Page 25 of Lesson In Honesty
“Not that I know of, no. I just wanted to ask you to give the stuffie enterprise the green light.”
Mid-step, Eli stopped and nodded. “I can do that. I’m surprised Sierra agreed so quickly, but I’ll tell Evander to get a team in overnight.”
“She hasn’t agreed as such,” Liam confessed, shrugging when those blue eyes pinned him. “I know my girl, Eli. She’s gonna wrestle with this decision for a while until one of us forces her into making it. After a few days, she’ll convince herself she’s waited too long to say yes, so she’ll politely turn the opportunity down and then regret it. She needs this, Eli; you know it, otherwise you wouldn’t have offered it.”
“I’ll make sure it’s ready when she is.”
“Thank you.”
Those eyes never wavered. “It’s us who need to thank you, Liam. I have a feeling you’ll be instrumental in keeping us all together over the next few months.” When his phone rang, he sighed. “I’m going to start hearing that noise in my goddamn sleep. Do you need me for anything else?”
“No, we’re good.”
With a nod, Elias answered the call curtly as he continued toward the kitchen area.
Liam really didn’t envy the guy his job. On call twenty-four-seven, running multiple arms of Evander’s business, needing to be up to date on every aspect of those businesses so he could aid his husband in the most efficient way. Not to mention running herd on their Little, making sure she felt loved and appreciated both as their sub and their wife.
It made Liam’s life seem relatively uncomplicated in comparison.
Sierra
The first week of Serenity’s opening, she hid.
Perhaps not the most mature of reactions, but after being woken by the first guests the day the club welcomed clients and seeing just how many people were flocking to the kink resort, her self-confidence plummeted back down to the level it had been when she met Liam on the cold porch at Avalon.
So many people—beautiful, experienced people.
People who were no doubt eyeing up her Dom as he served drinks and conversation, thinking how gorgeous he was, howhe must have a stunning, buxom submissive to please his every whim.
She couldn’t face the judgmental stares and whispers that never failed to come her way. Not when her emotions were swinging up, down, and round. When her heart was breaking for the umpteenth time, though she was hiding that as well.
Liam didn’t know anything was wrong, of course, and that was no fault of his; he’d been so busy establishing a balanced routine at the bar, he hadn’t been in the mood to initiate sex, which meant he hadn’t realized she was on her period.
That was good though, she told herself. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him the way she was hurting.
It was getting harder to dodge the requests to come out of the cabin, however. Now that the initial frenzy was dying down, Liam was pushing for her to step out of the safety zone she’d locked herself into, and so was Callie.
Pressing her hand to her stupidly barren stomach where cramps rippled, Sierra blew out a slow breath and tried not to cry. She should know better by now than to put any hope in her defective body doing something right for once.
When someone knocked on the door, she scrubbed at her wet eyes, resigned to the fact that no matter what she asked her body to do or not do, it would always do the opposite. A glance at the window told her she’d worked into the evening, as did the slight numbness in her fingers from hours of mindless sewing.
Not interested in company, she sent a silent apology to whomever was outside, and ignored the quiet summons. Or did until it came again, louder this time, more insistent.
Setting down her needle, she rose and stomped her way to the front door. She’d just tell the visitor to go away, far away, and maybe see if she could convince her appetite to eat something.
The giant on the threshold stared down at her when she opened the door, his chocolate gaze darkening in concern as it raked over her.
Okay, so maybe she didn’t look her best. Her comfiest, rattiest sweatpants with an elasticated waist to keep the pressure off her bloated tummy. A hooded sweatshirt because the nights were cold in Denver and she hadn’t quite figured out the heating system yet. Fluffy bed socks and a pair of sheepskin slippers Liam got her one Christmas. “M-Master E-Evander.”
Stripping off his jacket, Evander bundled her into it as she spluttered out a shocked protest. “You’ll do. Your Daddy’s worried about you, little girl.”
What the hell? “I’ll do for what?”
“Time to play, of course.” His big hands deftly zipped up the front of the jacket, cocooning her in sublime warmth and the scent of woodsmoke and… something earthy. “Liam’s just handing the bar over to Jonah and then he’s setting up a scene for you. Apparently, you’ve been a hermit longer than he likes.”
“S-So why not come for me himself?” Instead of sending the king of giants in his stead.
“Something about big puppy eyes and not being able to push you. For a Dom with sadistic tendencies, your Daddy Dom is soft when it comes to you, sweetheart.” Grinning, Evander shrugged his lumberjack shoulders. “Chances are you’d ignore Callie or Violet. Elias sends you into an anxiety attack. Me, I don’t take no for an answer and I’m not as scary as my husband.”