Her Daddies’ Saving Grace

by Laylah Roberts

  But yeah, his life would be happier without this guy in it. But would Juliet’s?

  Suck it up, buttercup.

  He stopped as the guy didn’t move from the doorway. He waited for him to tell him to piss off. Although why he’d let him through the gate to do that he had no idea.

  “Hey,” the bruiser said.

  “Hey,” Xavier replied. “I didn’t make the best impression last time I was here, but, uh, I’m Xavier.” He held out his hand and waited to see if the other man would reject him.

  Instead, he took his hand and shook it firmly. “Brenton Sampson, but everyone calls me Brick.”

  Xavier could see why.

  Brick nodded at the flowers. “Those for me?”

  “Actually, this is for you.” He held out the whiskey in his other hand.

  Brick glanced down at it, his eyes widening. “Don’t drink much whiskey, but this looks like good stuff.”

  “It is.” Cost a bomb. But it was nothing he wouldn’t pay a hundred times over to make things right between him and Juliet.

  Brick took the whiskey.

  “Listen, I was an ass the other day,” Xavier said with a grimace. “I didn’t know there was a threat. I was an ass. I was worried about Juliet. She’s important to me. And you two haven’t known each other long.”

  He’d expected Brick to fire up. But he just nodded. “I get it. You’re protecting your friend.”

  He nearly winced over that word. But that’s what they were.

  “And from what I’ve seen, she inspires a lot of loyalty and protectiveness.”

  “She does,” Xavier agreed. “She’s special.”

  “I know.”

  To his credit, the big guy didn’t make him grovel any further. Instead he stepped aside to let him in, shutting the door behind him.

  They faced each other for a long moment.

  “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you,” Xavier warned.

  Fuck. He hadn’t meant to blurt that out like that. He waited for him to retaliate. To his shock, Brick just nodded.

  “Feel the same way.”

  “Do you . . . do you know about all of her?”

  Brick eyed him for a moment. “You asking about whether I know about her Little side?”

  Xavier sucked in a breath.

  “I know. I’m a Daddy Dom.”

  All right then. That was good. He supposed. Fuck, it was hard being a good friend. A good person.

  “Xavier?”

  He glanced up to find her standing on the staircase. He hadn’t heard her, but she’d always moved around quietly. It kind of bothered him. Not that she could sneak up on him. But that she felt the need to be quiet. To move like a ghost.

  He wanted her to stomp around, loud and joyful. Happy.

  She wore her hair in two braids down in front of her shoulders. She was wearing her bathing suit, which looked more like a wetsuit, covering her from her ankles to her wrists to her collarbones.

  And he hated that too.

  Hated that she hid her body. That she wore black to fade into the background. Why had he never helped her with her hang-ups? He knew that she’d seen a therapist when she first arrived in Wishingbone. She always said she didn’t want to talk to another one again, but maybe he should have pushed her more.

  Fuck, you don’t deserve her and that’s why you lost her.

  He just needed to make sure this guy did deserve her.

  “Hey, Twink,” he greeted her with a soft smile. “Brought you these.”

  Her face softened as she took in the flowers he held up. “My favorite.”

  “I know.”

  Brick cleared his throat. Shoot, he’d kind of forgotten the other man was there. “That’s what you’re wearing swimming, Duchess?”

  Duchess? Interesting nickname. And then he realized that Juliet had spoken. In front of Brick. She only talked to a handful of people.

  And now him.

  Fuck. This guy had known her for what, ten days? And she was speaking to him. Xavier eyed him assessingly. Yeah, he’d fucked up.

  “Um, yeah. Something wrong?”

  Brick shook his head. “No, baby girl. I’m gonna go get changed, then track down dumb and dumber. Don’t go in the pool without me. I’ll leave you two to chat.”

  Christ, he was definitely a better person than him. That sucked. He wasn’t sure he could have left his girl alone with Brick if things were reversed.

