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“That’s great. Getting in while a company is still growing can be wonderful in the long run.” Not sure what else to say that wouldn’t turn into a business lecture, I pushed back from the table. “Let me get you a key. When do you think your stuff will get here?”

“Thanks. Two or three days tops, at least according to the manager I talked to yesterday. He said they had a light week, and that if I could find something quickly, I wouldn’t have to wait long to get it delivered.” Reece followed me out to the living room. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I know what the exact timeline looks like. I’m aiming for Friday afternoon, if they can make that work. It’s a tight turnaround for them, but it would give me the whole weekend to get settled.”

“That’s probably best.” Digging around in the side table drawer, I found one of the extra keys. “You probably have a lot to get straightened out at the new job.”

Handing it over, I tried not to notice the way his eyes lit up again as he talked about his work. “Actually, the couple of guys who were doing it before had a good handle on it. There’s just no way they can keep doing two jobs. The pay’s pretty good for a smaller company, and everyone seems friendly. I think it’s going to be interesting.”

After showing him a few more things around the apartment and helping him take some measurements of the room, he was on his way with a promise to call me with the exact time for the movers.

Two days wasn’t a lot of time for them to arrange delivery, but he seemed confident. So I made myself a mental reminder to check my schedule and make sure I didn’t have any meetings planned that day.

I probably should’ve gotten to know him more or offered to take the guy out to lunch, but I just wanted to enjoy my last moments of quiet before the storm hit. He seemed nice, but so had the rest of them at first.

As I closed the door, I started mentally rearranging my finances to see how it would work if I decided not to get another roommate. It would be doable if I cut back on my monthly savings and investment goals and stretched out the time between vacations.

But growing the business was probably a better solution.

I’d worked countless hours through my twenties, burning the candle at both ends, building up my own personal savings and investment portfolio and planning out the best way to work on my own. As much as I loved the stock market, talking to countless people who never listened and answering simple questions over and over wasn’t what I was suited for.

I just didn’t have the patience for it.

However, day trading my own investments and setting up business proposals for new companies was something I was comfortable with. If I took on a few more new clients over the next couple of months, it would give me the flexibility I needed, just in case Reese turned out to be nuts as well.

Looking at the time on my phone, I started heading back to the bedroom. My brain was in too many places at once to settle down to work. I’d done as much as I could on my own trading before Reece had arrived, and I wasn’t set to start on the next business plan for about a week, so it wasn’t a bad day to play hooky. The gym was probably the best bet.

I started stripping off my clothes as I entered the bedroom, taking a moment to close the door. I was going to have to start paying attention to things like that again. Tossing my shirt on the bed, my shoes went next, and I continued on to everything else.

Keeping a strict schedule and dressing for work, even though it was more business casual than Wall Street, made working from home easier. But as I grabbed workout gear and headed into the bathroom in just my underwear, I had to laugh.

Looking in the mirror, I shook my head. How was I the sanest person out of all the roommates I’d had lately? The businessman Dom in the bright pink boy short panties shouldnothave been the first choice for most normal. Not that I was worried about what “normal” was, but still, it was getting ridiculous.

“You need to go to the gym more. Those panties looked much better five pounds ago.” I shook my finger at the man in the mirror. But for someone who sat most of the day, and who had too easy access to the fridge, I wasn’t looking too bad.

I couldn’t help but try to picture what Reece would think.

I’d long ago accepted what I liked and who I was, but I couldn’t help guessing at his reaction. He’d been calm and unfazed when I’d blurted it out, but how would the rest hit him? Doms were supposed to be tough and dressed in all leather, swinging a paddle or a crop, not decked out in satin panties or a lace bodysuit.

I looked damned good in that bodysuit, extra five pounds or not.

“Okay, off to the gym, lazy. You’ll never get that six-pack back looking at yourself in the mirror or thinking about your new roommate.” Of the two, finding the energy to exercise would probably be harder. All I had to do was wait until Reece moved in, and then the shine would fade. There was no way he’d be as perfect as my imagination wanted to make him.

A man who was strong, compact, sexy, not shocked by the whole feminine underwear thing, gay, and submissive wasn’t someone that was just going to show up randomly on my doorstep.