He had no problems telling her what he wanted. And she didn’t want to risk ruining what she had if he didn’t feel the same way about her.
Best to let sleeping dogs lie, isn’t that what they say?
It didn’t take long to make it to their hotel. Her parents were waiting in the lobby, where they offered smiles and hugs.
“This is Tony Daniels,” Shayla said. “My boyfriend.”
“You didn’t tell us you were seeing anyone,” her mom playfully scolded.
“We’ve only been seeing each other for a few weeks.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tony,” her dad said, but Shayla spotted the guarded look on his face even as he reached out to shake hands with Tony.
“Tony’s going to play tour guide for us today, if that’s okay with you guys?” Shayla said. “He’s lived down here all his life.”
“So what do you do for a living?” her dad asked.
“I’m in IT. I run the data center at Asher Insurance.”
Her dad frowned. “Asher? Isn’t that a pretty big company?”
Tony offered up the smile that could easily part Shayla from her panties. “Nationwide.”
Donald Pierce looked impressed. “You must make good money.”
Tony shrugged. “I do okay. I certainly don’t have to take out secret credit cards in my girlfriend’s name.”
Karen Pierce laughed out loud. “Oh, I like this one, honey,” she said.
“Okay, if we’re done playing ‘Interrogate Our Daughter’s Boyfriend,’” Shayla suggested, “I’d like to go eat. I’m starving.”
He took them to a restaurant on St. Armand’s Circle. He also scored brownie points with her parents by picking up the check and refusing to let them pay. Then the four of them spent time walking the circle, browsing through the shops.
“You should see this place around Christmas,” he told them. “Everything’s decorated. It’s beautiful.”
“I bet it’s warm down here at Christmas,” her mom said.
“Sometimes. The only white Christmas we have is on the beaches, though.”
“You guys should come down for Christmas,” Shayla said. “Rent a condo for a week. We can have Steven come down, too. Have a Florida family Christmas.” It’d be nice to have her parents and her brother around for the holidays.
Her mom stopped walking and looked up at her dad. “What do you think, Don? I like that idea. It’d be nice to escape the snow. You were going to take two weeks off at Christmas and New Year’s anyway.”
“I think I’m outnumbered,” he said to Tony.
Tony nodded. “Looks like it.”
They walked into a small gift shop to browse. A small rack of pewter amulet necklaces caught Shayla’s eye. Sitting on the counter, each artisan amulet looked hand-stamped and hung from a black cord.
One in particular, with a design of quarter moon, stars, the sun, and hearts, caught her eye. “Ooh, that’s cute.” She looked at the price tag and immediately let go of it. “Not that cute.”
“What?” Tony looked at it. “You like it?”
“I love it. My budget, however, doesn’t.” Her mom called her over to look at something. When they left the shop a few minutes later, Shayla didn’t understand Tony’s sly smile. As much as she loved that smile of his, she wished he’d stop it. Her panties were already dangerously close to being soaked through as it was.
He drove them to Mote Marine, where they spent a couple of hours touring the exhibits, before heading down to the world-famous Siesta Key Beach.
“It’s gorgeous!” her mother exclaimed. “I’ve never seen the Gulf before.”
“Actually, I prefer going down to Manasota Key,” Tony said. “You think this is pretty? That’s a beautiful beach. Far less developed than here, and quiet. And you can find lots of shark’s teeth.”
“How far away is that?” her dad asked.
“About an hour south of here. It’s worth the trip if you have the time.”
Her dad looked at her mom. “Maybe we can do that tomorrow.”
“I’ll show you on a map how to get there. It’s easy to find.”
After stopping for dinner at a different place in Sarasota, they dropped her parents back at their hotel. “So what are you kids doing tomorrow night for dinner?” her mom asked.
“‘You kids?’ Did you really just say that, Mom?”
Karen smiled. “Parental prerogative.”
“I was hoping,” Tony said, “we could have you over to my place for dinner.” He smiled at Shayla.
This was news to her.
“You could pick Shayla up at her place,” he continued, “see her apartment, and then you all could ride together to my place.”
“That sounds lovely,” her mom said before Shayla could come up with a reason not to. “Thank you. What time?”
He looked at Shayla and caught her gaze, winking at her. “Six works for me.” She knew that wink. It meant if she didn’t get her perpetually procrastinating parents there on time, it would be her ass that paid for it later.
The thought of another spanking only made her hornier.
They said their good-byes. Back in Tony’s car, Shayla looked at him. “You could have warned me, Sir.” She’d caught herself several times wanting to call him Sir in front of her parents.
He laughed. “What fun would that have been?” He held out his hand. “Collar, pet.”
She retrieved it from her purse and handed it over. She held her hair out of his way so he could buckle it around her neck. Her eyes fell closed as a sense of peace settled over her.
“Good girl. And I have something else for you.” He pulled something from his pocket and held it up.
The amulet necklace from the gift shop.
She gasped. “Sir, thank you!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I wasn’t expecting that!”
“I know you weren’t, pet. That’s why I bought it for you.” He draped it around her neck. “I’ve been wanting to get you a day collar anyway. That was the perfect opportunity. I like it, and I know it’s something you like.”
She looked at the amulet. The forty-nine-dollar price tag had been out of her range for such a splurge for a piece of jewelry. “I don’t know what to say, Sir. Thank you.”
He cupped the back of her neck and made her look at him. “Consider this your other collar. When you go out, you wear it. Except for your shower or in the pool, you need to have one or the other of these collars on.”
“Or both?”
He smiled. “Silly pet. Yes, or both. But you can wear this one to work and only you and I will know what it really means.” He slightly tightened his grip on the back of her neck. “It’s as good as if my hand were physically on your neck like it is now. Understand?”
She nodded, fighting the slew of happy tears she struggled to hold back. “Thank you, Sir. I love it.”
I love you.
But she didn’t say that last part. Although she really wished she could.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eight weeks seemed to fly by. It felt like Tony had always been in her life, and she refused to contemplate a future where he wasn’t.
But he hadn’t mentioned changing their arrangement, so she didn’t want to rock the boat. She had dropped a few hints here and there over the past couple of weeks, but she didn’t know if he was just being a typical guy and not picking up on them…
Or maybe he didn’t want to extend things.
Either way, she’d decided just to let things play out.
He picked her up at seven to go to dinner with everyone before they headed to the club. She noticed at one point during dinner he seemed a little quiet, deep in thought. “Are you all right, Sir?” she softly asked.