Page 9 of Master Cordell

Sasha slung her arms over Angie’s and Kristen’s shoulders. “I’ve missed you guys so much already, but Tiffany and Sloan have been so nice, I feel like I’ve known them forever.” At Sasha’s request yesterday, the two women had gone to her new apartment and helped her unpack the rest of her belongings before going out to lunch and showing her around the area. “I’m going to have so much fun setting up the shop. Wait until you see some of the stuff we ordered! We did an awesome job picking it all out if I do say so myself. Angie, I can tell you right now, there’re a bunch of outfits your husband is going to want for you.” It was well-known throughout The Covenant that Ian Sawyer had a major lingerie fetish, and his submissive wife had a closet full of silky and lacy pieces to prove it.

“Ooh, maybe I’ll pick something out and bring it home to model for him,” Angie replied with a huge grin on her face. “He’ll deserve something nice after taking care of Peyton on his own for two nights.” Tiffany had only seen photos of Angie and Ian’s baby, but she was an absolute cutie-pie.

“He’s got plenty of help,” Kristen assured her. “Between Dev, Colleen, Jenn, Nick, and Jake, and even Beau, Little Bit is in good hands. So is JD.” Her and Devon’s little boy was another adorable member of the Sawyer clan and almost a year older than his cousin. Beau was Ian’s trained protection dog who took guarding his tiny humans seriously.

“I know, I know,” Angie said with a sigh. “But I just miss her so much, and we’ve only been gone a few hours.”

“Wait until she starts teething, dear sister-in-law. You’ll cherish short getaways like this.”

Angie’s phone chimed, and she pulled it from the outside pocket of her Coach purse then swiped the screen. “Aw. Look! Ian sent a photo of her asleep on his chest in his office.” She turned the phone around so the other women could see the cute image. Tiffany’s heart clenched as she stared at the man and baby. What she wouldn’t give to have that be Sir and their child with him.

“See,” Tori said. “He’s got it all under control. Now, let’s go check this place out. I want to see everything!”

After Mitch said hello to Sasha and Tiffany, Cordell and Dante began to show him around, so they could discuss what still needed to be done before the place opened. Since it was Sunday, they didn’t have to deal with any workers, which was why the group had decided to come down that morning. While the men were doing their thing, Tiffany and Sasha gave the three other women the grand tour. When they’d first entered the lobby, Tiffany had grabbed a pad and pen she’d put on the reception desk earlier, so she could take notes on any ideas the others came up with for the grand opening of the resort. She’d also handed the women bottles of water she’d stored in a cooler to keep everyone hydrated.

It was a full two and a half hours before the two groups met up again in the lobby. By then, Tiffany had filled about seven pages in her notepad. Tomorrow, they had a lot of shopping to do—both in brick-and-mortar stores and online.

“Mitch, did you like the ballroom?” Tori asked, as a hopeful look filled her face.

Her fiancé took her hand and squeezed it. “Yup. It’s perfect. Ty and I already told you it’s fine with us if that’s where you want to do it, baby.”

“Do what?” Sasha asked with a curious expression. But before Tori or Mitch could answer, her eyes went wide, and she squealed. “Oh-em-gee! Are the three of you going to get married here?”

Smiling, Tori nodded as the other women broke out into a flurry of excitement. Tiffany hugged her cousin. “Yay! I’m so happy you’re finally getting married!” Every time she’d asked if they’d settled on a date yet, the answer had always been they wanted to get the resort up and running first. Master Mitch had already collared both Tori and Ty in a beautiful ceremony at The Covenant, and that meant just as much to them as a wedding did, if not more.

“When?” Angie asked.

“I already went into the event calendar on the computer and penciled us in for three months after the grand opening,” Tori replied. “We didn’t want it to be right after we opened because planning two huge, back-to-back parties would’ve been too much. We’re taking over the entire resort that weekend—I already spoke to Jessica a few weeks ago and blocked out the room reservations, so we can accommodate everyone.” Jessica Meadows was one of the resort’s two booking agents. Tiffany wondered why the other woman hadn’t mentioned it to her until Tori pointed at her. “Don’t be mad at her for not telling you that—I swore her to secrecy until I made my final decision.”

