“No.” There was such utter trust shinning back from her big brown eyes, Josh had to believe her. But when Beth began to bounce her feet against the stage, Josh knew there was something more. “I do think you’re running away from something. Though for the life of me I don’t know from what.”
“I’m not.”
“Okay.” Jumping to the floor, she fixed her hair back into a neater bun. “I better finish up.”
Josh sat there for several minutes after she’d gone back upstairs, his mind turning over her words. He wasn’t running away again. Running away implied he was a coward, and he’d long ago learned how to fight to win. No, he wasn’t packing up and heading to Montreal solely for his own benefit.
Opening a new club would help people who didn’t know where else to go. He was doing this for them. And God help anyone who got in his way.
Chapter Two
Beth should have guessed Josh was up to something when he asked her to work with Oliver on the stockroom inventory. The task had been one of his favorite things to do ever since Oliver had come onboard, something Josh rarely missed if he could help it. She’d thought it was quite cute the way he’d smile when Oliver would casually ask if anyone could lend a hand, as though anyone but Josh would offer to assist.
The air in the closet was warm but not oppressive. The walls were thick enough to block the normal sounds of the club, giving Beth the illusion of having stepped into a sanctuary. One manned by a hot minion.
Running a hand through her hair to tuck it behind her ear, she tried to keep her gaze from continuously landing on Oliver’s ass. This was pretty damn hard to do given how he was bent over in front of her at the moment. God, if the girls from her Business Ethics class could see her now. Actually, knowing that crew, they’d probably be staring along with her.
“Are you always this slow?” She knew better than to taunt Oliver, but she needed something to occupy her hyperactive brain. Something other than the idea of sex.
Sex with Oliver. Sex with Josh. Oliver and Josh having sex. Beth tying them both up and flogging them.
Yeah, maybe it was time for a sexual harassment refresher course.
“It takes longer when I get interrupted and have to start over. One…two…”
Oliver was such a smartass. It was one of the things she’d come to love about him. Given the teasing that went on between the two men, it didn’t take a genius to know that Josh had a thing for Oliver. It wasn’t obvious to everyone, but Beth knew Josh better than most. Even so, if people took the time to pay attention to him while the two men were interacting, they would see the signs.
Josh would lean closer to Oliver whenever they were talking. He would constantly find reasons to touch him—squeeze his shoulder, grab his arm, brush up against him—and Oliver would simply smile in return. It was cute and more than a little bit erotic to see them together.
So why she was the one squeezed into the closet with him, she wasn’t sure.
“Ten cases of ginger ale, three canisters of root beer syrup.” Oliver’s voice was muffled by the back end of the shelf he faced. “And it looks like we only have one case of beer nuts left.”
“Someone has been sneaking them again.” She made a note on the sheet clipped to her board. Not that she’d forget, but she’d learned Josh needed everything written down or else he’d bombard her with a dozen questions. “Did you ever find a new place to live?”
“We have four forty-ouncers of vodka. That should get us through the night, but we’ll need to get more right after. Yeah, I move in two weeks.”
“I hope this place is better than the last.”
“Should be. There isn’t any water damage, and no mice from what I can tell.”
Beth had nearly lost her mind when Oliver had told her about his apartment’s mice infestation. Hate wasn’t a strong enough word for the harshness of her feelings toward rodents. “Thank God. I don’t know how you lasted even a day in that place.”
“Not like I had a lot of choices in the matter at the time I signed my lease. Why do you hate them so much?”
“I was a summer camp counselor. My first night there we discovered that our cabin was infested. They were all over the floors, in the walls.” Even the thought of them had her skin crawling.
“That explains Mavericks’ monthly pest control check. And, finally, we have ten cases of Molson. We’ll need to order more and see if they can deliver by tomorrow night, or else I’ll have to make a run to the Beer Store.”
“Okay.” Beth jotted down the last notation with a flourish and slipped her pen beneath the clip. “Done.”
Shifting her gaze from the inventory sheet, she was surprised by the grin he was giving her. Not that Oliver wasn’t always smiling or making some sort of sarcastic remark, but somehow this was different. It was bright and seductive in a passive way. Her fingers itched to brush across his lips, tracing the outline.
“This was fun.” He reached over and pushed a lock of her hair from her face. “We got through this a lot faster than when I do it with Josh.”
“He can be a bit of a distraction. You should see him at year end.” God, it was sometimes harder to get Josh to concentrate than her five-year-old niece. He was always touching, or teasing. Josh liked to draw things out as long as possible until things went over a meal hour and he bought them food. Beth knew it was because, despite his popularity, he was a lonely person.
Oliver nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Is he okay?”
“What do you mean?” Her heart began to race as Oliver stepped closer.
“The boss-man seems…distracted. He looks at everything as if it might be his last time seeing it. He’s not sick or anything?”
“God, no!” And didn’t even the suggestion of anything being wrong with Josh make her ill.
