36 Aubie #2
He doesn’t bat an eye. “On a scale of one to ten, I’m a solid nine point nine nine. Not into piss play. What did you have in mind?”
“You make a lot here?”
“Why, are you offering an upgrade?”
Oh, I like this kid. Sharp, snarky, and sexy as fuck. I turn to Daryl. “Think you could make him your next Aubie?”
Daryl looks him up and down and Cale doesn’t flinch from the scrutiny. “When is your next day off?” he asks him.
“Tomorrow.”
Daryl pulls a glossy red card out of his suit pocket and hands it across the table. “Be there tomorrow at six. Ask for Daryl. That’s me.”
Cale shows the first sign of suspicion. “What kind of job is it, cause I’m not a hooker.”
“Good to know,” Daryl replies, then turns to me. “Want to tell him what he’s auditioning for?”
He’s leaving this up to me? Guess he was serious when he said he wanted me to pick the talent. “Cale darling, how would you feel about becoming the next star of a kinky gay sex club?"
Daryl doesn’t look too pleased with my description of Eros, but Cale’s eyes light up like a kid at Christmas.
“Six o’clock, right?” he asks and Daryl nods. “Okay, I got to get back to work, but…thanks.”
He’s walking away before Daryl can reply. “That’s the kind of stuff you want me to do?” I ask him.
He looks at me like he’s just now replaying the last few minutes. “First of all, how did you know he’d be interested?”
I shrug. “A hunch. He has that certain je ne sais quoi you look for in a slutty entertainer.”
Daryl snorts. “If you say so. Will you show him the ropes?”
I glance at Cutter. “Is that allowed?”
He leans over and plants a kiss on my cheek, and I have to say, I’m impressed he felt comfortable enough to do that in public. “You don’t need to ask my permission.”
“You’re the one who made the no stripping rule,” I remind him.
“Are you going to strip for him?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then it’s fine.” Under his breath, he adds, “Nothing worth getting punished for.”
Oh no he didn’t. I catch the mischievous twinkle in his eye and have all I can do not to dive head first into his crotch.
“Do you two need a moment?” Daryl asks.
Cutter’s expression morphs to pure innocence as he turns his attention to his food. “No, we’re good.”
“You know,” I say as I pick at my salmon. I can’t help it if I’m hungry for a different kind of meat. “If you’re going to sell Eros as this gay sexual fantasyland, you should start thinking about your own image.”
Daryl looks up at me. “What do you mean? Worrying about my image is what trapped me in the closet in the first place.”
“You own a gay strip club. Who told you to adopt the image of a straight gangster?”
“My backers are very…traditional.”
I shake my head and turn to my salad. I’m optimistic it’ll hold more appeal than the fish. “Not any more they’re not. I told you I’d replace their money.”
“Aubie, do you have any idea how much it cost to get Eros up and running?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter. Give me a number, I’ll take care of it.”
“You can’t–”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “I can. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was loaded, and left to my own devices, I’ll never spend all of it. Let me at least do something fun with it.”
He’s quiet for several minutes, then asks, “What were you going to say about my image?”
Good. Now we’re talking about the important stuff. “You’re selling sex, Daryl. Gay sex at that. Most people would expect the person behind such an enterprise to be at least knowledgeable about the subject, but you’re hiding behind a revolving door of beautiful beards.”
“I’m not ready to settle down,” he retorts.
“And no one is saying you should.” Like I’m one to criticize anyone about that.
“But at least date the right gender. Stop pretending to be something you’re not.
How can you expect your customers to have an authentic experience if you’re living a lie?
Never trust a chef who won’t eat their own cooking. ”
He grins at me. “Sounds kind of folksy for a man of the world like you.”
“I have a grandmother who has been known to occasionally spout nuggets of wisdom. I might have retained a thing or two.”
“Guess we should set aside some time to talk numbers,” he says, sobering.
