Writes of Submission

by Cassidy Browning

  There was a soft knock at the door and he sat up. Nikki was stirring beside him, rubbing her eyes and yawning, but Dante was gone.

  “Yes?”

  The door opened and Dante’s head poked in. “Sorry to wake you guys, but can I come in? Something’s come up.”

  “Sure. You don’t need to ask permission. We’re a team now.” Kane settled himself against the headboard, enjoying the sight of Nikki trying to cover herself without seeming prudish. He reached down and pulled away the sheet that she had just stealthily drawn over her breasts. “No point in being modest, sweetie. You belong to us now and we like to see your sexy body.”

  She looked alarmed for a second, then smiled. That was a good sign. “Yes, I do.”

  Dante pulled out the desk chair and sat down facing them. His mouth was pulled together as if he had some news that he really didn’t want to share. “I need to go away for a day or two.”

  “Oh, no.” Nikki’s shoulders slumped a little. “Why?”

  “The publisher wants to do a strategy meeting in Houston,” Dante told her. “I should be back by Wednesday at the latest. It kind of depends what they want me to do while I’m there. I don’t think they’ll pull me off this assignment.”

  “What if they do?” Kane put an arm around Nikki and pulled her closer, nodding for Dante to come and sit next to her. Nikki was staring at him with wide eyes, as if she was really afraid of what was coming. He wondered how she was interpreting this event.

  Dante sat down, kissing Nikki on the forehead. “Then I quit and work freelance. I don’t think it will come to that, but I will figure out a way to come back no matter what. Most of my job can be done remotely, so it doesn’t really matter where I live. Allie’s sales have been steadily rising, so it’s not like what we’ve been doing isn’t working. Your blog posts about her great cooking have really generated some interest and drawn in a whole new demographic. I think they just want to look at what we’re doing, maybe think about how to adapt it for more of their authors.”

  “They’ll want me to start reviewing cookbooks for them?” Kane laughed.

  “Maybe.” Dante smiled, too, but he looked worried. “But I think you’re better off concentrating on the book you guys are working on. It sounds way more interesting—to me, at least.”

  “Me, too.” Kane gave Nikki a kiss, then got up and went toward the bathroom. “Since I’m awake now I might as well get up. Nikki, do you want to sleep some more?”

  “No.” She sounded distracted and nervous. “What time do you have to leave, Dante?”

  He glanced at his watch. “My flight’s at noon. I was just going to have some breakfast and then I’ll need to head out to the airport. I’m already packed.”

  “Okay, we’ll go down and eat with you,” Kane said from the bathroom door. “Do you need a ride?”

  “No, thanks. I’ll just leave my car there.” Dante stood up and scooped Nikki into his arms with a mischievous grin. “Come on. I’ll take you to your room and help you get dressed. That will give Kane time to get cleaned up and give me something to tide me over while I’m gone.”

  * * * *

  “Don’t forget you have a doctor’s appointment today.” Allie held open the door as Kane carried Nikki back into the house. “Are you okay?”

  Nikki wiped a hand over her eyes. “I’m fine. I just have a really bad feeling about Dante getting called away like this.”

  “Why?” Kane took her into the living room and deposited her onto the couch, draping a blanket over her lap.

  Allie propped pillows under her feet. “Do you think he won’t come back?”

  “I don’t know.” Nikki looked toward the front, as if she might still be able to see Dante’s car going up the driveway to the road. “It’s nothing that specific. It’s just kind of depressing.”

  “That’s normal, I think, when you’re just starting a new relationship. Would you guys like some more coffee?” Allie paused at the doorway. “I’ll be happy to make another pot.”

  “That’s probably not a bad idea.” Kane gave Nikki a thoughtful look. “Do you want to work on the story? I got quite a bit written yesterday.”

  “Sure. Maybe it’ll take my mind off Dante leaving. You don’t think—” She stopped and stared at him.

  “That he’s just running away? No, I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t think you could chase him away if you tried.”

