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A little hot, soapy water, and hey presto, youshallgo to the ball.

Maybe the anticipation was getting to me.

Douching was one of those rituals that always grounded me in the past. Getting my head in the right space, focusing on what was to come…But now? This was different. It was a means to an end. And I was jittery as fuck.

I caught sight of my reflection.Will you just stop? You’re acting like a virgin about to get his cherry popped. Now get cleaned out.

Pretty soon I was douched and shaved, my breath was minty fresh—I didn’t want Toby knowing what I’d had for supper, thank you very much. And when he still didn’t show, I went to my closet to grab clean clothes. I spent maybe ten minutes debating what to wear. Finally I settled on jeans and a tee—the less I put on, the less he had to take off, right? I opened the drawer containing my briefs and boxers, then closed it. Kevin always preferred—

I leaned against the dresser.No more thoughts of Kevin, okay?

The doorbell rang at seven-thirty, and I hurried downstairs to open it, almost going ass over tea kettle in the process.Yeah, great start. I could already hear Teague calling for paramedics. ‘Man here with a broken ankle and an erection.’

Toby stood there in jeans, boots, a black T-shirt, and a denim jacket. He smiled. “Good evening.”

That was all it took to get my heart pounding.

“Hey.” I stood aside to let him enter, then closed the door behind him, forcing myself to breathe normally. “I’m curious. Where do they think you are?”

“Out for a walk.”

I blinked. “And they believed that?”

He rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? When I got out of the shower, Zeeb came into the bathroom and passed something to me, kind of surreptitiously. For God’s sake, we were the only two in there.”

“Do I want to know?”

His eyes gleamed. “Condoms. Then Matt asked if I had everything I needed for the night. I bluffed it out, but I got the feeling he knew.”

“If it makes you feel better, he went through the same routine with me.”

“And then there were all the glances, the snickers… I swear, the only people whodidn’tdo anything were Declan and Garrett.”

I laughed. “Hey, look on the bright side. At least we don’t have to bother sneaking around, if everyone knows.”

Toby stared at me. “You’re okay with that?”

I was halfway toward being okay with it. I suspected that after a couple of similar evenings, I wouldn’t give a shit.

“What are they gonna say? I’m the boss, remember?” I took a calming breath. “You haven’t changed your mind?”

“Uh-uh.” He took a step closer.

I wasn’t done. That last look in the mirror had raised a question. “And it doesn’t bother you? That I’m… older.” Then I remembered our conversation that morning. “Wait—scrap that. You like older guys.”

“You were paying attention. Good.” There was a twinkle in his eyes. “Besides, you already know I think you’re hot—and youknowI want to fuck you.”

I couldn’t suppress the shiver that trickled down my spine. Fuck, there was something about him that turned me inside out. A sense that he knew exactly what he was doing. He’d promised to make it good for me, and now, listening to the quiet confidence in his voice, the self-assuredness that poured from him, I believed him.

My heart thumped. “So… What happens now?”

“Now? We do this.” He stepped closer still, cupped my face, and kissed me.

God, it felt good. It started out chaste, but soon his tongue went deep, and it had beentoo goddamn longsince I’d been kissed like that. His hand slid down my neck, over my shoulders, around my back, and down to my ass. He squeezed, pulling me tight against him.

Fuck, he was like a rock.

“I see you didn’t lose the hard-on,” I murmured when he broke the kiss.