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Chapter 13
Gaylen
“Before I get too distracted by a pretty girl in a sexy dress, we’re going to discuss the things you were worried about.” Leaning back in the booth at the quiet Italian restaurant I’d picked out for us, I shook my head as she gave me wide eyes and looked wonderfully innocent.
“Ah, no lying, kitten.” That had her deflating the innocent routine just as fast as it’d started.
“But I wasn’t going to lie.” She was scrambling to figure out what to say next, so I was going to call bullshit on that no lying bit. “I… I was going to say that we should focus on more fun date-type things. Like I should ask you about your day. You said you had a meeting with a potential new client today?”
Oh, that was a good one.
“If my mind wasn’t already focused on making sure you don’t worry, that would’ve been a wonderful distraction, kitten.” She couldn’t seem to decide if she wanted to smile at the praise or pout at having to talk about her fears. “You’re too important to me.”
“Aww.” Her pout was delightful. “Now I have to tell you the truth because you’re being so sweet. That’s not fair.”
Doms weren’t supposed to play fair.
They were supposed to keep their subs safe and happy.
“That’s not what we’re focused on at the moment.” My raising one eyebrow made her sigh and I almost smiled at her ridiculous attempt to pout her way out of the conversation. “Now, before the waiter comes back, first thing, do you want me to drag Harper away from grading? He’ll appreciate any excuse to get away from it.”
She immediately shook her head and sat up straighter. “No, Daddy has work and this is about us getting to know one another better. We need to build strong connections between the two of us, not just the three of us.”
I had a feeling she was quoting her Daddy, but since it was correct no matter where she’d gotten it, I nodded. “That’s right. But we can take our time getting there if that’s what we want. You’ve never dated anyone like this before and I know it’s hard to wrap your mind around sometimes.”
We’d been able to ease ourselves into the idea but we were tossing Tabitha into the deep end.
“No.” Shaking her head, she squared her shoulders and I got a peek at work Tabitha, who was taking the conversation very seriously now. “The logic of it isn’t difficult. I can see why you’d like a third. I’m just… I guess I’m used to the world crashing in around me on a regular basis.”
Giving me a slightly sheepish grin, she shrugged, looking adorable. “Ender says I keep looking around doorways wondering what’s going to explode next, like I’m in a video game. It’s not healthy, but I’ve gotten a lot better, honestly.”
That was scary but not the point… and Ender had already said he was going to push her to start going back to therapy again, so that discussion could wait.
“I know Ender would’ve told you most of it, and we’ll leave the rest for a non-date night.” The fact that she assumed he’d already explained said a lot about how their friendship functioned. “I’m working on reminding myself that you’ve been nothing but honest with what you want, and it’s not logical to expect things to constantly go wrong.”
It might not be logical but fears generally weren’t.
“From what Harper told me, you wanted to make sure you understood the boundaries for something like this.” I was trying to word it delicately so we didn’t end up trying to kill anyone around us.
Harper had spent the whole morning giggling after a phone call with Ender where he’d expounded on Tabitha’s shenanigans at breakfast the other day.
“Yes.” She seemed less stressed and less like we were in a board meeting, so I wasn’t surprised when she continued. “I don’t want anyone to accidentally get their feelings hurt.”
Keeping that in mind, I nodded. “Alright, and we do want your input on this because this is not two against one, but we thought for the time being anything other than more typical date-styleactivitiesshould be kept with the three of us in the same space.”
Her head cocked and I could see her working her way through what I’d said and what I hadn’t said. “So… the same space being on the phone together or with someone watching and maybe not participating? Those would also count, right?”
“Yes.” It was clear she’d been paying attention to what we’d been saying when we’d done the phone scene. “We won’t always want the same things at the same time. Say if Harper is distracted by something at work or tired or just in the mood to watch, theoretically it would be fine for the two of us to continue our time together. What do you think?”
She grinned and looked at me like I’d been naughty. “I think we’re going to have to work on thatwe’ve already discussed thingspart but I think that’s a good idea.”
She was probably right about the conversation point.
“In the category of something else we should’ve discussed with you first…” Now I was the one aiming to look innocent as she rolled her eyes. “We also thought it wouldn’t be fair for us to discuss having any rules about you…having personal timewithout us. That just wouldn’t be reasonable with the dynamics even though that’s something you said was acceptable on your limits list.”
Her giggle said she’d realized what I meant.
“I think that’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought about a relationship like this when I first filled that out.” Still wearing a cheeky grin with a slight blush, she didn’t back down. “But we can do the phone again? I liked that.”