  She sighed. “I know I’m being silly.”

  He bent down and kissed her. “Yes, you’re being very silly. Dante will come back in a couple of days and everything will be perfect. Now I’m going to get yesterday’s writing and we’re going to get some solid work done today. Look at the bright side. No forced marches or being heckled until you twist yourself into a Celtic knot like the one on that madman’s shoulder. Just peace and quiet and lots of brainstorming.”

  * * * *

  Nikki was disappointed to see that Kane wasn’t waiting for her. It was silly, she knew. A normal, self-sufficient woman shouldn’t be carried around like some infant. Her leg might be hurt, but that was no excuse for the way she’d enjoyed the guys carrying her up and down stairs, in to meals, and even out to the car when she and Allie had left for her appointment. It was positively decadent. She would have to be careful or she’d get used to being pampered like this.

  Nikki took Allie’s offered arm and started hobbling toward the house, feeling dejected that Kane wasn’t rushing out to sweep her up so she didn’t have to maneuver the front steps and ashamed for wishing he would. When she thought of him, a jolt of excitement went through her stomach. He’d shown her his writing from the day before, when she’d been sleeping, and to her astonishment the new direction he’d come up with had matched exactly what the characters had been telling her in her dream. She’d made him go up to her room and get her notes to prove it to him.

  It was like they were on the same wavelength. The story was really coming together, the characters talking to them both, almost as if they were real people. She smiled at the house, thinking how lucky she’d been to get the opportunity to come here and work with Kane. If she’d met him somewhere else, at a cocktail party or something, she never would have believed they would be compatible. She probably would have avoided talking to him altogether. But now it was like they’d known each other their entire lives. Their ideas, their styles gelled so well that she couldn’t even imagine writing alone. She was suddenly impatient to settle down and get to work on her daily writing. She’d been lazy yesterday. Understandably so, but she needed to show Kane that she could pull her weight, too.

  Then she got worried as Allie unlocked the door and there was still no sign of him. In fact, the house had an empty, hollow feeling, as if it had been abandoned for decades.

  “Hello? Anyone here?” Allie moved through the rooms, obviously surprised as well at the lack of human presence. “That’s odd. I wonder where—Oh, wait. There’s a note on the table.”

  Nikki stood in the front entryway, leaning on the little reception desk while Allie picked up the paper and glanced through it with an increasing furrow between her eyebrows.

  “Ladies,” she read. “My publisher sent a car for me to go down to Los Angeles and meet with them. I’m so sorry to leave you alone without saying good-bye, but they insisted it was urgent. I’ll call you when I know what’s going on. Allie, I left some of my stuff since I’m sure I’ll be back tomorrow, if not sooner. Nikki, I hope you don’t think it’s too corny, but I left you one of my T-shirts to help you remember last night.”

  Allie handed her a bright blue T-shirt that was folded neatly on the table. Nikki unfolded it to see a design on the front. It showed three restroom-type stick figures holding hands, a male on each side and a female in between. Above them was the word “Polyamory” in large block letters. Underneath, it said, “Sometimes two just isn’t enough.”

  Allie looked up and met Nikki’s eyes. She looked worried, Nikki thought, and a panicked feeling went through her. Had both of th
e guys run immediately after she’d finally decided to give it a try with them? That would be just her luck.

  “Let me help you to the couch,” Allie said, holding out a hand. “Or would you rather go upstairs and rest before dinner?”

  A huge lump was forming in Nikki’s throat as she clutched the shirt to her chest. She nodded, feeling a hot sting of tears gathering in her eyes. Stupid. She shouldn’t be crying about this. It was so juvenile. It wasn’t like they didn’t have lives and careers apart from her, even though she’d started to think of them all being connected, professionally, personally, and sexually.

  Allie took her elbow and they started the long, slow trek up the staircase. “This was a lot easier when the guys were here to get you up and down, wasn’t it?” Allie observed. “But I’m sure Kane at least will be back soon.”

