Her Old-Fashioned Boss (9 page)

Roarke’s gaze narrowed as if he’d suddenly realized how imbibed she was. “Just how much have you had to drink, honey?” he asked in a deep voice.

Uh oh, she may not have known him long but she knew that was his ‘you’re in trouble voice’. Usually it was aimed at Sam when he did something Roarke thought he shouldn’t have. Like go jogging outside late at night. She’d pretended not to notice the next day when Sam had trouble sitting.

She shivered. Did they really want her? Did that mean Roarke would want her to be his sub? Would he punish her?

And why did that thought actually turn her on? The idea of her over his lap, her bottom bare as he smacked his hand down on her butt sent shivers through her.

Because I’d know he cared. I’d have boundaries, rules, someone to snuggle with, care for, fuss over and they’d do the same for me.

Yeah, growing up in foster homes hadn’t exactly given her a stable environment. She’d been moved around, shifted from place to place, having to start all over again each time with a new family, a new school.

And she’d sunk further and further into herself.

“She’s had a fair bit. She doesn’t usually drink and she probably shouldn’t drink much considering her size,” Asia told him.

“Hmm,” Roarke looked her over as he stood. “Maybe we should get you home and into bed then. This talk can wait for the morning. I want you fully functional when we have this conversation.”

“No, I’m fine.” She pouted as she gazed at them. She knew this talk would change her life and she wasn’t about to put it off. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to talk now.”

Roarke raised a brow as he stared down at her. “Now all that pouting is going to get you is a sore butt, to add to what I suspect will be a sore head come morning.” He glanced around the table as Ava gaped up at him. He had not said that in front of her friends. He’d be lucky if McKenna didn’t deck him. But instead of being angry, McKenna looked enthralled.

“Ladies, thank you for looking after her,” Roarke said smoothly. “Can we see you all home?”

Asia shook her head. “No, we’ll taxi.”

Roarke frowned. “Public transport? Don’t you realize what could happen to you alone in a taxi with a man?”

“I’m a black belt in karate,” Asia told him. “I think I’ll be okay.”

He narrowed her gaze at her. “Not if you drink anymore. I want you to promise no more alcohol and that you will stick together. Otherwise, I will insist on coming back to get you.”

“You can’t tell us what to do.” Surprisingly, it was Casey who made that statement, her words brave; even though they could all see her shaking. Roarke eyed her for a moment before smiling gently. “You’re right, I can’t. That’s not my right. However, Ava is mine and she would be devastated if anything happened to any of you. I know she considers all of you to be her family. I expect you to call me if you need anything. I promise I will come. Here is my number.”

He waited until they were ready with their phones then rattled off his number. Ava looked on in amazement as he charmed even McKenna, her prickliest of friends.

“Say goodbye, Ava,” he told her.

“Goodbye, Ava,” she giggled.

Then in a move that shocked her, he reached down, plucked her up into his arms and turning, carried her from the club.

*****

Ava woke to find the sun streaming on her face. She groaned. Why the hell hadn’t she pulled the curtains before going to sleep?

“Oh God.” She threw an arm over her eyes. Her head throbbed, beating a nasty tattoo on the backs of her eyes.

“Rise and shine, sweets,” a cheerful voice told her.

She dropped her arm slightly and opened an eye, staring blearily over at a too-happy Sam.

“Go away.”

Now, she remembered. The nightclub. Too many drinks. Roarke and Sam. Roarke’s apology. They’d brought her home to their place.

Oh bubbles, my head hurts.

“Now is that any way to talk to the man with the painkillers?” he teased.

This time she opened both eyes and held out her hand. “Gimme.”

“Uh-uh, not until you use your manners.”

She growled.

“Sam, stop torturing her,” another voice ordered from the doorway. She turned her head slowly to stare at Roarke. “You know how bad a hangover feels.”

“Yes, and you always pick on me the next morning,” Sam pouted.

“Because I always tell you the night before to slow down. If you don’t listen, you don’t get any sympathy.”

Sam sighed and sat next to her on the bed. He held the pills up to her mouth. Ava opened her lips obediently; too sore to even think about arguing that she could do it herself. He then helped her sit and held a glass of water to her mouth.