Beth knew from the set of his jaw and his rigid stance that her normal brush-off wasn’t going to work. Other than her, Oliver seemed to be the most in tune with Josh on a daily basis. She shouldn’t be surprised he’d have picked up on Josh’s odd moods, which were increasing in frequency as Josh got closer to his dream of opening a second club.
Deciding to take the chance, Beth pulled the closet door closed, giving them a measure of privacy. “What I’m about to tell you can’t leave this closet.”
Oliver cocked an eyebrow but nodded. “Go on.”
“If these new investors he brings to the pajama party are as interested as he thinks they are, Josh plans to open up another club in Montreal.”
“Well, that’s a good thing. Right?” Oliver stepped back and sat down on the stacked cases of beer.
“He plans to leave here and run the club there.”
“Leave us?” There was something in the way he said us that held an edge of possession.
Beth moved to sit on the floor by Oliver’s feet. The second she’d settled in place, his hand found its way to her shoulder and began to massage the muscles. She closed her eyes and let his magic fingers rub away the tension that had been creeping up on her.
“I think he’s going through a bit of a midlife crisis thing.”
Oliver dug into a knot in her shoulder. “Is he even old enough to have one?”
“He’s thirty-five. Does that count as midlife?”
“God, I hope not. Still…”
“Still what?”
“He seems off a bit. I’m not as good at reading people as he is, but he seems frustrated or something.”
“Moving away from his friends who care about him is a strange way to deal with it. Could be that Josh simply wants to see how far he can take the business. He’s probably running on empty and acting a bit more withdrawn. Has anyone ever told you to go into massage? This is awesome.”
He hesitated for a second. “Once or twice. So you do think it’s anything more than
that?”
Knowing Josh, that was most likely it. But every now and again Beth couldn’t help shake the feeling there was something else going on with him beneath the surface. “I think he’s lonely too.”
Oliver shifted so Beth was now between his legs and he was able to work on her shoulder blades. “Why don’t you ask him out?”
“What?” God, no. She wasn’t the caliber of woman who could keep a man like Josh happy. She might have fantasies, but she’d never have a chance with him. They were friends, good friends. The last time she’d dated a friend, Mitch had ended up cheating on her.
“Ask him out.” Oliver’s grip on her shoulders tightened. “I mean, you obviously care about him, and it’s pretty obvious he’s got feelings for you. Why don’t you take the lead and see where it goes?”
“But…” Beth let her mind scroll back through every encounter she’d witnessed between Josh and Oliver. It was clear Josh was interested. She’d always assumed from his reactions that, while maybe a bit shy in that department, Oliver was too. Everyone knew Josh swung both ways, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to expect that Oliver would express his interest.
Crap, why did this have to be so awkward? She should be able to talk to Oliver about most things by now. The last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. “But I thought you…might be interested. In Josh, I mean.”
She’d seen Oliver in all sorts of moods, but shocked embarrassment was new.
“W-w-why would you think that?”
Ah, shit, maybe he was in the closet. “I’m sorry. I just assumed that—”
Oliver swung his leg around and joined her on the floor. For the first time since his first day at the club, he didn’t meet her gaze. His mouth opened and closed several times, before he let out a huff and frowned. “I’ve never been attracted to men.”
There was something in his too-quiet tone that told Beth there was more to that statement than what was on the surface. She’d gotten good at this over the years, learning when to prod and when to simply let people get to things in their own time. Her mom had always told her she’d have been better off going into counseling than business. Someday she might explain how working at Mavericks was not too far off the mark, given how often she was the shoulder people came to cry on.
Being this close, Beth was able to see the design of his tattoos clearly. He had lines of a poem or a song inked on the inside of his forearm. She’d always been curious, but the idea of blatantly asking crossed a line she wasn’t certain she should. Sensing Oliver was going to need more of a push to get going, she reached out and began to trace along the edge of the lines of the tattoo closest to her. The tail feathers of a black bird. “But?”
“But.” He squeezed her hand and let out a nervous laugh. “I’m finding myself…distracted when I’m around him.”
“Josh has that effect on a lot of people.”
Oliver chuckled and shifted around so she could better see his arms. “Yes, he certainly does. How have you been able to work with him for as long as you have without going mad or throwing yourself at him?”
“Who says I haven’t?” Oh, she’d thought about it more than once, but she’d never gotten up the nerve.
“Please. You get this look about you whenever the two of you are together. If you’d had sex…you—” he waved his hand around her face, “—well, it would be completely different.”
How the hell to respond to that? “He’s a bit out of my league.”
“Bullshit, you’re beautiful. And smart. And keep him in line.”
Beth turned her face at the same time Oliver did. Their mouths were only a few inches apart, Oliver’s breath brushing across her cheek. For a moment she thought he was going to lean in and kiss her. Her heart raced as her gaze dropped down to his mouth.
