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Davy didn’t have a clue how to kayak, but he learned fast. Micca had some canoeing experience, so she didn’t have much of a learning curve. Davy’s arms gave out first, so we let him sit anddetermine the winner while Micca and I did some sprints and she basically kicked my ass once again.

“You’re incredibly fit for a lab geek.”

“I’m a lab geek who frequently goes out in the field, which means I have to complete an hour in the range every month, an hour a week of self-defense training, and another three hours in the company workout areas — and those are minimums. We get paid for up to ten hours per week of any combination of those activities so long as we hit the minimums of each.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Unless there’s a damned good reason, we pay a fine. A substantial one. Repeated instances can result in termination.” She glanced at her waterproof watch. “Our time’s almost up, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take Davy to make it back.”

“He’s rested for fifteen minutes so he should be fine, but yeah, I guess we should head back.”

I didn’t mind paying extra if we wanted to stay out later, but since all the kayaks were out, it was possible people were waiting for them to come back before they could go.

And Davy had, indeed, recovered enough to paddle back with us without slowing us down.

He was adorable when I met him, but he has more muscle tone now, and when he took a few extra minutes with his hair, he was downright scrumptious. Part of his charm is that he doesn’t know he’s hot, and perhaps he isn’t to everyone, but he’sperfectfor me.

We went out to eat after turning the kayaks in, and the food was beyond good, a thousand flavors in every bite. We once again fed each other, though this time with forks rather than our fingers, and I asked Micca, “Have you seen Nine and a Half Weeks?”

When she nodded, I said, “I want to do something like the food scene with you and Davy both blindfolded. He’ll be restrained and you won’t, but both of you blindfolded.”

She considered it a moment and nodded. “Yeah, that can work for me as long as there’s nothing you know I don’t like.”

I grinned. “So, no asparagus?”

“Or Brussels sprouts, or cooked cabbage, but steamed or raw is fine. Also, no boiled peanuts.”

She shuddered, and I said, “Deal.”

“I know I don’t get a say, but I’d like to request no peppers. Hot or otherwise.”

My boy detests bell peppers and doesn’t do well with the heat from other peppers. I didn’t plan to feed him either, but I merely agreed with him. “You’re allowed input into scene planning at times, but you’re correct that the final decisions are always mine.”

I looked to Micca and spoke before Davy had a chance to respond. “I understand my travel planner got with you on the spa services you like and dislike?”

“Does anyone actually dislike anything a normal spa provides?” she asked.

I smiled. “You’d be surprised.” I thumbed my phone on, opened the email from Kyleigh about our spa day, and read off the following day’s schedule. “Tomorrow is breakfast in our suite at eight, sauna at nine, with you and Davy getting your privates and armpits waxed at nine-thirty while I do some hot yoga. We all get a two-hour full body massage at ten, cheese and wine with a charcuterie board at noon in a private room so we can remain in our robes, full body exfoliation at twelve-thirty — minus the bits ya’ll had waxed. Mud baths at one, hair deep conditioning while we get facials followed by scalp massages at two, and then foot and hand massages included in a mani-pedi for all of us — polish for you and buffing for me and Davy.”

“Here’s the thing,” Micca said. “In a few weeks, I’m going to plan a weekend and pay for it, and you’re going to let me. There won’t be a gajillion-dollar spa day, but I’ll rent a cabin somewhere cool, and I’ll handle our food and entertainment, and yes, Iknowit all has to be run by either Panda or Ranger, depending on which team will take control, but those are my terms.”

I very nearly told her she didn’t have to do that, but I stopped before I said anything and reconsidered my first instincts. “I look forward to seeing what you plan. No one’s ever made that offer before, much less made it something of an order.”

“I’m used to paying my way, and I’m a little uncomfortable letting you pay for all this without offering to help, but I understand money is different for you. Still, I can’t just let you do all this without…” She shrugged. “It isn’t a competition, nor is it about any of us owing you in some way. You’re showing us a good time and it feels important I do the same for all of us.” She looked at Davy. “You belong to us, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to do something like this for us. You get that, right?”

He nodded and looked down, and I touched his hand. “You do things for me almost every day, boy. I’ve been in charge of our trips, and now it’ll be me and Micca in charge of them. Nothing’s changed for you.”

“Yes, Master.” He said it super-low, and we were kind of off to ourselves in the restaurant, but he wasn’t supposed to be using that phrase in public,especiallywhen I was dressed as Lord Byron.

I grabbed my phone and texted,You’ll do crunches in the limo on the way back into Atlanta this evening for that.

He closed his eyes and nodded when he read the text, but didn’t say anything else.

Our day was packed full, but there’d be time for him to get a hundred lines in later. He’d done four hundred per day the twodays before we left on this trip, to get him a little ahead. He’d do them on the way home in the limo on our last day. He sits in a chair with a super-large dildo attached to the seat to do his lines at home. In the limo, he just wears the huge purple glass plug.

Chapter 19

Micca