Page 24 of Dark Promises

I heard the door open, and Bryan escorted Daniel into the living area. “You have a nice place here.”

“That’s not Daniel,” I mumbled. “What the fuck is going on?”Does Bryan realize that the man in my house isn’t Daniel,I wondered.

They talked about nothing, and then I heard them kissing and moans? This wasn’t supposed to be a meet and greet for two horny strangers. This was a fact-finding mission, at least that was what Bryan wanted me to believe, and clearly Bryan had strayed off course.

“Would you like a drink?” I heard Bryan ask. “Do you mind if I take off my mask? Because this isn’t working for me.”

“Me either,” the dude said, and I heard the masks being peeled off and a chuckle.

“Wow, you’re not...” Bryan must have recognized that it wasn’t Daniel, and instead of calling the dude out, he didn’t say a word except, “You’re hot. Not like I thought.”

“You too,” the dude said. “What do you say we forget about playrooms or any of that bondage shit, and get to know each other.” When I peeked, they didn’t see me, because they were too wrapped up in each other. Bryan stood and licked his lips as he stared down the imposter. Bryan sauntered in his tight jeans to get wine out of the wine fridge. He held it up for the dude’s approval, then strolled over with a wide grin. I’d grin too, because it was one of my best wines I’d purchased when I’d got the nerves to have Daniel over.

After he’d popped the cork, he brought two glasses and sat them down on the table with a closed smile, and what I’d call a twinkle in his eyes. He poured two full glasses of my expensive Bordeaux. A Chateaux Mouton I’d been saving for when me and Daniel celebrated our anniversary. He had the good sense not to pick the more expensive one, but I doubted he knew the difference.

I became bored listening to their conversation and nodded off. When I woke, It was early in the morning, and Bryan should have been at his job, but the door opened and Bryan was saying goodbye to the dude. When Bryan closed the door quietly, I was standing behind him. As he turned and saw me standing behind him with my hands on my hips, he jumped.

“You scared me.” And he breathed out. “Damn, dude, you scared me shitless. I didn’t expect you to be here in the dark.”

“Why would you be afraid? Didn’t you expect me to be in my own house? Get in here and tell me what that was about.” Bryan swiveled around on his heels with an unsteady stride. I hoped he hadn’t drunk another bottle of my wine. But then it was Bryan who never paid more than ten dollars for a bottle of Chianti.

Chapter 15

Cole

“It is my house, orhave you forgotten? You should expect me to be inside, Bryan. It’s not as if I showed up when that dude was stumbling out at this time of the morning.” I turned and headed for the living area, and I knew Bryan would be behind me, but instead he was heading for the bedroom I’d let him crash in for one night.

“Where the fuck are you going?” I barked.

“It’s late, and if I’m going to get to work, I’d better get some sleep.”

“You know you didn’t have to keep him here the entire night. It’s four o’clock for fuck’s sake. I think you owe me an explanation before you crash. Now get in there and explain.” Bryan turned and headed for the living area, and reached for the empty wine bottle and glared in my direction.

“I’m going to pay you back for the wine.”

“You damn-well better, because that wine cost over four hundred dollars—”

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