“No. We don’t have time to properly handle this before I have to leave.”
“Fine.” Hurt and angry at being denied, she pulled away and turned to walk away. “Guess I’m not as important as work.”
The sharp volley of swats caught her by surprise. Olivia squealed and looked around, making sure Shannon hadn’t walked back in. “James! We have company!”
“Yes, we do. Which is the only reason you’re not bent over this island getting a proper spanking.” With one hand wrapped around her arm to hold her in place, James used his other hand to grip her chin and forced her to look up at him. Fire flashed in his eyes. “You are the most important thing in my life. But I won’t have you trying to guilt me into dealing with this before I’m ready. I am still far too angry with you to punish you anytime soon. I’ll see you in the office.”
He kissed her, hard and quick, then dumped the remainder of his coffee in the sink before stalking out of the kitchen. The guilt she’d been trying to assuage dug its claws in deeper, tearing her to shreds from the inside.
Resigned to feeling like crap the rest of the day, she stomped toward the stairs. She stopped short at the sight of Shannon standing on the bottom step, her eyes wide in her unmade face.
“Everything okay?” Shannon asked.
“No. James is pissed.”
“About last night?”
“Yeah. He asked me to not drink a lot because he’s freaking out about Angela’s murder.”
Shannon winced. “I wish you’d said something. We could’ve just had wine or at least gotten the regular margaritas.”
Olivia jerked a shoulder. “It’s embarrassing.”
“I’m not going to judge you because your husband loves you enough to worry. And frankly, I thought we were better friends than that.”
The hurt in her friend’s eyes just gave the guilt she was already feeling a firmer grip on her insides. “Than what?”
“You think you can’t tell me Daddy told you not to drink? Like I’m going to judge you for it?”
“I-I honestly don’t know anymore.”
Shannon’s lips turned down at the edges. “Why not? Liv, you can tell me anything.”
“I know. It’s just, I’m supposed to be this big bad real estate agent. Sometimes it’s humiliating to talk about having rules and crap like that.”
“Oh, honey. Trust me, I get it.”
“You do?”
The frown morphed into a wry grin. “Yeah. Why do you think I haven’t had a serious relationship since college? Vanilla guys bore me, but the idea of having a daddy again scares the shit out of me.”
It was Olivia’s turn to frown. “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Dunno. Probably the same reason you haven’t told me all the crazy shit that’s been going on in your head. It’s embarrassing to admit how much I want it.”
Groaning, Olivia sat on a step and dropped her head into her hands. “I fucked up, Shannon. Really bad. I haven’t seen him this mad in ages.”
“You guys will work it out. James loves you so much it almost makes me sick.”
“We’ll work it out with his belt across my ass,” Olivia mumbled.
“Probably,” Shannon agreed with a snort. “And you’ll feel a hell of a lot better once it’s said and done.”
The honking of a car horn cut Olivia off before she could respond. Shannon wrapped her arms around Olivia’s shoulders and squeezed. “That’s my ride. Call me.”
Olivia watched her friend waltz through the front door. As much as she hated to admit it, Shannon was right. She’d feel better once she’d been punished and forgiven. Somehow, she just had to get through the rest of the day without melting down so she could get to that point.
* * *