Ward #3
He sounded curious rather than defensive, and I shook my head. “No, but it was hard to miss that they were the only people you talk about.”
His eyes swept over me and then shrugged. “We’re close.”
I was tempted to add that it must be nice, being so close to your family.
To treat them as comrades and close friends rather than people you were chained to, bound through blood and cash flow.
People you could talk to and connect with, rather than constantly being on your guard, always waiting for the next blow.
I didn’t say that, though, because that was more about my bitterness and envy than him.
“Good,” I chose to say instead. “Now, come over here.”
Strolling past the first door on the other side of the bed, I moved to the second, tucked into the corner, and opened it. The lights came on automatically as I stepped in, Arlo close behind. I gestured around. “This is the closet for my formal clothes.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Do you have closets for shoes, casual clothes, and underwear?”
“Well, that’s just excessive,” I said with a wink, knowing full well that two closets the size of small apartment bedrooms was excessive. “Two closets should suffice, I think.”
“More than,” he said, looking around. “We aren’t exactly built the same.”
“No, but you were the one who insisted you were going to buy a tux for yourself when it’s unnecessary, so this will have to be the middle ground.”
“Which still doesn’t solve the problem of nothing fitting me. You are bigger than I am.”
“In certain places perhaps, but around the shoulders, you might only be slightly smaller, which is an easy enough fix. The rest can be tailored just fine.”
He gazed at me sidelong. “Doesn’t tailoring take several days?”
“When you’re going through your standard service with a small team and a long line-up of people, yes.
When you have a personal tailor with a dedicated team ready to do what you need at a moment’s notice because you can throw a ridiculous sum of money at them.
..no, at most, they will need about twenty-four hours.
We have slightly more than that, so long as we get the measurements. ”
He stared at me for a moment before nodding and turning back toward the selection. Not that there were dozens of outfits for him to choose from, so long as a tux didn’t go through the wringer while I was wearing it, there was no need to replace it. “It shouldn’t take you long.”
“No, men’s fashion isn’t particularly diverse, especially in formal wear,” he said, looking over the selection carefully.
“Well, it can be,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “But these sorts of parties don’t allow people to be that...showy. Traditional dress for a traditional party.”
“Traditional by your standards, perhaps,” he said with a chuckle. “Your average person doesn’t need a tuxedo except if they’re in a wedding party. And even then, most people rent them.”
“You do realize that I’m well aware of the differences between my lifestyle and that of your average person, right?” I asked dryly.
“I know you’re not ignorant, but even the most aware person can miss details of people's lives in an entirely different world.”
“Mmm, probably, but it sounded good,” I said with a snort. “Now pick your damn tux.”
“Okay,” he said with a snort, turning back to the selection.
“And while you look things over, I’m going to go get into a proper outfit,” I told him, walking back toward my bedroom.
“And I thought you were going to stroll around in your bathrobe all day.”
“You thought or you hoped,” I shot over my shoulder with a grin. When he gave me an unimpressed stare, I grabbed the tie to my robe and gave it a little tug. “I could always walk around in...whatever I have on under this.”
“Or what you don’t have on,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Was that what was coming next?”
“I thought about it, but you’re smart enough to know it was inferred. I wouldn’t want to insult your intelligence by stating what you can figure out for yourself.”
“Somehow, you don’t strike me as the sort to worry about offending people.”
“Maybe,” I said with a wink. “But there are exceptions to every rule, aren’t there?”
He gave a mild shooing gesture. “Your conversation skills are far better than your seduction skills.”
“Ah, a dagger straight to my heart,” I said with a snort. It was nice to see he was capable of sass instead of his typical deadpan.
Humming to myself, I walked into the bathroom, reaching for the light beside the wall and stopping when I could see my own reflection just fine.
Reaching up, I adjusted my hair, pulling the robe loose and draping it on the hook beside the door.
I frowned at the dark circles under my eyes and made a mental note to book a spa appointment.
I was letting my daily skin maintenance fall by the wayside, and it was starting to show.
At least the rest of my body didn’t look nearly as rough as my face.
