“I have to admit, it stings, but I can definitely see where you’re coming from, Curtis. I want to be your first priority and your best friend, the one you turn to when things go wrong, but I know this kind of trust takes time, and I know how important it is to have a safety net, especially as a sub. Since tomorrow doesn’t work, how about I come to your place on Sunday since I’m tied up on Saturday, and we celebrate the signing of our contract?” Andrew had waggled his eyebrows playfully.
That suggestion was music to Curtis’s ears. It also made his cock harden to the point of pain, and his cruel, sadistic Dom had only laughed, stroked him through the fabric of his pants, and then left him horny as hell with the order not to touch himself until Friday. Now he was late to work, his balls were still aching with a low-burning need, and he had a meeting with his friends and Sunday to look forward to. Life couldn’t get much better.
The happy spring in his steps vanished when he saw Patty breezing toward him with a strange expression on her face. It looked like a cross between annoyed and amused, and Curtis wasn’t sure he wanted to know what had caused it.
“Patty, good morning.”
“You’re late.” Patty winked. “Had a good night?”
“The best. So good, indeed, that your casual ignorance regarding our boss-employee relationship can’t faze me in the least.”
As always, Patty simply ignored his attempts at playing work superior, for which he was grateful. He liked having somebody around him who always met him at eye level. “Hold on to that feeling,boss, because there’s a sleazebag waiting for you in your office with a huge bouquet of roses, but he ain’t your good-looking bringer of macarons.”
Curtis sighed. It wasn’t that he hadn’t had his fair share of admirers in his time, though the number had dwindled a bit in the past few years, but that didn’t mean he took kindly to people who overstepped their boundaries simply because they wanted to. “Do you have a name for me?”
Patty shook her head. “He said he’s an old acquaintance. I didn’t want to cause a disturbance first thing in the morning without you even being present, which is why I sent him to your office. If you want him gone, just say the word.”
Patty’s brows rose in open threat. Curtis put a restraining hand on her upper arm. “It’s fine, Patty. I’ll see who our guest is first. You can still unleash the full force of your death glare on him later.”
For a moment Patty seemed hesitant. “You sure?”
“Absolutely. I’m in too good a mood to have the police over.”
“Call me if you change your mind. I’ll be close by.”
That Patty felt the need to hover was not a good sign. She had an excellent nose for people and had yet to misjudge somebody as far as Curtis knew. Taking a deep breath, Curtis headed to his office, the clacking of Patty’s heels a strangely comforting war drum at his back. He opened the door and almost staggered backward when he saw who was waiting there for him with a bouquet of red roses in his hands.
“Patty, I don’t want to be disturbed. But please keep your phone ready.”
She nodded and pulled out her cell as if it were a weapon. With one last menacing glance at the visitor, Patty closed the door. Curtis was alone with the man he had hoped to never see again.
“Jasper, what an unpleasant surprise. What are you doing here?”
Jasper had risen from the guest chair when Curtis entered. Now he was offering the roses with a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. Or perhaps his smiles had never reached his eyes and Curtis had just been too blind to realize. He would have loved to say the years hadn’t been kind to Jasper, but Curtis made a habit of not lying to himself, and Jasper did look good. He was only slightly taller than Curtis, but with broader shoulders and a more muscular build. The gray streaks at the side of his head gave him a distinguished look, and his elegant suit with the light blue shirt would have once had the power to turn Curtis into a puddle of goo. No longer, though. Looking at Jasper, Curtis could only wonder why he’d never seen the appeal of jeans and biker boots before he met Andrew.
“Can’t a man visit an old friend?” Jasper’s tone hadn’t changed either. He still sounded like an untroubled boy who couldn’t understand what he had done wrong.
“First of all, you’re not an ‘old friend.’ You’re an ex. Second, old friends don’t bring overpriced roses to a reunion, and they have the decency to announce their visits.”
“Somebody’s taken grumpy pills for breakfast. And I didn’t announce my visit because you wouldn’t have agreed to seeing me, am I right?”
Curtis stared at Jasper in disbelief. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have. Which should tell you everything you need to know about your welcome here. Now take your roses and get out of my office. Don’t bother coming back.”
A vein started pulsing under Jasper’s left eye, a sure sign he was getting angry. “Stop being such a drama queen, Curtis. I mean it’s more than eight years now, and you have to admit, we weren’t that compatible in bed. You were always hard to please.”
“Iwas hard to please?” Curtis couldn’t believe his ears. “You were the one who always needed to ramp things up. And if you had gone about our breakup like a decent human being, I might be inclined to listen to you now. But you just got yourself a barely legal twink without bothering to tell me we were over. I had to find out through friends, Jasper! That’s not okay, and I have every right to be pissed at you. Now, for the last time, take your flowers and leave before Patty calls the police. This is private property, and you’re not welcome here.”
Jasper’s face contorted into a menacing growl for a moment before he schooled his features to a pleasant smile, though his eyes were still shooting daggers. “I’m sorry, Curtis. I apologize for coming here unannounced. You see, I have good reason. I’m in a bit of a pinch, financially speaking, and I was hoping we could discuss how you could help me out.”
Curtis felt as if he’d been catapulted into some sort of twilight zone. Was Jasper for real? “You come to me, after you dumped me quite cruelly and never took the time to at least apologize for your abysmal behavior, and now you want me to give you money? Did you have a lobotomy back in good-old England, or are your really so dumb as to think I would give you so much as a single penny?” Curtis could feel the blood thundering through his body. The audacity! But then again, that was Jasper in the flesh.
Now his ex wrinkled his nose as if Curtis’s outbreak had disgusted him. “Fine. I can see there’s no talking to you at the moment. I’ll come by at a more convenient time.”
Jasper got up and left the room, leaving the roses on Curtis’s desk. Curtis stared at the door for a long time, wondering if he’d just had a very realistic nightmare or if Jasper’s blatant disregard of everything Curtis had said was for real.
“What an ass.” Patty’s voice broke through Curtis’s thoughts. Her tone managed to put a smile back on his lips.
“Indeed. I assume you heard everything?”
