Ava was getting the post-sex closeness she craved from Colton. I needed a shower before I wrapped her in my arms, the price I had to pay for such a decadent fuck, so I sighed and headed to the bathroom.
“You have ten minutes, then we text your father for that fucking plane,” Colton said. “We can look at all the sexy photos when we’re flying together. Maybe even take a few of us joining the Mile High Club.”
10
AVA
* * *
“We can just take this elevator back down and walk away,” Tucker said. I stood between them as I watched the floor numbers rise.
“He has no hold on you, baby. He might be annoying as fuck, but you don’t need to go in there and find out what’s got his panties in such a fucking twist.”
I laughed. “You two were the ones who wanted me to do this, to lance this pimple on my butt.”
Tucker turned to me, stroked his hand down my cheek. “Tiger, I’ve seen that butt and there isn’t a pimple on it. Shit, I’m getting hard thinking about your perfect ass.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is it that or the fact I’m not wearing any panties?”
Both of them looked me over, from my black patent heels to the tailored dress to the styled hair and perfect makeup. I looked like the Ava Carter, MBA, not the Ava Carter, Seed and Feed owner. But my outfit fortified me, was like my armor in doing battle with my dad. He wouldn’t find fault in my appearance, that was for fucking sure.
The night before, I’d texted my dad and a plane had landed at Raines’ small airport three hours later. The flight to Denver had taken less than two hours and we’d spent the night in a posh hotel downtown. I’d refused to go to the house, instead meeting my father at his office. My father’s domain was his office, not the big-ass mansion in the foothills, but whatever he wanted was business related. There was no fucking way he’d been texting and calling just to tell me he was sorry.
Colton growled. “I should’ve put that pretty green plug in your ass before we left the suite.”
I’d drawn the line at that. Going commando was one thing when confronting my father, a jeweled butt plug was something else entirely. Besides, I was still a little sore. “After yesterday, I think I need a bag of frozen peas instead of something else up there,” I grumbled.
“Poor baby,” Colton crooned, kissing the tip of my nose, probably so he didn’t mess up my lipstick. Well, he wouldn’t care if he messed up my lipstick, especially if it meant everyone knew I’d been kissed and kissed well, but it was thoughtful under the circumstances. “We’ll get you out of here and make it all better.”
The elevator dinged, indicating we’d made it to the top floor. I took a deep breath. “Let’s deal with my dad and you two can do anything you want.”
The doors opened and I moved to step out, but Tucker stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Promise, tiger?”
I saw the eagerness and heat there. Two little boys and their toy. Me. Thought of all the possibilities they could come up with. It would take forever to do them all. Forever. Sounded about right.
I laughed and tugged them both out of the elevator. “Promise.”
The playfulness of the moment was gone when I turned around and found Mrs. Rouser standing before us. She hadn’t changed a bit since I’d seen her last, although she hadn’t changed a bit since I was a little girl and I went to the office with my dad. She was in her sixties, with salt and pepper hair parted down the middle and pulled back in a severe bun. Her blouse buttoned all the way to her jowled neck, her straight skirt falling two inches below her knee. She wore stockings and serviceable pumps. I had nothing against her wardrobe, although it looked fairly uncomfortable, but it was her demeanor, as if she had perpetual heartburn. “Miss Carter.”
No greetings or well wishes. Nothing kind in offering. She spared Tucker and Colton a quick glance, but if she were bothered by their presence—or their full-on cowboy outfits of jeans, plaid snap shirts and hats which they held in their hands—she didn’t let on. The entire male revue from Cassidy’s last month could have come out of the elevator with us and she wouldn’t have blinked.
“Hello, Mrs. Rouser, that color of tan is quite fetching on you,” I commented.
“Your father is waiting,” she said, pretty much ignoring my compliment. “You know he doesn’t stand for tardiness.”
She didn’t wait for a reply, but turned and expected us to follow. It wasn’t necessary for her to show me the way to my father’s office, so I rolled my eyes at her back and said nothing. I had to pick my battles and it would have to be the one with my dad.
“That woman has something up her ass and it’s not a jeweled butt plug,” Tucker whispered in my ear as we followed behind.
I snorted out a laugh which had Mrs. Rouser turning her head and glaring. I bit my lip to stifle any sign of amusement, but it was difficult. I’d never liked the woman. In fact, my father’s dragon used to downright scare me. Until now.
Now she was an assistant who had to deal with my father all day. I actually pitied her a bit. And she did have a stick up her ass.
When we entered my father’s corner office, he stood and came around the desk, but stopped short when he saw I wasn’t alone.
He was a big man, barrel-chested and six feet tall. He had the tanned complexion of someone who’d spent the winter in Florida or had a tanning bed in his house. His hair was going gray, but it was neatly styled, as it should be for a hundred-dollar cut. His suit was crisp and gray, with a matching tie. He looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him, when he said he’d cut me off if I left town.