“How about this,” Gen said. “I have a bra with an underarm slot for a weapon. I’ll have my three-eighty in it, my nine mil on my hip, pepper spray in my pocket, and I’ll be aware of my surroundings at all times. If I’m meeting someone new, I’ll bring my assistant along. Mike hasn’t actually threatened to hurt me, he’s just stalking me. Granted, it’s creepy and I need to be careful, but let’s not blow it out of proportion, okay?”
Gen was sitting in Duke’s lap again, leaned sideways against his chest, and she noted Cassie in Cam’s lap, too. Isaac and Frisco were both in arm-chairs, while Bethany was stretched out on a love seat. Gen looked at the time, saw it was nearly ten o’clock, and asked, “Bethany, do you have clothes here or do you need to go home to change?”
“I brought clothes.” Her friend looked at the clock, realized she had two hours until she had to be at work, and said, “Ah, yeah. Maybe I’ll go get a shower. For what it’s worth, I think he’s dangerous and I don’t like the idea of you being out and about on your own. I know you can protect yourself, but he’s been trained in how to take armed people down, Gen. I’d like you to have someone watching your back.”
Gen reached for her phone, pulled up her schedule. “I’m meeting a couple after church tomorrow to show them some properties on the brow of both Signal and Lookout Mountains, and possibly White Oak Mountain near East Brainerd Road. I’m taking her to all of the properties, and then her husband will meet us later if there’s something she wants him to see.” She went over her schedule for the next three days, detailing which were established clients, and which weren’t.
An hour and a half later they had a game plan to last through Wednesday, and her house was empty except for her and Duke.
Gen took a shower while Duke did something outside so Brain would be notified if a car other than one tagged by the club pulled into her driveway.
He sat and watched as she put her makeup on and fixed her hair, and didn’t try anything while she got dressed for the day. She completely forgot about Bethany spilling the beans the night before until he pulled her into his lap on the sofa in her bedroom and asked, “What do we need to talk about before we have sex again, Beautiful?”
She tried to pull away, but he gently held her in place, his face caring and concerned. “I’ve obviously missed something important, Gen. Talk to me.”
“Would it be okay with you if I didn’t want to do anything anal anymore?”
“If you didn’t like it, sure, but I know you enjoyed it. You’re still a little conflicted, but it’s just a matter of getting you past the idea it’s wrong, and then the conflict will fade.”
She closed her eyes, remembering his sense of smell, but was still uncomfortable he knew so much about how she felt. Of course, in this case he was wrong about the source of the conflict, but she wasn’t sure she could explain it to him.
She thought about asking if it was important to him, if he’d find someone else who wanted that if she decided it wasn’t for her, but just couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“This is more than I thought,” he told her, his voice full of concern. “You’re truly distressed.”
Gen tried to get up, but he again held her, though gently, careful not to hurt her.
“Tell me what’s going through your head, Genesis. Talk to me, Beautiful. Please.”
She shook her head and he sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you some time, but I won’t have sex with you again until I know what’s going on.”
“No!” It came out louder than she intended, and she tried to cover. “Regular sex is okay, I just want you to do stick to regular, is all, and not…” She took a breath and whispered, “Please, Duke. I like you. I couldn’t bear it if you went to someone else because I wouldn’t…”
His body went tight, and she didn’t risk looking to see if his jaw muscle jerked. She felt him relaxing his muscles as if one at a time, his legs, his abs, his shoulders, his arms. Finally, he pulled her closer to him, nestled her face into his chest.
“McPherson said he had to go elsewhere because you weren’t what he wanted in bed. You were letting me play with your ass to keep me from straying to someone else who’d let me.”
Gen didn’t respond in any way, but about ten seconds later Duke’s muscles all went stiff again and he said, “Fuck me.”
He stood with her in his arms, turned, gently settled her on the sofa, and left the room. His heavy motorcycle boots sounded on the hardwood floors, then on the marble steps. She heard the front door open and close, and sat wondering what’d just happened. She didn’t hear his motorcycle crank up, and when she went to the front of the house and looked out a window, she saw him on the phone, pacing in her front yard like a caged animal.