Chapter 4
Jake
“Boss, we got a situation in reception two,” Dylan says when she opens my office door without knocking.
I’m out of my chair in a second.
There’s only one woman working in the “front” of Provoke, and if some asshole thinks I’m gonna let anyone make trouble with Jo, then they have another thing coming.
“Who’s out front tonight?” I ask her, as we step into the hallway and make an immediate right to go to the security office.
“Louis,” she says without hesitation—which is good.
Part of Dylan’s job is coordinating all the security guards.
“I’ve already told him to get his ass inside.
But here, look.” She slides back into her chair and points to the screen on the left of her desk.
“He’s a beast of a man, and I could tell Jo tensed up just a minute ago. He hasn’t made a move, but I thought—”
“What the fuck,” I mumble when the man—mountain of a man—in question moves his head slightly and suddenly I can see his face.
I also see him tense and Louis come into frame behind him.
“Get me on the phone with Jo,” I say, speaking faster than I ever have.
I guess Dylan isn’t a huge hockey fan.
Or maybe she doesn’t recognize Timmy without his helmet like I didn’t four months ago.
I shake my head and get into fix-it mode.
“Jo, don’t worry, I know who he is and he’s a good guy,” I say as soon as I see her pick up the phone on the screen.
I don’t actually know if he’s a good guy but well .
. . if he’s still good friends with Benny after all these years—who I do know is a good guy—then he has to at least be decent, right?
Besides, he looks beyond scared right now.
“I’ll come now and help out, but I know this isn’t how we do things, and your skepticism is great,” I assure her. If this happens when I’m not here to recognize the stranger at the door, then Dylan, Jo, and Louis’s reactions are exactly what the club needs.
This is more than just a sex club or a brothel. This is a safe space for the staff and the members who pay a lot of money to be allowed inside, and my job is to keep it that way.
“Okay,” Jo says simply and hangs up.
“You know him?” Dylan asks suspiciously.
“I do. Let me just go down there. I don’t think he knows I’m the owner, but I’ll get him sorted with a membership if that’s what he wants.”
My eye might twitch at the thought of Timmy trolling the main floor for a hookup, but I can’t think of any legitimate reason why I’d deny him a membership.
I know he can afford it, and also, this is basically what I did for Jules and Bear when Chris sent them to me. They also didn’t have the backing of an existing member, but I was waiting for them. I sure as hell wasn’t expecting Timmy, though.
“Go on then, Daddy Jake,” Dylan tells me with a smirk I pointedly ignore.
Timmy still looks fucking terrified when I get down to the reception, his eyes wide and not moving away from Jo. I can’t suppress the scowl I aim at Louis, but I snap out of it quickly. He’s really good at his job, and he’s doing his best.
“Timmy,” I call out when I’m only a few feet away.
His head snaps sharply in my direction, and if possible, his eyes open even wider, his mouth dropping open.
“Daddy Jake,” Jo says, with a slight nod. I suppress a wince. I’m not shy about my sexual preferences here, but I know Timmy from “outside,” and I doubt Benny told him I’m a Daddy.
“I’ve got it from here, Jo.” I nod back at her then look over Timmy’s shoulder at Louis and repeat the action.
He turns right around and goes back out to guard the back door.
Still not quite meeting his eyes, I address Timmy now.
“Follow me.” I smile faintly and turn so it’s not super obvious that I won’t meet those startling blue eyes.
I can feel him following behind me, and thankfully, when we get to the elevator the doors open right away.
As with all other new members or visitors escorted by a member, he has to go to administration before visiting the main floor, so that’s not too different. I keep my eyes laser focused on the silver doors when he walks in behind me, but I can feel his gaze on me.
It’s a surprise, though, when he doesn’t say anything at all—he just keeps staring.
When the doors open again, I walk out quickly and feel his heavy footsteps behind me. Dylan comes out of the security room, and her eyes go wide when she sees Timmy behind me.
I get it; he’s something else.
Not only big, because he is, but he’s also fucking gorgeous, and that’s not just my opinion.
“All good, Daddy Jake?” she asks, and again I have to stop myself from reacting. Everyone here calls me that. Everyone here knows, and none of my employees call me that in any sexual way at all.
But will Timmy understand that?
I don’t know of any way he would.
“Just gonna go over membership with Timmy,” I tell Dylan at last, but I keep walking toward my office. “Please, come in,” I tell him quietly as I hold the door open for him.
