“Whoa, slow down. We’re not talking life plans yet.”
“Well…” John smirks.
“But you two still work for him. He’d never respect you if you’re with me.”
Austin says, “We can handle that. For now, the two of us make more than enough to meet all of our needs. And we have savings because we didn’t have a life outside of work until we met you.”
Bear adds, “There are other jobs out there, Baby Girl. Your father doesn’t get to control who we love and he doesn’t get to control who we work for.”
“He has a lot of contacts.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” John says.
Cheri emerges from the kitchen with what amounts to a giant glass bowl with layers of fruit, cream, and cake. “A Royal Cherry Trifle.”
“It’s huge. And it looks amazing.”
“There’s enough for everybody.”
Bear grabs the edge of the table and stands. “I’m not sure if Lexi wants us to join her cum party.”
I hold up a finger. “Shh. No jokes.” But a smile breaks through my worry. “Cheri went a little crazy. There’s plenty.”
Mammoth steps to our table and I wonder if he’s coming to see how big the dessert is, but he bumps John out of the way and taps Beatrix on the shoulder. “Looks like this booth is getting kind of full. Want to come sit at my table?”
Beatrix is wide-eyed, and I detect the excitement in her expression. I serve two portions of the trifle and scoot them toward Beatrix. “Go on. I need to talk to these guys.”
Avery swings by with more dishes.
“I should wash up.” I scoot out of the booth and stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. All my life I thought I had to prove something to my stepdad. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I don’t need to prove anything to anybody, and it took three Daddies to teach me that.
The smile grinning back at me in the mirror is the widest, happiest smile I’ve had in a while, aside from when I’m having an orgasm maybe.
My first day working under my father’s Opus Syndicate umbrella wasn’t the first day of the rest of my life like I thought. I’ll take the guys up on their offer to care for me. I’d be a fool to deny how much I’d love that.
It’s a bold move, but I’m a badass woman in control of my life, and I’d much rather decorate their bachelor pad than try to convince a corporation to put color on their walls.
The bathroom door swings open and I focus on the faucet, turning the water on so I can actually wash my hands.
“Whatcha doin’ in here, Baby Girl?”
I glance in the mirror. Bear’s locking the door.
“Cleaning up so I can have dessert with my Daddies.” I give a shy smile through the mirror.
He steps behind me and kisses the back of my head. “Does that mean you’re finally gonna let us take you home?”
“I’m supposed to trust my daddies, right?”
I watch his reflection as he reaches into his jacket pocket. The discreet box is unmistakable. “We’ll meet all of your needs.”
“I have a lot of needs,” I joke.
“Which probably explains why you need three Daddies.”
He pulls the pink toy from the box, “And a few toys.” He slips the toy between his teeth, drags it over my cheek, down my neck, and ends up kneeling in front of me.