Anyway, anytime, anyhow.
“To love and to cherish …”
With all that I am.
“Until death do you part?”
Until then and for whatever comes after.
Daniel came up to us at the reception. “You guys ready for the conference next weekend?”
“I can’t wait,” I said, before Nathaniel could say anything. “Listening to Nathaniel give his talk, seeing everyone again and the party after? Yes, I’m so ready.”
Daniel laughed, throwing his head back slightly. “I need to go get Julie over here and let your enthusiasm rub off on her. She’s a bit apprehensive.”
“Well, it’s her first one, right?” I asked. “And she’s never played outside the Partners group?”
“Both true,” he said.
I looked up at Nathaniel. “Do you mind if I go talk to Julie?” I had seen her earlier with Sasha and Kelly. Right now the three of them were talking with Dena.
“Go on, my lovely. I’ll be right here.”
I rose on my toes and kissed his cheek and then trotted over to the girls. I hugged Dena first.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Parks. You look beautiful.”
She positively glowed and happy tears filled her eyes. “Thanks, Abby. I feel like the happiest, luckiest, most fortunate woman in the world.”
“As you should,” I said with a smile, still remembering my own wedding day. “And I bet if we asked that handsome groom of yours, he’d say the same.”
She looked over to where Jeff was talking with Cole. He must have felt the weight of her stare, because he turned his head and looked our way. His eyes met his new wife’s and he mouthed, I love you. Dena blew him a kiss.
Cole, too, was full of smiles, though I did see his jaw tighten when he saw Sasha. I don’t think anyone else noticed it. Surely not Dena, who suddenly said, “Okay, I have to go touch him, make sure this is real. Half the time I feel like I’m living in a dream.”
She walked over to Jeff, who put his arms around her and drew her close for a kiss. He reached down and gently touched her belly. Dena nodded.
Beside me, Julie sighed. “They’re so happy. It gives me chills watching them.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement and we watched them for several minutes before I spoke again. “How do you feel about next weekend?”
“Half nervous. Half excited.” Julie turned from the newly-weds. “How was it when you first played in public?”
I thought back to my early days with Nathaniel. “When people knew what we were doing or when we were so sly they had no idea?”
“Sounds like you have a few stories to tell.”
I thought she would probably get a kick out of hearing about the Super Bowl.
But at that moment, Daniel came up. “I’m going to steal this gorgeous woman away from you, Abby.”
“Bye, Abby!” Julie laughed as he took her hand and pulled her away, a huge grin on his face.
I had a feeling another wedding wasn’t too far away.
Chapter Thirteen
ABBY
The Tuesday night after the wedding, Nathaniel collared me when he got home. He’d told me the day before he would do it because we were having Luke DeVaan over for dinner. Also as part of our experiment with different protocol levels, we’d agreed that Tuesday evening would be high protocol. At least it would be once the children were in bed.
So far it was okay, but I could already tell it wasn’t anything I wanted to do on a more permanent basis. I felt it was too restrictive to do all the time.
After Luke arrived, I went to check on Lynne and the kids. We were doing a trial week, just to make sure we all wanted to have her move in full-time. So far, it was working out beautifully. Satisfied they were all happy and well into the bedtime routine, I slipped into the living room as silently as I could and dropped to my knees beside Nathaniel. He didn’t stop talking with Luke, but rested his hand on the top of my head and stroked the back of my neck. My head was down, so I couldn’t see Luke. I closed my eyes as the men talked and in doing so felt the stress of the day drain away.
“Thank you for joining us, Abigail,” Nathaniel said sometime later. “Everything good upstairs?”
“Yes, Master,” I said with my head still down. “The children are great and Elizabeth asked if Lynne could stay forever.”
Nathaniel chuckled. “Lynne’s part of our New York group. She’s staying this week as a potential nanny,” he explained to Luke.
“She must be the lovely lady I saw heading up the stairs when I arrived.”
“Yes, that was her,” Nathaniel said. “Apparently, everyone’s hitting it off well.” He stroked my neck one more time and said, “Do you need to check on dinner, Abigail?”
“Yes, Master. But I wanted to come in here first to see if you and Master DeVaan needed anything.”
“Unless Master DeVaan needs something, I’m good. You can do what you need to do in order to finish dinner. We’ll be in the dining room in fifteen minutes unless you tell us differently.”
He’d told me earlier that even though it was a high-protocol evening, while we were eating dinner with Luke at the dining room table I could assume kitchen table behavior. I appreciated that he was stepping down the protocol level for dinner.
“Thank you, Master.” I bent low and kissed his right foot.
“You’re excused, Abigail.”
I stood as gracefully as possible and went to check on dinner. I’d roasted a turkey using a recipe I’d gotten from Dena. She said Jeff made it and it was the best turkey she’d ever had. I had to agree, it smelled wonderful. Hopefully, it would taste just as good. I served it along with a squash and quinoa gratin and a big salad. I quickly set the table for three and then stood and waited by Nathaniel’s chair.
“Everything looks wonderful,” Nathaniel said when he entered. He nodded toward my chair and pulled it out for me. “And smells divine,” Luke added.
The men took a seat after I did and Nathaniel sliced the turkey. Then they filled their plates, and Nathaniel filled mine.
“Mmm,” Luke hummed after taking a bite. “Tastes divine as well. Excellent turkey, Abby.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’m so glad you like it. It’s Master Park’s recipe. Dena gave it to me.”
“I’ll have to thank both of them,” Nathaniel said.
After we ate a bit more and made small talk about nothing in particular, Nathaniel cleared his throat. “Luke, why don’t you tell Abby your idea about opening a club in Wilmington?”
Luke took another bite of his turkey. “You remember I’m taking over the club in New York you went to?”
“Yes.” I took a sip of my water. “Someone needed to. It was a nightmare. Not the best clientele, either.”
“Very true,” Luke said. “I’m hoping to change that. Right now I’ve closed the place down. It’ll need almost a complete gut job. Once I redo it, I’ll be very selective about who I allow in.”
A sudden image of the guy who had almost assaulted me the one time I was at that club popped into my mind and I realized I’d never found out his name or what happened to him. I wonder if Jeff knew, since he’d gotten me out of that bad situation when I met him there.
“I had a run-in with someone there. I don’t know his name.” I wrinkled my brow, trying to remember what he looked like. Of course I couldn’t remember because I’d gotten so stupidly drunk that night.
“All taken care of. Jeff Parks filled me in on the guy.” Luke caught my eye and smiled. “He’s most definitely not allowed.”
Luke’s demeanor was totally charming and he spoke and moved in a way that put me at ease. I felt certain he never had trouble finding companionship.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Sir. You restore and run BDSM clubs and own an art gallery?”
His laugh was low and seductive and the sound sent shivers up