“Maybe,” Uzuri said. But from the tone, maybe meant no.
Too softhearted to push, Sally changed the subject. “Speaking of which, you have baby duty tomorrow afternoon, right?”
Uzuri shook her head. “I have the day after.”
“I have tomorrow,” Anne said. Jessica’s mother and aunt had shown up for a couple of days after Sophia’s birth, then Z’s mother. But Z wasn’t the sort of man who wanted live-in help, especially doting grandmothers.
So the Shadowlands women had set up a schedule to drop by at a set time every afternoon to bring food and run errands for Jessica. Or babysit so Jessica could get out of the house.
Anne found the visits the perfect excuse to go and cuddle Sophia. And every time Anne was there, the desire to have a child grew stronger. She’d never felt the need before, but somehow, she’d…changed—there was that damn word again—and now she wanted to open her life to a child.
It was terrifying to imagine being responsible for a little person, and yet, everything in her simply…yearned. When she left Jessica’s house, her arms still felt as if they should be holding a baby. The lingering fragrance of baby powder and milk made her smile.
And babies seemed to be everywhere she looked.
But wants weren’t needs…and a child was the last thing she needed right now.
Chapter Seven
Ben tapped his fingers on the desk before glancing at the clock. Fuck. Saturday at ten p.m. It seemed pretty obvious that Anne was avoiding the Shadowlands this weekend.
Was avoiding him.
He scowled at the door. Dammit. He wasn’t a pimple-faced teen to misread a woman’s signals. He’d had his fair share of lovers, and he knew she’d fucking enjoyed everything they’d done.
She’d bailed out of what could have been something fine. He was tempted to call her a coward.
But no. She had a point. He wasn’t a slave. Or…he didn’t think he was. He could try—and would—to be with her, but would she even consider it? Had she ever tried to be with a man who wasn’t, maybe, totally a slave?
Seemed to him that they should at least give it a shot and see where the path took them.
The phone rang. He picked it up. “Shadowlands.”
“Ben, this is Uzuri. Can you tell Master Z that I won’t be in tonight?”
“Sure.” He hesitated. “He’s going to want a reason, you know.”
“Oh, it’s nothing bad. Not really.” She let out a frustrated sigh and then the deluge broke, her words coming faster and faster. “I was supposed to move into my new duplex all this week, and I’d arranged vacation days and everything, only the previous renters got messed up and ended up staying until today, and the landlords couldn’t do much about it without taking them to court.” She gulped air, and Ben was grinning as the speed of her speech increased as well as the unhappy whine. “So I only have tomorrow to pack and arrange for some movers, only at this point I might not be able to because it’ll be Sunday, only I have to go out of town Monday and for a week and my lease is up and this is just a mess.”
He’d have to agree. “I have an SUV and free time. I know a couple of guys with pickups. Want some help?”
Silence.
He worried for a moment that he’d scared the little submissive and then he heard a screech of glee. “Would you? Really—you could help? I can drive back and forth, but I can’t get the big stuff. There’s not that much but—really? You’d help?”
Fuck, she was cute. “Really. What time are you starting?”
“I can’t get the keys until nine in the morning. But I can start loading boxes from my apartment, only maybe that’s too early for—”
“I’ll be there at eight,” he said firmly.
“Oh, man. Thank you, Ben. Thank you!”
“Address?”
He took down all the information he’d need, shoved the paper in his pocket, texted Z about his missing trainee…and asked for permission to go a step further. The Shadowlands Masters essentially “owned” the little submissive. They’d pitch in.
He received an instant agreement. That was Master Z.
After pulling out the files of the Masters—and Mistresses—Ben started writing down numbers.
* * * *
“Ben.” Anne squeezed her cell phone. Her heart had not just skipped a beat. Absolutely not. “Is anything wrong?”
Why else would he be calling her so late on a Saturday night?
“Yes and no. It’s Uzuri. She needs to move and only has tomorrow to do it in. The previous tenants screwed her over and didn’t vacate the place on time, so she’s doing a rush move. For some reason, she didn’t call on her buddies.”