  But then he was starting to see that he was a messed-up asshole. The nice-guy act was just that. An act. Could he do this? Could he stay in Wishingbone and see her with someone else day after day? Knowing that she’d never be his.

  You fucking fool.

  “Xavier? Are you all right?”

  He shook himself out of his introspection and smiled down at the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  “Shall we put these in water?” he asked her, reaching out his hand to her. Then he snatched it back. “Sorry.”

  She looked confused. “Why?”

  “Well, I, we, uh . . .”

  Spit it out, man.

  “Don’t know if Brick would like you holding hands with another man.”

  “Oh. Is that a relationship rule, do you think?”

  “Would be for me, Twink.”

  “Good to know. But accepting flowers is okay?”

  “I think when they’re brought in friendship, it is,” he told her.

  Was it his imagination or did she pull a face at that?

  “At least, he didn’t try to break my fingers when I told him they weren’t for him, and he definitely looks like he’s capable of doing that.”

  “He’s a big teddy bear. All scary on the outside and marshmallow on the inside.”

  “Maybe for you.” But for anyone else, Xavier was pretty certain Brick was a bruiser.

  He followed her through to the kitchen, and took out a vase without asking, knowing where they were.

  She pulled herself out an iced coffee and him a coke. They sat at the kitchen island in awkward silence.

  “Xavy, are you okay?”

  “Twink, I’m so sorry,” he said at the same time. He huffed out a breath and sent her a small smile. “I’m all right.”

  She raised an eyebrow and he barked out a laugh. “Okay, I’m regretting some life choices I made. And really taking a look at my life. I’ve realized that maybe, I’ve been blaming other people for my shortcomings. And that I’ve been taking you for granted.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. You.”

  “But how? I’m the one who leeches off you.”

  He narrowed his gaze, not liking that. “Excuse me? Leech off me?”

  Did she really just say that? She better not mean it like it sounded because if she did . . .

  Calm down.

  Even if she was yours, you couldn’t punish her. Juliet is sweet and gentle. She can’t handle that part of you.

  Her gaze lowered. “I feel like I’ve used you and I’m so sorry, Xavier. You deserve better. I feel terrible, and I hope I never stopped you from living your life.”

  Oh fuck.

  She thought he’d been talking about her.

  “Baby, no. I wasn’t talking about you.” Without thinking, he reached over to grab her hand, squeezing it. “Twink, you could never be a leech or a burden on me, understand? And I don’t want to hear you say that again.”

  “But you’ve always taken care of me, and I feel like I did nothing for you in return.”

  “Nothing? Ever since I moved back here, you’ve been my best friend.”

  “I have?”

  “Yeah, baby. And it makes me sad as fuck that you don’t know it. Because I haven’t said it.” He closed his eyes with a sigh. “I have to apologize about the other day. I was upset because . . . well, for a lot of reasons. I shouldn’t have acted how I did. Forgive me?”

  She gave him a big smile. But there was something in her eyes he didn’t quite understand. “You were worried about me. There’s no reaso
n to apologize for that.”

  “You’re the very best person I know.”

  She blushed and he wished he had the right to take her into his arms.

  “Are these tulips my present?” She gave him a sly look.

  “Present?” he asked, even though she knew what he was asking.

  “Don’t tease. You said you would bring me home a present if I was a good girl while you were away.” She gave him a pouting look.

  If she were his, he’d kiss that pout off her lips.

  “Ah, but were you a good girl?”

  “Yes, of course!”

  “I don’t think you were. How often did we call or text and I asked what was going on or if you were all right?”

  “Oh.” She bit her lip.

  “Oh,” he repeated. “You never once mentioned that you might be in danger because of Reuben or that he’d hired security guards.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you! You had enough going on with your mother’s health scare.”

  He grimaced. Right. The health scare that he was starting to think was a fabrication to manipulate him.

