Page 59 of Eagle

“Have you told her that’s what you want?”

“I…” Stopping, I considered everything we talked about. I told her I needed her, I wanted to come back to the clubhouse, but did I tell her I wanted her to be mine? Like really mine, forever? “I’m working on it.”

“Like I said…dipshit. I gotta go prep my station and shovel a biscuit down. I suggest you get on that, and fast.”

As much as I wanted to argue with him, it was pointless. But she was hesitant to go all in and she’d made that clear. I needed to stay the course and stick to my plan. When I got her to Dad’s later, that would be just another layer, and giving her the car would help, too. She wanted some control of her life, to feel somewhat independent. I would take care of her, give her everything she needed or wanted, but I had to learn that sometimes that didn’t mean things.

The bunnies were around for one thing–find a man and do nothing but be an Old Lady and make babies. Lacy wasn’t like that. She would never expect me to take care of her that way, even though I’d do it in a heartbeat if it made her happy. So for now, I just had to come to terms with her wants and needs and hope that I fit into them.

Chapter 27

Lacy

Spending the day with Daisy and Eagle was more fun than I expected. I watched one of his sittings for a while. The last time I was here was very early on when I arrived in Georgia and I stayed in the breakroom most of the day. Today, he asked the man if I could hang out and I sat in the corner, watching as he focused on his work. He carried on friendly conversation with the client and they both included me. I was so used to feeling like I had to sit down and shut up, it was almost unnerving to be acknowledged.

My mind wandered a few times. His hands were such amazing tools for various activities. Strong and nimble, with the perfect amount of pressure, but also a gentle touch. I was thankful his client broke my daydream, since it would be a while until I could enjoy those hands on me again.

“You got any ink, Lacy?”

“Actually, no. But not because I don’t want any. I just never could decide on what to get and never went to check itout. Guess I didn’t put too much thought into it.” That was all true. Lots of other dancers had them and I thought they were beautiful to look at. Of course I made comments in passing about how cool this or that would be, but never looked into it or found out where anyone went to get theirs. Honestly, I bounced around a lot since I left home, so maybe I wasn’t settled anywhere long enough to do all that.

Eagle sat up, stretching his back as he dipped his gun into one of the small tubs of ink. “Just say the word, doll. I’d love to be the one to tap that virgin skin.” His heated gaze landed on me briefly before he went back to work.

Something about that was hot. Sitting for hours, unable to move while his full focus and those magical hands were on me. And for him to practically brand me. Not that he was branding this random guy, but something about him doing it to me was different. Heat rose in my cheeks so I excused myself for a while. “I’m going to grab a drink and chat with Daisy for a bit since I haven’t seen her in a while.”

I stood and headed for the door and as I opened it he said, “She’s always here or at the clubhouse, ya know?”

Turning, I rolled my eyes at Eagle then smiled at the client. “Thanks for letting me hang out for a bit. You’ll have to show me when you leave.”

“Won’t be done today, but I’ll show you what your man here does. Keep him outta trouble, little one,” the man said before I walked out.

I grabbed myself a diet soda from the fridge, a water for Daisy, and walked back to the front. She pulled one of the chairs over for me to sit right next to her.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said as she patted my knee. “I’ve missed you so much.”

I grabbed her hand. “I miss you. Jeannie is nice, but she’s not you.” I sipped my drink, then put it down. “I want to come back,” I said before looking back to be sure he wasn’t behind me or something. “I just don’t want it to go back to the way it was. He’s been so different. So attentive. So…everything. It’s kind of perfect and I don’t want to lose that, you know?”

“Well, not that I’m on his side, because I’dnever,” she declared with a swipe of her hand through the air, “but you won’t know until you try. Still, making him sweat a bit can’t hurt, either. I just miss you. Maybe come hang out a little and plan to leave? Or be up front about a one-night sleepover or something?”

“I have to work Saturday morning, so Friday night won’t be good. But maybe Saturday night. Oh!” I said in a whisper yell. “He’s taking me to meet his dad later.”

Daisy’s brows shot up and a grin spread over her face. “Ohhh, that’s serious.”

“And he has some surprise.” I could hardly contain my excitement. Nobody ever surprised me with anything except their bad behavior.

She smacked my leg. “Oh my God. He’s gonna propose!”

I cocked my head. “No. That’s ridiculous.” Surely that wasn’t it.What if it was?Shaking my head at the absurd assumption, I continued, “ We’ve barely made up, Daisy. And I’ve been very good about telling him my feelings and boundaries.”

“Finally.”

I had moved to grab my drink, but whipped my head at her instead. “What does that mean?”

“Girl, I love you, but you acted like a scared little mouse around him. You should have talked to himlongbefore youleft.”

My mouth fell open. “What the fuck, Daisy?” I was whisper-yelling again. “It wasn’t like he was open. Plus, I really didn’t want to seem unappreciative of everything. Then I’d gone so long that way, it just snowballed.”

“Yeah, and you never said anything. You just left.”

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