Page 65 of Our Elliana

“I am.”

“How come? I would’ve thought you’d look forward to spending some time with them.”

“Part of me does, but most of me... They don’t know what I’m doing here, Elle. They certainly wouldn’t understand about me getting paid for sex. They think I’m staying at the firehouse so often that I haven’t had time to visit.”

“Is that what you told them?”

“Not per se. Let’s just say when they arrived at that conclusion, I didn’t correct them.”

“You don’t think they’ll approve of you with us,” Elle surmises, and I nod.

“I know they won’t.” And that isn’t even skimming the surface of whether I’m actually straight or not, something I’m still unsure about. Not that I think they’ll refuse to speak to me ever again. They’re loving people, and I had a wonderful childhood. But they wouldn’t condone the lifestyle I’m leading, and there’s no dodging that.

“That is a toughie. I’m not sure what my mom and dad might’ve thought of how I brought you all here to be with me.”

“What did bring you to Elegance?” I ask her, even though I probably shouldn’t. “I mean, look at everything you have going for you.”

I scrutinize that rich glow she has to her cheeks and the brightness of her amber eyes. Elliana is extraordinarily gorgeous, smart, and successful. She could have any man she might ever want without paying him one red cent.

“Well, for one thing, most men aren’t too keen on sharing one woman, not in bed and certainly not for anything more. I’ve dated and had boyfriends, but I needed what I have with you three. Elegance was the only way I imagined I could ever achieve it.”

My mind flashes to a visual of her sucking on my erection as Jackson plows into her from behind and Tristan performs a striptease. Not only does thinking about it make my manhood plump up, but like usual, my complexion gets all hot. I swear I could toast bread with it sometimes.

But what might some average guy think if she asked him for something similar? I don’t think he’d like having to wait his turn for her, especially not if he was her boyfriend or husband.

Not that she seems interested in having either of those, not the traditional kind, anyway.

Yet this has never felt like a mere physical act to me. Not that I’m the best judge of such things.

But it also doesn’t feel like I’m just here fulfilling the duties Elegance charged me with. I care about Elle. I even care about Jackson and Tristan. And I’m sure she cares for us, too.

As difficult as I found that first evening here—and even a couple since—I don’t regret signing up for this. Elliana, Jackson, Tristan, and I have become a family. An oddball family, but a family to be sure. I just need to keep my blood-related family from discovering this one.

Yet what if Elle renews my contract and this continues for longer? It’s something I’m secretly hoping for. Yearning for, even.

But what then? How long could I logically keep such a thing quiet?

“What are you going to do?” Elle asks me, but I’m lost. What are we talking about again? “About your family?”

“Skirt the subject.” Speaking of the subject, I’m eager to address another one. “Do you know what’s up with Tristan?”

She blows out a long breath. “I don’t. It’s not like him to stay cooped up in his room all day without cooking. When I went by to ask him if he was ill, he said yes. But when I offered to bring him anything that might help, he flatly declined. His grump meter is redlining it, and I have no idea why.”

“Is he hungover?”

“Maybe, but I don’t think so. One, because he didn’t drink as much as you did. And two, he drinks wine almost nightly. He has more of a basic resistance built up. As far as I can tell, he wasn’t even tipsy.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him to strip,” I think out loud.

“I had him strip, too,” Elle says. “He didn’t have any problem with it back then.”

I can’t imagine why asking a former stripper to strip would be an issue. But then again, as a chef, maybe he hasn’t stripped in a long time. I have some vague memories of Tristan despite being well... otherwise engaged. What I remember is him seeming fine one minute and fleeing the next. Was he mad because he was the only guy not having Elliana?

Or am I off base?

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