by Kendall Ryan
“You’ll be back?” Case asks.
“Yes, I’ll be back by nine. That’s what time you pay me to get here,” I remind him, then cheekily add, “This overtime was free of charge. Since I know you’re used to being paid, not paying for this type of thing.”
“What can I say?” Case shrugs. “You’re a welcome change of pace.”
• • •
It turns out the difference between a lousy workday and a productive workday is a few damn good orgasms and a full night’s sleep.
Since the second I walked into Case’s office at nine, his fingers have hardly left his keyboard. He’s flown through two full chapters, pushing us ahead of schedule, even with all the falling behind we did yesterday. Of course, there have been a few flirty comments passed back and forth, but other than that, we’ve both stayed totally focused for the whole day. I can’t remember either of us leaving the office in the past eight hours for anything other than running to the bathroom or refilling our coffee.
As Case’s fingers clatter away, I wrap up my second read-through of his freshly written chapter on advanced intimacy. I can’t help but view this chapter with new eyes, especially since I know how amazing the man is in bed, but that only makes it more fun to edit. He describes each detail perfectly, and I make a mental note to buy this book once it comes out so I can relive last night over and over again.
I’ve hardly left any comments or made any edits to this chapter. The quality of writing really matches the quality of performance. I start to tell Case that I’m sending the barely revised file back to him, but a knock on the door interrupts me.
“Come in,” Case calls out, his fingers not pausing from their typing for half a second.
Through the door steps Ryder, looking hesitant, like a puppy who just got scolded. “Okay if I interrupt?” he asks, still standing in the doorway. “I remembered to knock this time.”
“You’re good. We’re just finishing up for the day.” Case clicks his mouse, presumably saving his work, then smiles up at Ryder. “What can we do ya for?”
Ryder cocks an eyebrow. “You’re in a much better mood today.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve been a lot more productive today. Right, Sienna?”
“Absolutely. I’d say yesterday was more of a one-time thing.” I shoot Case a sideways glance and catch him smirking at my joke.
“Well, I’m glad you’re back on your game. I just thought I’d swing in to see if you guys wanted to grab dinner. I just got a mega-good tip from a client, so it’s on me. Consider it an apology for interrupting your work yesterday.”
Gross. I don’t want to think about how he earned that tip, but whatever. I make note of my grumbling stomach. I hardly realized we worked straight through lunch, but it’s catching up with me now.
“I could definitely eat,” I admit. “Ryder, could I somehow talk you into a burger instead of your usual rabbit food?”
My brother considers it for a second, then shrugs. “Fuck it, I don’t have any clients till Sunday, so I can have a cheat meal. Burgers and beers sound good to you, Case?”
“I don’t know. I just ate out last night,” Case says, looking directly at me.
I shoot him a puzzled look, then it clicks and my cheeks flush. Oh. He means me.
Oh my God.
He’s actually flirting with me right in front of my brother? I suddenly feel a little feverish.
“C’mon, dude. I’m paying. And you’re not even seeing clients right now. You can have a brew or two.”
“Well, Sienna and I did skip lunch.”
The sound of my name on his lips sends that familiar electricity up my back again. Fuck. I thought we were supposed to get all of this out of our systems last night.
“Then it’s settled.” Ryder jingles his keys in the air. “Let’s hit it. I’ll drive.”
Case and I shut down our computers and follow Ryder out to his car, where I make a point of calling shotgun. This way I can keep my attention on the road, not on Case. Much safer that way. I can already tell he’d be a really easy guy to fall for, and I sure as hell can’t have that happening. Not to mention, watching a six-foot-plus Case fold himself into the back seat of Ryder’s car was hilarious.
It’s a quick drive to Ryder’s favorite burger joint, and by the looks of the parking lot, we just beat the dinner rush.
“This is my go-to booth,” Ryder says, leading us to a spot in the back. He slides in first, meaning whichever side of the booth I pick, I’m stuck sitting across from Case.
Shit. I opt to sit next to Ryder, hoping that maybe Case will slide all the way into the other side of the booth, but instead, he sits directly across from me.
Shit again. It feels like Ryder is chaperoning me on a date, the way Mom used to make him do back when I was a freshman in high school.
The waitress comes by, and Ryder orders us a round of whatever’s on draft. Hopefully a beer will calm my nerves a bit and keep Ryder from picking up on how uncomfortable I am.
As Ryder guides me through the menu, pointing out his favorite burgers, I can feel Case’s stare burning through me, just like my first day in the office. That day, I spent too much time analyzing his stare, wondering if it meant he hated me. Now I know it’s just the opposite. He’s eye-fucking me across the table.
“Sienna? Hello? Anyone home?” Ryder raps on my head and makes a hollow knocking sound with his tongue. “I said, ‘Does anything look good to you?’”
Oh, something looks good to me, all right. But it’s not on the menu. It’s across the booth.
I look up in time to see Case’s mouth twitch with an amused smile.
Ugh. Why does he have to be so sexy?
Chapter Fifteen
Case
“I’ll have the bison burger with white cheddar instead of American, and uh, hold the onions, will you?”
