“What do you need?” I tried to keep my irritation masked, but it wasn’t easy. It took a lot to embarrass me, but for some reason, my ears heated up.
“Well, I wanted to talk about these positions you’re hopin’ to fill. But if I’m interruptin’ something important…”
Actually, he was, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
“Let’s talk in my office,” I suggested, tugging on my jacket and moving toward the door.
“So, Addison seems to be working out,” he mentioned.
While I moved around to my desk chair, Landon casually leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb. I nodded in response to his statement, my gaze darting back to Ben’s door although I couldn’t see it with Landon’s big body blocking the view.
What the hell could they possibly be doing on the other side of it? And why the fuck was I so damn curious I was willing to eavesdrop? Or was it because I wanted to watch? Surely that was it. For the past two weeks, I had managed to keep a tight leash on our interactions, desperate to keep us from moving too fast. After that first night, I’d felt as though we had jumped in rather quickly, and every interaction after that had been going in one direction. Right to the place I was eager to get to, but knew couldn’t be rushed.
“Come in and have a seat,” I urged, shaking off the thought.
“Thanks, but no. I wasn’t plannin’ on stayin’. I’ve got something to take care of. But like I was sayin’, Luci speaks quite highly of Addison. I think she’s ready to let the girl venture out on her own.”
My gaze darted to Landon, beyond him, then back again, and I made a desperate attempt to focus on my business partner. “I think that’s a good idea. Once she’s fully in her role, I think she’ll do quite nicely.”
“As your secretary? Or your submissive?” he questioned, once again laughing. The guy could see right through me and I couldn’t say I was pleased with that.
“Both,” I told him honestly. It was true. The more I thought about Addison, the more she seemed to fit with me and Ben. Granted, I was having more than my fair share of doubts, but that was to be expected. Ben and I had been together for quite some time. I had an unfounded fear that someone else might disrupt that. Unfortunately, I was going to have to let go of the brake in order to see where things went.
Landon’s expression sobered. “Well, I hope that’s the case for your sake. And for Ben’s. How’s that working out, anyway? The three layers you’ve got going on?”
“It’s challenging,” I admitted. “But nothing we won’t figure out with time.” At least, I hoped that was the case.
“So, you think you can scale back enough to let it work itself out?”
“Scale back?”
Landon smirked. “You’re a rather dominant man. I’m sure it’s not easy to allow someone else to fill that role.”
“He’s not dominating me,” I assured him.
“No one said he was. But I know from experience that a true submissive tends to lean on the Dominant who can handle her.”
It was true. And yes, I knew Landon had been through something similar with Luci and his twin in the beginning. Due to Langston’s overbearing nature, Luci had looked to him in the beginning. And, as I’d found out later, was the very reason Langston had backed off. As a way to get Luci to see Landon as his equal.
“Ben can certainly handle her,” I told Landon. If I let him.
Was that the problem? These past two weeks had been nothing but sexting, dinners, and quite a bit of heated make-out sessions with some oral sex mixed in. We shared conversation, getting to know one another bit by bit, but I’d managed to hold back on claiming Addison in the one way I knew Ben and I were both ready to claim her. And yes, it was my own damn insecurities that had gotten in the way, but was I holding Ben back as well?
“I believe it. The question was whether or not you could step back and allow that to happen.”
My eyes instantly went to Ben’s door again. I was still wondering if that was something I was capable of. Knowing that the two of them were on the other side of that door…
Son of a bitch
Landon shifted, and I was once again reminded that he was there.
“All right, enough of the deep shit, huh?” He smirked. “I simply wanted to tell you we offered Jordan the position and he accepted. We also hired Dale as his replacement. He’ll start in two weeks.”
“It sounds like it’s working out well, then.”
“So far, so good. You still meeting with Greg?”
I nodded. “On Friday. And I’m having dinner with Zeke tonight.”
