When I glanced back at Sir, he was still watching me.
“As I mentioned, the four of us wanted to hire you. We had our individual reasons, and over the past few months, you’ve gotten to know us. Some more than others.”
My heart sank in my chest. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
“As far as we’re concerned, you have three choices.”
Ben cleared his throat, so I looked his way. “Your first choice is to continue on the way things were in the beginning. The four of us sharing you, enjoying you here in the office with a few chance encounters outside the office. You will not answer to one person, and no one will monopolize your time. We’ll keep it more interactive with the four of us present. More like a friends-with-benefits arrangement with no strings attached.”
Who invented that term? No strings attached? Had to have been a man because it was stupid.
I frowned.
“Or,” Justin said, my gaze shooting over to him, “we’ll change things up a bit. We’ll rotate so that you have one person to answer to every couple of weeks. We’ll still share you, we’ll still play, but you’ll have more individual time with each of us. So that we can each get to know you on the level we originally intended.”
“Your final option,” Master noted, his voice rougher than I’d ever heard it. He cleared his throat and continued. “We’ll move forward with me as your master. Only me. That means I will be responsible for you, for directing things as I see fit.”
My gaze cut to Landon. Only Langston? What about Landon? I didn’t want Langston without Landon. I thought they knew that. Why would they even make that an option?
“However, pet,” Master said, drawing my attention back to him, “it’s important you understand that I’m not in a position to collar you at this time. That’s not the direction that I’m going. That doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be mine, it merely means we’re not at that level yet. We could be someday.”
Could be.
Wow. How romantic.
I wasn’t sure he realized that with those few words, he had completely shattered my heart. Sure, I’d been second-guessing myself, but deep down, I was the kind of girl who was hoping for her fairy-tale prince (or two in this case) to come in and whisk her off her feet, declaring his undying love.
Clearly, my prince was not in this room.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, wanting to say something but not sure how to express what I felt. The last part pained me more than anyone would know. Considering my feelings for Master and Sir, it was devastating to know that they didn’t feel the same.
“Do not answer now,” Sir added.
I couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t giving me an option that included him. That was the only thing I wanted. He had to know that.
“We want you to go home and think about it,” Sir continued. “We’ve agreed that we won’t make direct contact with you until you’ve made your decision and you meet with the four of us on Thursday.” He waved his hand. “Or whenever you’re ready.” Sir’s gaze shot to the other three men. “That means no one is to contact her. Not by phone, text, or showing up at her apartment. This is her decision.”
“Like we said,” Justin added, “there is no wrong answer. We want you to make the decision that is right for you. And like Ben said, your job is not in jeopardy. Should you come back on Thursday and tell us all that you want nothing to do with this anymore, we’ll understand that, too. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, Luci.”
I nodded, unable to keep the tear from trickling down my cheek.
I don’t think they understood how difficult this decision was.
Or how painful it was to know that no one truly wanted me.
For their own.
Twenty
I COULD SEE THE SHOCK on Jordan’s face when he found out I was leaving for the day and would not be returning until Thursday. He knew something was up, and I assured him that I would be back and not to worry.
Granted, I was worried.
“Too late for that, kiddo. I’m already worried. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? With me and Dale.”
I stared back at my friend, then nodded. “Okay. What time?”
Without answering me, Jordan reached out and stole my phone from my hand. He quickly put in his number, then called his phone.
“Okay, now that I have your number, I’ll text you after I talk to Dale.”
I shook my head. “Jordan, seriously…I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”
He held up his hand. “Shut it. No one’s going to any trouble. You come over, we’ll feed you, and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about.”
