“Yeah, I’m not quite sure...” Jonah flushed under Ezekiel’s curious gaze. “Why me?”
Something shifted in Ezekiel’s eyes and Jonah’s stomach flipped as every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It was as though he was being stared down by a predator, by something that would eat him whole.
Jonah wasn’t sure he would dislike that.
“Whynotyou?” Ez asked, and his voice was a low purr. The moment lingered, then shattered when he smiled, something more distant in it. “Now, I know you don’t have the largest fanbase, but that doesn’t matter. They’re eager, hungry. You’ve helped sell a lot of our products. So, I thought it might be prudent to invite you here to assist us on the next line.”
“The next product line?” Jonah found himself leaning forward without thinking about it.
Ez merely chuckled. He rounded his desk again, gesturing at the chair opposite as he did. Jonah dropped into it without hesitating.
“Yes. I have something... ambitious in mind. We have the prototypes complete, of course.”
“Youdo?” Jonah knew his eyes were wide as saucers. He wasn’t sure how they’d done it, but they’d done a great job of keeping that under wraps. Very impressive, considering the buzz around the company right now.
“Yes,” Ez said, and this smile was definitely sincere. “I wanted to give you the first chance outside this company to check things out, see if we’re on the right track. You’ll be compensated, of course, for your time.”
The original email had mentioned compensation, though Jonah had been too excited at the time to think aboutwhyhe’d need to be compensated for a visit.
“I – Yeah, that sounds, I mean—”
Ez took pity on him. He leaned forward, resting his chin on one hand. “There are some forms for you to fill out, naturally. NDAs and all that.”
He passed them over and Jonah flicked through quickly, barely skimming the conditions. He got it. He had to keep whatever he saw here to himself. Well, at least until they were looking for publicity, he guessed.
Jonah signed the forms and passed them back. Ez picked out one copy and set it aside. “That’s for you to take with you.” He leaned back and looked at Jonah for a long moment. “There is something else you need to know. What I’d like you to do.”
Jonah swallowed. “What’s that?”
Ez smiled again. “Come on. Let me show you.”
Chapter Two
Jonah followed Ez out of his office. The building was almost oppressively silent. They couldn’t do all the work here, surely. There had to be a warehouse, a factory off somewhere else, especially if they were making their own prototypes and keeping things that secretive.
Ez glanced back only once as if he wasn’t sure Jonah would follow. Jonah was right on his heels. He was ridiculously eager to get his hands on whatever Ez had been working on.
He followed Ez into a new room without hesitating, but then paused on the threshold when he saw what was inside. There was a coffee table in the centre, and shelves lined the walls, featuring all the differentSensual Playthingsproducts, as well as those from some of their competitors.
That wasn’t what had made Jonah pause.
There was also a low sofa that had two men sitting on it. Another man was standing over by the window, and another was perusing the shelves.
They’d all turned to look at him when Ez had walked in.
They were all absolutely gorgeous.
Ez cleared his throat and Jonah’s eyes snapped to him. He felt himself blush and shook his head, taking another step into the room. Why did it feel like walking into the den of some creature that was bound to eat him?
“Jonah, I’m excited for you to meet some of the men who have been essential to my work on this new line of products.”
“Oh?”
One of the men on the sofa gave Jonah a cheeky wink when their eyes met. Jonah looked away.
“Yes,” Ez said. He gave all four of the men a hard look, and the two who had been drifting at the periphery of the room came toward the centre. The one who’d been standing by the window was ridiculously tall, with shoulders to die for. He had a septum piercing, and watched Jonah with dark, narrowed eyes.
The other was only a few inches taller than Jonah’s five-ten. His eyes were a startling blue, and his smile was easy as he proffered a hand for Jonah to shake. “I’m Torin.” His voice was light, musical.
