Not wanting to think about either of them with another woman, I shrugged it off. Smiled. “So, it would seem the three of us are dating each other. You and Cav, me and Cav, me and you.”
“True.”
I waved my hand, not sure where I was heading with this. “Plus, you both copped to sharing.”
“We did.”
“It seems to me like we’re stalling, running around in circles.” I peered at him again. “Why? Why are we avoiding the issue?”
“We’re not. We’re feeling our way through it. It’s true. Cav and I have shared submissives before.” His eyes remained locked on mine. “But there’s a significant difference between sharing a submissive at the club and … this.”
My belly fluttered. “How’s it different?”
“For one, you’re not a club submissive.”
True.
“And two, I haven’t been on a date in a really long time. The other night … I had a great time with you, Jamie. I was hoping to spend a little more time with you.”
“A little?” I teased.
“Fine. A lot.”
“So why’d you kiss him then?” Why him and not me was what I really wanted to ask, but I couldn’t.
“I don’t want to scare you off, Jamie.”
Damn, but the man could make my heart speed up. His eyes were hot, but I could detect a vulnerability in his tone. It was completely unexpected, and I wasn’t sure I knew how to respond. Or if I even could.
His gaze dropped to my lips briefly. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can. With Cav and without him.”
His admission had my insides glowing. “Ditto.”
Edge’s grin formed, this time lighting up his eyes. “But you’re right. This isn’t going the way I’d envisioned, either.”
Shifting so I faced him more fully, I put my hand on his. “And how did you see it going?”
“Well, I didn’t expect it to be quite so … complicated.”
That was a good word for it. While it had sounded so simple when he’d laid it out at the club, this past week had changed things. Spending time with Cav and Edge, separately, had been eye-opening. I wanted more time with them. But to be fair, I didn’t want to choose one over the other. I wanted to spend time with them both. Together and separate.
“It probably wouldn’t be,” I told him, “if we let things happen as they’re meant to be.”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t think that way if you knew some of the thoughts I’ve had about you.”
I leaned in, lowered my voice. “Trust me. You’d probably want to lay me over your knee if you knew the thoughts I’ve had about you and Cav this week.”
A rumble sounded in his chest and his eyes practically glowed with heat. I’d hit my mark with that, and I could tell he hadn’t expected it.
Good. I wanted to be the one to shake things up a bit. So far, Edge had been the one to make the rules, to outline the plan, to carve out the playing field. I wanted to see where it went without so much interference on our parts.
“You’re tempting a very hungry man, sweetness,” he mumbled.
I took a sip of my wine, tried to play it off with a coy smile.
Edge cleared his throat, took a swallow of wine, then leaned close to my ear once more. “I think it’s safe to say I’ve wasted far too much time already, and I hope like hell you’ll let me make it up to you.”
When he pulled back, I could only stare. I hadn’t expected that—the man always seemed so guarded—but I appreciated it all the same. “I’d like that.” Then an idea came to me. “So what do you say we make this less complicated?”
“How do you suggest we do that?”
“If you call Cav, invite him down here, the three of us can spend time together. We’ll figure it out as we go.”
Edge’s eyes widened slightly, and I caught his surprise at my forwardness. I wasn’t sure how he felt about that until he smiled.
The man had a really, really nice smile.
CAV
I HADN’T MADE PLANS FOR THE EVENING, but as I sat in my hotel room, bored out of my mind, I knew I was going to have to do something or go crazy. While I wanted to take Jamie out tonight, I’d been too impatient earlier. Since I’d already seen her once today at lunch, I didn’t want to overdo it.
And it wasn’t like I didn’t have other things to do to keep me busy.
Considering I’d made some life-altering decisions in the past week, I had a few options. For example, having accepted the job Zeke offered me, I could easily look for a more permanent residence. Part of me wanted to do some Internet searches on real estate, but the other part didn’t find that at all appealing. I had the option of an apartment in the Chatter PR building, but I hadn’t decided whether I wanted to go that route or not. But I needed to do something. I couldn’t stay in this hotel forever. Hell, I didn’t want to stay in this hotel.
