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Brooding over the last twenty-four hours—during which she’d definitely sinned in an explicit manner—she stared blindly out of the window, lost in her thoughts, until the opposite door opened without warning and Evander slid into the seat beside her.
A moment later, Elias was in the driving seat, and the SUV came alive with a turn of the key. Warm air began blasting through the heaters, whisking away the chill stinging her skin.
Wiggling across the seat, she rested her head on Evander’s shoulder, a smile kissing the corners of her mouth as his arm came around her, keeping her flush against him.
“Is it done?” she whispered.
“I made an offer, yes. Considerably lower than they like, but they have until Monday at noon to accept it. Given his financial struggles, the current owner might attempt to negotiate for a higher number.”
“Will you negotiate?”
“To a degree.” His fingers lifted to her hair, toying absently with the loose strands. “We’ll get to that on Monday. I have some work to do when we get back, but it should only take me an hour or so. After that, we’ll get your punishment out of the way.”
“Twenty,” Elias stated from the front. “That comment about the stick up my ass earned you another five.”
Her head jerked up. “What?”
Blue eyes flashed with amusement in the rearview mirror. “You heard me.”
She jabbed a finger toward him, surprisingly pissed off by this new turn of events. “No. No, no, no. You donotget to punish me for saying the truth! Just because you’re a—a jackass and don’t want to admit it doesn’t mean you can hand out spankings like candy on Halloween!”
“Cruising toward twenty-five, little miss. Mind your tone and learn to respect your elders.”
Her muffled scream of frustration resembled an old-fashioned teakettle on the boil. The child in her sprang to the forefront, turning beseeching eyes on Evander. “Daddy?”
His lips were twitching. “Yes, sweetness?”
“Elias is being mean!”
The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed as he visibly swallowed down a laugh. “Callie, he’s not being mean. He’s simply exercising his control as one of the responsible adults in this situation.” He tapped her on the nose, then glanced over at his friend. “I don’t know what’s happened in the last twenty minutes, but something’s shifted between you two. Someone want to explain?”
For some reason, her lips clamped shut. Whether it was loyalty to Elias, an unwillingness to say anything that might spontaneously combust their friendship, or just a lack of appropriate words, she didn’t know.
However, Elias stepped up to the plate. “This isn’t the time or place to discuss it, sir.”
“Oh, we’re well beyond thesirshit now, Eli. You got designs on my girl?”
“Yes.”
Callie’s eyes widened as they searched Evander’s face for signs of tempestuous fury or murder. But the only thing in his sober stare was a smug kind of satisfaction.
“Am I included in those designs or are you planning on easing me out of the equation?”
Her gasp of protest was drowned out by Elias’s angry snarl. “I’d never do that to you.”
“No, I know you wouldn’t. It’s good to hear it, though.” Warm, chocolate eyes gazed down at her. “What about you, my precious girl? How do you feel about being the sole focus of two big, strong, dominant men?”
Slowly, she eased away slightly, giving him a suspicious look. “Wait a minute. Did you plan this? Because you don’t seem mad that Elias wants second dibs on a…long-term basis.”
“Second dibs? Does that mean I dibbed you first?”
“Now is not the time to make fun, Evander.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. This wasn’t planned, none of it. Not Black Light, not falling for you. Best damn unplanned thing that’s ever happened to me.” He grasped her hand, lifting it to his lips. “We discussed inviting Eli to join us last night. Was that experience a positive one?”
The interior of the vehicle’s roof suddenly became fascinating.
Positivewasn’t the word she’d use for last night.Intense, yes.Slightly unnerving, definitely.Thrilling, exciting, a little bit slutty…
