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It was unlikely that she would notice right away, but if Blake and Amo were able to live their lives as they saw fit, being the woman she was inside would not be a problem for her in the long run. She might lose a few people along the way, but were they really friends and family if acceptance ended at the point where the social horizon took a sharp dip? Hardly.
I watched as Audrey spoke to Kaia, holding back a bit myself, wanting to give her the space she needed. Progress doesn't happen overnight or when you feel trapped. She deserved the best chance to let the damage of the past few years fade into the background and to realize that there was more to her than the boundaries she had grown up with.
Blake and I had talked about this at length last night, before we got a close look at the spectacle the two women were putting on. Before Blake, Kaia had been out of touch with her peers. She had been in hiding and it had been up to Blake to reintroduce her slowly and safely. With Audrey, the starting point was different, but ultimately the foundation was always the same. Trust. Patience. The necessary understanding. And ignoring the passage of time. None of this could be pinned down to a specific time. Life just happened. Sometimes it took months to develop. Sometimes just days. Sometimes you were in a situation for years and suddenly became aware of what you had been moving toward all along.
Nothing was linear– last night Audrey had expressed her concerns to me about livestreaming, only to have something very similar happen without a hitch hours later. Because she was in a safe environment where her concerns didn't matter.
"So, Audrey, is this going to be the first and last time you go to the club, or will you accompany Lei regularly now?" Of course, Kaia knew of no sensitive way to address this question.
Audrey's gaze immediately shifted to me before she reached out and slid her fingers between mine. "That depends on whether he can handle me in the future."
Her cheeky words made me snort with amusement. Could I handle it? I would probably shoot myself in the foot if I convinced myself that I was no match for a woman like Audrey.
"If I answer that now, then you're just conspiring against me– and every visit in the future will begin with Kaia leaving with my woman."
Laughing, Audrey looked at me. "You're still not over that, are you?"
"It's best if you don't question it at all. Kaia always gets what she wants. So..." Amo shrugged. "Why fight it when it's so much easier the other way?"
* * *
When I entered the bedroom,Audrey was lying in the middle of the bed, wrapped in a towel. The sun was streaming in through the window blinds and was painting bright streaks of light on her skin. She was obviously absorbed in something on her laptop, so I paused for a moment. The sun made her hair look almost blonde in places. I only had to look at her bare shoulders to guess what it would feel like to run my fingers over them.
She had not yet noticed my presence. She had moved in last night. This afternoon I was already wondering how any other man could have failed to treat her the way she deserved.
To have a woman by your side who knew exactly what she wanted, who could clearly communicate her preferences and what she expected from you... it was so much more exciting than sitting across from a woman who hid behind a false facade of shyness and expected you to dictate the role she had to play.
"Did you just come here to stare at my ass, or..."
I ignored what she said and sank down on the bed next to her. "Your father invited me over," I said, without judgment, because I wanted to know how she would react.
"Have fun."
"That's all?"
"Sure. You're friends with him, and just because I live here and you happened to sleep with me doesn't mean you have to give up your business relationship and friendship with my father. If I were you, I'd throw the first part of my statement under the bus." In fact, she sounded so unconcerned that I wondered if she didn't care or if she was a good actress.
I was curious if she knew that sooner or later the conversation would turn to her and that I would have to be careful about what I said. It seemed only a matter of time before Matthew found it odd how evasive I was when it came to his daughter.
"I can't wait to meet your ex-fiancé," I muttered, accompanied by a low growl. I could hardly deny that I didn't like him– and that was the understatement of understatements.
"Why don't you give him my regards? I'm sure he'd be very happy to hear it."
"Do you want the day to end in a brawl?"
"Maybe the thought of him ending up in the hospital with a broken nose will give me something." She shrugged and looked at me. "But let's not get carried away."
Suddenly I remembered something I had been suppressing all day for my own good. "I need to tell you something, Audrey."
Her face reflected skepticism. "Why don't you just come right out and tell me instead of making me nervous?"
"Alexander is an idiot."
"I already know that."
"A two-faced idiot."
"New, but nothing I find unlikely."