I hand my menu to the waitress, meeting Sienna’s eyes and giving her a wink. She blushes, giving me a nervous look and jerking her head to Ryder, who’s been fully absorbed by the menu for the past several minutes.
I smile warmly, giving her a look back that makes my thoughts clear—Ryder doesn’t have a clue, so we can have all the fun we want. And after last night’s performance, followed by the encore this morning? I’m already itching for another round, no matter how wrong it might be.
“What about you, sweetheart?” the waitress asks, turning her attention to Ryder, who’s been deliberating over his order since the moment we got here.
After staring at the menu for another few seconds, he slams his hands down on the table. The waitress flinches, taking a step back in surprise. Sienna and I, on the other hand, know this kind of outburst is normal for him, especially when a cheat day is involved.
“Give me the double-bacon cheeseburger, extra special sauce, and make sure that bacon is extra crispy.”
The waitress nods along to his order, scribbling furiously on her notepad to keep up with his demands. Finally, she takes Sienna’s order for a mushroom swiss burger, and leaves us.
“Extra crispy? Really, Ryd?” Sienna gives him a sidelong glance, her brows knit together in amusement.
“He’s a man who knows what he wants,” I say, raising a slightly suggestive brow at her. She scoffs, but I can see in her eyes that she knew what I meant. I’m a man who knows what he wants too.
“He’s right, Sienna. You said it first. It’s cheat day—I might as well make it count.”
Sienna rolls her eyes and changes the subject, asking Ryder about his new gym routine, which really gets him talking. It’s a smart move on her part because it’s hard for me to slip innuendos into a conversation that Ryder is so invested in—but somehow her intelligence only makes me want her more.
It’s strange how much my body reacts to hers. And it’s not just her looks either. She’s smart and funny, and so put together. I don’t know what I was expecting, with her a few years younger and seeming so innocent, not to mention being my best friend’s little sister. But from the moment she arrived, sh
e’s pretty much all I’ve been able to think about.
“I don’t know. What do you think, Case?”
Ryder’s voice snaps me back to reality, and I’m suddenly aware of the half-swollen appendage that’s appeared in my pant leg.
I need to get it together.
Suddenly, I’m very grateful that Sienna chose to sit next to her brother, and that there’s a whole table between us to hide my obvious arousal. Now that Ryder knows my secret, it would be hard to explain a semi in the middle of a dinner with his kid sister.
“About squats versus dead lifts?”
“No, about plant-based protein shakes. I’m still on the fence about how it affects my gains.”
My brain is completely fried. “Oh, right, right. Yeah, I don’t know, man. You should probably look into that.”
Ryder keeps talking, debating with himself whether he should consider going vegan, when our food arrives and the decision is pretty much made for him.
Sienna gives me another warning look, her eyes lecturing me about how I need to focus and act normal. But honestly? The more eye contact she makes with me, the more she tries to communicate the need for us to behave, the more it makes me want her.
“Yeah . . . who am I kidding? I could never give this shit up,” he says, eyeing his massive burger with so much love, I believe him.
“I agree completely. Some things are just too good not to have over and over again.” I keep my eyes trained on Sienna as the words leave my mouth.
Another blush creeps over her chest and cheeks, and for a second, I can see it in her eyes: she wants another round too. But just as quickly as it appeared, the look is gone, and she’s rolling her eyes at me again, silently telling me to shut the fuck up and behave.
We get through the rest of dinner without any major hiccups. Conversation flows easily between the three of us, Ryder finding ways to talk about work that don’t make Sienna gag, and Sienna explaining how her ballet class is going. Through it all, I can’t take my mind off last night, not even when I do my best to shake my residual horniness and focus. It’s simply no use. With Sienna in front of me, all bets are off.
When we’re about finished with dinner, Ryder gets up to go to the bathroom, leaving Sienna and me alone at the table. My pulse jumps at the thought of sneaking a kiss while he’s gone, but the look on her face once Ryder is out of earshot quickly snaps me out of it.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she whispers, resting her elbows on the table and leaning toward me.
Even annoyed, she’s sexy as hell. Fuck, this girl is really under my skin.
“Oh, come on. Ryder doesn’t have a clue.”
“Not right now he doesn’t. But if you keep saying weird things and eye-fucking me across the table, he’s definitely going to figure it out.”
“Don’t you think you’re giving him a little too much credit? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but he’s not exactly known for being able to read a room.”
She narrows her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. “He’s not an idiot, Case. And if there’s one thing he knows more than anything, it’s sexual chemistry.”
“So you admit it. You and I have chemistry.”
“That’s not the point. The point is I don’t know why you’re being so weird about this right now. You wouldn’t sleep with me before because I was Ryder’s sister, and now you’re throwing around innuendos like it’s your job.”
Before I can respond, Ryder reappears, sliding into the booth next to Sienna and popping his last few fries into his mouth.
“What’d I miss?” He looks between us, and Sienna and I both force a smile.
“Work stuff, nothing exciting,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ears and avoiding eye contact with me.
