She glanced out the window, where she occasionally glimpsed Noah around the greenhouses. He was doing the minimum necessary daily check on the stock and irrigation. Lyda cared for her more delicate tropical plants like children, tending them so carefully they were delivered to customers without even a blemished leaf.
"Come look at this."
Turning the heat down on the omelet, Gen came to her side. Lyda was considering adding hardscape features to her landscape design offerings, so was perusing an array of images on her tablet. "I searched on erotic statuary."
Gen chuckled. "You're going to start a trend of erotic lawn art in the Tampa area?"
"No. Smartass." Lyda slid an arm around Gen's thighs, knuckles stroking her hip as Gen leaned against her. "This is for my own gardens. I liked some of the things I saw at Tyler's place last time I was there. I don't have his budget, of course."
"There are Saudi princes who wish they had his budget." Gen bent closer to look at the picture on the tablet. "That's...oh. Well."
The piece showed two very handsome, muscular nude males having sex, one pressed down on all fours while the other was buried inside him. A woman was stretched out on her hip on a low brick wall beside them, as if they were copulating in a garden setting. She was naked as well, but in a position and with an expression that said she was in charge of them both. Her foot, dangling off the wall, was brushing against the back and hip of the man on top. Her other hand was tangled in the bottom man's hair, fingers gripped tight.
"It's a J. Martin," Lyda said. "Actually..." She enlarged the picture on the screen. "J. Martin and Thomas Wilder. A collaboration."
"Oh. Wow. Well, it's gorgeous, but you can't afford a J. Martin. Not unless you sacrifice every penny of next year's profits."
"Since when are you an art aficionado?" Lyda scoffed.
Lyda had stumbled this morning getting out of bed and wrenched her still weak ankle, which probably explained why she sounded a little cranky. Or maybe she wasn't cranky. She was just teasing Gen in that edgy way of hers.
That was what Gen told herself, even as that part of her that never reacted well to moments like this curled into a defensive ball.
"Even us trailer park trash occasionally read an article," she said, retreating back to the stove. She was past this stuff. She should be past this stuff.
"Hey."
She lifted her head, found Lyda pinning her with a look. "Where did that come from?"
"Sorry. Knee-jerk reaction. I know you didn't mean it that way. Forget it."
"I won't. Come back here."
"This will burn." She flipped the omelet, turned off the stove. Picking up the hand towel, she shook her head. "I mean it, can we just forget it? I don't know why I said something that dumb."
"Neither do I. Which is why I want to know why." Lyda extended a hand. Still imperious, but something kinder in her expression that had Gen reluctantly coming to her, letting her hand be taken. Lyda reached up, touched her face. "What the hell, rabbit?"
Gen sighed, wishing she could just throw the towel over her head. "It was your tone of voice. I know you were teasing or just irritable. I have this weird trigger about things like that. I know you didn't mean it. Old stuff, you know?"
Lyda studied her, then pulled her down to eye level, pushing a lock of hair over Gen's ear, tugging it before she settled her hand on her shoulder, thumb sliding along the base of her throat. "Okay. But it's not the first time I've seen you do that. Despite how accomplished you are, you think because I'm better educated or grew up with more money, that I look down on you."
That grip on her throat tightened. "A Domme c
herishes her subs, rabbit. Cherishes. They're not here for her to kick around to make her feel more superior. Except Noah, when I'm in a bad mood. Then I have you to kick my ass for that."
Despite the grim humor, Lyda's gaze stayed piercing. "That was your last free pass. You put yourself down in front of me or where I hear about it again, I'll be kicking your ass. Got it?"
Gen pressed her lips together, nodded.
"Good girl." Lyda's touch eased to a distracting caress between Gen's breasts, with a quick tug on the connecting point between the cups of her bra, accessible from the vee neckline. "Now, truth. How did you know that about J. Martin? You cut your eyes away when you mentioned an article, and that's what you do when you're not telling the whole truth."
She and Noah should take Lyda to Vegas. They could probably come home capable of affording ten J. Martins. "How about quid pro quo?" Gen rallied. "You tell me where you and Marguerite went the other day?"
On Wednesday, Lyda had told Gen and Noah to watch over the nursery business while she ran an errand. She was driving again, but only short trips. One, because she still tired easily and two, despite her great annoyance with herself about it, she was still skittish behind the wheel in heavy traffic. Noah offered to take her, but Lyda declined the offer. "I have a ride."
A half hour later, Marguerite drove into the nursery. While Noah went into the house to let Lyda know she was here, Gen had approached the open window of Marguerite's BMW. The 320i was past its prime, but Marguerite refused to get rid of it, citing the fact she wasn't going to buy a modern BMW that had the same body as any other car on the road. When the engine had reached three hundred thousand miles, Tyler had given her a brand new engine for a Christmas present.
"Hey," Gen said, glad to see her former boss. She stopped by Tea Leaves at least once a week, and she and Chloe met for lunch frequently, but she was still getting used to the idea that Marguerite had already predicted. She was likely not coming back to Tea Leaves. Last week, Lyda had offered her a job officially--assistant manager, underscoring how quickly Gen was learning the business and earning her Mistress's trust in her.