Chapter 18
Edie
Embarrassment flooded her, heating the rest of her body to match the fire in her ass. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” The confusion on Jesse’s face only intensified. “Edie, what’s going on?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Because no matter what she told them, they were still leaving. Nothing she said would change that, so it seemed ridiculous to dump all her bullshit on them, just to what? Make them feel guilty about leaving her?
Jesus. How the fuck had she gotten herself into this situation again?
The arms around her tightened in clear warning. “It won’t take much to have you bare-bottomed over my lap again, little pixie, so I suggest you start talking.”
Said bottom clenched in response, reminding her of exactly how thoroughly she’d already been spanked. “I just… had a bad moment, is all. I’m fine now. Really.”
She couldn’t see Grant’s face since she still had her head tucked up under his chin, but she watched as Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “A bad moment? Edie, you full on freaked the fuck out and went racing for the front door. In my clothes. That’s more than just a ‘bad moment’.”
Temper welled up, fueled by humiliation and hurt. “Fine,” she snapped, shoving at Grant’s arms only to find them locked so tightly around her they didn’t even budge. “You were remembering our first time, and I was remembering our last. I was remembering waking up to an empty bed and a decade of heartbreak. Which is exactly what I’ll be waking up to again, when you two?—”
The words caught in her throat, trapped by tears she refused to shed.
“When we go back to California and leave you behind again?” Grant supplied, his voice gentle and soothing.
She shrugged, as much as she was able with her arms still trapped by his.
“Oh, Edie.” Rising up onto her knees, Jesse shuffled forward on the couch. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“I think we all got a bit caught up in the moment,” Grant said. “And I apologize for letting myself get swept up as well. Forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I’m a big girl.”
“Not saying you aren’t, little pixie. But as the Daddy here, I’m taking my share of the responsibility for letting the emotions of the moment take over.”
“Yes, because of course it’s the man’s job to be rational and logical.” Edie managed to pull away enough to glare at him. “And I am not a pixie, so stop calling me that.”
“Beg to differ, little pixie,” he said with an easy grin. “And that isn’t at all what I said. I’m Jesse’s Daddy. It was my job to ensure the scene didn’t get out of hand, which I failed at rather spectacularly. And now you’re hurting. So I’m apologizing, and what’s the polite thing to do when someone offers you an apology?”
Though she’d never identified as a Little, in that moment she felt exactly like a naughty Little girl being lectured by her Daddy. “Accept the apology,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze so she wouldn’t have to look in his too-knowing eyes.
“So do you accept my apology?”
“Yes, Sir. Even though you don’t need to apologize for anything.”
“Thank you. Now we can talk about what comes next.”
It was a wonder she could even breathe past the ache in her chest. “You both go back to California. I stay here. What’s there to talk about?”
“Well, for starters, neither Jesse nor myself need to get back immediately.”
Hope came alive inside her, another kind of pain altogether as she jerked her head up. “Really?”
Jesse grinned and nodded. “Really. So we can stick around, at least for a bit.”
And as quickly as it had come alive, that hope died a fast, painful death. “Which is just prolonging the inevitable.”
She watched as Jesse looked up at her Daddy, and they seemed to have some kind of silent discussion right over Edie’s head. Which might have pissed her off if she’d had any energy left for mad.
Jesse’s golden gaze returned to Edie’s face, excitement and worry warring in her eyes. “Edie… if I told you I wanted another chance with you, what would you say?”
Yes, yes. A million times, yes. “What are you talking about, Jesse?”
Taking Edie’s hands in hers, Jesse squeezed, her eyes filling with a silent plea. “Please answer the question. Forget California, forget everything else. If there was nothing standing in our way, would you want to be with me?”
“It’s not that?—”
“I know it’s not that simple. But I can’t just leave here again without knowing for sure.”
“Without knowing what for sure?”
It was Grant who spoke next. “If the three of us could find a way to make a relationship work. Together.”
Grant
This was, potentially, the worst idea he’d ever had.
But he knew his Little girl. After nearly three years together, he’d learned every nuance of her expression, every emotion she couldn’t hide in her eyes. And he’d known the moment he’d seen the way she looked at Edie that she hadn’t just come here to make things right.
Not that he believed she had known that. As certain as he was she’d had ulterior motives for coming all the way out here, he was equally as certain she hadn’t actually been aware of those motives when she’d left California.
She knew now, though. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d looked up at him as he held Edie on his lap. Seen the hope, so bright and shiny it had caused a physical ache inside him. And there was absolutely no way he was going to be the one to squash that hope.
Especially when there was a part of him that was equally as hopeful Edie would say yes.
“I’m sorry. What?” Shaking her head, Edie yanked out of his arms. He let her go this time, and manfully managed not to laugh when she tripped over Jesse’s too-big-for-her jeans as she tugged them back up around her waist so she could pace in front of the couch. “You’re insane. Both of you. That will never work.”
Jesse, still naked as the day she was born and with zero shame about it, climbed up onto his lap as she watched Edie pace. “Why not? It works for plenty of other people.”