  “It doesn’t matter how much I have going on, you are still important to me, understand?”

  “I’m sorry, Xavy. So I don’t get my present?” She looked so forlorn that he almost caved. But she deserved some punishment.

  “We’ll see,” he said. “If you’re a good girl from now on, you might get it.”

  She nodded. “I really am sorry.”

  “Don’t ever keep stuff from me, Twink. Please.”

  “I won’t,” she whispered.

  He cleared his throat, feeling awkward around her. And he hated that.

  “Stay the afternoon,” she asked him suddenly. “We’re going swimming then grilling, then we’re watching a movie.”

  “I think I best go.” He didn’t think he could stay and watch her be lovey-dovey with Brick.

  God, she was so tiny in comparison to the big bruiser, he better not hurt her. Not even accidentally.

  “Please.” She gave him those wide eyes. The ones he could never say no to.

  “All right, Twink. I’ll stay. So long as it’s okay with your man.”

  “It will be. I’m sure he’d like to get to know you.”

  Yeah. Xavier wasn’t so sure about that. He knew how he would feel if the tables were turned. Then again, they’d already established that he wasn’t that good of a person.

  24

  Brick strode through into the pool house, just in time to catch Elias kissing the back of Sterling’s neck as he sat in front of the monitoring system.

  He cleared his throat and Elias jumped back. They both turned to stare at him guiltily.

  “Um,” Elias said, his eyes widening. “Hey.”

  He needed some advice. Part of him wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing in leaving Juliet with Xavier.

  You’re trying to be trusting.

  Fuck, it was hard though. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Juliet.

  No, it was the rich, smart doc that he had problems trusting. He was pretty sure that Xavier had feelings for Juliet. But he’d come here to apologize. And Juliet cared for him.

  And Brick was trying to be trusting.

  So here he was. But he really needed his best friends to tell him he was doing the right thing. Because what he really wanted to do was storm into the house, grab Juliet, chuck her over his shoulder, take her up to his bedroom and fuck her until she forgot everything but his name.

  “Sorry,” Sterling said quickly.

  “Why?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Both men looked sheepish. “I don’t give a shit who you kiss or fuck, so long as you do your job.”

  “You really don’t care?” Elias asked.

  “Of course not, you idiots.” He gave them an exasperated look, then glanced over the monitors and saw the one with Juliet and Xavier in it. They weren’t doing anything but talking. The knot in his stomach eased. “Besides, anyone with eyes can see the two of you like each other. You need to stop hiding it.”

  Sterling and Elias shared a look.

  “Guess that tells us,” Sterling muttered.

  “I’m surprised you left them alone,” Elias said, seeing where he was looking.

  “If I want a real relationship, I need to have trust,” he muttered.

  “Where’d you read that?” Sterling asked with a smirk. “Been reading one of those ladies’ magazines?”

  Brick shot him the bird. “You think I’ve given them long enough?”

  “You know that Juliet cares about you, right?” Elias said to him.

  “I know. It’s just they have a history. And the way he reacted the other day . . . it feels like more than friendship.”

  “That girl is scarred,” Sterling said. “She doesn’t trust easily, but from the start, all she’s seen is you. She watches you like you’re her world.”

  That knot eased inside him.

  “Reverse harem,” Elias said on a cough.

  Both men stared at him.

  “Just saying. Although technically, it would be a ménage. Unless you added another guy.”

  Sterling stared at Elias as though he didn’t know him.

  The dark-skinned man blushed. “What? I like reading reverse harem books, it’s an escape from real life. It’s not like you haven’t done it before, Brick.”

  That was true.

  “Even if Brick was okay with it, who says Xavier would go for it?” Sterling asked.

  “You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer,” Elias told him.

  He glared at Elias, but as he stormed back out of the pool house, those words played over in his mind.

  Enemies closer.

  Ménage.

  Fuck.

  Juliet waited nervously by the pool.

