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Cole didn’t laugh. “Does that happen often?”
“Thank you for your concern.” I sighed, touching his shoulder but immediately withdrawing my hand since his hard, warm muscles did something inappropriate to my body. “I’m fine.” I stood and waited for him to move.
Cole stood to his full height but didn’t move back, so I had to tip my head back to meet his eyes. “Shane.”
He said my name like a reprimand and reached for my arm but dropped his hand.
“I’m really fine. Sorry for busting into your office, crossing too many boundaries to count, and giving your paperwork the Shane-o-rific filing system.”
Cole twisted to reach behind himself and grabbed a stack of papers, flipping through them inches from me. The only way out of this room was through this hulking man. His fingers speared into his silky hair causing some to stick out at an odd angle. I would not fix it. I shoved my hands into my pockets. Cole picked up another stack and then another.
“How’d you do this?” His voice was incredulous. “This would’ve taken me all day.”
“I could tell you, but it’s a secret.” I tapped my head, smiling at the truth. “I’m not even allowed to know.” When my brain went into overdrive, I rarely remembered my process. I saw the abandoned aftercare paper on the floor. I reached for it and squeezed by Cole in a bent position. “Thanks for everything. You’re a true artist.”
I backed out of the room, waving the paper like a lunatic, vowing not to return.
Chapter five
Cole
“Whatarethechancesyou go home with someone tonight?” Alec asked in a lighthearted attempt to encourage me.
“Zero.” I took another sip of Jack.
My hand would have to do. The expectations another person had after sex weren’t worth the hassle. I wasn’t in the mood for the hassle.
Alec dragged me to Pink Titanium even though the paperwork was successfully sent to our accountant for our quarterly taxes. He’d offered to pick me up on his Harley, probably thinking I wouldn’t show up. In my younger days, I’d hung out here a lot, but it got trendy, and we got old. Last night, they’d had drag-karaoke, so it was a mellow crowd for a Saturday night. Alec insisted he needed a wingman, but we both knew that was bullshit. Alec could have a locker room of hockey players panting after him when he dropped his pads. He’d convinced more than a few of them to walk on the wild side for the night. Hookups were easy for him, but Alec butchered relationships.
I cracked my neck in an effort to relax. Socializing had never been my thing, but being alone every night wasn’t a good time either.
“I made the aftercare calls today,” Alec said, and I nodded. Alec usually delegated that task, but we found the follow-up helpful in avoiding health issues as well as increasing our number of repeat customers. “Shane’s doing fine.”
He threw a lopsided grin my way.
Alec had more than a few questions about Shane, especially since I spent paperwork day tattooing Shaneandcreating a new organizational system for invoices and receipts. Alec knew it wasn’t possible for me to have done it, but there was no way to explain what had happened. I had as many questions as Alec and fewer answers. Shane obviously had some sort of panic attack, but it was far from normal. His brain went into supercomputer mode and processed over a hundred random pieces of paper and organized my mess.
I needed to go digital, but I was clinging to the paperwork as part of my life with Paxton. He’d unofficially assumed bookkeeper duties for me. We would take bets on who could finish first. As in, if Paxton sorted the paperwork first, or if I made him come first. I used to tease him that I paid him in blowjobs. One more change I had to make in my life and business that took me further away from Paxton’s memory.
Alec’s shit-eating grin and chuckle annoyed the fuck out of me. “What?”
“Your boy Shane is over there.” Alec pointed with his beer bottle to a high-top table at the edge of the bar area.
He clapped a hand on my shoulder and strolled over to the bar, squeezing in next to a twink.
I stood my ground. There were a thousand reasons to stay away from him. He was too young. He worked for my father. He’d replaced Paxton. He was obviously going through something. I had enough shit in my life. I absolutely wouldn’t choose to add another complication. But...but I couldn’t stay away.
My feet took me in a wide circle as I scanned the crowd. I only wanted to see if any of our other friends were out tonight. It was a complete coincidence that I leaned against the back of a booth near Shane’s table. He and a woman seemed very familiar with each other, leaning in close, touching each other. He’d said he didn’t have a girlfriend, but he wouldn’t be the first guy to lie.
“Stop it,” Shane whisper-yelled at the woman.
“You can’t go anywhere without me,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“I swear this was the worst idea you’ve ever had.” Shane rubbed the heels of his hands in his eye sockets. “Can we leave?”
Uneasiness spread through me thinking of Shane going home with that woman. She had curly brown hair and a round face with big brown eyes. She was definitely attractive, but her skin had a sallow tint and her makeup didn’t hide the bags under her eyes.
“No!” She banged on the table, and Shane groaned.