Read Online The Training (Book 3: The Submissive Trilogy) by Tara Sue Me - Free Book Online Page A

you’ll blow it again. I’ll blow it sometimes. We learn. We move on.”
    He switched to my other foot, slowly working his way from the top to the bottom.
    “Thank you for the poem,” I said. His reciting of “Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her” had been just what I needed to calm my fears early Saturday morning.
    “You’re welcome.”
    Felicia and Jackson’s new house was beautiful. It had five bedrooms, five full bathrooms, three half baths, and a large rooftop deck. I spent most of my lunch hours and many of my evenings going to furniture stores, antique dealers, and designer fabric makers. Felicia was an astute decorator. She knew what she wanted and, most of the time, got it. Of course, being engaged to one of the country’s most well-known football players helped.
    Yet there was a certain sadness overshadowing my time with Felicia. We had been neighbors for years, and it was hard to believe that in less than two weeks, she’d be gone. When I wasn’t with Nathaniel, I’d be all alone.
    Unless . . .
    No, I wouldn’t even think that. It was much too soon to even think about moving in with Nathaniel. Even if he wanted to.
    Right?
    What’s the big deal?
I asked myself.
I mean, you will probably be at his house most of the time after the wedding anyway.
    Still . . .
    Best not to push it, I decided. Everything was still too new for both of us.
    “What has you thinking so intently?” he asked as he opened the passenger’s-side door. “Abby?” he asked again, holding out a hand for me.
    “Just thinking,” I said. His hand was warm and firm around mine. “Nothing in particular.”
    “Remind me to ask you something about next weekend,” he said as we climbed the steps to the front door.
    “Next weekend?” I looked up at him. He didn’t usually tell me his plans for the weekend. “What about it?”
    His hand squeezed mine. “Later.”
    “There you are,” Jackson said as the door swung open. “Come on in. I was just getting ready to light the grill.” He leaned over and gave me a one-armed hug. “Felicia needs your opinion in the kitchen.”
    “No,” I said, returning the hug. “She just wants me to smile and nod in agreement with her opinion.”
    He laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
    We walked into the kitchen, where Felicia was busy setting out salad ingredients. Once the men gathered the steaks and left the kitchen to go outside, she cocked an eyebrow.
    “No collar?” she asked.
    “I thought you didn’t want the details.” I hadn’t told her about our new arrangement. Still, she knew I had spent the weekend with him and probably guessed the rest. I sat down at one of the new barstools we’d picked out early last week. “I knew these would look good.”
    “Yes, they do look good.” She took a head of lettuce and washed it in the sink. “And no, I don’t want the details. I just thought you’d have it on. You
did
spend the entire weekend with him. And you
didn’t
take an overnight bag with you.”
    Damn girl was too observant for her own good. “You either want the details or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways.” I took a knife. “Need help?” She passed me a cucumber and I started chopping. “Since you asked, yes, I did wear his collar this weekend. But I wear it only on weekends.”
    “You can do that?”
    “Honestly, Felicia,” I said, dicing the cucumber into smaller pieces.
    “Sorry,” she said. “I just worry about you. Especially since the last time—”
    “You’re sweet to worry,” I said. “But don’t. This is nothing like the last time.”
    “He better be careful,” she said. “It’d look really bad if I had to murder my cousin-in-law.”
    The realization that Nathaniel would become Felicia’s cousin-in-law always left me with an ache in my heart. It was as if she would have some kind of connection with him I didn’t.
    “At least it’s got diamonds,” she said. “It’ll look good with the dress.”
    Her comment caught