Page 55 of Awakened Desires

“I—” What’s the point in denying it? I’m never going to see these men again.

“I take it he doesn’t know?”

“He’s straight.”

“Which means no asking him to star in a porn film with you.” Toby finishes the cocktail and hooks his beefy arm around Lyric’s neck. “It’s time we got going.”

Lyric pushes Toby’s arm away. They stand.

“It was nice meeting you, Rory,” Toby says.

Lyric nods in agreement.

“Wait,” I say as they turn.

They pause and stare at me, eyebrows slightly raised.

“I’m not interested in being in porn, but I have a housemate who is.”

“Really?” Lyric takes the business card out of his back pocket and hands it to me. “Tell him to contact me.”

“Aye, I will.” I take the card and put it into my shirt pocket. I’ll give it to him the next time I see him.

Lyric and Toby leave the bar, chatting as they go.

Irene returns to the bar a few minutes later. I’m itching to find an excuse to go into the kitchen, but I don’t have one. Instead, I glance at the door whenever I have a spare second.

“You didn’t tell me he was your boyfriend,” Irene says as she pulls a pint beside me.

I frown. “Who?”

“The electrician.”

I blink. “He’s not.”

“You could have fooled me. Go on. I can hold the fort here for a few minutes.”

“Thanks.”

When I enter the kitchen, Callan has the dishwasher unplugged, pulled out, with the back off, exposing the innards. It’s an industrial one that only cleans glasses.

He smiles at me. “It looked busy out there.”

“It is, but I’ve got a few minutes. How’s it going?”

“Fine. I’ll have it fixed soon. Luckily, the kitchen is on a different circuit to the bar. Otherwise, I’d have had to cut your power.”

“Irene wouldn’t have been happy about that.”

“No.”

“Are you okay?”

“Tired. I didn’t get much sleep.”

I step closer. “That’s not what I meant.”

Callan blows out a breath. “I know. It’s hard. The smell of the alcohol is tempting.”