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He nodded. “I’ve been trained in how to alter my gait when necessary, but no one followed me this morning, and no one’s going to be looking for me here. The car was rented under a corporation. The insurance people had to have my driver’s license, but my business manager is pretty good at finding places who keep information away from prying eyes.”

“You look like a cool nerd.” I looked down at my own khaki pants, navy button-up shirt, and loafers with fucking tassels on them.Tassels. “I think I just look like a fucked-up nerd.”

He kissed my forehead. “You’re adorable. C’mon, let’s go retrieve our car and get on the road. Are you hungry? We have reservations for a back room at a place in Etowah. It’s a little over an hour away. If you need a snack now, we can get security to grab us something before we get on the road.”

He’d explained the night before that he often regretted the fact he couldn’t be spontaneous on this kind of trip, because his security people had worked with his travel person to make sure he was in and out of places with the least risk of being recognized, and for this trip, in the McLaren, it would be even more important.

“I’m fine, Master. I’m excited about our trip, and I’m sure wherever we eat will be fine.”

We neared the circle of bikers and others who were looking at the car, and Master said, “For a bunch of guys who only drive American-made bikes, ya’ll are sure interested in the British-made car.”

“It’s a work of art,” Bash said. “An engineering marvel. Drive safe with our boy. We need him back in one piece, but have fun with the car.”

“Just not too much fun,” Bubbles said. “The Dragon’s Tail’s a blast to drive, but there are idiots everywhere.”

It took us another ten minutes to get away, and then it was just Master and me in the cockpit.

“That kind of felt like getting lectured by your parents and your big brothers,” Master laughed. “I’m glad you have people who care for you enough to look out for you like that.”

My face flamed red. “I’m sorry, Master.”

“No need to apologize. The fact the bikers think so highly of you speaks to your integrity. Any problems getting the disguise to work? It looks like you got everything exactly right.”

“The eyeliner is hard, drawing so close to my eyes, but it went on right the first time. The biggest bitch of the whole outfit is how comfortable these shoes are, Master. I want to hate them, but they fit perfectly. It’s like walking on a cloud, Sir.”

He chuckled. “Only the best for my boy. How’s the plug?”

“Large and heavy, Sir.”

Another chuckle. “Filled with your Master. We’ll swap it for something with a fat stem while we eat, and then go back to the skinny stem for the rest of our drive. I have a special treat for us Monday. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off, but I got confirmation this morning.”

“I’ve enjoyed this week with you, Master. It’ll be weird to go home when we get back.”

“And I’ll miss my slave, but you’ll be spending at least two nights per week at home during the temporary contract once we get past this first week.”

I sighed. “I know, Sir. You promised to tell me all about how things are when you’re on tour. I listened to a bunch of your songs at work yesterday and today, and I’ve looked through the gossip sites this week while I ate lunch. I already know Hailey a little, and I guess her Suli persona is kind of like a different person?”

He shrugged. “We all work to portray our public personas a certain way while keeping our private lives to ourselves. The biggest thing the band has to deal with on a day-to-day basis on tour is Hailey’s sunlight allergy. The bus has blinds that block out the sun during the day, but we can open them at night. Usually, on concert nights, it’s two or three in the morning before we hit the bunks, sometimes four or five in the morning, so that’s kind of become our normal sleep schedule all the time. We wake around noon, give or take a couple of hours.”

Master works out more than anyone I’ve ever known, sometimes four or five hours a day, and I asked him, “Can you work out on the bus?”

“Yes. We have some free weights and a stairstep machine. Used to have a treadmill, but I get a better workout with the new machine. There’s also space for crunches and push-ups, and a bar I can hang from for gravity crunches and pull-ups.”

I winced at that because Master sometimes makes me hang from a bar by my knees and then do crunches while upside down. He calls them gravity crunches and I hate them, but Master canes my thighs and my ass when I slow down too much or go too fast. It’s like having my own sadistic personal trainer, and I appreciate that he cares enough to make sure I’m doing everything right, but damn, he’s a taskmaster.

And Ireallydon’t like the cane.

But he points out that I stay hard when he’s overseeing my workouts, and it’s impossible to argue with the truth.

“No workouts for you today, but we have some fun activities tomorrow that’ll double as a workout. Also, I thought we’d go for a trail run in the park, and hike to the top of the Chimneys.”

“The Chimneys? Can I look that up, Master?” I’m not allowed to use my phone without permission when we’re together — so far, the only rule Master has added since we created the contract.

“Nope. It’s two miles to the top, so a four-mile round trip, but there’s like a quarter-mile elevation change, so the last part of it is insanely steep, but the views at the top are totally worth it. We’ll be in different footwear tomorrow — no tasseled loafers on a hike.”

“Well, at least that’s something to look forward to.”

“Also, we’ll have to be ourselves for our fun-thing Monday, but the people we’ll be dealing with have already signed an NDA, and the facility will have to pay a substantial fine if word about us being there gets out. They won’t get our driver’s licenses until about two hours before we arrive, and some of my people will be present with them from the time they find out until we leave.”