She stared for a minute more. “Do you know what you’re doing, Beth?”
Beth shook her head. “Not really, but I know I like doing it.” Her face flushed as though she’d just figured out what she’d said could be taken in a risqué fashion. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Yes, it was.” Lexi’s face broke into a huge grin. “Well, I have to say I’m happy for both of you. I’ve been trying to convince Aidan to bring Beth with us to The Club for years since she’s…well…you know.”
Trev nodded. Beth was a natural submissive. He hadn’t met many. Even the subs in The Club tended to be more of the “submit in the bedroom”–style subs. “I know.”
“I don’t know. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Beth’s big eyes looked between them as though trying to decide what was going on.
There was a loud shout from the next room, and Lexi winced.
A tall man with raven-black hair strode into the room, his eyes laser focused on Lexi. He walked in and immediately crowded the small woman. His arms went around her, and Trev could hear his sigh as they connected.
“Hi, baby.”
“Hi, Lucas.” Lexi kissed him, her mouth finding his. Her arms wound around him.
Lucas O’Malley had, at one time, been known as Lucas Cameron. He was the scion of a political family, but he’d left them long before to live with his two loves, Lexi and Aidan.
Lucas nodded his way. “Hello, Trev. Beth.”
Trev liked Lucas O’Malley. “Hello, Lucas. How’s it going?”
Trev reached for Beth’s hand, the impulse so overwhelming, he just gave in.
Lucas didn’t fail to note the exchange. “Well, that didn’t take long.”
Lexi smiled up at him. “You know I always said Trev had the Dom thing down. It’s like a moth to a flame. Speaking of moths to flames, Leo’s in town. Shelley Hughes called him last night when she couldn’t find Trev and worried that he had found a bottle again. I think now we know what he found.”
Lucas smiled. “Seriously, dude, eight hours in this town and you find the sub.”
Beth’s eyes lit up. “Oh, now I get it. I’m the sub. I can handle that. I don’t know why everyone is praising Trev though. Maybe I’m the one who found him.”
Lexi nodded. “Don’t listen to the men, Mou…Beth. They need to have their egos stroked. It’s why they became Doms.”
There was another loud crash from the adjoining room.
Lexi winced again. “Except for that one. Aidan became a Dom because he likes the violence.”
That earned her a little swat from Lucas. “Don’t you start that, brat. You know he’s struggling with this.” The doorbell rang. “That’s probably Leo. You behave.”
Aidan opened the door to the office just as Lucas was leaving. His face was grim, but he smiled as he caught Lucas. “You’re back early.”
Lucas put a hand on his Dom’s waist. Aidan was the Dom, Lucas the switch, and Lexi the sweetly bratty sub. “I finished up. I wanted to come home.”
Aidan leaned forward and pressed his lips to Lucas’s. “I’m glad, O’Malley. Now take our wife out of here, or she’ll run this damn interview.”
Lucas winked at his partner and took Lexi’s hand. He led her out of the room.
Trev looked up at Beth. “Go on, darlin’. I have to talk to Aidan.”
Beth smiled down at him and followed Lucas and Lexi.
Just like that, the light left the room for Trev. He was back to darkness as Aidan frowned at him.
“You playing around with Mouse?”
“Her name is Bethany. Don’t call her Mouse. She isn’t some animal.” Trev tried to keep his anger tamped down.
Aidan walked around the desk and slumped down into his chair. “Thank god someone finally calls her by her name. You serious about her? She’s a damn fine woman.”
That was the question. He could be perfectly serious. He just didn’t know for how long. One day at a time didn’t leave much promise for the long term. What could he offer her if he really couldn’t promise much past tomorrow? “I care about her.”
“So does my brother.”
Bo cared. Trev had seen it in Bo’s eyes. Bo simply wasn’t man enough to really follow up on the emotion. “She’s been alone for years. Don’t make this sound like I walked in and stole her. You know what she is. Bo isn’t a Dom. It would be a disaster if he got together with her. She would be his doormat. She would be miserable.”
“I don’t know if I would say she’d be a doormat, but I do get your point. My brother isn’t a Dom.”
“Not even close.”
Aidan seemed to consider the problem. “But I don’t know that I trust you, either.”
Trev hated this. He hated being at someone else’s whim. He’d spent so long being the freaking center of the universe that it rankled to have sunk so low. His hands curled about the chair he sat in. The need that was always there in the back of his head had taken up residence in his gut. It took everything Trev had not to get up and walk out.
“I can only try my damndest to change your mind. Leo told me Julian called in a favor to get me hired on here. If you’ll just let me work as a hand, you can continue your search for a foreman. I just ask for a year’s worth of honest work.”
Aidan’s brow rose. He leaned forward. “I thought one of the things you required was a safe place to stay. The way Julian explained it, you need a babysitter.”
Trev huffed. Julian had made it sound bad. “I think I have a place to stay. It’s run-down, but I can handle it. I don’t want Beth staying there alone.”
“Out at the old Bellows place?”
Trev nodded.
“That place should be condemned.”
Not if he had anything to say about it. Beth loved it. “It will be fine once she fixes it up. Look, I get you don’t want me here. Just tell me no, and I’ll go. I won’t cause trouble between you and Julian. We can tell him I changed my mind.”
“And then what happens to Beth?”
That was the million dollar question. “I’ll take care of her.”
He wasn’t sure how, but he would do it.
Aidan leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Trev’s face. “My brother is under the impression that you’re just a bump in the road for Beth. He’s sure she’ll come around to his way of thinking if I just tell you to leave.”
“Like I said, do what you need to do. I’ll take care of Beth. She gave herself to me. I can’t ignore that gift. I won’t just because Bo O’Malley has decided to finally step up to the plate after ten years. He didn’t want her until I set eyes on her.”
Aidan sat in quiet judgment, the silence of the room oppressive. It gave Trev too much time to think.
He’d lied to himself. He’d been ready to break the night before. He’d put the coffee mug down. He’d made his decision. He’d shut the door to the truck, and he’d started the long walk inside. It was like he’d been pulled along by some invisible rope. He’d stopped fighting it. There had been a certain peace to just laying down and accepting the inevitable.
And then he’d seen Beth and known he couldn’t afford to give in.
She claimed he’d saved her. It was utterly the other way around.
“Will you submit to weekly drug tests?”
Aidan’s words sent him into another spiral. And what fucking choice did he have? He had a year until he got his money and he could work his own spread. Maybe then he could afford to buy back some small shred of dignity. “Sure. I’ll pee in a cup.”
He was sure his whole face was on fire, but he kept his words measured and even. He drank his coffee. He thought about Beth as Aidan started going over all the rules.
He wished he was still in bed with her. Everything had been all right this morning. The world had been soft and warm. It had been a place where he hadn’t ruined everything. It had been a place where he had never chosen a drink or a line over his family—one where he’d made his parents proud, where he’d shown up at his momma’s deathbed and helped his sister get through it. When he’d held Beth, that real world—the one where he’d screwed everything up—had fallen away, and he was someone else. He’d been Beth’s loving Master. He’d been someone she could count on. He’d been good for something.