Page 9 of Privileged (Adrenalin)

“Again?” Lennon asks, snatching one up and passing it to me. “That’s the third time tonight. What happened to yours? Are you eating them?”

I tuck the pen into the sleek black folder along with the customer’s receipt. “Not sure.” I pat down my apron pockets even though I just did that a second ago, coming up empty again.

“You’re not usually so…” He clicks his tongue as he searches for the word he wants.

“Scattered,” I supply.

“I was going to say blonde.” He fills a pint glass from the tap.

“Is that supposed to be an insult? You’re blonde.”

“Which is why it’s normal for me to lose shit. So how come we’ve switched places tonight?”

I lean over the bar and motion him closer, lowering my voice. “It happened again,” I whisper-shout so he can hear me without the two of us beingoverheard.

“It?” He arches a brow. I lower my eyes pointedly and bring them back to his. “Oh, that. Two for two, you’re on astiffstreak.”

“Lennon,” I hiss, looking side-to-side to make sure no one’s listening. “There are strict rules about this. I can lose my license.”

“How so? He’s the one with the issue, not you.” Lennon grabs a cocktail shaker and starts pouring liquid into it.

“But I’m causing the issue—I think.”

“Again, how? By doing your job? You can’t help the way people react.” Lennon fits a glass inside the shaker and mixes everything together, snagging the attention of a woman at the end of the bar who can’t seem to take her eyes off the abs his crop top does little to cover.

“What if I can? What if I’m doing something different since this guy is super-hot and that’s causing him to react?”

“Are you doing something different?”

My first reaction is to scoff—I’m hyper-careful to be professional at all times. But then I think about that first day, when I saw him in just a towel, and the way my body reacted.Maybe I did instigate things, inadvertently.

Then I think about Carter’s reaction. He seemed genuinely apologetic and borderline sweet after the initial awkwardness. And today, I think we had a moment when he thanked me for defending him. Neither instance was entirely professional given his physical state. And the truth is, I kind of liked him in those instances.Him, not just the way he looks.Oh shit.

I lift my shoulders and let them drop heavily. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I must be if he’s… you know.”

“Or it could be that he’s been celibate since moving here and you’re the first man to touch him in over a year.” Lennon reads the next order on his list and begins making the drink like he didn’t just shatter the illusion that my business is my own.

“You… I… how do you know who I’m talking about?”

“The first episode was exactly a week ago, which suggests a regular appointment, and since that appointment is during business hours the client must not have to answer to anyone.” He sets a margarita on the bar for one of the servers to collect.

“And the celibate part?”

“His secretary Janice sometimes picks up his takeout orders and has let slip that she wishes he’d come in to eat so maybe he’d meet a nice girl instead of hiding away at the resort all the time. Obviously, she doesn’t know he likes boys, but you get what I’m saying.”

“No oneknowshe likes boys.”

Lennon gives me a withering look.

“I’m just saying, getting excited about a massage doesn’t automatically make the man gay.”

“You literally just speculated you’re the reason for the excitement,” Lennon unhelpfully points out, catching me in my own lame attempt to backtrack.

“Fine, heprobablylikes guys. But the fact he hasn’t eaten dinner outside his office doesn’t mean he’s celibate.” Thank God this is Lennon, someone I know will respect my privacy enough not to repeat this conversation, which would be awkward considering the man in question is my boss.

“Let’s just say the resort’s reclusive new owner is a popular topic of conversation around here, and even though I haven’t seen much of him, I’ve seen enough to know he doesn’t have to eat alone unless he wants to.” Lennon slyly substitutes eating a meal with sex.

“Right. Because there are so many queer men in this town for him to eat with,” I mutter under my breath.

---