  “I hope so,” Nikki began, but her voice caught. “I’m sorry, Allie. I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much.”

  “I’m sure it’s just because you’re worn out,” Allie said soothingly. “You’ve been working hard. Why don’t you take some medicine and lie down?”

  “That’s a good idea.” Nikki surreptitiously wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. Annoyingly, the thing she wanted most in the world right now was a hot bath, but she knew she would probably kill herself trying to get in and out of the tub with her ankle hurting as it was. But she wasn’t going to ask Allie to do that. It was amazing how easy she had gotten used to being taken care of, especially considering that she’d never been in that kind of relationship before.

  “Would you like something to eat or drink? Can I get you a book or a magazine?” Allie accompanied her to the bed, where Nikki looked longingly at the blankets. She was suddenly cold, but it would be just too weird to bury herself in bed as if she couldn’t handle the fact that her guys had been called away to business meetings.

  She arranged herself with a sigh. “I really wouldn’t mind a drink of water, if you don’t mind,” she said, looking around for her Kindle. “And yes, I think I’ll just rest for now.”

  “Here, take one of your pain pills then.” Allie brought her a cup of water from the bathroom and handed it to Nikki along with a tablet. “I’ll bring up your dinner so you don’t have to come down.” As she spoke, Allie went to the closet and pulled out a couple of extra pillows and a quilt, arranging the pillows under Nikki’s leg with the quilt next to her on the bed. “In case you want to cover up. My cell phone number is in the nightstand. Give me a call if you need anything.”

  “Oh, okay.” Nikki pulled the blanket over herself as Allie disappeared out the door. It was comforting to know that she didn’t have to negotiate the stairs by herself to go down for a meal. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be hungry anyway, and she didn’t want to sit at that huge dining room table all by herself, thinking about Kane and Dante. She snuggled down into the quilt, remembering the night before and wondering what the guys were up to and when they’d be back. She pushed away the unhelpful thought that maybe she should be wondering if they would come back.

  “Of course they’ll come back,” she mumbled to herself. She sat up and stripped off her shirt, replacing it with the one Kane had left her. Lying back, she fumbled with one hand for the Kindle. But before she found it, her eyes closed and she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

  * * * *

  Allie pushed open the door as softly as she could and saw that Nikki had dozed off. She looked anxious even in her sleep, as if her dreams were unpleasant.

  Allie put the teapot on the nightstand and stopped to look back at the sleeping woman. “Poor thing,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “Don’t worry. It’ll all work out.”

  She went back down the stairs, her mind on what she was going to fix for dinner. She would make Nikki an extra-gooey grilled cheese sandwich and some chicken soup. The perfect comfort food. She found herself humming with anticipation as she reached the kitchen, but the phone began ringing as soon as she stepped through the door.

  “Hello? Clifftop Fantasies.” Brad had written out a really nice way for her to answer the phone, but Allie could never remember to actually say it. Half the time she only said “Hello,” forgetting that she was running an actual business and not just a house that happened to often have friends staying over.

  “Allie? Is that you?” It took her a few seconds to recognize the voice on the other end.

  “Hey, Kane. What’s up?” Her stomach dropped a little. This definitely didn’t seem like he was going to make it back today.

  “How’s Nikki doing?”

  “She’s fine. We just got back from the doctor’s office a little while ago and she’s lying down.”

  He sighed. “Then I won’t disturb her. Could you let her know that I don’t have her phone number and I’m actually going to be tied up here for a while?”

  “Sure.” Allie tried not to sound too disapproving. “How come?”

  “They’ve got some pretty extensive meetings planned out here, and then they’re sending me to New York later this afternoon,” he said. “I’m not sure when I’m going to be able to get away. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to call, and I want her to rest as much as possible anyway, but I’ll be in touch in a couple of days. Could you let her know I—well, I’ll be thinking about her?”

