Page 31 of My Dear Mr. Corporate

CHAPTER 14

Bryan

Having my boyfriend stare at the naked ass of a man wearing a thong, just an hour after we just had sex, was not exactly how I saw myself spending the rest of the night. However, in my defense, I had promised Jeremy I would show up, and as much as I didn’t know the guy, I owed him one for this amazing night. Tate had loved the getup and I believed we had found our thing. I also wanted to grab a few more of the racy lingerie I had seen on display earlier, and Jeremy had seemed like he could use the support.

He, in fact, did not need our support when we arrived. He must be a popular guy because there were people milling in and out of the store. As soon as we entered, a slender guy dressed in plaid schoolboy-type lingerie consisting of a bowtie and bikini shorts with suspenders appeared in front of us. One glance around the store revealed other guys in the same getup carrying a tray of cocktails. All the servers also wore black fishnet stockings and red heels.

Tate tightened his hold on my waist as we politely took cocktails, and the server moved on giving us a healthy view of his ass. Tate leaned close, so his mouth was on my ear. Anyone watching us would think he was nibbling on my ear and damn right they were looking. We attracted attention because we were among the only few in attendance who weren’t dressed up in racy lingerie outfits.

“What in the world did you bring me into?” Tate whispered in my ear. “You didn’t tell me this was a dress up party. I’ve never seen so many half-naked men in my life.”

“Just remember you came here with me,” I teased him. “And you’re leaving here with none other than me.”

He slid a hand down to my ass and squeezed. “After tonight? I doubt I’d forget that.”

Then he did nibble on my ear, and I smiled even as my cheeks turned red.

“Enough, big guy. Let’s mix and mingle.”

I exchanged his empty glass for mine still full of cocktail.

“You sure you don’t want it?” he asked. “It’s different. A tropical flavor laced with rum but not too overpowering.”

I shook my head. “Once alcohol is in it, I’ll pass. Plus someone needs to be the responsible driver. It clearly won’t be you.”

“Why don’t you drink anyway?”

I bumped into a mannequin which was a lot too warm to be an inanimate object. The mannequin wearing a short skirt and bralette winked at me.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I told the dude who smiled at me but maintained his posture. Only then did I realized all the store mannequins had been replaced by live ones. Holy crap, this Jeremy guy had gone all out for the night.

Tate had a scowl on his face as he pulled me away from the live mannequin who looked at me appreciatively. “How long do we have to stay here?” he asked me. “I’m not sure I’m keen on the idea of you bumping into the half-dressed guys around here.”

“Maybe half an hour?”

“We’ll see. You were saying why you don’t drink?”

“I had a foster mom who was constantly drunk when I was a teen,” I explained. “She was usually nice except for when she was inebriated which was most of the time. Seeing what it did to her, I swore never to touch the stuff. I became revulsed at the thought of drinking.”

“I see.”

I wasn’t certain he did. My reaction to my foster mother might be a tad extreme, but I had the memories of how violent Mrs. Mathers would get when drunk. I was too smart to be around her when that happened but not all the foster kids she had were that lucky. We were all taken away after she broke one of the boys’ arm.

“Oh, how fabulous darling, you showed up!”

I turned to acknowledge the voice and winded up in Jeremy’s embrace. Shit, I could feel the tension in Tate’s body at the other man’s closeness. I carefully eased away from Jeremy, hoping Tate would be cool. I could not always tell when the mountain man would surface.

“I promised you I would,” I said with a smile, trying not to stare too hard at Jeremy’s outfit for the night. He had an amazing body and he was showing it off to its advantage tonight. Dressed in an adorable peignoir set of a pink fluffy ostrich feather trim bra, matching transparent thigh-high wrap and thong, he looked right off the cover of a magazine. He completed the look with the highest pair of strappy studded heels I had ever seen on anyone. I was impressed he appeared so comfortable in them. A single strand of pearls was looped around his neck. His platinum blond hair glistened like the glitter makeup he had over his eyes and his pouty pink lips. False lashes and dramatic makeup and I almost didn’t recognize him from earlier.

“This must be your partner!” Jeremy exclaimed and extended one hand daintily toward a confused Tate.

“Tate, this is Jeremy I told you about,” I quickly stated and that prompted him to take the man’s hand. I couldn’t resist adding. “You wanted to personally stop by to tell him thanks for earlier.”

Jeremy giggled while Tate’s face turned red. He’d probably tan my ass later but that was something I could look forward to. “No thank you necessary, darling!” He patted Tate’s cheek and I held my breath. Jeremy had clearly been right earlier. He was a toucher and a hugger, but Tate wasn’t the touching type. This didn’t seem to matter to the shop owner one bit. “That’s what I’m here for, to bring satisfaction to our men.” His eyes widened in horror. “I think that came out wrong.”

I couldn’t resist laughing, and beside me, I heard Tate’s low chuckle. Good, he was warming up.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Tate cried in astonishment. I glanced in the direction he was looking and stiffened at the sight of Gio talking to a few guys, who were in all states of undress. I knew I had been right about him! After this Tate had to put everything together. Gio wasn’t as straight as he was letting on.

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