Page 35 of Colin

“Nope.” Rourke kissed me on the head. “You don’t have to be. Just do you. Don’t compare yourself to me or anyone else. Find your own success. Your own way.”

“I can’t do anything. I’m not smart. I flunked out of college. Not sure how I got through high school.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Look.” He gestured to the vehicles. He climbed in the driver’s seat of the Equus. That was one sleek car. It was like a Mustang or a Charger. Definitely a muscle car design, but modern.

“You did a much better job than any other company I’ve used. Maybe you should do this.”

“What? Detail cars?”

“Yes. Exactly. You don’t have to make millions to be successful. You just have to enjoy what you do and do a good job, Colin.”

I’d never thought of washing cars as a job. Could it be? “I’ll think about it.”

“If you want, I can put you with my business director. He knows operations. His team can crunch start-up costs. We can figure out some marketing.”

“I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself, but if I did this, I would probably need help.” Was I actually thinking about it? Well, it sounded like he was going to put a bit of money where his mouth was as far as supporting me. I hadn’t expected that, but maybe we could work out a deal. Hell, he was an investor.

“Maybe you should start small. I’ll tell some people what a good job you did and give them your number. Maybe they’ll set something up with you. At a minimum, you’ll earn some extra cash.”

“Yeah. Okay. We can do that. I guess.” It sounded like at least something.

I could not keep up. I started small, like Rourke said, but it didn’t take long for word to get out beyond Rourke’s recommendation. People liked that I cared about details, and soon, I was washing the fanciest cars I’d ever put my hands on. I was making money, but I suspected I wasn’t charging enough. I didn’t know how to do market research or make a business plan. And if I had any decent marketing, I would have to hire someone to keep up. Maybe two someone’s because scheduling was a whole other issue. I was barely able to keep up with mine.

I stepped back to look at the latest vehicle. I was soaked head to toe and still needed to wax this baby before the next one came.

I needed help.

And I only had one place to ask for it. Rourke. I had mixed opinions about that. We were growing closer and fucking like rabbits, which meant I was close to moving in. It also meant mixing my relationship with business, which worried me, but I trusted him.

When I finished up the cars for the day, I changed and went into the big house to make dinner for Rourke. I wasn’t a great cook, but I could make mac and cheese, and Rourke had an indoor grill that would be perfect for pork chops.

We sat at the bar to eat, and it was pretty good. Rourke devoured it as if it were a five-star meal. That made me a little giddy. Or maybe it was the next thing I was going to bring up. I swallowed hard and opened my mouth to ask.

Rourke interrupted. “Don’t be nervous. Whatever you need or want, I want to give to you.” He was too good to be true.

“Why?” I always seemed to fall back on asking him that. I still didn’t feel I was good enough for him or worthy of his attention.

“I thought we covered this.” He put his fork down and turned my stool to face him. “I…I want to give you everything.” He stepped up close to me and took my face in his palms. I melted.

We kissed. My favorite dessert.

“Let’s go to bed. I want you, Colin.”

Sex with Rourke was fantastic. It felt wonderful, but even better, when we were done, he cuddled me close and held me like he never wanted to let me go. I never felt used. I felt valued. It made the decision easy. I stood and let him hold my hand as we walked to the bedroom.

“I love your hair.” He ran his fingers into them, lifting the weight off my shoulders.

“I like your hands in it. Mmm…and on my body.”

“I can do that.” We undressed slowly, touching every bit of revealed skin as we went. Then we lay on the bed.

“Don’t worry about too much prep, Rourke. I want you in me. Now.”

Rourke leaned over me, desire on his face and eyes. “Not skipping it. I won’t hurt you.”

I bit my lip, and he pulled it out from between my teeth before taking my mouth. “You taste like mac and cheese.”

He chuckled. “Cheeky boy.”

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