Page 62 of Employing Patience

Tension immediately tries to take over, but I shake it off and turn to see him crossing the bar toward me. And fucking hell. He’s wearing a loose tank top that shows off way too much of his arms, his ribs, his neck and collarbones. And every inch of that skin is covered in marks left by my mouth.

“Looks like you’ve been up to some fun.”

Joey stretches his arms over his head, slowly twisting from one side to the other before letting them drop again. “Best night of my life, actually.”

“You look like a cheater.”

“I never cheated on anyone.”

“Not even your supposed girlfriend?” I taunt, leaning in with a cocky grin. “I meant the cat. Fitting, with the way you were purring in my hands the other night.”

The glimmer of … I want to say arousal, but I’m not totally sold on that, fills his eyes. “I would have described it more as screaming.”

“That was the other fifty percent of the time. I’m a man of many talents.”

“I’ll say.” Joey crosses his arms, drawing my attention back, yet again, to the marks there. It probably isn’t healthy how much seeing them fills me with want. He wears them well. No embarrassment, no shame, just a complete advertisement of what he’s done and, from the looks of the way he’s eyeing me, what he wants to do again.

Time to shut this down. Repeats are all well and good. Having a companion cock to play with works for me a lot of the time because it’s little effort, the lines are clear, and you learn what the other man likes.

But Joey … repeats with Joey are dangerous.

Because of the way he’s looking at me and not at all because of the way I’m looking at him.

“So …” he begins.

“I’m running late. I’ll see you later.”

“Art.”

“Joey.”

“Artur.”

I lift an eyebrow at him using my full name. “Was there something you wanted?”

It’s the wrong thing to ask.

Joey steps closer, just that edge too close to be an employee talking to his boss. My gaze snags on those faded freckles under his eyes, and I remember what they taste like. “You know what I want.”

“Skin that doesn’t bruise so easily?”

“A boss who’s not a smart-ass, maybe.”

“Better talk to Freddy about that one. We both know it’s a useless wish with me.”

“When can we do it again?” he asks, bold as fuck and playing on all the confidence I love in a man.

“You really think you’ve got what it takes to master the art of raging erections?”

“Raging? Please. Giving yourself a bit of credit there, don’t you think?”

“We both know I’m no slouch in that department.”

“Maybe I’m misremembering.” Joey taps his stubbled chin. “Guess you’ll have to refresh my memory.”

The bastard actually gets a laugh out of me. I hate that. Being unable to act like I’m not affected by him. “Nice try. But shouldn’t you be working?”

“I’ll get there.”

---