bad idea. He wondered what Sunny would think of Betsy? Not that she was ready for any of that. Neither was he. Since meeting her, he’d been back to Fringe every weekend. They were making some progress on getting her to open up and let her Little out. They spent the majority of their time in the Littles’ room.
But Betsy was sheltered. Quiet. Introducing her to this rough lot would likely just scare her away.
And he didn’t want to do that. There was still something niggling at him about her. Maybe it was that she shared absolutely nothing about her private life.
He didn’t even have her cell number.
Like you gave her yours? Or have shared much about you?
He kind of liked having her as his secret. Having something that was just his.
That he didn’t have to share.
Yeah, he could be a selfish bastard. He loved Duke. But after he’d come to live with Ink’s family, he’d also kind of resented him. That was just stupid kid stuff, of course.
But sometimes it still felt like Duke had it all. He was vice-president of the club. He had the house. The business. The girl.
Ink had…well, he had a business. He was good at that. Usually. He was still having issues with contracts going to the competition.
He also had baggage and a temper.
“I’ll see you fuckers later.” He turned and walked out before Duke could keep prodding at him.
Nosy asshole.
Ink had to work hard not to pace up and down the foyer.
Why the hell hadn’t he gotten her number? Given her his?
She was now ten minutes late. Betsy was never late. In fact, she was usually standing in the foyer, waiting for him when he arrived.
Just because she’s late doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
Maybe he should go hunt down Angus, hit him up for her number. Yeah, it was against the privacy policy of the club. But if something had happened to her…if she needed him…
He clenched his hand around the handle of his bag. Fuck. Calm down.
The door opened and a familiar head of blonde hair entered. She wore a long black jacket. He hated black on her. How could that be her favorite color? He also hated those goddamn outfits she wore. Which is why he’d done a bit of shopping this week.
Rushing over, she came to a stop in front of him, just shy of touching him. She was still more comfortable touching him when in Little space.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Sir,” she said almost breathless. Had she run to get here?
She was slightly flushed. Worry filled her eyes.
“Everything okay?”
“Ahh, yes. I just…I ran into a few problems getting here.”
He gave a nod. “We need to exchange phone numbers so you can let me know if you’re running late.”
And for other reasons.
She bit her lower lip. A sure sign that something he’d said worried her.
“Relax,” he told her. He pulled her lower lip from between her teeth. “If you don’t want to give me your number, you don’t have to.”
Coldness filled him. Obviously, the feelings he’d started to develop for her weren’t reciprocated. Fuck. He couldn’t blame her if she wasn’t on the same page as him, it wasn’t like they’d talked about this. So how was she to know how he felt?
Yeah, good move, idiot.
“We can just keep this to play at the club, although I’d appreciate you calling the front desk if you’re going to be late or can’t make it. I do have other things to do.”
She winced and he cursed himself. He didn’t mean to sound so harsh. What was wrong with him? Were his feelings hurt?
Jesus.
He took a step back, letting her go. This was likely a good thing. They should have established boundaries for this…whatever this was between them at the beginning.
Then there would be no misunderstandings.
“No, it’s not that.” She reached out and grasped hold of his wrist. He stilled, not wanting to scare her off. “I’m sorry. I want to give you my number but my phone had a bit of an accident today. It’s part of the reason I was late. Could you…could you write down your number for me and I’ll text you once I get it sorted?”
He relaxed. That tight ball in his gut unraveled.
“Of course, brown eyes.”
She smiled up at him. “I’m really sorry I was late.”
“Hmm, might have to punish you for that.”
Her eyes widened. “A spanking?”
There was a note of interest in her voice. She’d been pretty much a model sub since that first spanking