..though it was probably time for some trimming.
Shrugging, I stepped back out and grabbed the clothes I’d left on the bed.
I could see Arlo’s shadow as he moved almost silently, only the soft whisper of cloth giving away his presence.
I lingered at the edge of the bed, wondering if I might see him come out.
There was no way he didn’t know where I was, considering I was still humming.
If he peeped, I would have my answer as to whether he was a sexual being and interested in me.
If he didn’t...well, that wouldn’t be a clear sign either way.
He was unfailingly polite, so it wouldn’t be out of character for him to respect my privacy even though I was obviously putting myself into a position where he could get a full view.
A view I honestly wouldn’t have passed up, one could call it arrogance, but I took good care of my body for the most part, and. ..well, genetics had been kind as well.
But he didn’t, so I pulled my clothes on, smiling as I finished the tune.
It was difficult to tell how interested he was in me, and to what degree, which was.
..refreshing. I hadn’t thought about it before, but several partners had been blatant in their attraction for me.
Not that that was a problem, who didn’t want whoever they were dating or sleeping with to show interest in them?
Still, a bit of mystery was nice. Not too much that I felt like he was playing games or going along for the ride, neither of which I suspected.
Arlo struck me as the type of person who, if he weren’t interested, wouldn’t have called me, let alone agreed to come here for a fitting so he could join me at a rather dull charity gala tomorrow.
At the same time, I didn’t know how deep his feelings ran, so I wasn’t sure how to act around him, if I should make a move.
“Invigorating,” I said as I pulled the last of my clothes on and buttoned up the pants.
“What’s that?” he asked from the closet.
“I’m talking to myself,” I informed him as I rounded the bed. “I find it’s the only way to ensure I have at least one good conversation during the day.”
“He says without a trace of humility or irony,” Arlo said with a chuckle as I entered to find that he had drawn a few pieces out and hung them on the empty rack in the center of the room.
Humming again, I inspected them, not surprised to find he had gone for traditional and classic all the way. “Now all we need is to get you dressed so we can see how much work needs to be done.”
He blinked. “You’re going to do the measurements?”
“And why not?” I asked with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you privacy to change.”
“Modesty was not my immediate concern,” he said, raising his brow.
“Then what was?”
“I wasn’t aware that tailoring was in your repertoire of skills.”
“A man can be full of surprises, can’t he?”
“He can.”
“Good,” I turned when I heard the buzzer. “Perfect timing. You change, I’ll get our drinks.”
“Sure,” he said, reaching for the clothes.
I went a step further and closed the closet door behind me, so he wouldn’t think I wouldn’t show him the same courtesy he had shown me, and tried to peek in on him. I paused at the door. “Arlo?”
There was a pause. “Yes?”
“Do yourself a favor, there are a few paintings on the back of the wall.”
“I see them. What’s your point?”
“One of them contains a safe. A safe that’s hard to find since all the paintings are fixed to the wall, but a safe all the same.”
There was another pause. “And there would be a camera somewhere in here to watch those paintings covertly as an extra measure of security, I imagine.”
“Indeed. So if you don’t want your bits and bobs filmed in high definition, stay away from the back end of the closet.”
“I see, thank you for telling me.”
“Of course.”
I could have let him wander back there, ass and dick hanging out to be filmed for my viewing pleasure later.
More than one disrespectful idiot had gone into my private rooms without my knowing, hoping to get laid out of sight, and those closets were prime places for it.
Arlo was not one of those idiots, however, and while I was certainly interested in seeing what he kept under his clothes, I wanted it to be revealed when he wanted to show me.
And if it were filmed, I would prefer to be the one holding the camera.
It took a few minutes to get the order and make sure the delivery woman had her tip before I made it back.
I looked at his cup and snorted when I saw he had ordered a cup of tea, herbal tea no less.
Apparently, caffeine in the afternoon wasn’t allowed any more than alcohol in Arlo’s book.
It was nothing short of amazing that someone who clearly didn’t like to alter his brain or body chemistry with drugs, legal or otherwise, was so blasé about the lifestyle I led.