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By comparison, Gray appeared calm, cool, and collected with a permanent grin on his face since we’d left his apartment. Now, here we stood on the threshold of what could turn into the most humiliating night of my life.
Derek opened the door. “Right on time. Welcome.”
I smiled and thanked him when he took my sweater and hung it on an antler coat rack that stood in the foyer.
“Hi. I’m so excited you could make it!” Sadie came racing from down the hall, I assumed from the kitchen.
“Daddy, can I take Harmony on a tour and show her my special room?”
Derek gave Sadie a meaningful look. “Sadie. What should you do when your guest first arrives?”
She seemed to think about his question. “Offer them a beverage?”
“Good girl. Harmony, would you like a drink before my wife drags you around the house?”
I couldn’t help but giggle. The domestic scene with these two was so adorable in contrast to what my day with Gray had been.
“No, Sir. I’m quite happy to have a tour first.”
Sadie grabbed my hand. “Come on! I can’t wait to show you my costumes.”
Wait. She had costumes. “Seriously? I love costumes!”
Sadie took me through their beautiful home. Now, coming from wealth, they didn’t have anything out of the usual, except that unlike the cold, skyrise palaces I was used to seeing in New York, this was as far from the modern, minimalist style that was currently all the rage back home.
The post and beam work were stunning, and the gigantic fireplace set off such a relaxing homey vibe. If we stayed, I would want something similar, but instead of being set in the wall like theirs, mine would be in the center of the vaulted room, working as a divider between the living space filled with the comfy couches, and the dining room set up on the other side.
Sadie pointed out everything as we passed, but her tour was only cursory at best. She was making her way with determination down the hall. When she arrived at the last door, she flung it open and was almost jumping up and down with her enthusiasm.
“What do you think?”
She was so excited. I wasn’t sure why a room filled with toys, a couple of bean bag chairs, and a table set up with coloring books and markers and pencils littered all over the surface was exciting.
“I have everything you could ever want to play with. What is your favorite toy?”
I was bewildered by her question. “I have no idea. I’ve never played before. But I like costumes.”
Sadie’s jaw dropped, her mouth now forming a perfect O. “Wait. What do you mean you’ve never played? Do you mean since you got to Rawhide?”
The sweat trickled down my back, the tension building inside of me. I envisioned myself like a pressure cooker just waiting for enough steam to gather to pop my button. The lingering heat from the root and the spanking only assisted with the sense of too much heat inside and building at an alarming rate.
“Uh.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. Why was being honest suddenly so hard?
“I had a doll once. My grandfather gave it to me for my birthday and I managed to hide it from my mother. Oh, and this.” I pulled my rock from my pocket. “I’ve had this longer than anything and I carry it always.”
Sadie’s expression turned from shock to incredulous and then something I didn’t want to see. Sympathy.
“You missed your childhood, too?”
And there it was, the inevitable pop of the pressure cooker. The tears streamed down my face. “You, too?” I asked with a quaver.
She nodded and grabbed a tissue box from her coloring table, handing me one.
“I'm so sorry, Harmony. I didn’t realize. Does Gray know?”
All traces of Little seemed to evaporate as Sadie drew me down onto one of the bean bag chairs and plunked herself on the other, facing me and still holding the box.
“Honestly, until this moment, I never thought about it.”