“Ava, there’s a bathroom through there.” Roarke gestured to his right. “Sam will get you a towel. After you’ve showered we’ll meet you in the kitchen for breakfast.”

Her stomach revolted at the idea of food. “Umm, thanks for the offer but I’m not hungry. I think I’ll just go home and shower.” She had a bad feeling she may have dreamed last night, but then how did she come to be here?

“Twenty minutes,” he ordered, turning away as if he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

“Ahh, didn’t he hear me?” she said to Sam.

“Oh, he heard,” Sam said cheerfully. “But he’s choosing to ignore your words because we haven’t had our talk yet.”

“Is he mad at me?” she asked quietly. What had happened to the tender man last night who’d apologized to her and gotten all protective over her friends?

“No, baby. No.” Sam clasped her close to his chest and rocked her. “His emotions are just a bit raw this morning. We were really worried last night when we couldn’t get hold of you and it’s made him a bit growly, knowing he had no idea where you were and couldn’t be there to look after you. Plus, he has this thing about us drinking without him.”

“Us?” She pulled back to look at him curiously.

Sam looked a bit sheepish as though he’d spoken out of turn. “Well, me. He doesn’t like me being out of control like that if he’s not around to make sure I’m okay. And now that extends to you. Although, you’ve probably gotten a reprieve on your punishment for this one, since you didn’t know the rule.”

“Huh?” She gaped at him.

“One of the worst punishments I got was the night I decided to go out with a few of the other subs. Roarke was out of town. I got rolling drunk and ended up sleeping on the sidewalk. I came to with my phone ringing and someone chucking me a dollar and telling me to take a shower. Man, that was the worst hangover, and then when Roarke came home, well, let’s say I couldn’t stand to even look at a beer for another six months, let alone drink one.”

She gulped. “And he wants to do that to me?” she squealed.

“Oh no. Oh, shit, Roarke’s going to kill me for starting this without him. Please, baby, don’t be scared of him. The last thing he wants is to frighten you. He cares about you, we both do. And when someone Roarke cares about puts themselves at risk then he worries. A lot. And he wants to make sure that person knows exactly how much he cares and that he never wants them to risk themselves again. And while I’m no Dom, I can certainly tell you that I would not want you putting yourself in harm’s way. And if you needed it, if Roarke were out of town, then I wouldn’t hesitate to take my hand to your ass.”

“What?” Was he for real with all this “we” stuff. She wasn’t into the lifestyle, didn’t know much about it apart from what she’d read and that stuff was mainly to do with sex. What Sam was talking about, it went far beyond the bedroom.

 “A-are you s-saying what I think you are?” she whispered.

Sam clasped her face in his hands. “I’d kiss you right now if I could, but I want the first time I kiss you to be with Roarke right here, so you’ll believe it when I say that we both want you. Together. In our lives.”

He sighed and stood. “You’re down to less than fifteen minutes now, so I suggest you get your butt into gear.”

He turned back at the door. “Oh, and sweets? One more thing. We’re not gay.”

*****

Ava stepped into the kitchen with no small amount of trepidation. Could this all be real? Was it possible that Roarke and Sam felt the same attraction to her that she did for them?

But how could she insert herself into their relationship? What they had was so good; she didn’t want to wreck that. And was there even room for her? Ava wanted to be loved for herself. To have someone devoted to her and her to him. She hadn’t experienced much affection or love growing up. She wanted to be the center of someone’s world. Was that so much to ask? And could she have that with Roarke and Sam when they were already so devoted to each other? She didn’t want the table scraps.

“Come in, honey,” Roarke said, his voice warm. “We won’t bite.”

Sam just snorted and turned away from the stove top, a pan of scrambled eggs in his hand. Roarke placed a pile of buttered toast on the small table next to some bacon.

“Sorry about the small kitchen. I put it in so we didn’t have to run up and down the stairs all the time, but it’s rather small. I’m coming to realize that we may need to look at moving into a bigger place, our own house.”

Sam stopped and stared at him, the hope on his face almost stealing her breath. “Really?” he asked. “A home?”

