a lot.” In the day they’d been together, she’d called out the deity’s name several times.
Plaster drifted down from the ceiling, and the door slammed open again. Leo barely touched the railing to the stairs, and it came off in his hand.
Leo looked down. “Uh, this place is a bit of a fixer-upper, huh?”
Yeah, Trev had that in common with this old house. And he just might have found the woman who could renovate him.
Mouse slammed the door, her heart racing. She grabbed the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her naked body. Trev had guests, and they had just been treated to a vision of her au naturel. It was mortifying. What had she been thinking?
She hadn’t been thinking. She’d woken up, and Trev hadn’t been in bed with her. She’d decided to go looking for him. She hadn’t even stopped to look for her robe. She’d just obeyed him. He wanted her naked, and Mouse had just waltzed through the house in the altogether.
Maybe she was the mess everyone said she was.
There was a light knock on the door before it opened, and Trev walked in. He carried her dress from the previous night and two cell phones with him. He was wearing a pair of jeans and nothing else. The jeans rode low on his hips, showing off the notches on his abs. He was a Greek god. What the hell was he doing here with her?
“Has anyone ever told you just how pretty you are when you blush?” He asked the question with the sweetest smile on his face. He placed the dress and the phones on the bed.
“Who was that?”
Trev crossed the room in two long strides. “That was Leo Meyer. He’s sort of my mentor. Drop the sheet.”
She pulled it closer. “I am not going to drop the sheet. I might never be naked again. I might shower with my clothes on from now on.”
His eyes narrowed, and a low growl came out of his mouth. “We’re alone.”
“No, we’re not. There are people in my house.”
“They’re downstairs. We’re alone, and I want to see you.”
That tone of voice really did something for her. How did the man manage to get her so hot with just a sentence? “Why is that man here?”