After giving my hair a quick tousle, I stepped out of my room and raised my arms at my sides. “Well, how do I look?”
“Gorgeous!” Emma and Luna said while Atlas fanned himself.
My phone buzzed in my ass, and I fumbled to pull it out.
Mr. Porter: The car is waiting.
Me: Car?
Mr. Porter: Did Finn not inform you we were sending a car
for you to take to the party?
Why me? Surely they didn’t do that for everyone at the party, right? Dumbass. Everyone at the party already had nice cars, whereas my beat-up pickup barely made it to the East Coast.
Me: Okay, I’ll be there soon.
Mr. Porter: Do not keep me waiting.
Waiting? Shit, was he in the car? God, could this day get any more awkward?
Me: Yes, sir.
“Gotta go. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck!” they all said in unison.
I rushed outside to the awaiting black BMW, shining without a spot on it as a man stood, holding the door open. “Thank you,” I said.
Before I crawled in the back, I paused to take in my boss, Mr. Knox Porter. He was either in his late forties or early fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair, cropped short. He had at least three inches on me, and he was lean. Like Finn, he oozed poise and refinement, and exactly what a lot of money could buy. The only thing that set him apart were the tattoos on his arms.
I felt instantly out of place. I grew up on a farm, and our home was full of laughter and very little poise.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter 3
Knox
Mydriverstoodoutsideof my BMW 8 to wait for Ryder. I teased Finn about being jealous of his interest in my bartender, but with Finn’s attraction to him, I grew attracted to him as well. He was a good-looking young man with a model face, but so full of innocence.
Finn and I wanted to bring in a third man to not only play with, but to dote on and spoil. I wanted to watch someone fucking Finn, and he wanted to watch me fucking someone else, preferably all at the same time.
Being with my stepson had never been in the cards. It hadn’t been something I sought. I came into his life when he was fourteen, right before I married his mother, and then she died six years later. I’d never been with a man before, or even overly sexual, being so busy trying to get a foothold on my success. But Finn turned my world on its head, and I never looked back.
The car door suddenly opened, and before Ryder climbed in, he paused to look at me, uncertain.
“Welcome, Mr. Jennings.”
He climbed in and sat down, buckling his seatbelt. He carried with him a faint spicy scent, one I instantly recognized since I also owned Viktor & Rolf’sSpicebomb. It smelled better on him than on me. “Hello, sir. Uh… thanks for, ah, picking me up.”
I ticked a smile at ‘sir.’ “You’re welcome.”
“I… could’ve driven.”
I waved a dismissive hand. “It’s no bother. Besides, it allows you to enjoy yourself and not have to worry about driving home if you choose to imbibe too much.”
He rubbed his hands over the thighs of his jeans and stared out the window as we drove from V Street toward Embassy Row along Massachusetts Avenue.