“The two of you would be hot together.” His voice had dropped to a whisper that sent a shiver through her.
Sure, she’d found Oliver attractive, but she’d honestly believed he was completely interested in Josh. Sitting here side by side, her body flared with desire and need. Working at a sex club had heightened her awareness of all things erotic, and yet at the same time she’d grown immune to the allure of certain in-your-face turn-ons.
But not this. Not the subtle, unconscious seduction of Oliver. She’d been denying herself even the thought of him for months. And yet here she sat alone with him in a closet wanting to kiss him.
The tip of Oliver’s tongue was barely visible past his lips. Would he tease her with it if she were to close the distance between them to press her lips to his?
“You do too.” Oliver reached up and cupped her cheek. “Have that effect on people. But unlike Josh you seem pretty fucking oblivious to the fact.”
Shit. She leaned into his touch and tried to ignore the fact that this was a very bad idea. She’d gotten caught having sex at her last place of employment, and she’d been fired on the spot. While she knew Josh wouldn’t do that to her, the ghosts of mistakes past crept up on her.
A sharp knock at the door had Oliver pull away. Her heart raced and her blood pounded in her ears. What the hell had she been about to do?
“Beth, you in there? We have some questions about the party.”
It was Jordan, one of the dungeon monitors. Beth got to her feet and brushed the dust from her ass. “Yeah, just a second. We’re shifting boxes.”
“Damn,” Oliver muttered behind her.
All she could do was nod. Damn indeed. “You okay to finish up?”
“I’m good.” He sounded far from good.
Casting a quick glance at where he sat, Beth had more than a little guilt about the state she was leaving him in. “Sorry.”
Oliver tilted his head back and smiled. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“What? No!”
Another knock. “Beth?”
Growling, she yanked the door open and came face-to-face with Jordan. “Hey. Where are you guys?”
“Conference room.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “You good?”
“Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”
Jordan showed remarkable restraint and didn’t peek behind her. “Okay.”
Shutting the door, Beth gave herself a moment to calm her flare of anger. Someone had done something to Oliver to elicit that reaction. The mere thought of his being hurt pissed her off. “Spill.”
“Beth, it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You look like I kicked your puppy. Now what did you mean is there something wrong with you?”
“I—” Oliver groaned and lightly banged his head against the wall. “I think I’m having my own midlife crisis.”
“You’re only twenty-nine.” She shifted her weight, jutting her hip to the side. Josh always called it her Domme glare. Not that she had any experience in that department. “You can’t have a crisis yet.”
“I’ve had a lot of crap land on me in the past year and a half.” Before she could ask, he held up his other hand. “I really don’t want to get into it right now, so don’t ask.”
“Okay.” She watched him run his finger along the bird’s feathers. “But you need to know there’s nothing wrong with you. If there are things you’re curious about, people you might want to be with, then I think you should give yourself permission to try.”
“As simple as that?”
Was it? Probably not. “It’s been my experience that we tend to make things harder on ourselves than we need to. Think about what you want.”
“You better go.” Oliver stood. “They’ll be wondering where you are.”
Shit, she didn’t want to walk out on this, not yet. But if she pushed too hard, Oliver was more likely to retreat. At the last second, she paused by the door and half turned to face him.
“If you want to have sex wit
h Josh, I would be willing to be there too.”
And then she fled.
Chapter Three
Oliver’s palms were sweating as he wandered off in search of Josh. Not that he was nervous about finding the other man, but he’d been twitchy ever since his little run-in with Beth in the closet. And he’d come a hair’s breadth from telling her about his fantasy.
About him having sex with Josh while she watched.
Maybe going through his divorce was making him a bit unstable. Mallory certainly would have agreed he was taking a step toward the land of crazy by wanting to have a threesome with his bosses. One of whom was male.
Considering that Oliver wasn’t gay.
He should never have said anything to Beth at all. Neither she nor Josh deserved to get burdened with his issues. Sure, Mallory had left him in the most painful way possible, but that was his shit to deal with. He liked and respected them both too much to drag them into the messy details of his life.
Fuck, he really needed to get over Mallory and move on with his life. Or actually go out and do something that wasn’t connected to work or finding a new place to live. He slowed down, trying to remember the last time he did anything fun, just for the heck of it. Went to a movie? No time. He’d never been much of a reader and he hadn’t played his guitar in years. Maybe it was time to get the acoustic out again. After the party when he had some spare time once again.
For now his first order of business was to find Josh.
Getting his social life back? A distant second.
Oliver poked his head around the corner of the Black Room but found it empty. Josh had removed the door, so he must have moved on to the next task. Large cans of oil were stacked off to the side in preparation for later use. Oliver could only imagine what it would feel like to strip naked and slide around with people in the slick substance.
Maybe he’d try it. With Josh and Beth.
Dammit. Focus.
Calling the Shots Page 2