  “Sure.” Allie frowned into the phone. She wanted to say that if it were her, she wouldn’t mind being disturbed, but it wasn’t her place to tell him what to do. If he thought Nikki should sleep, then she would let her sleep. “Are you sure that’s best?”

  “Well—” he sounded nervous suddenly. “Here’s the thing. They’re planning a lot of things that I hadn’t anticipated. I don’t want to exclude Nikki and Dante, but I don’t have much say right now. I’m working on it, but I really can’t talk about it. If they’ll just trust me for a day or two, everything will be okay. But it could spoil everything if I try to explain it. I can’t—oops, got to go. Sorry, Allie.”

  The phone went dead. Allie stared at it for a moment before she hung up and sat at the kitchen table, thinking. It seemed very strange that he didn’t want to talk to Nikki. What could be going on that had to be kept a secret, if it wasn’t bad? She tried to decide if she had more of an obligation to protect Kane’s privacy or Nikki’s interests. The publisher had brought her here to do a project, and even though it wasn’t Allie’s place to worry about Nikki’s legal rights, she felt responsible to make sure Nikki wasn’t hurt in her house. This could prove sticky, she thought.

  Chapter 22

  Dante got out of his car on Wednesday morning and looked up at the large yellow house in front of him. It gave him a contented feeling to be here, like he was coming home instead of staying as a guest and consultant.

  He ran into Allie coming out of the kitchen with a tray.

  “Oh, hello,” she said, smiling at him. “I was just taking Nikki up her breakfast.”

  “Let me do that for you.” Dante slung his backpack on his shoulder and took the tray.

  “All right, if you insist.” She led the way upstairs. “How did your meeting go?”

  “It went really well. Your sales have been steadily climbing, which is always a good thing,” he reported. “They like the way Candee has been doing blog reports about being here and how good your cooking is.”

  “It was so sweet of you to think of that,” Allie said.

  “Well, anyway, they want more of that. They’re also working on getting you a guest spot on a couple television shows, but I can’t tell you which ones yet.”

  “Really?” Allie whirled around in a way that made Dante glad he was holding the tray of food and coffee.

  “Yes, really.” He chuckled. “But don’t bother trying to wheedle it out of me. I can’t tell you. How’s Nikki doing?”

  Allie’s face got suddenly serious. “Not great.”

  “Why?” He had a sudden nervous feeling. Had Nikki and Kane come to some kind of decision? Or had a fight and br
oken up?

  Allie nodded at the door. “Let’s go in and she can tell you.”

  He went past her and knocked lightly on Nikki’s door. Allie followed him in. Her mouth was opening and closing, but there were no words coming out.

  Nikki lay on her bed, fully dressed with her laptop open in front of her. She looked up when they entered and her face lit up. She pushed the computer off to one side and almost onto the floor as she held out her arms. “Dante!”

  Grinning in relief, Dante put the tray on her desk and scooped her into his arms. At least it didn’t seem like she had decided to dump him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with a fervor that made him doubly glad to be back.

  “Hello yourself.” He grinned when she pulled away and looked into his face as if she couldn’t believe he was actually there. “I told you I’d be back as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, but you can’t imagine how lonely I was, even if it was just for a little while.” Nikki hugged him again.

  “I missed you, too. Where’s Kane?” He looked around the room, surprised not to see the other man. “Sleeping late again?”

  “Probably, but not here.” Nikki pouted. “He got called away to a meeting yesterday afternoon, too. He was gone when I got back from my appointment.”

  “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” Dante stroked her cheek. “All alone and suffering? You poor thing.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “I know I was being a baby, but you two both left so close to each other and I had to wonder…”

  “Wonder if we’d done a fuck-and-run?” He chuckled. “I know I didn’t, and I think I can guarantee you that Kane will be back. What did he say?” He got up and brought over her food. “Now eat before your breakfast gets cold.”

  Nikki adjusted herself and picked up the fork. “Just that they’d sent a car for him and he had to go to LA. He didn’t call or anything.”