I’d put a hundred dollars’ worth of credit on a site that said they sold costumes for Halloween and con type events, but they had a fascinating range of products that would work for a variety of scenes.
And just the mention of what he’d picked had Shelby giggling and blushing. “Did you really not peek?”
“I told you that I wouldn’t.” That doesn’t mean I wasn’t tempted but I’d followed the rules I’d laid out. “I’ve been very patient.”
And had given him entirely too much privacy since he was able to buy so much coffee.
“I guess in your job you’d need to have a lot of patience.” Shelby paused, peeking over at me. “Is it a job?”
It was a reasonable question but I shrugged. “It depends on what you mean. I have…I have clients that I help fulfill specific tasks. So those I would see as a job. Other projects I have would probably count as a hobby. And then there’s you.”
He was none of those things.
“I’m special?” Swinging our hands, Shelby smiled when I nodded. “Good. Can I say I don’t want you watching anyone else the same way you’ve been watching me?”
“Yes. I think that’s a reasonable limit but it’s not one we have to worry about.” There was no one else like Shelby.
“Really?” Looking even brighter and like he might float away, he nearly tripped over his own feet. “It’s just me?”
“You are unique, Shelby. But yes, I’ve helped random people who were in difficult situations that I didn’t like, but those were one-off situations and nothing like us.” Shelby was special but there were also only so many hours in the day.
“I hadn’t thought about you watching anyone else.” Blushing, Shelby tightened his grip on my hand. “I…I’m glad there isn’t anyone else like us.”
“No one.” Leaning closer, I kissed his cheek and loved the way it made his flush even deeper. “You’re special to me, Shelby. You have been since the beginning even if I didn’t understand why.”
We’d probably needed time for our relationship to deepen, but there’d been something about him since the first time I’d watched him through his computer.
“I was worried at first but that was understandable and didn’t last long.” Shelby shrugged as he went back to swinging our hands, not looking stressed as I led him into the changingrooms. “Once the pictures came down it was easy to see how nice you were.”
Giggling to himself, he flashed me another grin as I reached over to take his bag and set it down on a small bench. “I was wondering if you were real but you are.”
“You worry about imaginary people entirely too often.” Since he was distracted and happy, it seemed like the best time to start taking off his clothes. When his T-shirt came over his head, I frowned at him. “How many other imaginary men are helping you?”
That got a snicker out of him and he shook his head as he rocked back and forth on his feet. “None as far as I know. Unless you tell me you’re not the one managing my grocery orders or organizing my ads online.”
That was entirely too easy to do but it wasn’t my job to fix the world.
“Nope. That’s me.” Kissing his nose got another giggle from him, but reaching for his pants had a shiver racing through him. “My limit is going to be I don’t want anyone else watching you.”
Still pink-cheeked, Shelby smiled bashfully at me. “You’re special and I don’t want anyone else helping me like that either.”
Glad we were on the same page, I nodded toward the bench. “Sit.”
Shelby plopped himself down without a care on his face and looked adorably pleased with the situation as I knelt down to take off his shoes. “You’re going to tie me up.”
I had a feeling his brain would be stuck on that for a while, so I nodded and treated it like a question. “Yes. I’m going to restrain you and then make you come.”
Just imagining it had his entire body clenching and he sighed like it was the most wonderful thing he’d ever heard. “And…and you like how I look tied up, right?”
Hmm.
“I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t think I’m supposed to have an opinion on that because I haven’t seen you tied up in person yet.” I could just hear Silas losing his marbles over this part of our conversation. “So I’m going to say that I think I’m going to love it and I’m excited to restrain you.”
I was hoping that was the right answer but Shelby frowned at me as I took off his socks. “But you’ve seen me. I looked good in those pictures, right?”
Okay, maybe I was starting to see why Silas thought we were so odd.
“If you get mad at me for answering this question honestly, it’s romance all night and making you feel important before we have any kind of scenes.” My threat had him scrunching up his face. “I’m serious. I’ll answer anything you ask but you can’t get pissed at me.”
