21 Cutter #2
“Yeah.” He hesitates until I motion for him to go on. “Okay, I figure now that you have Simpson and Blair here, I could get next Saturday off for my sister’s wedding.”
“Why is this the first I’m hearing about your sister getting married?”
He grimaces. “Because it’s last minute. Her fiancé is with Doctors Without Borders and he volunteered to take another doctor’s place on a three-month assignment to Kenya because the guy broke his leg in an accident or something. Anyway, they wanted to tie the knot before he left.”
“I’m sure we can handle one Saturday night without you,” I assure him.
“Gee, make a guy feel wanted.”
“Do you want the time off or not?”
He shrugs. “Honestly, I was kind of hoping you’d say no. She’s the sister I don’t get along with so well.”
“And you wanted to use me as an excuse not to go. Sorry, you’ll have to come up with your own lie.”
“You’re all heart.” He drops into his chair and kicks his feet up. “How did the interviews go?”
Grateful for the distraction, I give him the rundown on the two candidates. “The first guy is a definite no. He’s a wannabe cop on a power trip.”
“You couldn’t tell that from his resume?”
I shrug. “People lie.”
“True. What about the second guy?”
“I like him. He’s mostly worked as a bodyguard. Doesn’t have that much experience with commercial business, but he’s between gigs and willing to learn. I’ll make a decision on him after talking to the other two.”
“When are you doing that?”
“One tomorrow, one Thursday.”
“So once you decide, when are you planning to bring them onboard?”
“As soon as possible. Daryl’s not cheap, but even he balked at how much the security company is charging us for Simpson and Blair.”
“Yeah, I don’t have any problem with Simpson, but Blair is kind of flaky. I get he’s used to doing the bodyguard thing with celebrities who probably have no structure to their lives, but if I have to tell him to stick to his sector one more time I think I’ll scream.”
I thought I was clear about that when I talked to him. “You want me to talk to him again?”
“No, don’t worry about it. Now that I know they’re not going to be here long, I can suck it up for a while.”
“Well, I’ll still need to talk to both of them about Saturday.”
My phone buzzes and I look down to see I have a text from Daryl.
DARYL:
Got a minute?
ME:
Be right there
I pocket my phone and stand up. At least my hard on is gone. “Gotta go. Daryl’s calling.”
“Better you than me.” Javi drains his cup and heads for the sink to rinse it out. “Guess I should get back to work myself.”
I make my way down the hall to the lobby, giving Simpson a nod as I pass. The quickest way to Daryl’s office is through the main house. No one’s on stage right now, thankfully. I don’t think I can handle any more bare male skin right now.
Reggie the D.J. falls into step beside me on his way to his booth. “How’s it going, man?”
“Good,” I reply. “Any problems?”
“Nah, everything’s cool.” He slips past me and slides into his booth as I push through the door to the back of house.
A lot of the quirky warren of hallways in this part of the building is due to the original construction of the house.
It was an eccentric home to begin with, and according to Daryl, was cheaper to keep in place than tear out walls and install beams.
I navigate the maze without paying attention, lost in my own head.
I don’t expect to see him. Am not even thinking about him for a change. I guess that’s why I blurt out his name without thinking.
“Aubie.”
He turns to me and my breath catches.
He’s dressed in street clothes–tight black jeans, low cut sweater that offers a peek of flesh, cropped black leather jacket. His bag is slung over his shoulder. He looks me over, his kohled eyes roving slowly up my body while the tip of his tongue appears between his parted lips.
“Cutter.”
He saunters closer and suddenly he’s in my space.
Close enough to touch.
I clench my fists at my side.
His scent envelopes me.
My mouth waters.
I don’t know why I called to him. I open my mouth but don’t know what I want to say.
He grins, his grey eyes capturing mine. “Careful, lover.” He gives me a wink. “Wouldn’t want anyone to see us together.”
I glance around in panic. “I have to go.” I make a move to go around him and his hand closes over my arm. My pulse jumps.
Our eyes meet.