  Xavier had decided to go for a swim as well. He was borrowing some of Reuben’s swim shorts. Was this a good idea? Maybe she should have let him leave? Would Brick be upset?

  The heat beat down on her. She needed to get in the water. The swimsuit she wore was more like a wetsuit and it was way too hot to be wearing it.

  Brick had seen her naked when he was bathing her last night. And Xavier had seen her in her Little clothes.

  But still, she couldn’t bring herself to put on a swimsuit. To wear anything that might reveal some skin when she wasn’t in the safety of her playroom.

  She stepped closer to the side of the pool.

  “Hope you weren’t planning to get in without me,” Brick said from behind her.

  She turned so fast that the world wobbled around her. Firm hands grabbed her upper arms, steadying her.

  “Fuck. Got to stop doing that,” Brick muttered.

  Uh. Yeah. Or one day, he was going to sneak up on her while she was on the roof of some high-rise then plop! She was squished on the sidewalk.

  Of course, there were no high-rise buildings in Wishingbone, and if there was, she had no reason to be on the roof of one. But who cared about logic?

  “Sorry, Duchess. You okay?” He peered down at her in concern.

  She straightened her shoulders and nodded. Nothing to see here. Nope. Just another ordinary day.

  But oh, there was something to see when she peeked at him. Would she ever grow tired of looking at him? She didn’t think so. He wore a pair of black board shorts and nothing else. His abs were damn near edible, and don’t get her started on his nipples.

  Shoot. She needed to cool herself down.

  He tilted his head toward the pool. “Want to tell me why you were headed towards the pool when I said you weren’t to go in by yourself.”

  He was being ridiculous. With a sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Oh, like that, is it?”

  Yes. Yes, it was like that.

  “You think that because we’re not in the playroom that you don’t have to obey me?”

  “Yes,” she told him quietly.

  “Unfortunately, for you, b
aby girl, Daddy’s rules have to be obeyed at all times.”

  That sucked.

  “You’d think with the other half of your spanking coming tonight that you would behave yourself.”

  “I’m always well behaved, Daddy.”

  He gave her a knowing look. “How did your talk with Xavier go?”

  “Good, Daddy. He apologized. He wasn’t feeling himself. He was worried about me.” She watched him with concern. “I asked if he wanted to stay for dinner and a movie.”

  “That’s fine, Duchess. I’m not upset with you for wanting to spend time with your friend.”

  “Really?”

  He leaned in and kissed her lightly. “Really. So long as he remembers who you belong to.” He lightly tapped her ass.

  Before she could say anything, a whoop interrupted them and Elias rushed past to cannonball into the pool, splashing them both.

  “Hey!” Brick said, picking her up and carrying her a few feet away, as though the water might harm her. It was charming and seriously overprotective.

  “Sorry!” Elias didn’t sound sorry, though. In fact, he looked kind of smug as he turned and started swimming.

  “You okay?” Brick looked her over, and when he wasn’t watching, she rolled her eyes. When he set her down, she grinned and started running towards the pool.

  But a wide arm landed around her waist, pulling her up short.

  “No running around the pool,” he barked.

  Slap! His hand landed on her ass in warning. Her eyes widened. Not because it had really hurt, but the fact that he’d done it outside when Elias was right there.

  He was insane. It wasn’t like she was going to slip and crack her head open.

  Actually, there was a possibility that would happen. She couldn’t seem to remain steady around him. Going up on tiptoes, she whispered in his ear.

  “Last one in is a rotten egg?”

  A finger wiggled at her. “I don’t think so, brat. We’re going to walk over to the stairs and go in calmly and quietly.”

  “Jesus, man, what are you, a hundred? Let the girl cannonball in,” Sterling said as he walked towards the pool. Brick shot him a quelling look that had him raising his hands in surrender. “Or not.”

  He kept a tight hold of her hand, as though she was a toddler that might take off if given the slightest bit of freedom.