Edge: You do not know when to leave well enough alone.
Me: You’ve got that right.
Obviously realizing I wasn’t going away anytime soon, Edge turned back to face Jamie. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” Jamie stated simply.
While Edge appeared to have stopped breathing, I couldn’t help but be amused. Jamie was attempting to sound serious, but I could see the sassy gleam in her eye. She was pushing Edge’s buttons and it was working.
“Hey, Cav. Could you give us a few minutes?” Edge phrased it as a question, but I knew it wasn’t.
I peered over at Jamie. “Would you like me to leave?”
“You can stay,” she stated firmly.
I saw the moment Edge’s dominant instincts rose up. He would only allow this to go on for so long before he took control. I was actually surprised at how much he’d allowed her to get away with thus far. I knew the man often tried to put new submissives at ease, but he didn’t let them get away with being disobedient. He was quite passionate about his lifestyle, for the most part exuding that distinct alpha persona from every pore.
Edge slowly turned to face Jamie again, his shoulders squared, hands clasped behind his back. His abs contracted, his pecs protruding. He had assumed the position that generally had submissives dropping to their knees.
The smile on Jamie’s face said she knew exactly what her tone of voice had done to him, but the grin didn’t last long.
“I’d like a minute to speak freely.”
“Fine.” He nodded. “You have exactly one minute.”
Oh, yeah. The Dom was definitely in the room, and to be honest, it was nice to see. I hadn’t had the opportunity to play with Edge in a while—and by play, I meant take a submissive between us—so I missed these moments.
Jamie’s shoulders relaxed and a soft sigh preceded her statement. “I get that you’re doing this as a favor to my brother, but would it be possible for us to forget Zeke made the request?”
Even she had to know that was easier said than done.
“You’re treating me like I’m here to do an inspection, not here for the experience. While I appreciate you allowing me to watch the various scenes, it’s not quite the interaction I was hoping for.”
“What exactly were you hoping for, Miss Lautner?”
Oh, boy.
“I know I’m only here because you volunteered.”
Edge shook his head. “I did not volunteer.”
Jamie’s expression shifted from determined to … it could only be described as hurt. She seemed rather disappointed to know Edge hadn’t made the offer to give her the tour.
“I apologize then,” she said quickly. “That certainly explains a lot.”
“How so?” Edge probed, his eyes narrowed on her face.
She squared her shoulders. “Well, I mean, I didn’t expect you to be attracted to me just because you … were told you had to show me around.”
“I wasn’t told, either,” he clarified.
Jamie sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Zeke coaxed you into it. I don’t care. And like I said, I don’t expect you to be attracted—”
“No one said I wasn’t,” he noted.
I held back my grin. Edge wasn’t the sort who liked confrontation. I figured, because of his position as head Master of this club and the one we’d previously been members of, he didn’t get much of it. That didn’t seem to be the case here.
Jamie’s hands dropped against her thighs, a reflection of her frustration with this conversation. “Fine. I don’t expect you to be turned on by me simply because I’m here, but—”
Edge held up a hand, cutting her off. “First of all, this entire conversation is moot. Me being turned on by you has nothing to do with any request your brother made.”
I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Had he realized he’d just given himself away?
There was another gleam in Jamie’s eye. Clearly, she’d picked up on that, too.
“I’m doing a favor for a friend, Miss Lautner,” he clarified, his words flowing smoothly. “I agreed to give you an introduction. I feel as though I’ve succeeded. You’ve seen a variety of scenes tonight, as well as gotten a general feel for the atmosphere.”
“I agree. You have.” Jamie moved one step closer, and I felt the air in the room heat a few degrees. “But I have another request.”
Edge’s muscles tightened, his head tilting down slightly as he stared at her from beneath his lashes. “And that would be?”
“Since you know my brother, you can imagine what it took to get him to finally agree to let me step foot in the door here. Now that he has, I owe it to myself to grab hold of this opportunity as tightly as I can.”
“What opportunity would that be?”
Again, Jamie’s gaze drifted to me as though ensuring I was still there. Did she think I could protect her? Or maybe back her up?
I pressed my shoulder into the jamb, grinned.