Without even pausing, Edie shot her a glare. “We aren’t other people.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Temper had Jesse’s voice rising, and he squeezed her in warning. Regardless of how emotional this whole situation was, he was absolutely certain Edie would balk at the first sign Jesse couldn’t discuss this in a calm, rational manner.
“I don’t know!” Still pacing, Edie waved her hands over her head in a dramatic gesture that seemed more Jesse’s style than hers, and he couldn’t help but be amused. “We live on opposite sides of the country, for starters.”
“And I have more than enough money to fly back and forth as often as I want,” Jesse countered, tilting her chin up in a way that told Grant she was ready to dig in her heels and fight.
“When you’re not working, you mean. How many days a year do you spend on a movie set, either in California or halfway around the world?”
“Actually, I spend a good bit of those days on the East Coast.” Jesse’s tone turned smug. “Atlanta is a hotbed of filmmaking activity.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll actually get to see you.”
“Well… not as often as we’d like, probably. But that’s the nature of what I do, Edie. And I think you’re forgetting a rather obvious solution.”
Edie snorted. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“You could come with me.”
That had Edie stopping in her tracks, her mouth falling open. “What?”
“Come with me. Travel the world with me, Edie.” Hopping up from Grant’s lap, Jesse took Edie’s hands in hers. “There’s so much more out there than just this tiny little town.”
Sensing his Little girl was getting a little carried away—and that Edie was on the verge of becoming very overwhelmed by it—Grant rose to his feet. “Let’s put a pin in that for now, little outlaw. We can decide our future together after we decide if a relationship between all three of us is even going to work.”
Eyes narrowed, Jesse crossed her arms beneath her pert breasts with a huff of annoyance. “It is. I know it is.”
“Be that as it may, you aren’t the only one in this relationship. Edie may decide having a bossy Daddy around isn’t how she wants to live her life.”
He’d kept his tone as light and teasing as possible. But already the idea of Edie rejecting their idea, rejecting him, sat in his gut like a lead weight.
Edie’s gaze darted back and forth between them like an animal caught between equally dangerous predators. “I can’t… this isn’t… I need to go feed the animals.”
Turning on her heel, she strode for the front door. Jesse started to follow her, but Grant grabbed her arm, pulling her back toward him. “Give her some space, little outlaw.”
“If I give her space, she’s just going to talk herself out of even trying. She’s so fucking stubborn.”
Grant turned her to face him, capturing her chin between his fingers and forcing her head back so she would look him in the eye. “If she does, then that’s her decision and we will honor it.” For now. “In the meantime, you still have a punishment to finish. Go bend over the arm of the couch.”
Edie
She was halfway to the barn before she realized she’d already fed the animals. Whatever. It gave her an excuse to get the fuck out of that house.
What the hell were they thinking? Asking her to be their… their… she wasn’t even sure what they were asking her to be. Their third wheel? Their fuck buddy?
Jesus, what a mess.
Annoyance threatened to boil over into outright fury as she stomped through the barn to the little pasture where Luna and the not-a-llama were happily munching on grass. Pausing in the doorway, she watched them for a bit.
It must be nice, just hanging out with your friends all day, not a care in the world other than finding the next little patch of grass to nibble at. No worries, no responsibilities.
She could have that. God knew Jesse made more than enough money to take care of all her wants and needs, if that was what she wanted. She could move out to California and live a stress-free, pampered existence for the rest of her days.
But just the idea of lying around all day with nothing to do had her skin itching. Even if, on some level, she thought she could be happy with that, she’d never fit in. She wasn’t a Hollywood type.
There was no room for her in Jesse’s life, with or without Grant complicating matters even further.
Which brought her back around to her original question. What the hell were they thinking?
Maybe you should ask them.
Ugh. She hated it when that stupid little voice in her head was right. The only people who could really answer her questions were sitting in her living room, probably wondering why the hell she’d taken off in a panic.
Luna raised her head, her giant, soulful eyes seeming to stare right into Edie’s soul. For a long moment they stood there, woman and beast, communicating without words before Luna lifted her chin toward the house and let out a loud moo that Edie couldn’t help but laugh at.
“I hear you, I hear you. I’ll go talk to them. Bossypants.”
She wasn’t feeling any more sure of herself as she headed back up to the house, but at least it no longer felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest at any second. She’d sit down and have a calm, rational discussion with Jesse and Grant, and explain to them exactly why this ridiculous idea of theirs would never work.
Ignoring the stabbing pain in her chest at the thought of sending them away for good, she opened her front door and stepped into the entryway.
“Daddy, I’m sorry! I won’t ever do it again!”
Jesse’s tearful voice drove all thoughts of discussions, calm, rational, or otherwise, from Edie’s brain as she tiptoed to the living room. Her babygirl was draped over the arm of her old leather couch, her ass high in the air as Grant whipped his belt down across the tender flesh. The familiar sound echoed in Edie’s ears—and seemed to vibrate straight to her clit.
Then Jesse lifted her head and those golden eyes, shimmering with tears, met hers, and Edie knew she’d risk it all for another chance with her. Even though she still hadn’t quite worked her way up to forgiving her, even though there were a million reasons a relationship between the three of them could never work, everything inside her ached for even just one more day with her babygirl.
She really was the world’s biggest fucking fool.