Chapter 2
Reece
“So how did the apartment thing go?” Eli plopped down half-naked on the edge of my desk, barely covered by his lacy white boy shorts and matching fitted tank top. “He seem nuts, or is it going to work out?”
That was a very good question.
And I wasenormouslyproud of the fact that I managed to maintain eye contact as he quizzed me.
From the gossip I’d managed to overhear, not that it was hard around the Leashes and Lace offices, Eli had gone from flirty butmostlybusinesslike, to damned near half-naked and completely over-the-top in recent weeks. Something about driving the newest photographer nuts was the only thing I’d picked up, so it looked like everyone else was in the dark too.
But no matter the reason, it made working with him almost impossible.
How was I supposed to talk about the technical side of the blog posts with Eli’severythinghanging out all the time? It wasnotwhat I’d pictured when I joined the company. Yes, I knew it would be a little bit different. Working for a company that sold male lingerie and fetish wear would have to be a unique experience. But the overall feel was warm and friendly, even if it was a bit difficult to get used to.
“I don’t know. He seemed…kind of off.” I wasn’t sure how to describe Houston. He was aggressive and sexy enough that it was distracting as hell, but I wasn’t sure if that had just been because he was frustrated or if he was really a Dom.
I wanted him to be a Dom.
“Like nuts? You don’t need to take something just because you think you have to. I told you, the corporate apartments upstairs are free for as long as you need one.” Eli was distractingly underdressed, but earnest and sweet.
It was aninterestingcombination.
“No, he seems sane.” Hopefully. “I think it’s just been hard to find a roommate. He charged right in and started unloading everything he could think of that would chase me away. I stood there dumbfounded.”
“Like what?”
“Nothing crazy.” And probably nothing that he wanted me to share with my coworkers. “It just sounds like he ran into one too many judgmental people with that online ad he ran. He didn’t even ask how I heard of the apartment.” Or enough about my financial background or personal life, for that matter.
Eli’s head tilted, curiosity written all over his face. “I thought knowing you’d seen the notice at BJ’s would make him more comfortable.”
“Nope, he didn’t even ask. I think he assumed I’d only seen the other one.”
Eli gave me a dramatic sigh, shaking his head. “That ad looked so vanilla, I wouldn’t have even let you anywhere near the place.”
Eli was right. He was also my unofficial guide to the area. The first time I’d seen Houston’s online ad, I’d gone right past it. Something about the way it was phrased made Houston seem overbearing and controlling, and not in a good way.
It wasn’t until I’d seen a notice he’d put up at BJ’s, a gay bar in an iffy part of town, that I’d even thought about calling. It’d been gruff and to the point as well, and maybe it was just the setting that I’d found it in, but it’d felt more Dom and less nuts.
However, Eli’s idea of a “good” apartment and “not vanilla” had led us to some interesting options. “I’m not looking for sex swings in the living room or anything over-the-top.”
Snorting, Eli laughed. “That wasfabulous. I still think you should’ve taken that one. The price was great, and she said you could use any of the equipment you wanted.”
“She was scary.” And the way she’d offered up the use of her toys and play space had made me nervous.
Giving me a casual shrug, Eli didn’t seem worried. “She was hot, if you go for that kind of thing.”
I shrugged, not interested in the slightest. “She had a stalkery vibe that screamedI’ve got bodies in the basement. Nope, even though I go for that kind of thing, you couldn’t get me to stay there for anything in the world. There’s a big difference between dominant and crazy.”
Sometimes the line was kind of fuzzy, but not in her case.
Leaning forward, Eli grinned. “Don’t you like dominant women?”
“I like dominant period, gender doesn’t matter. Butnotpeople who make me think I’ll end up on an episode of one of those missing person’s shows. I do not want cops quizzing my parents about my sex life, thank you very much.” The openness in the way they talked about their personal lives was one of the things that had pulled me toward the company to begin with.
But the oversharing was weird sometimes.
They’d made it clear that if I was traditional and vanilla they’d understand, but it would help if I wasn’t. I’d been shocked. I’d always had to play down anything interesting for just about every other job I’d ever had.
