Eli Read online

  “I’m going to start looking again. Hopefully, we’ll have a few people to interview by next week.” Preston didn’t seem any more excited by the prospect than I was. He was the king of staying cool under pressure, and if he’d gotten frustrated with the IT guys, it had to have been bad.

  Which was why I tried to stay out of the hiring process until he’d found someone he thought was halfway decent.

  “If they could work off-site it would be easier, but they have to fit in, or it’s just going to be weird.” Occasionally, we’d hired people who hadn’t fit.

  Most of the time, it had been easy to see before they were actually hired, but a few had slipped through. They usually started to panic and quit after the first day or two, which was why we didn’t really go easy on newbies, because I wanted to know right off the bat if they were going to bail.

  “I agree, but we have to get someone in here. At the rate we’re growing, I think we’re going to have problems on the site in a few months with the amount of traffic that’s coming through it. And Merrick was serious about the upgrades.” Preston stretched and then looked at me, and I could see the conversation building in his head.

  “What?” Might as well make him say it so we could move on.

  “He’s not nice to you.” Preston winced. “Okay, that sounded like we’re in kindergarten again. Let me rephrase that. He’s polite to everyone but you. With you, he loses his marbles. We’d never let anyone talk to one of our employees this way. Why are you putting up with it?”

  That was a damned good question. One I didn’t have the answer to.

  Shrugging, I went back to leaning against the chair. “No fuckin’ clue.”

  Something about the asshole just made me want to needle him to death. To flirt and tease until his head exploded. Roman was so easy to rile up, and it was like a bad TV show that I couldn’t stop watching. “The photos are good?”

  “That’s not a good enough reason…although yeah…they’re fabulous.” Preston sighed, and I knew he was giving me one of those looks where he was trying to figure something out…it was usually me.

  “I rub people the wrong way sometimes—it’s a special talent.” I sat up and gave him a teasing look, refusing to seem pathetic.

  Preston lifted an eyebrow. “I’m not sure your brand of special should be called a talent.”

  I laughed. He was probably right. “It will be fine.”

  We’d either explode the building, or I was going to kill him, but giving him the satisfaction of saying he’d been fired…not a chance.

  “We’ll give it a little while longer.” Preston seemed ready to switch gears, because he grabbed some papers off his desk. “What did you think about the new clothes?”

  So we were pretending the screaming match about hookers hadn’t happened? I was okay with that.

  Mentally shrugging and throwing off the stress of the shoot, I tried to shove my brain back in business mode. “Overall, I like the quality and the fit seems good. I want to see what some of the other guys think, though. The stockings are fun, but I don’t know how practical they’d be for most men, and I’m not sure about the sales potential; something that delicate doesn’t always hold up under jeans and men’s outerwear.”

  I liked sexy things that were fun to wear for someone as much as the next guy, but I wanted clothing on the site that guys could wear all the time. Not just items that were for special occasions. It was too easy to put them away and never actually wear them if they weren’t for using all the time.

  “I agree. But we’ll see how everyone else feels. I told the company that we’re liking things so far, but something about Roman’s comments on the colors has me thinking. Run them through the laundry in the next day or two. I’m going to have several people do the same thing so we see how the colors hold up.” Preston gave me a questioning look.

  “Yeah, it’s probably a good idea. Normally, their things wear well, but I think they must have new manufacturing facilities because their new ‘lower prices and new lines’ came with really varied quality. I don’t want our name associated with something that’s just going to fade or fall apart.” We’d spent the last couple of years building the company into something that was not only sexy and fun, but also had quality merchandise.

  “Agreed.” Preston looked up from the spreadsheets. “And I think I’m going to make some calls and find out what’s going on over there.”

  “Call that guy in the marketing department, the one who thought you were cute. I’m sure he’ll share…information with you.” I couldn’t resist needling him.

  Reps from the company had come to visit about a year ago, bringing samples and some of their employees. One had been a cute little thing from the marketing department who clearly hadn’t been into the panties—but had been into Preston. It was too bad he hadn’t realized that while Preston looked conservative, he was really a kinky shit who wanted a sweet little twink he could play dress up with.

  Preston moaned. “It took weeks to get him to stop calling. That’s a terrible idea.”

  Laughing, I completely disagreed. Sure, he didn’t want to date the guy, but the whole thing had been too amusing to let go. “But he was so funny.”

  “Months, Eli.”

  “You need to have some fun.” Okay, who could we call? Oh! “The accountant! The sweet one who was so curious! He’d be perfect to call. What was his name?”

  I wasn’t a name person, but faces and curiosity always stuck out in my mind.

  “Casey.” Preston didn’t even have to think. The name came out almost like it had already been on the tip of his tongue.

  Interesting.

  The cute little accountant in the boring business suit should have blended right into the woodwork, but he’d stood out. The way he’d watched everything from Preston to the models had made me think his wide-eyed expression wasn’t just shock.

  Casey had evidently been dragged along to go over some numbers with Preston, and it was clear that he hadn’t seen the panties and lingerie that his company produced on a live person before. Evidently, Preston had been just as taken with him.

