Monroe, Marla - Their Reluctant Submissive [Knights in Black Leather 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

“So, what do you think? Can I tell her to get started?” Kelly held her breath.

“Yeah. Tell her to go ahead with it. I’ll take some digital pictures of the store and our merchandise for her to have to work with. I guess it’s a good thing I hired Tessa when I did. You realize this is going to create more work for us, don’t you?”

Kelly grinned. “I’m counting on it. Now that I make a percentage off of my sales, I want to increase business.”

Steve groaned. “I’ve created a monster.”

The bell over the door rang alerting them that someone had entered the store. Steve hurried out front while Kelly returned to her workstation. She couldn’t help but smile. She liked that maybe she was giving back some of the good fortune that she’d been given. She couldn’t wait for the next day when she could get to know Tessa a little better.

Strangely enough, she also found herself wanting to tell Marx and Jackson about everything as well. She wanted to be able to share her day with them and hear about theirs in return, but she wasn’t sure that was possible. If they only saw each other when she was going to do a scene with them, then discussing daily activities wasn’t part of the equation. Of course, they were hinting that they wanted more than the occasional visit and club date, but she had balked at the idea. It had seemed too much like a serious relationship, and she had worried it would eventually develop into more than she was willing to take on.

Kelly sighed. Why did things have to be so complicated? If only she could trust them not to change their mind about what they wanted, then she would feel safer spending more time with them.

Steve called back to her for help out front. It effectively put an end to her internal arguments for the rest of the work day. By the time they had been able to close the store and she had cleaned up her work area, it was nearly seven. Steve walked her to her car and made sure it would start before he climbed into his truck and left. Kelly couldn’t wait to run a bath and soak away some of the tenseness that had built up inside of her all afternoon. She was sure that subconsciously she was worrying about what to do about Marx and Jackson. No matter how many ways she turned it around, the fact remained that her trust only went so far at the moment.

Her cell rang just as she pulled on her sleeping shirt. When she checked the screen, it was to see Jackson’s name. It made her smile as she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, kitten. How was your day?”

Kelly felt herself begin to melt. How had he known what she had been wishing for?

“It was busy but productive. What about yours?”

“Same here. So tell me about it. What’s going on?”

Kelly told him about meeting Tessa and how she had ended up getting the job at the store. Then she told him that Steve had agreed to let Anna design a Web site for the store. He listened and asked questions, seeming to be really interested. She closed her eyes and enjoyed just talking with him.

“I’m glad you were able to help her, Kelly. Not everyone would have spent the time to find out about her and try to help her.”

“Really it’s Steve who’s the nice one. He stuck out his hand and gave me a job when I needed it, and now he’s giving Tessa a chance as well. He’s a really nice guy. I wish whatever is going on between him and Stacey would work itself out. They were happy together when I first started working there. I don’t understand what happened.”

“Sometimes relationships just don’t work. If it’s meant to be, they’ll work it out.”

“Enough about my day. Tell me about yours? How’s Marx doing?” Kelly didn’t want to think about sad things anymore.

She listened to Jackson tell her about clearing up some paperwork and getting a call about selling some of his cattle. She couldn’t imagine how he managed to keep up with so many different things going on around the ranch. Even though Marx handled the outside part of the business, there was still a lot that went on behind the scenes that Jackson took care of.

“Marx came in around six cussing a blue streak about how hot it was out there. I suggested he take a dunk in the pond, and he near about took my head off.” Jackson chuckled.

“What’s he doing now? Watching the Discovery Channel?” she asked.

“Actually, he just walked in. Here, you can say hi to him.”

Kelly heard voices as Jackson handed the phone over to his brother. A second later Marx’s gruff voice greeted her.

“Hey, babe. How are you doing?”

“Hey, Marx. I’m fine. Tired, but fine. It was a busy day today. Jackson said you were in an especially good mood today.”

“Bastard was inside with the fucking air conditioner on all day while I was outside sweating trying to figure out where the cows are getting out at.”

Kelly laughed. “Did you figure it out and fix it?”

“Hell, no. Gonna have to go back out tomorrow and look some more. Sometimes I think they can climb the damn fences.”

They talked for a few more seconds before Marx handed the phone back to his brother.

“Wow! That’s the most I’ve ever heard him talk on the phone before. You must be someone special.”

Kelly smiled and hoped he was right. She wanted to be special to both of them. Special enough that they would want to spend quality time with her outside of sex and doing scenes. The thing was she was too scared to go for it.

After a few more minutes, Kelly said she needed to get in bed in order to be able to get up for work the next day. They said good-bye, and she pressed
end
. The phone call had left her with a sense of wellbeing and something she was afraid to believe in—hope.

Chapter Seventeen

The next few weeks flew by with October bringing some relief from the summer heat. Kelly enjoyed getting to know Tessa, though she didn’t learn anything about her past. The other woman was a puzzle that she wanted to fit all the pieces together and make whole.

The first week Kelly made sure she brought more than enough food for three people to be sure that Tessa got at least one good meal a day. By the second week, Tessa was bringing her own lunch and had assured Kelly that she had plenty to eat. It was obvious in the beginning by the way she strived to learn that she was a hard worker.

Anna slaved over the computer while setting up the Web site for Heavy Trinkets. On the day that she unveiled the site to them, it was obvious by the way Steve beamed that he was proud of his little sister. Even Ben showed up for the event. To Kelly, it looked like everything on that end was working out fine. Her personal life, however, wasn’t moving along at all.

