“Yeah. You?”
“Fine. Until I rolled over onto my back in the middle of the night and felt the sting of your handprint on my ass.”
I grin and shift to plate the eggs. Then I turn and look at Max. “It was pretty fucking sexy to see you like that.”
Max blushes, his cheeks turning an adorable shade of pink. He looks away from me before saying shyly, “I liked it.”
Heat shoots into my stomach, but I do my best to ignore it and sit the plates on the small dining table. I’m afraid if I let my mind think about last night, I’ll have to take Max back into the bedroom and do it all over again.
Once we sit, it’s a little easier with the food to focus on. But then I glance up and catch the way Max gingerly sits in his chair, and it makes me want him all over again. So I clear my throat and ask, “What’re you doing today?”
“Work,” he replies. “I’ve gotten a little behind, and I need to catch up before supply comes so we can do inventory.”
“Want some help?”
He flashes me a smile. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I think if you came along, we might not get anything done. As it is, you’re the reason I’m behind.”
“Oh really? What if we created a reward system?”
A spark flashes in Max’s eyes. “What kind of reward system?”
I shrug. “Whatever you think is fair.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and they shock me a little. I’ve never had a problem pleasing guys I was with. But I always made it as clear as possible that I was in charge. It prevents me from getting caught in a situation like I was with Grant.
But something about Max makes me feel brave. Makes me want to go the extra mile and find something new. Still, it kind of makes my chest hurt to think about being trapped again, so I add, “But I get veto rights.”
His mouth picks up in a gentle smile. “Okay, I think a fair reward would be you naked in my office, on your hands and knees on my floor, so I can look at you while I work.”
“Wow. Someone’s been fantasizing about something.”
He blushes a little but watches me, daring me to take him up on it. Just like I did last night.
“Okay,” I say. That’s not too bad.
“If I finish before lunch, I get to eat you out.”
Heat creeps up the back of my neck, and I hesitate. I haven’t let anyone go near my ass since Grant. No one fucks me there. But I’ve done a few things with Max I didn’t do with others, so maybe it’ll be okay.
“All right, but I have to leave at three for the final tux fitting,” I hear myself say. I’m nervous, but blood is still pumping to my cock. Because the idea of kneeling there, knowing Max could see me the whole time, is hot as fuck.
Maybe it won’t be so bad if I let myself feel something outside of what Grant did to me.
***
Rowan’s working behind the bar already, so I take the side entrance into Max’s office.
“You’d better lock the door,” I say as soon as I step inside. “Because if Row barges in here at any point, I’ll kill you.”
Max laughs as he locks the door. “Done. But I did tell him not to interrupt me until three unless it was an emergency.”
Now that I’m actually in his office, I’m starting to get a little nervous. In my head, I know Max won’t hurt me. He’s not going to do anything that Grant would do. But the idea of making myself vulnerable to him scares me.
I think he can tell I’m a little out of sorts because he says, “You know, you’re allowed to have colors too.”
“No, I mean, yeah. It’s just… It’s been a while, that’s all.”
“You mean since you let someone else be in charge?”
“Yeah.”