“All I need from you is an amount. What do you need to make the club solvent, then do these upgrades?” He still seems reluctant. “Look, I’ll have my lawyers draw up formal papers tomorrow. Can you at least give me a rough estimate before that so I know what I’m asking them for?”
“I can do that. I’m sure they’re going to want to see the books, too.”
“Whatever makes you comfortable, Daryl. Just know I’m not going to back out of this.
I know I have a reputation for being a little flighty–” Cutter coughs into his hand.
“–but I’m serious about this. I love everything about Eros.
It’s exactly what I’d picture heaven to be like.
You know, if I believed in that sort of thing. ”
He quirks a brow. “Never thought to describe it that way, but I can see where you’re coming from. It’s been my dream since I was in high school.”
I grin at him. “Aw, I can just picture teenage Daryl jerking off to visions of his gay fantasyland.”
“Do you ever stop?” he asks.
“Welcome to my world,” Cutter mutters.
“Get used to it, Mr. Hart. If we’re going to be in business together, you’re going to get an adult-size dose of me every day.”
He looks past me to Cutter, who shakes his head. “Don’t blame me. It was your idea.”
“But you sold me, right, baby?” I turn and bat my eyes at my man.
“Of course I did.”
“Liar.” I peck him on the lips. “But I’ll have fun making you pay for that later.”
“Now I’m getting jealous,” Daryl mumbles.
I reach over and cup his chin. “Sorry, babe, you turned this down once.”
That gets Cutter’s attention. “Excuse me?”
Daryl frowns like he can’t remember. Please. Then the lightbulb goes off. “Oh yeah, that night at Selena’s.”
“Yeah. You told me in no uncertain terms that no means no.”
“You were flirting with me with Selena standing right there,” he insists.
Oh, sweetie, she wasn’t paying attention to you or me. “At the risk of bursting your balloon, I wasn’t actually flirting with you.” I turn to Cutter. “I wasn’t. Really.”
He has a constipated look on his face. I might as well make it worse.
“Look, I’ll admit, you’re a hunk of deliciousness and at one time I might have entertained the thought of climbing aboard. Hey, you both know who I am. But that wasn’t what I was doing that night.”
Was it? I can’t remember now. One party kind of bleeds into the next after a while. I believe there was a guy named Will, then everything after I got home is kind of fuzzy.
I side-eye Cutter, who’s trying to look like this isn’t bothering him. Guess I should’ve kept my big mouth shut. This is one of those times a get out of jail free card would come in handy. I did say I was new at this.
“What about now?” he asks.
“What about what now?”
“Do you still want to…” he lowers his voice, “fuck him?”
“I’m sitting right here,” Daryl says.
These two are adorable. I allow my mind to detour to a place where a threesome would be acceptable, then cut it off right away when I see Cutter’s eyes.
“No, baby. I love you.”
“You guys are using the L word?” Daryl asks. “Jesus, what did I miss?”
I snap my fingers at him. “Keep up, boss man. Cutter and I are in love. I even met the fam and everything.”
“Has he met yours?” he asks.
Why did he have to bring them into this and ruin a perfectly nice afternoon? I’ve been riding this high since I woke up today. “I just told you, I love him. Why would I subject him to that?”
Cutter reaches under the table and finds my hand. When he squeezes it, I blink back a tear and slip back into my happy place. “I’m assuming you want me there tomorrow to talk to Cale?”
Daryl nods. “That would be good. Still not seeing whatever you do in him.”
“Trust me. You will.”
The truth is, I see a little of myself in him.
Oh, not the service industry drone working the day shift in an upscale restaurant part–give me a break–but he’s got the cocky adventurer willing to try anything persona dead to rights.
I wasn’t thinking about him as a replacement for me when I asked him to fuck Daryl.
I was just making a point. Okay, maybe it was inappropriate, but then, that’s like an art medium to me.
The fact that he went along with it so easily piqued my curiosity.
Could I actually mentor him into my old role? I know this all looks easy to an outsider, but it takes work to be this awesome.