Page 52 of Hushed

They met Patrick, Austin, Holly, and Elijah in the lobby of Club Solitaire, and were waiting on Dakota and Jax—who had flown in late last night.

Lance and Marissa were already at the restaurant, and the others were skipping breakfast in favor of sleep.

A tall man in jeans and a purple button-down shirt came inside and shook hands with Elijah.

Elijah motioned Kenzie over, and she approached them despite being a bit confused.

“This is Kenzie, she’s the one I was telling you about last night.”

“I’m Kit DuFort. I hear you do branding.”

She looked at Elijah and back at Kit with a smile. “I do. What do you need help with?”

“I’m opening a club in New Orleans with my girl. It’s going to be under the umbrella of Club Solitaire, so the branding needs to match, but I want to include something with a little New Orleans flair, if that makes sense.”

Kenzie grinned. “It makes perfect sense, Mr. DuFort. I’m already picturing the possibilities. Let’s talk.”

He smiled. “Please, call me Kit. We’ll chat over breakfast if your…” his gaze drifted to Gage for a second before focusing on her again.

She laughed. “I just call him a pain in the ass.”

“A brat, I take it?”

She frowned. “Am I? You’ll have to forgive me, I’m relatively new to all the titles and labels. Gage and I are new, too. Sort of. It’s complicated.”

He chuckled. “I met Jenna in a BDSM chat room and spanked the hell out of her the day we met in person for the first time. I understand complicated.”

She blinked at how much information he was sharing, and he laughed. “I’ve shocked you. I apologize.”

She waved a hand as Gage came to stand next to her. “It’s fine, Kit. I think that’s a delightful first meeting story.”

Gage put an arm around her. “Everything OK, little imp?”

Kit raised an eyebrow. “He calls you little imp, and you’re not sure if you’re a brat?”

Gage’s laugh was boisterous. “What did I walk into here?”

“Well, she called you a pain in the ass when I was trying to sort out what your dynamic is.”

Gage shook his head and gave her a mock glare. “I see we still have a few lessons to teach you.”

The side door opened before Kenzie could respond, and Dakota entered with a man in a cowboy hat trailing behind her.

Gage squeezed her shoulders and moved to shake the man’s hand. “Jax, it’s good to see you again, friend. Dakota said the funniest thing last night.”

Jax raised an eyebrow and glanced at his wife who gave him an exaggerated I-don’t-know-what-he’s-talking-about shrug.

“I can only imagine,” the cowboy muttered in a thick southern accent.

Gage smirked at Dakota. “She told me after all these years together, you still haven’t tamed her, and you do not know how to keep her in line.”

Dakota’s mouth fell open as Jax turned and slipped a hand in her hair, twisting hard. “That is so dirty of you, Gage Allard. That’s not what I said at all.”

Jax leaned in and whispered something to Dakota that put a lustful smile on her face, and Gage winked. “You can thank me later,” he teased.

Kenzie grinned at the sassy cattle heiress when she stuck her tongue out at Gage. “They’re ganging up on me, too.”

The lobby became chaotic with noise as everyone greeted Jax and Dakota and then fell into various conversations. The noise was overstimulating for Kenzie, and as Gage talked with fellow club members, her thoughts ran away from her. Was it wrong to call him a pain in the ass while talking to Kit? What if that was disrespectful for a sub to do? After several minutes, Patrick stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loud enough to stop the noise, successfully jerking her from her thought spiral.

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