  I’d thought I’d seen the two of them glancing at each other, but the annoying marketing guy hadn’t taken the hint to leave Preston alone, so he’d distracted me. “Do you think he might be someone you could call? He seemed nice and didn’t have an issue with any of us.”

  “He was polite.”

  “And curious.” I thought it was just stating the obvious, but Preston gave a start.

  “What do you mean?”

  Lord, he could be dense. “He’s either very new to kink in general or he hasn’t explored it but is really curious. Those quick, envious glances of his weren’t because he had the hots for any of the models.”

  “I thought he was getting to know Lane.” Preston said it like it was nothing. We’d only spent twenty minutes showing the guys around the building.

  “They talked for a little while, and I think Lane mentioned that they’d gone to lunch, but two bottoms do not make a power couple, so they have to be just friends.” I got another weird look from Preston.

  I was surrounded by morons.

  “You think?” I wasn’t sure if he was hopeful or confused.

  “What? That they’re both bottoms? Or that they’re just friends?”

  He blinked at me. “Both.”

  Preston was never this nosy. It was fun seeing that side of him again. He worked almost as many hours as I did, and I couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out on a date. Much less with someone who was remotely interested in the same kinds of things he was.

  “Yeah, that little one was just about ready to bend over and beg someone to put panties on him and spank him, and Lane has the hots—well, I’m not supposed to say that part, so just forget it. But let’s just say he’s not looking right now.” I’d promised Lane I’d keep his business private, and I wasn’t going to break it.

  Preston’s brows pulled together, worry clear on his face. “
But he’s okay? Lane always seems very naïve.”

  “He’s fine. I’m keeping an eye on it.” Everyone had to fall for a bad-ass straight guy at least once, but it wasn’t going to kill him. Especially since the bad boy he’d fallen for was the tattoo artist down the street. He might look a little rough around the edges, but any guy who read Harry Potter on his lunch break wasn’t that dangerous.

  I was waiting for Preston to get back around to the little accountant, and it only took seconds. “I guess I could give Casey a call then. Not to pump him for information, but just to make sure there isn’t anything we need to know.”

  “I think it’s a good idea.” Wheels spinning, I tried to figure out how far I could push Preston. “You know, you might offer to show him around again or take him out to lunch. He might feel less pressured if it’s a casual environment.”

  “Possibly, but I wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.”

  Yeah, like the idea that Preston had the hots for him and wanted to spank him and have sexy fun. Nope, wouldn’t want anything like that to happen. Even in my head, I sounded sarcastic. “Do you want me to email him then?”

  “No.” That answer shot out of Preston before I could even take a breath. “I’ll figure something out.”

  And I was going to bug Lane and see if he knew more about Casey. Might as well make sure if pushing Preston in his direction was a good idea. It was too late for lunch, but if I remembered things right, I’d seen tattoo guy go to the coffee shop down the street for a midafternoon pick-me-up several times. It might work out well for both of us; I’d get caffeine and gossip, and Lane would get a peek at his crush.

  “Alright, I’ll leave that part up to you. And if you want, because I’m feeling very generous, I’ll even look through part of the IT applications that come in.” That would be miserable, but if it helped get Preston a social life I would do my best.

  “You actually want to help hire someone?” Preston didn’t bother to hide his shock. He looked like he was ready to start planning for the zombie apocalypse.

  “Want to? Hell no, but if I can narrow down the list before you start making calls, that might help.” And might earn me some brownie points for the next time I drove Preston nuts.

  “Okay, maybe, depending on how many we get in. I’m hoping this time a few more take five minutes to look us up and actually see what the company does before applying.” Preston gave a half-smile and shook his head. “Some of those conversations were very awkward.”

  Rolling my eyes, I scoffed. “The damned company is named Leashes and Lace, how in the hell that doesn’t stand out I’ll never know.”

  Preston laughed. “That one poor guy thought it was some kind of specialty pet product company.”

  Thankfully, I’d been spared the task of talking to them, but Preston had started to groan every time he’d needed to speak with another applicant. I’d said he needed to delegate some of the work, but he’d said he didn’t want an admin until it was absolutely necessary.

  We had a small HR department, two women who actually spent most of the day doing weird stuff with the benefits people and insurance that no one else wanted to understand. So once he hired someone he wouldn’t have to babysit the rest of the process, but it was still time-consuming.

  “Maybe we should make everything more clear in the next ad?” I wasn’t sure how, though. The company logo was a pair of panties with a dog collar and leash, for crying out loud.

  Preston shook his head, clearly seeing the ways it could go wrong. “No, I think you guys would have entirely too much fun designing the ad in that case. We might end up banned from posting on the online job boards.”

  “And we’re back to you’re no fun.” He needed to get laid.

  Rolling his eyes, Preston wasn’t offended. “Someone has to be the grown-up around here.”

  “Not it.” I had enough real shit going on outside of the company to agree to be an adult there too.

  Chuckling, Preston shook his head. “I didn’t think you were going to volunteer. You want to go over the spreadsheets before you go, or do you have class?”

