9. Jace

Jace walked toward their office while Zane followed with Ruby over his shoulder. He knew his friend had been just as worried as he was when she hadn’t shown up at noon. And then she wasn’t answering her phone. They didn’t know enough about her to know if she lived somewhere safe or not. Every awful scenario had been running through Jace’s mind.

The men were just about to pull her member application to get her address and go looking for her when they saw on the cameras that her SUV was pulling into the parking lot. Zane had practically sprinted to the front door. His best friend was not happy.

Walking into their office, Jace closed the door behind them. Not that anyone else was currently at the club since it was the middle of the day and Gabby had gone home, but occasionally some of the employees would come in early for one-on-one training sessions.

Zane set Ruby on the edge of his desk and then stared down at her with a stern expression. When her wide eyes moved from Zane to Jace, he also gave her a stern look.

“Why were you late? Did something happen? Why don’t you have your phone?” Zane demanded as he began to pace.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jace waited for her to answer, but she just crossed her arms and glared at both of them.

“I’m not sure why either of you are concerned about it. Looked to me like you had someone here to fill my place anyway.”

Zane froze in place and stared at her and Jace knew his friend was itching to spank her smart little bottom. But they had some things to figure out with her before that could happen. Neither of them would spank her without an agreement in place first.

“Young lady, you are skating on very thin ice right now. I suggest you stop with the back talk and start answering us respectfully. We were truly worried something had happened to you,” Jace said calmly.

Her eyes widened, obviously surprised that he was being so stern with her.

She took in a deep breath and then sighed. “I fell asleep. I didn’t mean to. I’ve just been so tired and then when one of Jace’s calls woke me up, I started panicking to get ready. I was in such a hurry that I forgot my phone.”

Zane walked closer to her until he was within arm’s reach and then pressed his hand to her forehead.

“Why are you so tired? Are you sick? Why didn’t you call us and tell us you were sick? We could have come and taken care of you,” he said, pressing the back of his hand to her cheeks.

Ruby grabbed onto his wrist, stilling his hand, and smiled up at him. “I’m not sick, you big worry wart. I just haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Why didn’t you answer when you saw me calling, Ruby? If you had answered and told us you fell asleep, you wouldn’t have had to rush around trying to get here. I don’t even want to ask if you were speeding,” Jace said.

She shrugged. “I just panicked and didn’t think. I’m sorry. I’m not used to having to be places.”

Zane looked back at Jace with furrowed eyebrows. What did she mean she wasn’t used to having to be places? That was kind of odd.

“Who was that girl?” she whispered.

Jace looked at Ruby, who suddenly looked dispirited, and he wondered if she was jealous of Gabby. The thought made him smile inside, but at the same time, he never wanted Ruby to worry about her place with them. And what place was that exactly? Theirs? Not yet, but Jace felt something for her that he had never felt for another woman. Not even Erin, the only woman that he and Zane had dated for more than six months.

“Gabby works for the club. She comes in during the day for a few hours and cleans. She leaves each day around one. Her Daddy is one of our close friends.”

Relief swam in her eyes and Jace realized she had truly been worried about who Gabby was to them. Hmm. Maybe their feelings for her would be reciprocated.

Stepping closer to her, Jace boxed her in with his hands as Zane stood only a foot or so away. Leaning down so his face was close to hers, he stared into her eyes.

“You have captured our attention, little girl. Only you. We haven’t stopped thinking about you since the other night,” Jace said calmly.

He watched as she sucked in a breath and studied his face closely before she glanced up to Zane. He nodded.

“Jace is telling the truth, baby. I want you. Something about you is calling to us and we can’t ignore it. But you are in trouble. I have a feeling you’re going to be in trouble a lot with us,” Zane said, leaning his hip against the side of his desk right next to where she was sitting.

Her mouth dropped open, making Jace grin.

“But you’re not my Zaddy,” she said before looking at Jace. “Or my Daddy.”

Leaning forward, Jace kissed her forehead. “Maybe not yet, but we want to be.”

Pulling his hands away from the desk, Jace picked her up and smiled when she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist as he settled her on his hip. He carried her to the couch and sat down, situating her on his lap as Zane sat down next to him.

“We assume since you were here by yourself the other night that you’re single?” Jace asked.

She nodded, a sad look flickering in her eyes, making him want to pull her in to comfort her, but they still had questions to ask.

“Are you interested in us being your Daddies?” Zane asked.

Leave it to Zane to lay it all out there.

Ruby squirmed on his lap, making his hardening cock press more painfully against his zipper. Placing his hands on her hips, he stilled her and shook his head slightly when she peered up at him from under her lashes.

“Sit still, little girl. Answer Zane.”

“What girl wouldn’t be interested in you guys being their Daddies? You guys are hot as fuck.”

“Language!” Zane snapped.

Rolling her eyes, Ruby let out a dramatic sigh.

“Is Zaddy always this grumpy?” she asked Jace.

Giving her the best stern look he could manage, Jace couldn’t help the chuckle that rolled out of his mouth. Zane reached out and plucked her off Jace’s lap and settled her on his so she was facing him.

“Tell me what Zaddy means, right now,” Zane demanded.

She giggled. “A Zaddy is a man who is older and hot.”

Zane tilted his head with an amused look on his face. “Exactly how old do you think I am?”

Ruby burst out giggling, bringing her hands up to her face to hide behind them, but Zane grabbed her wrists and stopped her.

“I’m only thirty-eight!” he said.

Both Ruby and Jace laughed while Zane continued to look completely bewildered about her referring to him as older.

“I’m still gonna call you Zaddy,” she replied.

Raising his eyebrows, a smile spread across Zane’s face.

“Only someone who is our Little would be allowed to call me Zaddy,” he said matter-of-factly.

“We want you to be our Little, Ruby. We’ll start slow at first, but we want you,” Jace added.