Page 10 of Naughty Dreams
“What’s being done to protect my life is of passing interest to me.” DJ gave him a look in the mirror. “I don’t give up control easily, Roy. No matter what it looks like.”
“Noted.” Roy could have let it pass, but the vibes between them kept flashing like a disco ball. “My job isn’t to play games with you, Mr. James. Don’t mess with me.”
DJ’s very appealing lip curled at the corner, his penetrating eyes sliding over Roy.
“Noted.”
Rising, he discarded his shirt and folded his long body over a sink to dunk his head under the water and scrub out the product. He reached for a towel and straightened, tossing his hair back. Water dripped down his back, wetting the waistband of the jeans.
He could be doing it deliberately, or he was that damn appealing, even without trying. Roy realized he was just standing there, watching him. Thankfully with his mouth closed and no drool. “If that’s all you needed?—”
“Do you do the BDSM club scene, Roy?”
DJ’s face emerged from the towel folds. The wayward curls draped on his high forehead shadowed his eyes and gave them different color depths. He didn’t have a weak face.
Roy gave the kid a look intended to be a clear warning. “That’s none of your business.”
“My business is open to you, but yours isn’t to me?”
“Correct. Beyond vetting me to make sure I’m not a homicidal maniac, one who pretended to be a top-rated security agent for years until I could get close to my ultimate pretty-boy target, my private life is private.”
DJ moved toward the door, reaching out to close it. Roy put his hand on the frame, preventing the move. Thanks to their matched height, it put him and DJ eye to eye. The slimness of his body would a good fit against Roy’s greater mass.
“I need to ask you something, and I don’t want anyone to overhear,” DJ said. “Serious.”
Roy let the door go and DJ shut it. Roy put a few steps between them as DJ leaned against it, shirtless, the water still beaded on his shoulders. His curling hair was dark and wet against his corded neck, and the light mat of chest hair gleamed with the dampness as well.
“I wanted to know if you’re familiar with that scene, because I may want to go to a club or two along our tour route. The more upscale ones have good security, right?”
The places that came to mind met Roy’s standards. “We can make it work. And yes, I’m familiar.”
The golden lights in DJ’s brown eyes took on a greater intensity. Roy could almost see him imagining what Roy might have done within the walls of those places. He didn’t offer any confirmations. But the hint of vulnerability in the set of DJ’s lips revealed the truth.
“You’ve never been to a club, have you? You’ve just thought about it. A lot.”
“A lot more lately,” DJ said, giving him a sweeping look. Kid was irrepressible. “How about G and Warren? Would they be cool with it if I’m on their shift?”
“G and Warren have seen it all. It won’t faze them.”
“But you’ve…played. You’re a Dom.”
“Yeah.”
DJ pushed away from the door and returned to his chair in front of the mirror. “Okay, that’s what I wanted to know.”
Roy picked up a slight strain in his voice, and figured he knew the cause. He opened the door, but paused in the threshold.
“Eat that power bar, Mr. James. People do unwise things when their blood sugar crashes.”
“I can do unwise things even after a full meal, Mr. Bloodwell. Is Roy your full name?”
“No.”
DJ looked up. In the mirror, Roy saw what he’d been hiding. Raw interest. Need. Desire.
“Your life is on the line,” Roy told him. Calmly. “It’s hard for a normal person to wrap their minds around someone trying to kill them, let alone someone who lives in a celebrity fantasy world. But you’re a smart guy, so cut this shit out now.”
“I have a different idea,” DJ said, a determined light in his eyes. “You give me your time when you’re off shift, and when you’re on, I treat you and you treat me as we should. Professionally.”