I try to brush off what she said, but part of me is a little hurt. I know we talked about it being a one-time thing, but that was before we did it and saw how incredible our connection really is. Last night didn’t change things for me, necessarily. Actually, it confirmed them.
Sienna is officially the sexiest woman I’ve ever been with, and now that I know she still wants me too, there’s no way I’m letting her go without another taste.
After Ryder and Sienna drop me off at my place, I spend the rest of the night trying not to text her. The second I lay eyes on my bed, all the memories of last night rush back over me.
The way she arched her back as she came. Her silky hair spread out over my pillow as I buried myself inside her again and again. The look in her eyes when she woke up this morning, already so eager to go for another round.
I haven’t been this turned on in a long time.
After just one night, she’s gotten so under my skin, I feel like I’m going fucking crazy.
• • •
The next day, I meet up with Nic and Elle for dinner at their new place by the park. I haven’t seen Elle since Nic told me she was pregnant, and I definitely haven’t had a chance to see their new place, not with how crazy my schedule has been since the book deal.
Walking up the steps of their brownstone with a bottle of wine in one hand and a nice sparkling water in the other, I can’t help but think about what it would be like to get out of the business for good. Not that I would walk away from my company, but transitioning into a more behind-the-scenes role is starting to sound better and better these days.
Not only is my man meat clearly not in a position to be meeting and pleasing anyone not named Sienna at the moment, but writing this book and sharing with the world all the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years has made me realize how normal the escort life has become for me. And while no part of me is ashamed of the life I’ve led and the business I’ve built from the ground up, I’m not sure how sustainable it is to keep working as an escort moving forward.
The door opens, and Nic is standing there with Elle by his side, her round belly swelling under her dress. With his arm around his pregnant wife’s shoulders in the doorway of their new home, Nic looks like the perfect picture of a family man. It’s hard to believe that just a year and a half ago he was one of my best escorts, wining and dining women like it was his job—literally.
“Hi there, Case, it’s been so long!” Elle says, reaching out to pull me in for a hug.
When we part, Nic claps a hand on my shoulder. “How’s it going, man? Glad you came.”
They usher me inside as we go through the usual pleasantries. Nic opens the bottle of wine for us while I pour Elle a glass of sparkling water, and the three of us settle in around the kitchen table, the smell of fresh herbs and garlic filling the air.
“I hope you’re okay with a kind of garlic-heavy pasta dish,” Elle says sheepishly. “I know it’s strong, but it’s all I’ve been craving for the past week or so.”
“Thankfully, most of her cravings have been things I can make. There have only been a couple times I’ve had to drive all over town to find what she was looking for. Did you know there’s a Chinese market not too far from your place? I found that out when she was dying for a specific brand of sweet chili sauce to pour over her French fries.”
Elle covers her face with her hands in embarrassment, and Nic puts his hand on her knee.
I can’t believe how domestic the two of them have become. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing him so happy, but after so many years of working the business together, it’s a little bizarre seeing him this way.
I blink a few times and manage to nod.
“Anyway, enough about us,” Nic says. “How are you doing? Things going okay with that new assistant of yours?”
My heart rate picks up at the mention of Sienna. I pull it together fairly quickly, though. I may be a horny mess, but I’m not a monster who can’t operate in social situations.
“Yep, everything’s going great. Business is still booming, and Sienna is adjusting just fine.”
“None of the guys are giving her any trouble? It’s been a while since you’ve had any women in the house. I can imagine some of t
hose guys are having a field day.”
You have no idea.
I suppress a smile and shrug off his comment. “She’s mostly stuck with me in my office. The other guys don’t really see her at all, actually.” Thank God.
Nic nods, and Elle’s eyes widen.
“That job must be so eye-opening for her.”
Among other things.
“She’s a fast learner,” I say.
Elle nods, but Nic just watches me closely.
For a second, I worry that he can tell something’s happened between us—one of the tricks of the trade is being able to sniff out when and where chemistry exists between people—but before he can say anything about it, Elle stands to refill our glasses and starts chopping vegetables for the salad.
“What about you? How’s that house you’ve been working on?” I ask, eager to change the subject.
Nic watches me for a moment, swirling the liquid in his glass and seeming to see right through what I’m trying to do. I brace myself for a question about Sienna, but it doesn’t come.
“Eh, it’s all right. The electrical has been a bitch this past week. I think it’s to the point where I’m going to have to have someone else come in and take a look at it.”
“That bad?”
“Yeah, the wiring in some of these old places is so fucked up. No regulation back then.”
“You should take a look at the place I’m buying for my mom, just to make sure it’s all up to code. I’ve done a walk-through with a contractor, but you have a lot more experience with that kind of stuff than I do.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to.”
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate that. My mom would too.”
“Where is she living now?” Elle asks from the counter where she’s halving grape tomatoes and scooping them into a bowl.
“Way far away on the north side of town. That’s part of why I’m buying her this place, to move her closer.” Not to mention to repay her for everything she’s done for me my entire life.
“I just think that’s the sweetest thing. I bet she’s over the moon about it.”
“Yeah, turns out Case is a good guy when it comes down to it. Who knew?” Nic teases, cocking his head to the side and giving me a knowing look.