Roarke smiled gently and reaching over kissed Sam’s lips. “Yes, a home. It’s past time, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Sir,” Sam replied breathlessly with a large smile. “I’ll get some real estate pamphlets today.”

Roarke just chuckled and moved into the small kitchenette to grab some napkins. Ava watched them bustle around together. There familiarity with each other transparent. This wasn’t going to work.

She didn’t realize she’d spoken until they both grew silent and stared at her. Together they came and sat at the table, flanking her. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at them. So perfect.

And so wrong.

“What isn’t going to work, honey?” Roarke asked carefully.

“This.” She moved her hand between the three of them. “Us. At least, I think that’s what you’ve been talking about. The three of us trying to be in a relationship together. If I’ve misunderstood then tell me now so I can die of mortification.”

Sam shook his head. “You know you haven’t. We want you, Ava.”

Roarke tried to grab her hand, but she snatched it away, placing her hands under thighs, she couldn’t touch them at the moment. She couldn’t be distracted right now and them touching her was a definite distraction.

Roarke frowned but didn’t say anything. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “I should have had this talk with you before, Ava. Before I nearly kissed you. I know you must think the worst of me, that I would cheat on Sam. The truth of the matter is that Sam and I have often talked about adding a third to our relationship. We miss having a woman around. A woman’s softness, someone to cuddle and spoil. But we’ve never found someone who we both wanted, who we thought would fit. I would never do anything to harm my relationship with Sam, so I knew it would have to be a very special person who would fit in with us. And I never met someone like that until you walked into my study for a job interview. Still, I fought the attraction, the knowledge that you were mine.”

She nodded. “Because you thought I would come between you.”

“No.” He shook his head, surprising her. “In fact I’d insist you be between us. Often.”

She blushed at the sexual reference.

“No, I fought it because I didn’t want to let anyone else close. I didn’t want to open my heart up to anyone else. I lost my brother years ago, and since then I’ve had a hard time letting people close for fear of losing them. Sam can attest to just how protective of him I am. But you, sweetheart, wiggled your way into heart without my even realizing, with your sweet smile and kind heart and delicious ass. I want you. Sam wants you. I’m not going to pretend that being with us would be easy. I would expect a lot from you. I’ll push you. But remember that I care about you. I want to explore what is between the three of us.”

She gasped and stared at him, the tears welling in her eyes and spilling over.

Sam grasped her chin, turning her to look into his beautiful face. “Give us a chance. We’ll treat you like the princess you are. You’ll never want for care or attention or love, we’ll see to that.”

Totally overwhelmed, she simply couldn’t speak, struggled to even breathe.

Roarke, obviously seeing her distress, pushed his chair back and lifted her onto his lap. He rocked her, running his hand up and down her back, while Sam moved closer and gathered her hands in his.

“Easy, now, baby. I know this is a lot to take in,” Roarke murmured. “We’re not going to push you too far, too fast. Okay? We’re going to take this nice and slow, get to know each other. If you feel overwhelmed or scared I expect you to tell me. I’m sure things will be strange for a start. Just, tell us you’ll give us a chance.”

“Please, baby?” Sam begged.

Ava took a deep breath, followed by another. “I don’t want to be second-best,” she told them. “You guys have been together so long. You know each other so well. I don’t see how I can fit in.”

“Ava, look at me,” Sam told her firmly, surprising her. She’d come to expect that tone from Roarke, not Sam.

She stared at him nevertheless, his eyes mesmerizing her. “Believe me when I say you will never, ever be second best. Yes, Roarke and I have been together a long time and we love each other, but that does not mean that you will get the leftovers of our love and affection. You are going to get so much attention and love that at times you’ll probably wish to god for some time to yourself. I promise you we both have enough love to go around.”

She glanced up at Roarke. He simply nodded. “What he said.” He grinned and she smiled back.

“I grew up in foster homes. I always swore that when I loved someone, I would be the center of their world and they mine. I never want to feel unwanted or to make anyone else feel that way.”

“Baby, please know that in no way are you unwanted. In fact, we both want you so much, it’s painful,” Roarke said ruefully.