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“Wedge? It’s a fucking chasm.” His shrug wasn’t as nonchalant as Liam suspected it was supposed to be. “Not my story to tell. Callie tolerates me and I respect her need for space.”
“Did something happen between you?”
“No. Bad history between her and someone from my past.” Sadness flickered, then slipped beneath an impenetrable mask as Callie skipped in, dragging her Daddies by the hand.
Bad history was an understatement, Liam thought, as she skidded to a stop and stared at Fordham for several interminably long seconds. Color seeped from her face until she was ashen, her body going rigid with shock before she collected herself and plastered a fake sunny smile back into place.
“Master Fordham,” she murmured, then glanced at Liam. “Master Liam.”
“Callie. Eli, Van.” Liam decided to take the pressure off the nervous woman, gesturing around the newly built workshop. “This is amazing, thank you. I’m telling you that now in case Sierra forgets in all the… excitement.”
Evander glanced around. “A worthy investment. One we’re happy to offer.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing what she does with it,” Elias rumbled as Callie squirmed under his arm. “It adds the missing piece to the Little empire. I think Callie’s desperate to add to her stuffie collection from whatever Sierra sets on display.”
Liam studied the row of shelves positioned behind the counter. They’d chosen cotton candy pink for the paint on the walls, white for the shelving. Each shelf was a different width to accommodate the largest stuffie down to the smallest. “She’s probably got enough stuffies already fixed to fill that unit.”
Callie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.” Liam’s phone dinged with a text; he check it, swore, and ran a hand through his hair. “All right, showtime in five minutes. Ford, can we get the curtain up?”
“Are you sure you want to surprise her?”
“Not really.” He knew she wasn’t fond of surprises, even good ones. “No, you’re right. Springing it on her that way pretty much guarantees she’ll run.”
“We’re going for casual, then?”
That was the better way, Liam thought. No one standing on ceremony, just friends gathering round for a chat. “Simple. Let’s just do simple and pray she handles it well.”
“We won’t be offended if she doesn’t,” Evander said softly. “We understand what it’s like to have a woman in our life who objects to sudden, shocking changes. If it’s taught us anything, it’s patience.”
Patience was all well and good, but sometimes shackles and a length of chain worked just as well. Before he could reply, he heard the sweet song of Sierra’s voice from the front doors.
“Why are we here? I thought we were meeting Liam at the bar? He said I wasn’t allowed to play in the Nursery.”
Oh, she was a good girl. He had indeed told her that, to keep her away from the ongoing construction over the last few days as the crew added the finishing touches. It pleased him immensely that she was honest with Mack about his orders, even though the other Dom was well aware.
“Trust me, pixie. You’re not going to be in trouble.”
“If I am, I’m throwing you to the wolf,” she snarked, obviously in an adult frame of mind. “My ass is off-limits for the foreseeable future thanks to you and that… that monster of yours.”
Liam smirked. How would Mack handle her attitude?
A laugh, loud and thoroughly amused, echoed through the barn. “Say that again when your eyes aren’t on my cock and you’re not drooling, pixie.”
Yeah, that was exactly the way to handle her, Liam thought with approval. He imagined she was spluttering, flushed to the roots of her hair, and frantically trying to come up with some clever retort that didn’t land her in more trouble.
“I amnotdrooling,” came her indignant reply.
“But your eyes are still on my crotch.”
“They arenot.” God, was she stomping her foot yet?
“Behave or I’ll tell Liam where you’ve been stashing candy.”
An outraged gasp. “For one, I don’t stash candy anywhere. It lives in the cupboard by the window. Two, if I did stash any in case of, y’know, emergencies, you wouldn’t know where I hid it!”
They were getting closer, but Liam wished they’d slow down. He loved the camaraderie between them, how Sierra interacted with Mack and vice versa. She’d been shy at first, but onceshe recovered from the scene, a great many of her internal barricades had tumbled.
