Chapter 17
Casey
His silence nearly gave me a heart attack. He was supposed to say something, not just smile at the pictures like he was seeing my photo in the high school yearbook!
I finally gave up. “You’re trying to drive me insane, aren’t you?”
Preston’s eyes darted over to me and he frowned, clearly lost. “What?”
I sighed, feeling a bit like Eli at that moment. “You’re supposed to say something.”
He laughed and pulled me tight against him, setting the tablet on the other side of the couch. “Your photos are beautiful. I have to say, that little red number is one of my favorites.”
I felt a blush heating up my face, and I tucked my face into his shoulder. “You like them?”
My question came out muffled, but he must have understood it because his hand stroked over my leg and he pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “I love them.”
He was silent for a moment before he continued. “I have a confession to make, however.”
Preston sounded a little odd, like he wasn’t sure how to tell me something, so I cautiously peeked my head up. “What?”
He sighed and rested his head back on the couch. “I might have already seen them.” At my obvious surprise, he continued. “Not deliberately. I didn’t even know they were you.”
That wasn’t making enough sense. Sitting up, I took a deep breath to stop the tornado that was trying to take hold in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
Preston’s tone was more cautious than usual, making the whole thing even more stressful. “Most of our models start out doing very similar photos at home or with a loved one. That was how I found Eli to begin with and how everything got started. When we started growing the company, I found a lot of our models by browsing different blogs and sites online and approaching them.”
When I didn’t react, because I was starting to connect the dots, he continued. “I’ve kept up doing that over the last couple of years. That’s how we’ve built up the puppy play and fetish gear side of the store. Well, a few months ago, I was looking around and someone had posted a link to this blog, your blog, on another site saying how cute you were.”
Shit.
“You don’t talk about yourself on there, and it’s really just the pictures with some basic commentary from you, so I had no idea. Your face isn’t even on there.” Preston’s voice was still even, but I could see the stress rising in him as his hand started stroking faster over my legs.
“The other blog is where I talk about me. I don’t do pictures on that one, and I keep them separate.” The words popped out randomly. There were other things I should have addressed first, but for some reason, that was the most pressing thing on my mind.
“I can understand that.” His muscles started to relax, and his touch slowed, helping my stress to ease with his. “I just wanted you to know I had no idea.”
Then he smiled faintly. “You obviously haven’t looked at it in a few weeks.”
“How did you know?” Between obsessing over Preston, dating Preston, and trying to finish up the last of my to-do list so I could quit, I hadn’t found the time.
His answer came out slightly sheepish, but there was no hiding the fact that he found something funny. “Because you have an email in there from Leashes and Lace wanting to talk to you about the possibility of modeling for the company.”
My mind went blank for a moment. “Oh.”
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “I’d have handled that question differently if I’d known it was you.”
“Yeah.” I felt my cheeks heat up again. “I’m not the type that people look at and picture a nearly naked model who’s wearing nothing but panties.”
Preston choked out a laugh but shook his head. “Oh, no, I think you’d be a sexy model. So does Eli, actually. The offer in the email still stands. I just don’t want to push you into anything you really don’t want to do. As beautiful as you were the other night, I know you have plans for your business.”
His expression heated as he talked about seeing me earlier, and I found myself squirming in his lap. Preston chuckled again, but that time it sent shivers through me as his hand inched up higher on my thigh. “Should I make you practice modeling for me so you can see if you really like it? I’ll dress you up and let you pose for me in some of those sexy things you have in your room.”
It wasn’t just the words he said that had me hard and needy but the way he said it as well. Something about Preston always made me want to throw myself at him. In the beginning, I’d been too shy to even think about doing it, but now there was nothing in my way.
Clinging to him, I heard needy sounds coming from me as I leaned in and kissed his neck. “Sir…please…”
“Do you want me to play dress up with my sexy boy and see all the sexy things you have? I’m sure we could stretch you out on the bed in nothing but a pair of tiny panties and the pictures would be amazing.” I shivered. Even though the idea was frightening, it was still erotic.
