Chapter 23
Edie
“Edie! Edie, where the fuck are you?”
Jolting upright in bed, Edie squinted at the sunlight streaming through the blinds. Too bright, and on the wrong side of the room.
What the hell?
It wasn’t until she tried to roll off the bed and an arm tightened around her waist that she realized where she was. Not her bed, but the one Jesse had claimed her first night there.
Memories of the night before came rushing back, and she grinned down at the pair crowding the bed with her. If they were going to keep sleeping together like this, they’d need other arrangements. The queen-sized bed was roomy enough for two of them, but as huge as Grant was it was more than a little cramped with all three of them.
Someone pounded on the front door, jerking her attention away from her lovers. “Edie! You have one minute before we break a window!”
“Shit,” she muttered, carefully extracting herself from Jesse’s arms. Her babygirl let out a soft whine, her brows knitting together in protest even in her sleep.
Fuck, she was adorable.
But there was no time to sit and admire with someone threatening to break into her house. Scooting around the bed, she grabbed the first item of clothing she saw and threw it on, frantically sliding buttons through holes as she hurried down the stairs to unlock the front door.
Yanking it open, she glared at the troupe of women on her front porch. “What the hell are you four doing here?” She narrowed her eyes at the furious blonde at the front of the group. “Shouldn’t you be in Nebraska?”
“I made Matt change our flights since you haven’t been answering your goddamn phone.” Carly’s chin jerked up, as if daring Edie to scold her. “We’ve been worried sick about you!”
“Oh my god, it was one night! You didn’t even give me a chance to answer this morning!”
“Uh, yes we did.” One eyebrow raising, Ginny raked her gaze up and down Edie’s body, her lips curving in a slow, knowing smile. “It’s almost eleven, Edie. We gave you nearly the whole morning.”
“Eleven? Fuck. I need to feed the animals.”
Whirling around, she took two steps toward the stairs—and froze in place. Grant was making his way down the stairs, shirtless, his jeans still unbuttoned and riding low on his hips and an amused smile playing on his lips. “Hello, ladies.”
“Well… guess we know why you didn’t answer your phone,” Noelle said from behind her. “Hubba hubba.”
“Shhh.” The embarrassed hiss came from Taylor, she thought, but she was too entranced by Grant to really pay attention. “Nobody actually says ‘hubba hubba’ Noelle, Jesus.”
Their argument faded to nothing more than background noise as Grant finished his trek down the stairs. “Morning, little pixie.”
Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled her close and captured her lips in a slow, toe-curling kiss that scrambled her brains much like it had the night before.
“Morning,” she returned, more than a little breathless by the time they parted.
Grant’s gaze flicked to the crowd on the front porch, then back to her, one brow raising in question. “I see we have company.”
“They were just leaving.” Looking over her shoulder, Edie raised a brow of her own. “Weren’t you, girls?”
“Right.” Ginny, bless her, nudged an open-mouthed Carly away from the door. “We’ll just, uh… talk to you later, then. We’re glad you’re not dead!”
The door was just swinging shut behind them when a voice came from upstairs. “Daddy? Edie?”
A moment later, Jesse appeared at the top of the steps, wearing what appeared to be one of Grant’s t-shirts and nothing else as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What are you… oh.”
Groaning, Edie closed her eyes and prayed for strength before peeling herself out of Grant’s arms and turning around just as Ginny yanked open the storm door again. “What the actual fuck, Edie?”
Three more faces peered around her, all in various states of shock as they took in the scene in front of them. Without even bothering to sigh, Edie waved toward the living room. “Come on in. I’ll make us some coffee. But be nice or I’ll call all your Daddies and have them come get you.”
At least Taylor had the grace to look sheepish as they all herded inside toward the living room. She paused beside Edie, flicking a worried glance up the stairs before laying a hand on Edie’s arm and squeezing. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“I’m fine. But if you’re feeling guilty, you could make the coffee for me so I can run upstairs and at least put some damn underwear on.”
Pink tinged Taylor’s cheeks as she nodded. “On it.”
“Thanks.”
She headed back up the stairs, acutely aware of Grant behind her and Jesse ahead of her. Already, she was annoyed by the questions coming her way and nobody had even bothered to ask her anything yet.
“Edie, I’m so sorry.” Jesse hesitated in the hall as Edie continued on to the main bedroom. Standing in the doorway, she wrapped her arms around her waist, her voice and expression stricken as she pleaded for understanding. “If I’d known they were here, I would have stayed hidden.”
Stopping in the middle of her bedroom, Edie turned, pinning Jesse with a glare that had her babygirl shrinking back against her Daddy. “Did I ask you to hide from anybody, little girl?”
“Well, no, I just assumed?—”
“In the future, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make assumptions about what I want. If I want something from you, I’ll damn well tell you. Understood?”
Confusion and relief both flashed across Jesse’s face. Grant, for his part, was doing what he always did. Watching, silently, and Edie could feel his gaze like an itch between her shoulder blades as she moved around the room, yanking on fresh underwear and jeans.
“So… you’re not mad?” Jesse asked.
“I’m plenty mad. But not at you, babygirl.”
“Oh.”
“Jesse, why don’t you go put some clean clothes on and we’ll go get breakfast for everyone.” Grant’s voice was a low, soothing rumble, and even though it wasn’t directed at her, Edie could still feel it easing her frayed nerves a bit. “There has to be a decent bagel place around here.”