Tiffany smiled at her cousin. “No problem. I’m used to you being a clam until you’re ready to open your mouth and spill your guts. And I also know that when you finally do, I’m one of the first people to get all the juicy details.”

“And there are plenty of juicy details that I’m going to need the event coordinator’s and your help with after the grand opening, since I’m planning the wedding long distance. I’m going to order the invitations later this week—I wanted to see the place first before I committed to them. Now, I just have to break the news to my mother that we’re having it here. While she’s handled me wanting to get married to two men a lot better than I’d expected her to, we haven’t quite filled her in on the whole lifestyle bit yet.”

Tiffany put her arm around Tori’s shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your mom asked for a tour of the club. Do you remember when you and she came to Vegas for my twenty-first birthday? She was waving those dollar bills at the male strippers more than anyone else. My mom was so embarrassed just to be there, but you and I were laughing our asses off. Just be happy my mom won’t be coming since she won’t fly and it’s too far for her to drive. There's no way I want her anywhere near this place. She’d be throwing holy water at me for days.” Even though Tiffany’s mother went through men like they were going out of style—five out of eight fiancés had actually made it to the altar—she could be a bit of a prude when it came to talking about sex. Tori’s mother had been the one to explain the facts of life to Tiffany over the phone when she was twelve because her mom couldn’t do it. At least she hadn’t done it on Skype and seen how badly Tiffany had been blushing throughout the entire conversation.

“Ladies, I don’t know about you, but we’re getting hungry,” Cordell said. “Let’s take this party to Sundown. I’ll call ahead and make sure they have a table for us on the patio so Cooper can come too.” Sundown Burgers and Brew had fast become a favorite place to eat for both Cordell and Tiffany, having been introduced to the place by Dante. Jared and Troy had also started hanging out there occasionally after work. It was about ten minutes from the resort and was located next to a marina, so it had customers arriving by both cars and boats.

Tiffany nodded and said, “Add one more, Sir. Sloan said she’d love to meet us wherever we ended up going. I thought it would be good to introduce her to everyone before the opening. I’ll send her a quick text to tell her we’re on our way.”

“So that’s nine of us?” He did a quick head count and added Sloan to it. “Nine.” He turned to Mitch. “It’s about five minutes from your hotel—do you want to swing by there first and check in?” Since the rooms weren’t ready yet, and the cottages, other than Cordell and Tiffany’s, were being used as office space at the moment, they’d made reservations at a hotel Mitch, Tori, and Ty had stayed at several times before. Originally, the threesome had planned to use one of the suites anytime they visited after the resort opened, but then decided to update and make use of the existing cottages. Theirs would be the one next to Cordell and Tiffany’s, while Ian, Devon, and their wives would occupy two others nearby.

Mitch shook his head. “After is fine. I’m starving.”

“All right, everyone. Let’s load up.”

Chapter8

“So, what’s on your mind?” Mitch asked as he and Cordell sat at the patio bar while the ladies had a pow-wow at a nearby table about the grand opening decorations and the festivities. Dante was standing on the path leading to the docks talking to a friend he’d run into, with Cooper lying next to him. Lunch had been delicious as usual, but now it felt like a rock in Cordell’s stomach.

“I fucked up.”

When he didn’t add anything else right away because he was searching for the right words, Mitch said, “Okay, that’s a broad statement. Can you narrow it down a little and tell me what you fucked up? Is it going to cost me a lot of money to fix it?”

Cordell’s gaze shot to his boss’s face, and relief coursed through him when he saw a smile partnered with amusement in the man’s eyes. “No, nothing like that. It’s got nothing to do with the resort. Other than the hidden cameras, things are going smoothly on that front. Knock on wood.” He did just that on the bar top next to his beer. “No, what I meant was I fucked something up with Tiffany, and I honestly don’t know how to get things back on track. I’m not sure if she told you or Tori, but we renegotiated our contract to include ... uh, things that weren’t in the first contract.” He would’ve come right out and said sex had the female bartender not picked that moment to check on their drinks. The woman gave both of them flirtatious looks before moving on after they declined refills.

“Okay. So, is that the problem? The new amendments to the contract aren’t benefiting both parties?”

“Nope, that part’s fine—fantastic even, at least as far as I can tell.”

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