The apartment looked great, though.
So did Houston.
Broad shoulders and a tapered waist made him look sexy, but it was the expression in his eyes and the mental pictures of what he was wearing under his clothes that made him even hotter. How was I supposed to sit across from him at breakfast, knowing what he might have on?
Maybe it would’ve been easier if I hadn’t been able to pull up such a clear mental image. But since I’d started the new job, there hadn’t been any shortage of sexy guys in lingerie running around. So picturing Houston in something skimpy and silky wasn’t as hard as he’d probably thought.
I liked sexy lingerie.
I’d just never realized I liked it on menandwomen until I’d started working at the new job. In my defense, though, it wasn’t something that I’d run into much. With the handful of guys I’d dated over the years, it hadn’t gotten far enough for me to know what they were wearing under their clothes.
But considering how vanilla most of them had been, it probably hadn’t been anything interesting.
That was also part of the reason it hadn’t gone very far.
I’d realized fairly early in college that I liked dominant women, and after going to a club one time with a Domme I was dating, I was surprised to find out that I liked dominant men too. She’d had fun making me blush and stammer as I’d tried to figure everything out.
I’d been confused and embarrassed. However, looking back, I appreciated that she hadn’t let me hide from the realization, and it wasn’t something that she’d ever made me feel ashamed over. I’d been a late bloomer, as my mother had called it, and by the time I’d started to understand what I liked in women, I hadn’t really considered that I might like men as well.
There just hadn’t been much of a chance to explore that side of myself, and once I’d found something that I’d liked, I didn’t see the need to keep exploring. I’d dated guys over the years, but in the area I’d lived in, it’d always been easier to find dominant women than men—or at least dominant men who didn’t mind the fact that I was bi.
My Dommes hadn’t seemed surprised or bothered by it, but I couldn’t say the same about the guys I’d gone out with. Quickest way to end a date with a guy who was kind of boring—tell him that your ex was a woman. Maybe that wasn’t fair to most guys, but after a few disastrous dates in a row, I’d taken a break from men.
When Laurel and I had called it quits, I hadn’t been in any rush to get back into the dating scene. But judging by my reaction to Houston, I’d been single too long. Had it only been a few months? Looking back, it was probably longer than that.
“Time to figure out the local scene.” Crushing on my new roommate would only make things awkward.
When the phone buzzed, I nearly jumped out of my chair. “Yup, you need to get out of your head for a while.”
Taking a deep breath, I picked up the receiver. “Reece speaking.” Overhauling their phones was next on the list after getting the website stable enough to support Eli’s rabid fans. I shouldnothave to guess who was calling in this day and age.
“Reece, it’s Preston.” The owner’s deep, smooth voice came through the phone. “Can you come down for a few minutes? I want to talk to you about the upgrades you suggested.”
“Sure, I’ll be right down as soon as I get through the gauntlet.” It was only funny because it was true, and he knew it.
He just laughed. “Don’t let them distract you.”
On shooting days, getting through the mass of half-naked bodies was hard enough, but when Eli and Roman were on the list together, it was almost impossible. Everyone in the place found a reason to walk by the studio just to hear Roman lose it.
“Eli and Roman are shooting again.” I wasn’t sure who I should sympathize with more, Eli for having to deal with Roman’s attitude, or Roman because he really didn’t realize that Eli was winding him up on purpose.
Preston chuckled but didn’t seem worried. “They’ll work it out sooner or later.”
Or burn the place down.
I was smart enough to keep that to myself, though. I might be the new guy, but I wasn’t the only one who’d seen the heat they generated. “Hopefully. Okay, I’ll be right down. If I hurry, I might be able to get past them before the dynamite goes off.”
Laughing, Preston disconnected, and I hung up. He thought they were funny, but it was too stressful for me. The fighting and anger seemed to get Eli worked up, but it just made me want to head the opposite direction.
Bratty subs were too hard to deal with.
But dominants with a stick up their ass—Eli’s words, not mine—were even harder to handle.
Peeking out the door like a stalker, I mumbled a curse. “Damn it.”
They’d already started. My office was just off the main studio, so on shooting days it was busy, but I liked the commotion. Usually. Those two were another story altogether. Doing my best to stay out of their way, and out of Roman’s line of fire, I walked carefully around the outskirts of the room, dodging models and random employees who were clearly just there to watch.
The bright lights and openness would have made me feel exposed and uncomfortable, but it seemed to turn Eli on. Driving Roman crazy also seemed to turn him on. I didn’t really get it, but I was just hoping that I wouldn’t be there when things finally exploded.
