Lucy's Liberation [Elk Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Gigi Moore Page B

stood as far as his and Lucy’s relationship was concerned. He respected their allegiance and was glad that Lucy had people in this town who cared about her so much.
    “A little word of advice,” Maia said.
    Ki perked up his ears and came closer to lean on the counter.
    “Rance really did a number on that kid. So it’s going to take some time before she can start trusting you.”
    “I appreciate your input.” He nodded. “So, have you changed your mind about selling me any of your paintings?”
    “Not yet, but…” She leaned close with a conspiratorial look lighting her dark eyes. “I do have a little something to tide you over though until I do…”
    Ki had a strange feeling he was about to be inveigled and would like it.

Chapter 7
     
    When Lucy came out of the storeroom, it was to the sight and sounds of Maia and Sabrina arguing and Rebel standing by, watching like a referee.
    The two women rarely disagreed on anything to do with the business, so Lucy assumed it was something personal and that it was none of her business. She didn’t want to interrupt except that after Ki’s visit and being in such close quarters with him kissing her until the crotch of her bloomers was soaked, she needed to get out of the store for a breath of fresh air and to think.
    When Maia noticed her standing at the storeroom door she cut herself off mid-dispute and stared at Lucy as if she was a kid who had just been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.
    Lucy immediately wondered what had transpired between the women and Ki. She had after all, seen him in action and he had the magnetism to charm a nun out of her habit. She also knew how much all three ladies liked Ki and thought that his and Lucy’s impending marriage was a good thing for her. Maia, especially, liked telling her she needed to get back on the horse.
    And Lordy, isn’t Hezekiah Benjamin a nice piece of flesh I could be riding.
    That little exchange in the storeroom was definitely going to her head…or her pussy more than likely. Her mind hadn’t climbed out of the gutter since Ki had left. She’d had to go out back to the pump and splash her face with cold water before she came back in out to the main floor to face anyone, praying that there weren’t too many customers in the store.
    “Everything okay out here?” Lucy asked.
    “Fine and dandy,” Maia said.
    “If you don’t tell her, I will,” Sabrina grumbled.
    “Oooh, this is going to be good.” Rebel rubbed her hands together as if she was about to sit down to a nice juicy steak dinner.
    Lucy looked at all three women and the butterflies that had been doing battle in her belly until Ki left just a few minutes before, began waging again. “What’s going on?”
    “You made a sale!” Maia beamed.
    Lucy frowned. “What exactly did I sell?”
    Maia opened the register drawer, removed a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Lucy. “Aren’t you pleased as punch?”
    “Why don’t you tell her what you sold?”
    “It’s not as if I sold something you wanted to keep. I actually found it in the trash and…”
    Lucy shook her head and backed away. “You didn’t.”
    “I couldn’t stand to see a piece of art like that waste away like garbage. So I took it out of the trash and put it in a nice frame.”
    “You wouldn’t sell him any of your paintings, but you sold him my…garbage?”
    “It’s not garbage. And evidently Ki agreed, because he paid me for it. I think he would have paid even more had I asked. I probably could have named my price. That’s how much he liked your work.”
    “But it was mine.”
    “Finders keepers, losers weepers.”
    Lucy would have burst out laughing if she wasn’t so ready to break down crying.
    Sabrina must have sensed how frustrated she was, for she came from behind the counter and put an arm around her. “Look at it this way, kid. Maia didn’t tell him who the artist is.”
    “Yet,” Maia chimed in.
    “You can’t tell him,” Lucy