Unconditional by Lexi Blake Page A

in a gorgeous frown. His hand slipped from hers. “What did you say?”
    Shit. She’d said it out loud and that wasn’t allowed. It was a playful reason for him to spank her. She got ten licks when she cussed in his presence. It had been her idea because Emily liked to repeat anything she said and she didn’t want her baby girl to have a whole vocabulary of curse words.
    Maybe they would end up playing. “Sorry, Sir. I said shit.”
    “Don’t do it again.” He turned back around and started to head for the bar.
    She just stood there. They had an agreement. When she cursed, they stopped whatever they were doing and he spanked her. The week before he’d heard her cuss because she got an order wrong at the bar and before the poor Dom could get his whiskey sour, she’d been over Keith’s lap, counting it out.
    Was he bored? Had two weeks with her been enough for him?
    “You all right?” Ryan asked. “You shouldn’t be without your Dom, honey. I don’t like the idea of you walking around here alone.”
    “Did you say something to him?”
    Her brother-in-law frowned. “I do talk to the man, Ashley.”
    “What did you say to him?” She didn’t get stubborn often, but she felt it now. She stood up to her brother-in-law. And looked up to him because he was about a foot taller than she was.
    “Ashley? Are you coming?” Keith asked quietly.
    She didn’t turn around because she wasn’t sure of the answer to that question. She wouldn’t be coming at all if Keith dumped her because her overly protective brother-in-law had decided to inflict some damage on him. She might never come again, and that kind of pissed her off. “I don’t stick my nose in your business.”
    Ryan frowned down at her. “Of course you do. You live on my property. You’re in my house constantly. You definitely stick your nose in my business. Do you think I missed the pamphlets about proper business practices in the third world? That didn’t come from Jillian because she doesn’t give a crap about my new idea. And it didn’t magically appear.”
    Well, forgive her for giving a crap about indigenous labor. “I wasn’t talking about that and you know it. I was talking about Keith.”
    “Where does she think we can set up the manufacturing?” Keith asked, looking at Ryan for the first time.
    Maybe she did know way too much about Ryan’s business but she was in college. She was curious. “How about here? Why don’t you create jobs in your own community?”
    “Because my own community charges through the roof. Do you know what the product cost would be? Your boyfriend over there would laugh me right out of his office if I came in and pitched him a product that included First World labor costs,” Ryan argued back.
    “I would turn him down flat. Ashley, why are you bugging Ryan about his labor costs? You’re a first year business student. He’s made millions. Lost it, too, but he’s well on his way to millions more,” Keith said.
    “Yes, well, I would prefer those millions didn’t come with blood on them.” Ashley stopped. How had she lost control of the conversation?
    And why were they both smiling?
    She ignored them because that wasn’t the point. “I want to know what you said to Keith because he’s acting weird and I don’t like it.”
    Keith stared at her. “I’m acting weird?”
    “Yes,” she shot back. “You haven’t touched me all night and you didn’t spank me.”
    “God, that’s rough.” Ryan grimaced.
    Keith ignored him. “And you didn’t like that? You didn’t like that I haven’t touched you?”
    She shouldn’t have started this, but she was certainly going to finish it. “I like what we have, and I don’t think Ryan should have a say in our relationship. We’re adults and we’ve both consented. I like our friendship.” It was so much more than that, but she couldn’t say the words. “And I won’t have Ryan manipulating you because he doesn’t like the idea. This is my life and my