“Have you heard from Tony at all?” Leah asked.
“No. I guess I don’t expect to because I know he’s super busy right now. The data center they’re setting up, it’s huge. He warned me he probably wouldn’t have any cell reception. It’s okay.” She took a deep breath and sat back as Loren stared down at her.
“We came to take you out to lunch,” Loren said.
“I…I can’t. I’m sorry. Not today.”
“That wasn’t a request,” Tilly snarked. “Unlike these two, I’m not afraid to get toppy on your ass.”
Shayla snorted, which turned into another bout of tears.
“Okay,” Tilly said, nudging Loren out of the way. “That’s it. No arguing. We go to my house for lunch. I’ll text Cris and Landry to scoot their tushies out the door for a couple of hours.”
Leah snickered. “I didn’t know Landry would scoot his tushy for anyone.”
Tilly had pulled out her cell phone. She hit a button on speed dial and put it to her ear. “Yeah, well, he will for me. I’m special.”
Loren laughed. “Special, huh?”
She nodded. “Yeah, those two men aren’t nearly as scary as they think they are. I’m way scarier. Especially this time of the month.”
Minutes later, they’d bustled Shayla down to Tilly’s car and were heading south on US 41 toward Tilly’s. Shayla sat in back with Loren while Tilly drove and Leah rode up front.
“I think you need to contact Tony and ask to talk to him,” Loren said.
“He’s busy. I don’t want to bother him while he’s out of town. He’s working.”
“You’re in a lot of pain, sweetie. I think it’d upset him to know you’re hurting like this.”
“It doesn’t matter. We had an agreement, and he stuck to it. I’m the fucking dumbass that fell in love with him.”
“Does he know you’re in love with him?” Tilly piped up from behind the wheel. “Men aren’t psychic, no matter how good a Dom they might be.”
“Love wasn’t part of the agreement,” Shayla said. “It’s my fault.”
Tilly let out a loud, barking laugh. “Yeah, believe me, I totally get that. That’s how I ended up with Landry and Cris for life. Love wasn’t supposed to be part of our deal, either. Yet there I went and fell in love with the guy, and fell back in love with Cris despite him being a total fucking dumbass sometimes.” At a stoplight, she glanced in the mirror and made eye contact with Shayla. “Unless you speak up and tell him what you feel, you’ll never know if he feels the same way.”
“Wouldn’t he have told me how he feels before now?”
Leah turned in her seat as far as her seat belt would allow. “You have to understand something. Tony is a very honorable guy. From what you told me, that wasn’t part of your original agreement. He might be a sadist, but he’s not going to force himself on someone.”
“But he wouldn’t have been forcing himself on me.”
“You might see it like that, but look at it from his point of view. He sees himself in a position of power over you as your Dominant. He will never do anything that, to him, seems like he’s abusing that power in any way. Okay, yes, sucky timing that he had to go out of town and you two can’t just sit down and talk about this. But you sitting here hurting and not reaching out to him isn’t healthy.”
“If he’d wanted me I’d think he would have spoken up. He’s not exactly bashful. Besides, he said he might be in contact this week.”
“Did he say when?” Loren asked.
Shayla shook her head.
“Did he say you couldn’t text him?” Leah asked.
“No,” Shayla said.
Leah turned to face forward. Shayla saw her doing something and realized she’d pulled out her phone and was sending a text. “What are you doing?” Shayla asked.
“I’m texting Sir Dumbass and telling him to check in with you.”
“Leah, wait. Please don’t. He’s working.”
Leah looked over her shoulder at Shayla. “So? I text him all the time when he’s at work. He texts me back when he can.”
“Please, no. It’s okay. Besides, I know he doesn’t like clingy women. I refuse to be like that. I can tough it out until he gets back.”
“Clingy? One text two days later isn’t clingy,” Loren said.
“I know what Tony’s talking about when he says that,” Leah added. “And believe me, you do not fit his clingy definition.”
Shayla shook her head. “Please, it’s all right. I’ll be okay.”
After looking at her for a moment, Leah turned to Tilly. “What do you think?”
Tilly shrugged. “I don’t know. The Domme and friend part of me says fuck it and chew his ass out. The slave in me understands why Shayla wants to wait him out.”
“Which part is winning?” Leah asked.
“I’m PMSing. Is that really a fair question?”
“We don’t want his balls removed,” Leah joked.
“Or roasted,” Loren added. “And no, we’re not asking Landry to hold him down for us.”
For some reason, that comment made the other three women laugh.
Tilly let out a melodramatic sigh. “You guys are no fun at all.” Tilly glanced in the rearview mirror again. “Sorry, Shay. Long story. We’ll tell you later.”
The women made her lunch, made her talk, and held her while she cried. By the time Tilly finally agreed an hour later to take Shayla back to the office, Shayla did admit she felt a little better after talking to her friends.
They exchanged another round of hugs before Shayla headed back upstairs. “Just text him,” Leah said. “Please? It’ll be all right. I’m sure the two of you will work this out. It sounds like you two just need a good, long talk.”
Shayla wasn’t so sure, but nodded for her friends’ benefits. But she didn’t text Tony.
He’s working. I won’t interfere with his work. I’m a big girl. I can wait until he’s back, unless he texts me.
It didn’t stop her from keeping her phone in sight on her desk, next to her computer, and the ringer volume turned up loud.
When Shayla’s phone rang that night, her heart jumped. Instinctively, she grabbed it and answered without looking at the screen.
“Hello?”
“Shay?”
She frowned and looked at the screen. That wasn’t Tony’s voice.
The screen read Rat Bastard.
Shit. James.
She took a deep breath, her tone immediately U-turning from warm and hopeful to chilly and neutral. “What do you want?”
Apparently the change in tone didn’t go unnoticed and caught him off guard, too. “Um, I wanted to talk.”
“Why?”
Another moment of silence. “I saw you’ve been getting my checks.”
“Yep.”
She wouldn’t make this easy on him. She refused to.
He certainly hadn’t made her life easy.
Then again, I never would have met Tony.
He sighed on the other end. “Look, I really want to talk to you. I want to tell you how sorry I am.”
“I saw the letters. Thank you.”
More uncomfortable silence. “I’d like to see you.”
“What?” She sat bolt upright, heart pounding. “Look, I have a job. A life. I’m not flying back to Cleveland to have a powwow with you.”
“No! That’s not what I meant. I have to be in Orlando next weekend for meetings. I’d like to get together with you to talk. I looked at the map. I can drive to Sarasota from Orlando in just a couple of hours.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Please, Shayla? Just to talk. We can meet at a restaurant, if you want. Somewhere public. I’ll buy. Pick somewhere nice.”