Daisy didn’t give her time to talk. She walked away from the apartment and headed toward work. Young children were already walking inside the playground. She saw Dean and Laura dropping off their little girl.
It looked like they were arguing. She ignored it and went straight through to the reception area. Daisy ignored their sneers and began working. She’d been expecting some hostility. If her mother knew about her visits to the club then it didn’t take a scientist to realise that others did as well.
At lunch time several of the staff went out to lunch. She stayed in cataloguing deliveries for the nursery. David and Paul Steer walked into the reception area as everyone was coming back for lunch. She was finishing her sandwich as they approached her desk. Daisy kept her attention on the computer screen.
“How may I help you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
“We were wondering if you’d be kind enough to come to lunch with us,” Paul said.
She looked up at the two men who were her brothers. Their attention was focussed on her. “I’m working right now. I can’t. Another time maybe.”
David nodded his head. “Sure, another time.”
They left the reception area. Daisy spent the rest of the day trying not to burst into tears. She bit her lip and carried on. When it was closing time, she grabbed her bag that she’d left under her desk and began to walk the long distance to Control.
She knew she should have gotten a lift. Daisy kept walking even though rain began to fall. The tears kept falling as she walked through the wet weather. A car pulled up beside her. “Get in,” William shouted. She stared at him, shocked.
Without hesitating, Daisy climbed into the passenger seat. She expected William to move away from the curb. He kept staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?” he asked.
“I didn’t think about it.”
“Next time you better think about.” He turned the heater up. “Your care is my primary concern, Daisy. You could have been hurt or gotten ill with this weather.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would rain.”
“This is your only warning, Daisy. If you leave work with the intent of coming to the club then you call me to pick you up. If you don’t, then I’ll spank your ass until you can’t sit on it and then refuse to give you orgasms.”
She saw how angry he was. No one had ever been so annoyed with her before. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“Good. Now, let's get you home.”
“I don’t want to go home. I want to go to your place,” she said.
“That’s where we’re going, Daisy.”
He pulled away from the curb and began driving toward the club. Her feet hurt from walking in heels. Next time she wouldn’t forget to call him.
William parked the car in his driveway less than twenty minutes later. He got out of the driver's side then moved round. She yelped as he picked her up and hauled her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.
He didn’t put her down until they were inside his part of the house. Daisy was put onto the sofa where they’d touched each other the previous night.
She blushed thinking about what they’d done.
****
William could throttle her. Did she have any idea how dangerous it was walking about? He didn’t care that it was Cape Falls. He’d never been so scared before in his life. Her feet were a mess from the shoes she wore. Why did women wear shoes that only appeared to hurt their feet? It was beyond his comprehension.
He rinsed out a warm damp cloth and took it into the sitting room. Her feet looked painful. William placed the cloth over her feet and then sat down with her feet in his lap.
“You scared me, Daisy. I’m sorry if my reaction scared you.”
“That’s okay. I put it down to another part of your control. You’re worried about me. I like it,” she said with an endearing smile.
“You have no idea.” He stared at her for several moments then turned his attention to her feet. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes, told off, but I’m fine.”
“Did you get chance to look over the contract?” he asked.
She nodded. “It’s in my bag. The bag you put in the car.”
“I’ll go and get it.” He got up, went to the car, grabbed her bags then moved back to the chair. She pulled out the contract then handed it to him.
William began to check the items she’d ticked. He stroked her leg as he read through the contract.
“David and Paul invited me to lunch today,” she said.
He looked up and saw her biting her lip. “Did you go?”
“No, I told them I was too busy. I know they only asked because of Anna, their wife. She came to see me as well.”
He watched her shift on the sofa. “What are you afraid of?”
“Afraid? I’m not. I mean, I don’t know,” she said, tears filling her eyes. William put the contract down on his lap, turned on the sofa and stared at her.
“Tell me, Daisy.”
“My whole life, I’ve been one huge disappointment. My mother had me and didn’t want me. I’ve never known my father, and I’ve found out I have two brothers. I don’t want them to feel obliged to want to know me, William. I want them to want to know me, for me.”
And there was the vulnerability he’d seen from the first moment he’d ever laid eyes on her. The Daisy he knew that no one else did.
This was the other side of the coin. The second face she didn’t show anyone else.
“Maybe you need to be the one to make it work. Show them that you don’t want anything else other than their company.”
“I don’t know. I think it is easier to let sleeping dogs lie. If you know what I mean.”
I know what you mean,” he said.
“Can we talk about something else?” she asked, wiping her cheeks.
“Sure. I noticed you put a question mark against ménage and sharing. I wondered why.” William picked up her contract. He was pleased with several of the points she’d ticked and crossed.
“I’ve never done it with one man, let alone two.”
“Then that is something I’m going to have to introduce you to.”
“Who's Edward Banner?” she asked.
He chuckled. She had waited longer than he had expected to ask about his friend. “Edward Banner is a friend I met while travelling Europe and, as you can guess, England. I went alone the first time and then with Gabriel when we were younger. I haven’t heard from him in years. It has to be easily five years. He used to visit the club I had in the city.”