Page 5 of Just Between Us

Mr.Right.Now:Why what?

MsBlackCat:Just why? Why do this? You know that no real man talks like this, right?

Mr.Right.Now:Some of us do. Maybe you’re just dating the wrong men.

Normally I never answered direct messages, but her gruff and dismissive message caught me off guard and actually made me laugh. When I checked her profile, I found that since she’d created her profile, she had never created any content of her own and only ever left one comment.

One.

And it was to me.

Plus, I had always been too playful to let a half-hearted dig go unchecked. That was probably why I had chosen to poke back.

MsBlackCatdidn’t respond after my jab. Not until three days later when I posted a new video speaking to her and intentionally referencing areal man. She filled my inbox with her familiar snark.

MsBlackCat:Really? No real man I’ve ever met orders me around and leaves with his balls still attached. You’re ridiculous.

Mr.Right.Now:You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not about him ordering you around. It’s your partner being in control so you don’t have to be. You should try it sometime.

MsBlackCat:Being told by some strange man on the internet how to touch myself? A man who won’t even show his face? Please.

Mr.Right.Now:I like when you say please ... if you ask nicely I can give you what you need.

MsBlackCat:Let me guess ... I can pay extra to have “exclusive access” to your private content? As if I don’t know every sad sap viewing it thinks it’s just for her.

I smiled. There was no pulling one over on that one.

Mr.Right.Now:If you wanted a free access code, all you had to do was ask nicely.

THREE

VEDA

What the fuckis up with this town?

First of all,Outtatowner? What the hell kind of person names a town like that? Secondly, yesterday was my first morning there, and it started with an egged car and a chest full of half-warm whole milk.

Let alone the fact I could press charges for aggravated assault, but that blouse was an Adam Lippes in silk charmeuse.

I pouted as irritation rolled over me.I really loved that shirt.

There was probably some gang of misfit youths who roamed the streets likeLord of the Fliesor some shit. The boys only laughed harder when I shoutedWhere are your parents?at their backs, which proved this town was likely full of nothing but rowdy, pint-size thugs.

My toe tapped with impatience as I considered how I was ever going to make this job work.

Is that ... a man wearing Moon Boots in summertime?

As if it weren’t a bizarre sight, I tracked the elderly man’s movements. He sauntered up the sidewalk, smiling and waving like he was the mayor of this godforsaken town.

Shit.Maybe he was.

As he shuffled past me, he smiled and tipped an imaginary hat in my direction. “Ma’am.”

I only blinked, schooling my face not to contort into its naturally prominentresting bitch face.

That face had served me well in my career but oftentimes made my approachability next to nothing. Sometimes thatalsoworked in my favor. However, if my goal was to fly below the radar and gather information on the town’s most prominent resident, I needed to be careful.

Today I would be meeting with JP King regarding his interest in hiring a business consultant, and I needed to nail it. I was fully prepared and had even stashed a spare outfit in my car ... just in case.

---