Page 59 of Devil's Kiss

As he stepped backstage, Dylan stood there with a huge smile. He was up next, and Derek wondered if the guy was crazy enough to actually enjoy this kind of thing.

“Two thousand and one dollars.” Dylan shook his head and then clapped his arm. “I knew you’d break one K, but two? Hot damn.”

“By a dollar. That hardly counts,” Derek pointed out.

“Someone just paid two thousand dollars for your time, and Derek, it all counts. Now hurry along—your Richard Gere awaits you through those doors.”

“I thought you said I didn’t have to fuck the guy.”

Dylan frowned and then busted up laughing. “You don’t. I was thinking more Lancelot and lessPretty Woman.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I just heard my name, so…wish me luck out there.”

“Oh please, you’ll bring in three grand easy with that face.”

Dylan pulled the curtain aside. “Hey, it’s hard being this pretty.”

“Yeah, for the other guys looking at you.”

Dylan waved his hand over his head and called out, “Have a good time on your date.” Then he disappeared out onto the stage.

Derek made his way to the side exit, and as he stepped out into the hall he came face to face with Jordan, who was lounging back against the wall with his ankles crossed and his hands deep in his pockets.

Derek looked him over, and before Jordan had a chance to speak, he said, “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

He unbuttoned his tux jacket and headed down the narrow hallway. As he did, he saw Jordan out of the corner of his eye and knew that he was following.

When Derek got to the room where he and Dylan had been told they could freshen up, he pushed inside, hoping to find it full, but instead found it the complete opposite.

As the door opened and shut behind him, he knew Jordan was standing there and decided to hell with this. Why was he nervous? It had been three years since he’d seen the guy.

He hadn’t called him. He didn’t need him. But when he turned around and saw Jordan with his hands on his hips and an exasperated expression on his face, Derek sure as fuck wanted him.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, as Jordan took a step forward.

“I’ve come to collect my date.”

“Yourdate?” Derek asked, hearing the incredulity in his own tone as he looked around for the guy who had purchased him.

“Yes. I won you, after all. Now I get to take you on a date. So…do you have any place in particular you’d like to go?”

Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “With you? Nowhere. I’m not going on a date with you.”

Jordan pursed his lips in a pout, and it galled Derek that he wanted to kiss it right off his mouth. “After all this time, you’re still mad at me.”

Fuck yes, he was. Not that he’d ever admit that. “Actually, I don’t feel anything about you at all.”

“Liar,” Jordan said as he walked toward him.

“What do you want, Jordan?”

“Well, since I just paid a little over two thousand dollars for your time, how about we start with that.”

Derek sighed. “This is insane, even for you.”

Jordan laughed, clearly taking that as a compliment. “Oh, I didn’t come here tonight with the knowledge that you were going to be up for sale. That was just a happy coincidence. But now that I’m here, I thought it was my duty to let you know how hot you look in that tux.”