“The Donut Shoppe is a couple miles out of town. No bagels, but great donuts and decent breakfast sandwiches,” Edie offered as she whipped off what she’d come to realize was his shirt after all and tossed it to him.
“Good to know. What’s it called?”
“The Donut Shoppe,” she repeated with a quick grin in his direction before pulling on one of the support tanks she generally preferred over bras when she was working around the house.
“Very original.” There was a hint of amusement in his tone, but not quite enough to cover the worry as he stepped into the room, gently grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. “Are you going to be all right if we leave for a bit? I thought you might want some privacy, but I wouldn’t want to upset you with my assumptions.”
“No, you’re right. But not because I don’t want you here. I don’t want Jesse around if things get… heated.”
Understanding flickered in his dark gaze. “Noted. I’ll text you when we’re done at the donut shop. Just let me know if you need us to drive around for a bit or something.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry our morning got, ah, sidetracked.”
“No apologies necessary, little pixie.” He kissed her again, a kiss that seemed more about reassurance than passion which she gratefully accepted. “You go talk to your friends. We’ll be around when you need us.”
Buoyed by that simple promise, she ducked into the bathroom to run her fingers through her hair, then headed downstairs to face the music.
Grant
He found Jesse pacing the floor in ‘their’ bedroom, her thumb in her mouth as she chewed at the nail. Which was a sure sign she was even more upset than he’d realized.
Crossing the room, he stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop her pacing and gently pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Come on, little outlaw. Let’s get you dressed.”
“Don’t wanna.”
He knew that sulky tone well. His babygirl was retreating into her Little space. It wasn’t at all uncommon for her when she was feeling scared or threatened.
Since he was holding her by the wrist anyway, he tugged her toward the suitcase at the end of the bed. Half the contents were spilling out onto the floor in a haphazard way that was so adorably Jesse he couldn’t bring himself to scold her for it.
Crouching by the bag, he dug until he found the hot pink tutu she’d packed along with the much more conservative wardrobe she’d been wearing for most of her stay. He grabbed a fresh pair of panties and a cute top with a picture of a grumpy looking cartoon kitten proclaiming she’d rather be watching true crime documentaries.
With the clothes sorted, he pulled her into the bathroom with him to wash her face, ignoring her mumbled protests. Because even if she was grumbling about it, she never actually tried to stop him as he washed and dressed her, which meant she didn’t really want him to give in. She was just in a mood and wanted to pout, which he was happy to indulge if that was what she needed for now.
After he had her clean and dressed, he did the same for himself, which took about half the time since he wasn’t dragging his feet about it.
She didn’t really start fighting him until they got to the top of the stairs. Then she dug in her heels, shaking her head as he tried to pull her along behind him.
As sympathetic as he was feeling toward both his girls at the moment, he was determined to give Edie the privacy he’d promised. “Jesse, you can walk down these steps on your own, or Daddy can carry you. But if I have to carry you, then you’re going to be riding around town with a very sore bottom. Which is it going to be?”
“Daddy, no! They’re gonna see!”
Her voice had dropped to a loud whisper that was probably meant to be discreet but unfortunately failed miserably at actually being so. “See what?”
With an annoyed glare, she gestured to her clothes. “See me!”
“So? You look adorable.”
“I look Little.”
“Baby.” He was doing his best not to laugh, but a hint of amusement crept into his voice. “I don’t think anyone down there is going to be bothered by your clothes.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Considering Edie threatened to call their Daddies if they didn’t play nice, it seems like a safe bet.”
“Just cuz they have Daddies doesn’t mean they’re Little.”
His babygirl had dug in her heels. So he changed tact. “Do you really think Edie would be friends with them if they were super judgmental about Littles?”
“Oh.” The corners of her mouth dipped down into a thoughtful frown. “I guess not.”
“Exactly. So, what’s it going to be? Spankings or donuts?”
“Daddy!” Gasping with pure Little outrage, she glared up at him. “You can’t take my donuts away!”
“I can and I will if you don’t get that adorable little butt out the door in the next thirty seconds.”
“What are you waiting for, slowpoke?”
Relieved to hear her sounding a bit more like herself, he led the way down the stairs. When they hit the main floor, he slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her close, with his body blocking her from view of the living room. He paused, just long enough to meet Edie’s gaze.
His little pixie jerked her head toward the front door, clearly telling him to get moving. And as much as it felt like feeding her to the wolves, he had Jesse to think of. It was like being torn in two, leaving Edie behind as he guided Jesse out to his car.
They were several minutes away from the farm before she spoke. “Daddy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Do you think they’ll ever stop hating me?”
His heart broke at the sadness in her voice. “Who said they hate you?”
“They did, more or less. Not this morning, but before, when I ran into them in town.”
What the hell was he supposed to say to that? It was obvious Edie was incredibly close with her friends, and those types of groups could be very unforgiving when it came to past relationships. “I think… we should just give Edie some time to talk to them. She clearly doesn’t hate you, and if they love her as much as I think they do, they’ll just want her to be happy.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Linking his fingers with hers, he brought their joined hands to his lips. “It’ll be okay, little outlaw. I promise.”
She gave a noncommittal hum, so he let the subject drop. And hoped he’d actually be able to keep that promise.