That meant Archer would be leaving. Should he be leaving too? He couldn’t stay here forever.
But he also wasn’t ready to leave her.
“I’m not ready to go.”
“I don’t blame you. If I had Caley in my bed, I wouldn’t be willing to go either.” There was a hint of longing in Archer’s voice. Was his brother lonely? Used to be that Archer had a gorgeous woman on his arm almost every weekend. He wasn’t a player, exactly. He always made it clear to the women that he had no intention of getting into a relationship with them. Still, he’d never lacked for companionship.
Maybe seeing him with Caley had shown Archer he wanted something more meaningful. A sense of sadness filled him. Now that he’d patched things up with his brother, he was reluctant to say goodbye.
“I don’t know where to move from here,” he admitted. “She still hasn’t shown me her Little.” And he needed that part of her. It was who he was. He knew himself; he wouldn’t be happy if she permanently kept that part of herself back.
And neither would she.
Archer studied him for a moment. “You spoke to her about Evelyn? About our parents?”
“Yeah, couple of days ago.” Still nothing. He’d noticed her pulling into herself more than usual. Could be the book she was working on, but he had a feeling she was thinking about everything he’d told her.
“I don’t think Caley is the impulsive type. Well, other than letting us stay here with her. But that was kind of out of her hands unless she was willing to leave us out in the cold.”
Doc nodded. “I know. She likes to mull things over.”
“But sometimes thinking too much can be detrimental,” Archer added, reading his mind. Why had he gone so long being angry at his brother? “But I think you’ve made more headway than you realize.”
“How do you mean?”
“You’ve been topping her almost since we got here. She now has a nighttime routine, a bedtime, rules to follow. She has to eat regularly, exercise.”
“You’re right,” he said slowly.
“She’s worried about getting hurt, but she wants to take that next step. So maybe you should give her Little a bit of a subtle nudge.”
Yeah, except how did he do that?
His mind whirred, thinking. “Do you think the rental car company would bring the car up here?”
“If I pay them enough, they will. Why?”
“Just thinking I could take over the rental. Don’t like to be up here with her crap truck as our only transport option. If you can get a morning flight out of Bozeman, I’ll drive in, drop you off and do some shopping.”
Archer frowned. “Shopping?
You hate shopping…ahh…I see. You’re not going subtle at all, are you?”
“Brother, you hurt me. Subtle is my middle name.”
Archer just shook his head.
* * *
It was hard to say goodbye.
Far harder than she’d expected. She didn’t want him to go. She’d gotten used to him being here.
At least Doc was staying. But for how long? He wouldn’t be patient with her forever. She just didn’t know why her Little was still afraid to come out. After everything Doc had told her about himself, after giving him her submission in bed, after allowing him to boss her around when it came to her work, her eating, her sleep.
You’d think it would be a no-brainer to let her Little out.
But it just wasn’t happening. And it kind of worried her. What if it never happened? What if he grew impatient with her and gave up? What if he left?