The Shepherd (The Game 6)

“Greer?”

I looked toward the doorway and spotted Lucian there.

“Apologies for interrupting,” he said, holding up a tablet. “We have some preparations to do for Kingsley and Tate’s scene, so I wanted to ask you to take a look at the event calendar before you left. I’ll leave it in the lobby for you.”

“No worries, I’ll check it out in a bit,” I replied. “Thanks.”

He inclined his head and disappeared again.

I assumed he’d done the monthly update, and maybe he’d added something with TPE. We usually passed the tablet between us before it went live. Each event needed an organizer and was labeled with a question mark until the slot had been filled.

It gave me an idea, and I faced Archie. “Consider it your homework till Sunday to decide which economic freedoms and responsibilities you’re willing to hand over to me, from grocery shopping and buying clothes to money for gas and your phone bill.” I started walking out of the club area but kept talking. “I have no intention of paying your rent if that’s what you’re worried about. When we reach that stage, you’ll be ready to share my home with me permanently.” I snatched up the tablet from the front desk in the lobby and tapped in the password.

The scheduling app was already open, and the overview gave a good indication of the fun things I could do with Archie. Perhaps we could strike a babysitting deal with his sister. If she watched Kyla sometimes, we could watch Lydia’s son.

“How are your knees, little one?” I asked on my way back. “On a scale from one to ten, ten being so painful you’re ready to safeword.”

“Oh, um…” He shifted uncomfortably on the cushion. “About seven or eight?”

Good thing we were almost done, then. I appreciated him suffering for me, though. Even more so when he wasn’t a masochist—but I was saving that topic for our next training session, and I wasn’t convinced he didn’t have a sliver of masochism in him.

“We’ll be out of here soon.” I sat down in the chair and eyed the event calendar. “I thought we could sneak in a quick drive-thru dinner on our way to pick up Kyla. I’m starving.”

“You have time to change out of your sexy kilt after work, but you don’t have time to eat?”

I laughed at his cute, stubborn return to the matter of my utility kilt. I’d told him we’d stopped wearing them for the season. It was too cold.

“Sir, may I have permission to stuff your glove compartment with snacks that are good for you?”

I lifted my gaze from the iPad and smiled at him. “I change trucks depending on the workload, but if you prepare a container of some sort, I’ll be happy to bring it along.”

He was nuts if he thought I’d budge on the money thing. He did so much for me already.

“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here…” I read from the selection of kinks we were planning on demonstrating over the next thirty days—or offering a themed evening for. Someone had scheduled a diaper play event near the end of November. That could be fun. “Is it safe to assume your sister would prefer to babysit on weeknights? I’m thinking once you’ve introduced me to her and she sees how fucking amazing I am with children, we could watch her kid so she gets some time on her own too.”

Archie let out a soft laugh. “I’ve already rambled about you. And she’s offered to babysit so we can go on dates.” His sister sounded like a wonderful woman. “She doesn’t mind babysitting on weekends either. She mostly hangs out with two other single moms and their kids.”

That was good to know. Many of these smaller events only lasted two or three hours, so they wouldn’t require Kyla to sleep over with her aunt every time. Far from it.

“Then maybe she wouldn’t mind babysitting next Wednesday?” I quirked a brow in question. “I’m fairly certain it’s Macklin who’s suggested an anal hook demo, and they’re still looking for a host.”

Archie swallowed. “You would…demonstrate that on me?”

I nodded and observed him. It was gonna be highly interesting to see which kinks he’d enjoy with me. Anal hooks were fun.

He nodded once. “I’ll give Lydia my kidney if I must. I can talk to her when we pick up Kyla.”

Excellent. “You know what, I’ll bring a copy of the overview—then we can discuss dates with her together. Unless you think it’s too soon for me to meet her.”

“Of course not,” he replied quickly. “It’s one step closer to listing myself in a relationship with you on Facebook.”

Christ—he actually said that. I shook my head, thoroughly amused.

To be frank, I felt coveted too. It wasn’t the first time he’d indicated he wanted us to be as official as possible. Which I reckoned brought us to what I’d been thinking about most of my morning.