“You tried to give me everything,” she said, her voice muffled by my shoulder. She pulled back and looked up at me. “The least I can give you is a second chance.”
“I can promise you this,” I said. “It’ll be the last second chance you have to give me.”
Andi squinted, then smiled as she tilted her head. “Well, yeah. Because if you screwed up again it’d be a third chance. Then a fourth…”
I grinned. “Okay. Then I promise you won’t regret this.”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Oh, I probably will. But I think I’d regret it more if I didn’t give you one last shot to woo me.”
I laughed. “Woo you? Is that what Andi Wainwright is hoping will come of this second chance? I could go get some flowers. Maybe a little romantic music?”
“It’s not my place to tell you how to win my heart, Mr. Collins. But I will say, I still haven’t torn up your silly little contract. And, seeing as we’re inside the club, I think that technically means I’m still your submissive.”
The humor I’d felt swirling around in my chest took on a darker, warmer note. I stared, making sure I was following her correctly. She didn’t look away, so I reached for her hand.
“But,” she said, biting back a smile. “Maybe the contract only applies during regular business hours?”
I would’ve laughed at the way she was teasing me if I didn’t want to drag her to a private room so badly it hurt. I knew I’d probably never feel like I deserved her forgiveness. That was something I’d need to come to terms with. But Andi was giving it to me anyway. The best I could do was to make sure she never regretted it. And damn did I plan to start in earnest as soon as I had an opportunity.
“So I’ll see you in a few hours,” Andi said, backing away without turning. “And don’t worry.” She flicked her unicorn horn again. “I’ve got an even sexier outfit set aside just for this occasion.”
My mind filled with images of Andi in sheer dresses or skin-tight, revealing leather. Whatever she had planned, I wasn’t sure I could wait a few hours for it. “I’ll see you then,” I said as calmly as I could.
“You hope,” she teased, then she walked toward the exit. I was glad to see there was a little hop in her steps. The old Andi was back. The one who enjoyed trying to rile me up and test me.
“Hey,” I called before she could get away. “Are you leaving this dildo for later, or did you want to take it for your next break-in attempt?”
Andi awkwardly shuffled back, picked up the dildo, and then tried to slap me on the cheek with it. I barely managed to dodge backwards.
She laughed, then looked suddenly troubled. “Good thing you dodged that. This bad boy is actually Audria’s, and who knows where it has been.”
As if she’d just told me to enjoy my weekend, she waved over her shoulder with the wobbly dildo and left.
Goddamn. I thought I might be in love with the woman. I just wished I knew if that meant I was losing my mind or not.27AndiBree and Audria met me at a Japanese steakhouse a few blocks from the hotel. I’d promised dinner was on me, which, I supposed I could now afford about as often as I wanted. It was a strange feeling. Not as strange as the idea that I had a BDSM date with Landon tonight—but strange, nonetheless.
Bree and Audria sat with me at an otherwise empty table surrounding the hot cooktop.
“Miss big spender all of the sudden,” Bree said with a suspicious note in her voice. “Either you robbed a bank, or this has something to do with the inheritance. Because I literally can’t remember you ever offering to buy dinner for us.”
I took that as my cue to fill them in on everything that had happened since the wedding. Bree had already figured out some bits and pieces, but Audria was clueless. By the time I was finished, both my sisters looked a little shaken.
“Wow,” Audria said. “And you forgave him?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Bree asked. “What else can a guy do to say he’s sorry?”
“I don’t know,” Audria said. She paused to thank our waitress, who set down bowls of hot clear soup and lettuce with ginger dressing. “Maybe something romantic, like a helicopter ride. A pilot writing, ‘sorry I was such a piece of dick,’ in the sky?”
“You mean a bunch of expensive stuff he couldn’t afford?” Bree asked.
“Okay. I don’t know,” Audria said. “I just don’t think I would’ve forgiven him. How are you supposed to ever trust him again?”
“I won’t know unless I try,” I said. “And think about how hard it must’ve been for him to get past hating me. I pretty much stood for everything that went wrong in his life. So it’s a little more forgivable that he wasn’t immediately looking out for my best interests.”