“How many people have you told about this?” Yes, the idea was to find like-minded people, but not to tell so many that we’d end up on the news.
Austin rolled his eyes so hard they looked like slot machine cherries going around. “I met him in a chat group. He’s dirtier than we are and not a threat.”
I wasn’t going to ask what Austin meant by dirtier than we were.
I knew better.
“Just be careful.” The last thing either of us needed was publicity.
“I will be. Now, what kind of time frame are we looking at building-wise? I don’t remember what kind of state that warehouse is in.” He frowned. “Give me a notebook or something to write on. I hate not being able to have a purse. Do you know how much easier life would be if my only options weren’t pockets or a briefcase?”
“No.” But I reached in my drawer and handed him one of the small notepads I used in meetings occasionally.
He snorted, still clearly hung up on the purse issue. “Now, renovations?”
And we were back to business mode. It was like watching those Saturday-morning toy ads where Barbie’s friend Oliver would go from businessman omega to family man omega in the blink of an eye. Even little plastic dolls kids played dress up with promoted an agenda about how we were supposed to behave.
Being an omega was just the term to describe a secondary gender like being an alpha was. It should have been no different than how males and females were seen as equal, but somehow when society looked from the primary gender to the secondary gender everything got screwed up.
“Let’s say extensive.” I tried to picture the inside of the building in my mind. Grabbing a notepad myself, I started jotting things down as they came to me. “It’s got a lot of good features that would give it a loft warehouse feel, but we need to make it more inviting and divide it into smaller spaces.”
“Smaller spaces as in different types of living rooms, or are we going to go full out and do private rooms couples can book?” Austin’s serious look didn’t quite match the conversation we were having. He looked more like we were discussing world peace than private BDSM rooms.
“Both.” If we were going to go all out then we’d do it right. “I think we need to have some public spaces that are separate from any sexual activity, some semipublic spaces for scenes and demos, and then private rooms.”
“We also need bathrooms or locker rooms, and eventually, I think we’re going to need a teacher of some sort if we’re going to have BDSM equipment on site.” He started making notes. “And I think we need to keep the place dry to start with and see how we feel about adding a bar later.”
A teacher…advertising for that would be fun.
“A bar? Can we have alcohol without someone from the liquor board going nuts?”
“Yes.” He kept making more notes, frantically scribbling on the pages. “Private clubs are different from restaurants. We just have to make sure everything is worded right. Dues can include limited alcohol.”
“I’ll leave the legalities of that up to you. We just don’t need anyone coming in randomly to inspect the building.” I didn’t want to have to explain anything to an outsider, but I added a bar to the list, followed by a question mark.
“Oh, and we need a few rooms designed for heats. You know, better soundproofing and scent barriers to keep from affecting everyone else.” Austin looked up. “Right?”
I did my best not to smile, but the whole thing felt a little surreal. “I agree.”
“Good. I’m going to start putting together a list of contractors, but we’re going to have to be careful how we address everything.” Austin looked down at his list. “Most of it can easily be explained away by saying we’re going to have a gym on site or something like that, but the heat rooms might raise some questions.”
“Just say they’re going to be used for meditation or something, so we want to keep them completely distraction free.” I shrugged when Austin grinned. “Most people won’t want to ask questions. We’re sweet omegas. Of course we wouldn’t be doing something unsavory.”
Austin’s laughter echoed through the room, making the large space feel even bigger. “I plan on doing all kinds ofunsavorythings there.”
“I think we all do, but let’s not tell the contractors that.” I threw a paperclip at him when he kept giggling. “We do not need to end up on the news or in the gossip magazines. This is going to be a quiet private club. Nothing any different from the hundreds of other private clubs in the state. Just because we’re not focused on horseback riding or politics doesn’t mean we’re not just as boring.”
Austin sighed dramatically. “Being associated with something that boring is going to kill me.”
That worked for me. “I’d rather your popularity suffer than all of us end up getting arrested for public indecency or contributing to the delinquency of an omega.”
“That law only comes into effect if an alpha is caught molesting an omega. Not the other way around. If something happens, all you have to say is you instigated it and it’s good.” Austin shrugged at my confused expression. “That nudist retreat thing. I learned all kinds of useless facts.”
If any of us needed to know how to get out of a police situation when accusations about morality were being thrown around, it was obvious that we’d go to him…well, him or Jonah. I made a mental note to set aside money in a separate account for legal fees just in case we were all hauled into court.
“Just remember we’re looking to keep a low profile with this.” That shouldn’t be hard. We had good lawyers and were all smart. We just needed to be careful and think things through.
“I agree.” Austin’s smile looked more sincere that time. “I want a place where I can have fun, and who knows, maybe even meet the right guy. None of us are going to do anything to ruin this.”