His tongue drags over his lips and I want to follow it with mine.
He leans closer, his voice an intimate whisper. “Did you enjoy the show?”
I didn’t expect the reminder. I swallow and drop my eyes, knowing my silence is a confession.
He chuckles. “Nice to know you’re still a fan.” He releases my arm and turns away from me. “See you around, Cutter.”
I watch him walk down the hall and out the door. It isn’t until it closes behind him and I look away that I notice Daryl standing outside his office watching me. He was probably too far away to hear us, but he damn sure saw it.
Wonderful. This is going to suck.
I can’t stop the dozen different voices in my head telling me what to do and say.
Quiet.
Daryl holds open his door and turns to face me with a quirked brow.
“What?” I snap.
He grins. “I didn’t say a word, big guy.”
I want to punch him as I follow him into the office and plop down on the couch. He surprises me when he drops into the side chair rather than his throne behind the desk. Daryl does like his little power trips in here.
“What was so urgent I had to drop everything and come here?” I demand. Deflecting.
He continues to grin at me. “Anything you want to talk about? You know, friend to friend?”
“Not really, no.”
“Uh huh.” He seems to think about something then come to a conclusion. “Here’s the thing. What you do on your own time is none of my business, but, well…I should tell you I’ve seen things. Didn’t mean to, but…”
I can feel my face flush. I try to swallow, but my throat is too dry. “Things?”
When I don’t say more, he sighs. “Okay, you want to play it that way. I’m only asking because I know how you get and thought you might need someone to talk to.”
Why would he think I’d need that?
What does he know?
“I fucked Aubie,” I blurt.
Did I just say that? What the fuck is wrong with me?
He cocks his head and regards me with an odd expression. It’s no wonder. Who blurts out something like that with no warning?
“That’s a…choice,” he says finally.
What does he mean by that? He runs a male strip club. I would almost bet he’s been with guys, so it can’t be homophobic.
That means he’s talking about Aubie himself. I’ve made no secret of how I felt about him.
Still feel about him.
“It was just once,” I mutter.
“Hey, once, a dozen times, you do what feels good. To be honest, I’d like to see you do more of that. You deserve a little happiness.”
Even if he doesn’t mean it, it feels good to hear. “I don’t know, maybe I figured with a guy there was no chance of getting hurt.”
I can’t believe I just realized that. I could never fall in love with a guy, so there’s no way he could hurt me. In a weird way, it may be the safest option out there.
“You realize that’s a fucked up reason to go gay,” Daryl replies.
“I’m not gay.” Maybe bi. I don’t want to think about that right now.
“You fucked a man. That’s kind of the definition of it.”
It was just once.
The way his body moved beneath mine.
My dick twitches. This is ridiculous.
“It was just the once,” I insist again.
He sits back and drums his fingers against his thigh. “I told you, it doesn’t matter to me. What I’m surprised at is the who. I thought you hated him.”
I palm my face and groan. “So did I. In a way, I still do.”
“I had a girlfriend like that once.”
I frown at him and he waves his hand at me. “Sorry. This isn’t about me.”
I’m embarrassed for having been caught, but at the same time relieved to finally talk about it. Yeah, I did talk to Sammy, but he doesn’t know the who.
And the who is kind of important to this story.
Aside from his family’s wealth and power, Aubie is a known fuckboy.
His exploits are familiar fodder for the tabloids.
The only reason this place isn’t crawling with paparazzi on the nights he dances is because it’s a private club and he hasn’t advertised the fact that he’s here.
The ironic thing is, the majority of people who watch him dance don’t know who he really is.
If they did, I’d be confiscating cell phones and cancelling memberships right and left.
It would destroy the club. Him being here is more trouble than it’s worth, which is why I was surprised when Daryl hired him.
“He kind of pursued me.”
Daryl chuckles. “I’ve known you a long time, Cutter. Seen you at your best and your worst. And one thing I know for sure about you is you’re one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met. Which means no one is going to get you to do something you don’t want to do.”