Kelly talked with the men almost every night. They exchanged tidbits about their days and what was going on around them. On weekends, they would pick her up and take her somewhere to eat before taking her to the club. She enjoyed going with them and visiting with the other subs. The scenes helped to settle that part inside of her that wanted the dominance in her life. Going home with them afterwards helped keep things a little more personal without adding a lot of pressure on her.

Still, she wasn’t totally happy, and she was sure it was because she could sense that they weren’t satisfied with the situation. That scared her. If they wanted more, how long would their relationship last? Even though she had admitted to herself that she craved a closer connection with the two men, she didn’t think it was wise to risk trying it.

Friday afternoon Kelly struggled over a particularly difficult piece she was working on for a special order when Steve walked back to retrieve some merchandise to restock a shelf. He looked especially distracted to her since he had come back from lunch. She hesitated to ask him what was wrong. Despite their being friends, she still felt like as her employer some things were just off-limits.

When Ben showed up just before close, she learned a little more about what had happened at lunch to upset him. He and Ben were talking in the office but hadn’t bothered to close the door. She didn’t intentionally eavesdrop, but short of walking out front or going out the back door, she had no choice but to hear what they said.

“Why didn’t you call me and tell me?” Ben’s angry voice carried out the office door.

“Because there was nothing either one of us could do about it.” Steve didn’t sound much calmer.

“He’s a flirt, Steve. He’ll use her and drop her like a brick. I can’t believe you just let her leave with him.”

“If you hadn’t interfered in the first place, she wouldn’t be going anywhere with him right now.”

“Fuck it, Steve. I warned you what was going to happen. I tried to get you to…”

The door finally shut and ended the uncomfortable situation for her. As much as she wanted to know what was wrong, it wasn’t her business. She hurt for Steve and now Ben since it seemed he was somehow involved. They were good men. Stacey was a friend. She hated to see anyone hurting.

When it came time to close the store, Kelly took care of everything except handling the cash register. She knew Steve would deal with it before he left. Once her area was straight, she was ready to leave. She didn’t like just walking out without letting Steve know she was gone. Finally, she knocked on the office door and called out that she had locked up and was on her way home.

Steve stuck his head out the door with a frown. “Hell, I’m sorry, Kelly. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging like that. Thanks for locking up for me.”

“No problem. See you in the morning.”

Steve nodded and closed the office door again. At least she hadn’t heard yelling coming through the door while they had been in there. Hopefully, whatever was going on would get cleared up before they left.

Kelly let herself out the back door. It locked automatically when it shut. She hurried over to her car, thankful that Steve had security lighting in the back. At six at night it was already dark out. Once she was settled in her car with the doors locked and her seat belt on, she breathed a sigh of relief. Walking out to her car alone in the dark wasn’t one of her favorite things to do. Normally, Steve would have been with her, but he was preoccupied today and hadn’t thought about it.

She turned the key, and the car started right up. When she drove out of the parking lot, Kelly argued with herself about stopping by the grocery store or waiting until the next day after work. If she hadn’t been so tired, she probably would have stopped but decided instead to wait. She would have plenty of time between when she got off work and when Jackson and Marx would pick her up.

As soon as she made it in the door, Kelly locked it and started stripping. She needed a shower. She felt nasty from climbing through the inventory that arrived that afternoon. She had to count everything and be sure it all checked out according to the bill of lading. Normally it didn’t bother her to handle accepting deliveries, but for some reason, this one had left her irritated and uncomfortable. She chalked it up to the driver being unusually friendly and constantly invading her space.

When she got out of the shower and had dried off, Kelly dressed for bed before returning to the kitchen to fix a quick dinner. She wasn’t especially hungry, but knew she would wake up in the middle of the night starving if she didn’t eat something.

By the time she made it to bed, it was after ten. She hadn’t talked to Marx or Jackson but knew that they had been especially busy that week getting things ready for winter. The last thing she thought about as she drifted off was how much she missed sharing her day with them.

* * * *

Jackson’s cell phone dragged him from a deep sleep where he was dreaming about Kelly. He hated to leave the dream. It was a good one where they were all living together. Finally, Jackson grabbed the phone and answered it.

“Yeah?”

“Jackson? Are you awake? It’s Steve.”

“Steve? What time is it?” He tried to focus on the clock.

“Wake up! Are you with me?”

Something in Steve’s voice finally registered with him. Jackson’s first thought was of Kelly.

“What’s wrong, Steve?”

“Tessa called me. The apartment building is on fire. It’s the one that Kelly lives in.”

“Where’s Kelly?” Jackson already had his jeans halfway on. He ran to the door and called down the hall for Marx.

“I don’t know. I’m on my way there now. Tessa was hysterical, and I couldn’t get anything out of her.”

“We are on our way. Get her for us, Steve.” Jackson met Marx in the hall on his way to the door.

“Hurry, Jackson.” Steve ended the call.

“What’s going on?” Marx was pulling a shirt over his head.

“Kelly’s apartment building is on fire. Steve was on his way there.”

“Fuck. Is she okay?”

They both climbed into the truck with Jackson driving. He started the engine and pulled down the drive as he prayed that Kelly would be fine.

“I don’t know. Steve doesn’t know anything yet.”

He drove way too fast down the long gravel drive and didn’t slow up to turn onto the road at the end. For once, Marx didn’t say a thing about his driving. He kept hoping Steve would call him back to tell him that she was okay. When the phone didn’t ring, he began to fear the worse.

“Call Steve’s cell and see if he knows anything yet.”

Marx pulled out his phone, and Jackson waited impatiently while they waited for Steve to answer. Finally Marx cursed and hit
end
on the phone.