“I still don’t understand why you didn’t get everything out in the open when you first got your insurance there. A simple ‘Hi, I’m Wyatt. I picked you guys because I’ve seen you at the club,’ and you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Because when I practiced it, I sounded like some kind of stalker! Then when I went in, I could barely talk to him and it all went to pieces.” He couldn’t function when Garrett was around. He was able to do a reasonable job when the Dom was out of the office but since the goal of going in was to see him, that didn’t work out so well.
Carter couldn’t control how funny he thought the situation was. Giggling and shaking his head, he just looked at Wyatt. “What did you do when he asked you about the address?”
“I ran out in nearly a panic, promising to give it to him later this afternoon. I can’t call him back!” That wasn’t going to be an option.
“Then email him. Send the address and thank him for his help. That’s it. Nothing else and…Hell, give it to me and I’ll email him. You’ll just do something dumb and it will go all kinds of wrong.” Carter held out his hands for Wyatt’s papers and phone.
Handing them over, Wyatt sighed again. “Just email the office manager. He’s nice and will pass on the information.”
Carter took a minute to email the information from Wyatt’s phone. “All right. Done.”
“You should come in next time I have to go pay my bill. You’ll see. He’s theperfectDom.” Carter didn’t believe him, but Wyatt knew it would only take one look to change his friend’s mind.
“I’m not going to go with you to stalk your insurance agent. I need to be able to bail you out when you’re arrested.” Carter made it sound like he was planningwhennotifit happened.
“I’m not stalking him. I’m paying my bills and asking questions.” Mostly. Maybe asking a lot of questions but he didn’t go in there for nothing.Thatwould be stalking.
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Carter made it clear he wasn’t buying that line of BS.
“What are the chances that he won’t connect the dots?” Wyatt looked hopefully to Carter, but his friend, and almost boss, just shook his head.
“Slim to none. But then, I thought he would have realized he’d met you before by now. So you might get lucky.”
“We only met once, and that was a couple of years ago when I was still dating my old Dom. He was polite, and it was quick before he moved off to talk to other people. He wouldn’t have had any reason to remember it.” Wyatt had still been enamored with his previous Dom at that point and while he’d noticed Garrett, it hadn’t turned into an obsession yet.
Wyatt didn’t develop his crush until later when his relationship had fallen apart. His Dom had taken a job overseas. It wasn’t until Wyatt realized he had no desire to go with him that he had taken a good look at his relationship. Ending things had been hard, but it had been for the best.
He’d hung around Baltimore for another six months or so until Carter had told him it was time to stop moping and do something new. Which is why he ended up moving to Richmond and trying to turn his furniture hobby into a business. Carter had been wonderful enough to let him work in the antique store he owned until Wyatt could get settled.
He’d known Carter since their freshman year in college when they’d bonded over being a bit outside the box. Wyatt had already figured out he was a complete bottom and was starting to research the BDSM community. Carter had been trying to uncover his more flamboyant side and was experimenting with all kinds of different things.
He toned things down more now that he was a successful business owner but it had taken some of their more conservative customers a while to get used to the occasional skirt and guyliner. Today he was really toned down in black pants that looked almost masculine and a neutral sweater. The only noticeable thing was a little bit of makeup.
“You look strangely normal today. Why?”
Carter sighed. “I have a date. I thought I’d tone it down a little.”
“With the online guy?” Wyatt didn’t have high hopes for that one. The guy sounded entirely too vanilla for Carter. “Well, from what you’ve told me, he seems…nice.”
That was about the only good thing Wyatt could say. The two met on an online dating site but he’d turned out to be the most tragically normal gay man Wyatt had ever heard of. Carter snorted. “That’s what I’m afraid of, but it seemed mean not to at least give it a go. There’s nothing wrong with him.”
To Wyatt, the fact that the guy wasn’t a Dom was reason enough not to date him but it was up to Carter. “I’m sure it will go fine. Where are you guys going?”
Carter perked up a little. “He said he was feeling like steak. Hopefully, dinner should be good.”
“See, that’s a good start.” At least his friend would get a nice meal out of it.
“Fingers crossed. What are you up to tonight?”
Now it was Wyatt’s turn to get excited. “I’m finishing up some of the final pieces for the new club.”
When Ben and Conner decided to open up a second club in Baltimore, they’d called Wyatt to see if he could make the furniture for the new site since he’d already done the benches and a few more intricate pieces in the other one. Between that and some private commissions he’d started picking up lately, it looked like he was going to be able to do it full-time in the next couple of months.
“That’s great. They’re going to love them.” Carter couldn’t have been more supportive of Wyatt and he’d be forever grateful. If it hadn’t been for his enthusiasm, Wyatt might have never tried to make a go of it.
“They’re over the moon about the pieces that have already been delivered. I’m heading over to the garage as soon as I’m done moping.” Wyatt gave Carter his best puppy dog eyes. “When do you have to go to your date?”