I risk a glance for a single second and see he’s frowning at my office.
Not in an angry way, but more . . . confused.
I hold my breath as he walks by me, then breathe in deeply and close my eyes to pray for strength. What I need to do now is something that’s gonna test my willpower.
Just imagining him looking for a hookup when I’m right here is torture, but it’s what’s going to happen as soon as I give him a membership.
And he has to want a membership, right? There’s no way he doesn’t. Why else would he be here?
I walk in and after a quick mental debate, walk back to my desk and sit behind it.
“So, Timmy,” I start, but then I don’t quite know what to say after.
“So . . . Jake?” he says like a question.
I see him sit in front of me out of the corner of my eye and realize I need to look him in the eye for this conversation. I have rules to explain, I have to give him contracts to sign, and I need to see if he understands how important it is that he hears everything I tell him.
“Do they call you Daddy Jake just because you’re in charge or . . .” He leaves the question open-ended.
“Not only, no.” I suck in a deep breath and steel myself for delivering a BDSM and kink crash course.
“I am a Daddy, but this is my establishment. Inside these walls, everyone gets to be whoever they want to be. Including me. That means no one’s forced to call me anything, really, if they don’t want to. ”
It would normally baffle me, that someone’s reaction to that statement is wide eyes and a sexy lower-lip bite, but I’m too entranced by how fucking good he looks to think about it beyond just noticing it.
He keeps staring, unflinching, and I have to resist shifting in my seat. That would be embarrassing.
“Right.” The threat of fumbling snaps me out of whatever that brain fart was, and I look down at my desk and move a few sheets of paper around just to keep my hands busy.
“So, Provoke is both a sex club and a brothel. To have access to either, you have to have a membership. Normally, you can only get one if a person who’s already a member invites you and vouches for you. ”
When he doesn’t immediately answer, I’m forced to look back at him, and I see something like relief slam into him.
“That’s why the scary security guard came in,” he says.
“Yes, we get very few people coming in alone, and well, you’re tall, strong, unexpected, and were talking to the only woman who works here who has any contact with members, so . . .”
“Yeah, no. That makes sense. I’m just glad they didn’t think—I wouldn’t—I’m not a violent person, I promise.”
The way he stumbles over his words, the earnest look on his face, and the obvious desperation for me to believe him would be enough, but again, he’s Benny’s friend, and that’s more than enough of a reference for me.
I don’t know if I should tell him that, though.
But I’ve gotta give him some kind of reassurance.
“I know, Tim. You wouldn’t be here otherwise, and—”
“Timmy,” he blurts out, interrupting me.
“Okay.” I suck in a fortifying breath. “Timmy.”
“So that was the only woman here?” It takes me long enough to understand what he’s asking that he speaks again. “The one at the reception?”
“That’s Jo, yeah. This is a men-only sex club, which of course includes trans men, and we make sure everyone here is treated with the utmost respect and privacy.”
“I didn’t know it was only for men,” he whispers.
“How did you even find out about Provoke?”
I can’t hold back the question any longer.
“There was a sign just outside a restaurant we went to one night.”
That’s . . . vague.
“We?”
God, why is that the first question out of my mouth? For fuck’s sake.
“The team,” he says quickly, with a nod and that earnest look he has, but when realization hits, I can’t hold back the annoyed groan. “What?” he asks, and when I look I see he’s scared now.
That won’t do.
At least now I know what he looks like when he’s scared so I’ll be able to step in in the—very unlikely—event that something happens while he’s here.
With other men . . .
Enjoying himself . . .
Okay, pivoting.
“That was a . . . prank,” I settle on. God, how can I even begin to explain this to him without telling him things about several of his teammates that he doesn’t want to know?
“A prank?” His brows lower with skepticism.
I think through my words for a long moment.
“Let’s just say some of your teammates are familiar with Provoke, and there have been some .
. . situations. Honestly, I know that’s vague, but that’s as much as I can say about the whole thing.
Except maybe I can tell you that it’s all in good fun and everyone involved gives each other shit in a friendly way. ”
There’s no way I can tell him my brother has slept with not only Benny but two of his other teammates too—many years ago and before he met Benny, of course—and that it’s thanks to that connection that they met their now husbands, but it was still a tense situation when everyone found out.
“Okaay.” He draws out the word, but nods simply after a moment.