  I groaned. “No numbers today. I have all kinds of shit to do tonight, and I can’t use my brain cells now. Depleting them before I start class would be a terrible idea.”

  Rolling his eyes, Preston didn’t seem to find me funny. “They’re not batteries. But I’ll let you escape this time.”

  Perfect. I had coffee to drink and a Lane to quiz. “See you later, then. I’ve some new stuff to put on the blog. I was going to start posting the pictures from today as soon as Roman sent them in, but do you think I should wait?”

  “It might be a good idea, but I want to see the reaction to the new line. Just tease it with a caption that it’s not a done deal yet, but they’re getting a peek anyway.” Preston waved his hand around. “You can play it off like you’re doing something naughty, they’ll love it.”

  I smirked. “Because they love me. I’ll just tell them you’re going to spank me or something for showing them things that I shouldn’t be.”

  Preston laughed. “Thanks. Glad to be the bad guy for you.”

  Smirking and giving him a little wave, I hopped up to go track down Lane. I’d seen him earlier writing his blog post, so I was hoping he hadn’t left yet. Coffee and a sexy man was just what my afternoon needed—even if the man wasn’t for me.

  Chapter 5

  Roman

  “Landry Photography, Roman speaking.” Answering the phone when I didn’t recognize the number was my first mistake. Not hanging up immediately was the second. My only excuse was that I was just getting back in the apartment and juggling bags when the phone rang.

  “You changed your number.” The accusing tone set my nerves on edge.

  Shit.

  “Yes, that’s what happens when your number gets blasted all over the internet as a sexual deviant.” I’d gotten calls from everyone from local daytime talk shows to people wanting to save my soul. A new phone number had been the easiest way to shut them down.

  “They took things the wrong way, and it got out of hand.” The whiny tone was probably designed to remind me how cute he was when he was bent over my knee, but all I felt listening to it was frustration.

  “Bullshit. Why are you calling me, Ken?” If he’d called after everything had first happened, he might have been able to play me enough to convince me to take him back. Fortunately, I was smarter now.

  “I miss you.” I could almost picture the pout he was trying to give me through the phone.

  Another bullshit line. “Money’s all gone?”

  “Roman.” He dragged out my name like he was exasperated with me.

  It wasn’t going to work.

  “Ken, I’m not sure what possessed you to blast my private business all over the goddamned internet, or why you thought anyone needed to know what we did in the privacy of our home, but I’m done. You burned this bridge.” He’d burned it the first time I’d had to explain to my mother why someone would want to be spanked.

  By the third time, because she really didn’t get it, I’d never wanted to even hear his name again.

  “I was drunk. I didn’t mean it.” His voice dropped quieter, and he tried to use a teasing sexy tone, but it went over flat on me. “I was bad and need my Dom to punish me. I’ll be good.”

  “Don’t call me again. You ruined my business. You made it look like I was abusive. And I had to move cross-country to get away from it all. Don’t call me. Don’t even think of me. Find another sucker to steal from.” Maybe I should have been more upset about the explosion of my relationship, but at some point, I’d moved on.

  “You said the money belonged to both of us.” The pout in his voice was starting to drive me crazy.

  “Because you were trying to break into modeling and weren’t earning enough to pay for ramen noodles, much less help with bills or have fun. I was trying to be nice, not give you every dime I’d earned!” Taking several deep breaths to try to get my anger
under control, I almost missed it when he started to speak.

  “But I am a model. People loved my pictures. They want to use them in some kind of European ad. You said they couldn’t. Roman, they’re my pictures. You’re being mean to me.” Now it sounded more like he thought I was an irrational master who didn’t understand that I was being ridiculous.

  “No, they’re my photos that I took of you. I never signed any kind of release and still own the photos.” I’d spent days chasing every one I could down and getting them off the internet.

  There were still a few floating around, but because I’d owned the rights, reputable news outlets had taken them down fairly quickly. The threat of a lawsuit had worked wonders, even though at that point there wasn’t money for rent, much less a high-powered lawyer.

  But no matter how quickly I worked, it hadn’t been fast enough to keep my family from seeing them. As long as I could tell myself that he hadn’t been able to profit off of them, it somehow made it less maddening.

  Ken sighed dramatically. “But Roman, I look so good in the pictures.”

  “Tough shit. Don’t call me again and don’t try to use my pictures anywhere.” Then I did what I should’ve done when I first heard his voice—I ended the call.

  Maybe I was a selfish ass, but he was never going to make a dime of profit off those pictures. I was going to go to my grave waving those damned photos in front of him, not destroying them, but still making sure he knew he’d never see them anywhere.

  I’d had several people say that I should be the one making money on them. They thought I should sell them at an outrageous amount and use it to help me start over, but I wanted Ken to suffer more than I wanted money.

  It was too bad they were such good pictures.

  Erotic, but not porn; romantic, but with an edge that made you take a second look at them. Even I had to admit they were some of the best I’d done. It was really too bad they’d stay in my computer forever.