Page 34 of The Through Duet
“You’re not helping me, Dalton,” I informed him.
He looked over at me, a small grin playing on his lips.“If you want someone to blow smoke up your ass, go talk to Leandra.”
Ignoring that, I said, “And it’s not that I feel as if I don’t deserve good things in my life.I mean, after all, I have you, don’t I?”
“That’s a valid point,” he quipped.
“It’s just...we both know that things are going to get ugly once we go public with this thing,” I said, knowing it like I knew the back of my hand.
“Rya, the only way things will become ugly is if he turns out to be a little bitch,” he replied as he went back to cleaning and organizing his station.“People will only say shit if they feel like they’re allowed to say it, so it’ll be up to Koen to make it clear that any negative opinions about you guys will not be tolerated.”
“How’s he supposed to do that?”
“Babes, the man has more money than God,” he drawled out.“If he speaks, it’s almost a guarantee that people will listen.No one ever wants to offend the purse strings.”
“And when he gets tired of having to defend me?”I posed.
“If he cares about you, then he’ll never get tired of being your hero,” he remarked pointedly.“We live for that kind of shit.”
That got a laugh out of me.“Oh, really?”
“Rya, nothing gets a man worked up more than being able to defend the woman that he loves, proving that he’s the man for her,” he said.“Our egos really are tied to our dicks.”
“So mature,” I deadpanned.
“Hardly, but it’s no less the truth,” he replied easily.
“So, basically, you’re telling me not to borrow trouble?”
“I’m telling you that it’s been one date, Rya,” he said, sighing a bit.“For all you know, he might start getting on your nerves by the end of next week, and all this worrying would be for nothing.”
“I just...I haven’t liked someone like this in a really long time, and I...I’m not sure that I know what I’m doing, Dalton,” I confessed.
“Then let him do it all,” he advised.“Let him lead until you’re comfortable enough to take over.However, before you do that, let him know that you’re doing that.Do not blindside the man with activity behind the scenes.There’s a reason why they say that communication is the key to all relationships.”
Just then, the chime on the front door rang, and we could both hear Leandra’s melodious voice calling out to us.“Rya?Dalton?”
Dalton shot me a confused look before heading towards the front, and I was right behind him, wondering the same damn thing that he was, as in what in the hell was Leandra doing here?
When we reached the lobby, she was standing by the reception counter, smiling like a loon as she said, “I was driving by and remembered you saying that you were going to be hanging out with Dalton tonight.”
Before I could say anything to that, Dalton was being Dalton.“What in the fuck were you driving by here for?”
She looked hurt but immediately masked it.“Well, if you must know, I wanted to check out Trinity’s Secrets,” she huffed.
Dalton looked like he was about to pitch a fit.“There’s this thing called the internet, and on it, you can order all kinds of shit from anywhere around the world.Next time, order whatever toys you need.”
“I can take care of myself, Dalton,” she shot back.“I don’t need you lecturing me like I’m a child.”
“Don’t act like one, and then I won’t have to,” he fired back.
“Okay, okay...”I chimed in.“There’s no need for all that.I can go with her-”
“The fuck you can,” he said, cutting me off as he turned to look at me.“You’re out of your mind if you think that I’m going to let you two drive around here at night by yourselves.”
“Why not?”Leandra challenged.“After Rya’s date last night, we could use some girl time.”
“Yeah, because visiting a sex shop at this time of night on this side of town won’t invite any sleazebags to harass you guys coming or going from the store,” Dalton retorted.“Besides, what’s so important at Trinity’s Secrets that it can’t wait?”
