Page 54 of Their Forever Daddy

That was true. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m not really worried about how we’ll fit in any other way, either.” Sobering, Jesse reached over and laid her hand on Edie’s arm. “I never stopped loving you, Edie. And I don’t think you ever stopped loving me.”

“I don’t know how to answer that.”

Edie’s voice trembled, breaking Jesse’s heart all over again. “You don’t need to answer it, not right now. But you asked what we were thinking, and that’s what I was thinking. How much I still fucking love you, and how much it will kill me to have to walk away without doing everything I can to fight for you. For us.”

It was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, sitting there and waiting for Edie to answer her. To either accept their offer or reject it outright.

“Say I was willing to give this crazy idea of yours a shot,” Edie said slowly, obviously choosing her words carefully. “How would it even work?”

It wasn’t an outright ‘No’ and Jesse had to fight to keep from jumping up and dancing around in celebration. “It can work however we want it to work. You and I could have our own relationship, and you and Grant could just be friends.”

“Or… you could be my little girl, too,” Daddy said slowly, as if he was worried speaking too fast might spook her.

Edie shook her head. “I’m not Little. Submissive, yes. Little, no.”

“No, I didn’t think you were. But if you and I were to have a relationship, I would expect to be the one in charge. And, in the interest of complete honesty, I think you could use somebody taking the reins every now and then. Isn’t that right, little pixie?”

“I plead the fifth.” But the corners of Edie’s lips twitched for a moment before she turned to Jesse, her expression once again serious. “And you’d be okay with that? With sharing your Daddy with another woman?”

“Generally speaking? No.” Taking a chance and hoping it wouldn’t spook her, Jesse reached over and took Edie’s hand in hers. “But with you? Absolutely. And don’t ask me to explain, because I can’t. I can just feel it in my bones that this will be good for us. All of us.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question of what we do when it’s time for you two to go back to California.”

“One step at a time,” Grant said. “We have a month before we absolutely need to head back. I’ll need to work some during that month, but I can set up just about anywhere with a decent internet connection. That’s a month for us all to get to know each other, and to talk about the future if we decide we want to take that next step. So, what do you say, Edie? Give us a month?”

Once again, Jesse was left feeling like her life was hanging in the balance as she waited for Edie to answer. Finally, after what felt like yet another eternity, Edie nodded.

“Okay. I can give you a month.”

Chapter 20

Edie

* * *

God, she hoped this didn’t blow up in all their faces.

But seeing the hope shining so brightly from Jesse’s face it nearly made her eyes hurt to look at it, she couldn’t find it in her to regret saying yes. Even Grant looked pleased by her answer, though on a far more reserved scale than his Little girl.

Their Little girl. For a month, at least. Or until they all decided this was a horrible fucking idea and went their separate ways.

She wasn’t going to obsess about that, though. She was just going to enjoy the time they had together and let the chips fall where they may. Go with the flow, as they said.

Right. Because she’d always been such a laid-back sort.

This was a horrible idea.

“Well, if we’re going to do this, we should do it right.” Grant grinned, his eyes dancing with what looked almost like mischief. “What’s the first thing you do when you’re getting to know a potential partner?”

Letting go of Edie’s hand, Jesse gasped and clapped her hands in excitement. “A date!”

“A date?” Looking from one to the other, Edie raised a brow. “And how, exactly, do you propose we do that without everyone finding out about… us?”

The look Jesse sent her was nothing short of withering. “Do you really think I don’t know how to keep myself hidden when I really want to?”

“From the paparazzi, sure. But you know as well as I do they’ve got nothing on a small town rumor mill.”

“So we won’t stay in town,” Jesse answered with a shrug. “Oh! We should head out to Folly. It’s March, so it won’t be as crowded as it is in the summer. We can sit and watch the water and talk. What do you say, Edie?”

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