Page 31 of Promiscuous Lies

“Just take the goddamn food,” he says, thrusting it at me.

“Okay.” I take it from him, and our fingers brush as he passes it to me. I hate the spark it charges me with. It floods me with memories of him between my legs. Him pressing me against a door.

I can see in the way he’s looking at me that we’re thinking the same thing. As I go to pull the bag toward myself, he holds onto it.

“I want dessert,” he says.

“And I want a million dollars, but we can’t all get what we want,” I reply, yanking the bag from his hand. Fuck. Every time I touch this man, or I’m near him, my wires get crossed. “Goodnight, boss.”

“You can call me Dutton.” I roll my eyes as I try to kick his foot out of the doorway. “Wait. One more thing,” he says, keeping his foot wedged in the door’s opening.

I sigh, exasperated, and raise my eyebrows expectantly.

“Why won’t you add me on Instagram?”

It feels like the world stops at the absurdity of that question. Is this fucker for real? Why does he look like a disheartened child who I told I won’t share my toys with? I kick his foot out of the way and slam the door as I say, “Goodnight, Mr. Taylor.”

“Or that works,” I hear him mumble on the other side of the door. “This doesn’t count as the date. That involves two people.”

“Yeah, well, tonight it can involve you and your hand,” I call back as I walk away from the door.

I peek out of the living room window and watch as he turns and walks back to his car.

If there were a manual to deal with Dutton Taylor, I’d read it from front to back so that I can figure out how the fuck his brain works.

When I open the bag in the kitchen, the smell hits mehard. Yum. I cooked chicken nuggets the last few nights, so something other than that is a win.

I pull out each container and find food I know is from a five-star restaurant. I wonder which plate was for him. Actually, who cares? They’re both mine now.

CHAPTER 16

Posie

Dutton messages me consistently over the next two weeks. The only ones I reply to are work-related. I choose to only focus on Bentley when I’m with him. I know that’s probably not a healthy way to be, but he’s been my everything and only family since my parents died. With their death anniversary coming up, I’ve been feeling sentimental. It’s been over six years since I’ve gone to their graves, and I can’t help but want to go and spend time with them. I’m not a huge spiritual person, but there’s something comforting in knowing there’s a place I can go to update them on my life, even if no one is listening. I want them to be proud of what I’m building for Bentley and me.

It’s why I’ve always been so present for Bentley. Life is too short, and I want us to have as many memories together as possible. Men can come and go, but family… that’s life.

I walk into the club during the daytime, which I can attest I have never done before. Amy was free today to babysit, and as of next week, Bentley will officially start kindergarten a few days a week, so I thought it might work perfectly for work.

I might not need Amy as much for evenings now that I won’t be working them, but maybe I can go out a little more. Perhaps a dinner a week or something, now that my pay has increased.

Dutton and I agreed on one thing among the various messages I’ve been ignoring. I’ve now been officially hired to run the club’s social media and website. I also manage the private bookings. Because this club is exclusive, there is a barrier to promoting it because it’s not open to just anyone. But then I started to enjoy the challenge, and my brain has been going into overdrive with ideas.

Today is officially my first day in the new role. I received my sign-on bonus this week, and let’s just say I almost toppled over when I saw the multiple zeros. It might not be a lot of money to some, but twenty thousand is a lot to me.

I’ve sat with the new bedframe in my shopping cart, idly wondering whether I’m being impulsive with the purchase. I’m so used to buying for Bentley that it feels strange to splurge on myself. I did, however, buy the coffee machine.

I don’t plan to move any time soon. I like my little home, and it works for both of us right now, so I’m convincing myself that buying the bedframe is totally justified. It feels silly, but I haven’t done anything for myself in so long.

“You’re here early,” Paula says with a smile. “Congratulations on the promotion. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Paula came into my life at the right time. She might’ve badgered me about my tardiness, but I’ve always been grateful for her bringing me in and providing me with this job.

“Thanks. You aren’t mad I left you for the new position?” I ask.

She waves a hand at me. “Gosh, no. I was doing that job and failing miserably. I told Dutton I couldn’t do everything, so thank you for your help.”

“I wanted to run a new idea by you. I’d like to do a photoshoot of the girls to post on the socials. It’ll be for an exclusive subscription that is available only to regular members. Maybe we could not show the women’s faces, so if it’s ever reshared, the girls will be protected despite the privacy clauses. We could use the socials as a teaser for that.”

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