Page 71 of Becoming
“Hot damn. At least that’s not a no. Progress. I said that out loud, didn’t I?” she asked when Rebecca raised a brow.
“Yes, you did. What do you think we should do about it?”
“I don’t know. Anything but the riding crop. Please, Mistress.” Cass feigned distress, gripping Rebecca’s ass tightly.
“Riding crop, it is,” Rebecca smirked. “Get out of the tub, Cassidy. I want you on the bed.”
She tried so hard not to laugh when Cassidy moved so fast she slipped, splashing water all over the place. She had to duck her head quickly when Cassidy tried again, swinging her long leg over Rebecca to get out. I hope she remembers to get a towel. Otherwise, we’ll be sleeping on a wet bed. Eh, not the first time.
REBECCA SIPPED HER coffee, flipping through files of potential clients. Business clients. She still owned the club but limited her time there for Cassidy’s sake. And perhaps her own. Besides, her once side job of consulting was now beginning to keep her busy. Her reputation was such that she was sought out by fortune 500 companies down to mom and pop shops. Rebecca vetted the owners as vigilantly as Mistress did her clients.
She tossed a file into the “no” pile and reached for another one just as the doorbell rang. Slightly irritated with being bothered, she pushed away from her desk and made her way to the front door. She and Cassidy had yet to make things official when it came to moving in together. Still, Rebecca felt at home enough in Cassidy’s house to answer the door when her girlfriend wasn’t there.
“Beverly!” Are they always going to make surprise visits? “You just missed Cassidy.”
Does she call everyone by their full name? Bev thought, not minding the way it sounded from the dignified blonde. “Hello, Rebecca. Actually, I came here to see you. May I?” She made a move to go into the house when Rebecca stepped in front of her.
“If you’re here to try to convince me to break things off with Cassidy, we have nothing to talk about.”
Bev sighed. “Please, hear me out. I like you, Rebecca. I truly do.”
“Just not for your daughter?”
“I only want to protect her, Rebecca.”
“I thought we got past this, Mrs. Giles.” Why now? Two weeks have gone by since their dinner. Cassidy made it a point to talk to them more often. Never once did she say her mom still had an issue. “Or were you just placating to keep the peace?”
“Perhaps a little of both,” Bev confessed. “I’ve tried to accept this. But my first priority will always be to protect my daughter.”
“Understandable.” Rebecca leaned against the doorjamb. “The question I have, though, is what do you think I’m doing with Cassidy that’s going to hurt her?”
“I don’t think you’d do anything deliberately, Rebecca. But Cass is young and impressionable. She still has time to make better decisions in her life.”
“And I’m, God forbid, encouraging her to do what she loves,” Rebecca finished when Beverly paused. “This is about her choice not to be a lawyer, isn’t it? Surely you know that she’s not a lawyer because she doesn’t want to be one. That decision had nothing to do with me. Just as it had nothing to do with you or Mr. Giles.”
“It’s not just that,” Bev insisted. “It’s hard for me to reconcile your age difference. Do you know what my daughter was doing when you graduated college? She was five, Rebecca. Getting ready for kindergarten!”
Rebecca was seriously getting tired of being called out on her age. When she and Cassidy had lunch with Miranda and her husband, Rebecca’s age was the hot topic—at least for Miranda. Cassidy, God love her, did her best to veer the conversation in other directions, but the redhead was relentless. Of course, she tried covering it up by making backhanded compliments. Rebecca saw right through her. Miranda had a problem with her. And now here’s Cassidy’s mom with the same issues.
“I’m not dating that version of your daughter! I know she will always be your little girl, but she is unequivocally a woman.”
“Which brings me to my next concern.” Bev glanced behind her, then leaned in. Not enough to encroach Rebecca’s personal space, but enough to where she could speak softly. “Women our age are getting to the end of our sexual peak. What happens when that happens to you just as Cass is entering hers?”
It probably wasn’t going to help Rebecca’s situation by bursting out in laughter. Unfortunately, she couldn’t help it. Cassidy’s mother was talking to someone like Rebecca—Mistress—about sex. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh.” She cleared her throat. “I’m going to assume that you don’t want details, but Cassidy and I have absolutely no problems in that area. I don’t anticipate there will be one anytime soon.”
Bev hung her head, laughing softly. Partly because she was embarrassed and partly because she couldn’t believe her friend talked her into doing this. “I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?”
The embarrassment on Bev’s face softened Rebecca’s heart. Not enough to invite the woman in. Mother or not, she came here to break her and Cassidy up. Rebecca had empathy, but forgiveness may take a little longer. As an alternative, she gestured to the steps and sat down.
“I learned long ago that I never had to explain myself,” Rebecca began. She looked out over the front yard. It was big for Los Angeles standards, but not so much that she couldn’t hear the rumble of passing cars. “I don’t ask for permission or forgiveness. What I do with my life is my business, no one else’s.”
“Rebecca…”
Rebecca held up a hand. “That being said, you are Cassidy’s mother and I want us to get along. Not just for Cassidy’s sake, but for our own.” She turned to Beverly, then, deliberately looking her in the eye. “During college, I was involved in an abusive relationship that lasted way too long.”
“I’m so sorry.” Bev looked at the composed woman next to her. There was so much more to Rebecca than she first thought. Perhaps her worldliness would be beneficial to Cass. “Was he the reason you turned to women?”
Rebecca gave Beverly a small smile. “Men are not the only ones who can be cruel, Beverly. I was born a lesbian, I wasn’t turned into one. Just as I wasn’t turned from women because of the inhumanity of one woman.” Rebecca exhaled. Ever since Cassidy eased Rebecca’s conscience about Samantha, she found it easier to forget about the despicable woman. Talking about her now, bringing her back to mind, wasn’t fun. “I’m not telling you this for sympathy points. I want you to understand where I’m coming from when it comes to being with Cassidy.”