Not that there was a me and Trent. But wouldn’t that only increase their curiosity? What would the story be then? Would they broadcast to the world that I was involved with the two of them?
Wait.
My gaze locked with Trent’s. “Have there been news reports about you and me?”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t call it news, but yes. It appears someone took a video of us outside the restaurant last week. From what I can tell, they don’t know what to make of it yet.”
“That explains the reporter on my porch,” I mumbled to myself. And the bodyguard.
Crap.
I liked my privacy. The last thing I wanted was to be talked about by anyone, much less everyone.
My eyes lifted to Trent’s face and my heart melted a little. As much as I wanted to fight it, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough. However, if I gave myself to him, I feared I wouldn’t be given back in the same manner he’d received me. I feared a man like Trent would ruin me forever. And with the press already lurking, the entire world would be privy to my demise.
“Thank you for coming, sunshine. I’ve been thinking about you nonstop. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad to be here, too,” I whispered, although I wasn’t sure that was exactly the truth.
Trent
I WAS INTERESTED TO SEE where this night would lead.
Having Clarissa here was a comfort I hadn’t expected. Oh, sure, I’d known for years that I was attracted to her. I knew I wanted to top her, even. However, I always questioned my own intentions. I wasn’t a man who had a set routine or enjoyed consistency. It wasn’t in my DNA. Having spent most of my life living in chaos, I tended to gravitate toward it. Probably one of the reasons I had ventured into so many side businesses, never being satisfied with only one.
So it would’ve made sense if I hopped from bed to bed, enjoyed one woman after another. Oddly enough, that had never been the case for me. Sure, I dated regularly and I had yet to have a serious relationship. Nothing that lasted more than a month at the most, anyway.
To be honest, I hadn’t expected to feel quite so complete with Clarissa in my home, but this felt right to me.
And then there was Troy. I had clearly taken him by surprise with my admission that I wanted to take them both as my submissives. I hadn’t thought about how the revelation would affect him. In my defense, I figured it was better to plant the seed early, to allow him time to consider it.
And, I figured what the hell. The media was already going to have a field day and I had absolutely no desire to play their games. If they wanted to accuse me of being in a relationship with a man, they could go right ahead. At this point in my life, it wouldn’t make or break me.
And the truth was, I wanted Troy. I wanted him in a way I’d never wanted a man before.
Did I think he’d make a good submissive? That was yet to be seen. I worried he would push against his own instincts, not give in when it was necessary. That would make it decidedly difficult in the long run. It was my intention to bring him pleasure unlike anything he’d ever known. In order to do that, I needed him fully on board.
As for Clarissa … I’d been pleasantly surprised to see her interest in Troy. It had appealed to me on a deeper level. I hadn’t expected it and I figured that was one of the reasons I wanted to see where things went with the two of them.
Granted, I was taking a serious gamble here. A smart man would likely pursue one or the other first, establish a relationship, something to link us together before drawing in a third. Since I couldn’t pick one over the other right now, I had no idea how that would work. Which was the very reason I’d decided to take them both on at the same time.
However, I did have to take things slow with Clarissa. I couldn’t stop thinking about Xander’s warning. After our conversation yesterday, I’d run through the events of my lunch with Clarissa. While she had acknowledged she had a safe word, it concerned me that he had said she wouldn’t use it. Did that mean she had wanted to during lunch? Was she merely placating me, trying to earn my approval? If she went blindly into this, doing whatever I asked of her, we were going to have some serious problems.
Granted, I believed if I hadn’t forced my hand, I probably never would’ve spoken to Clarissa again after our lunch with Mercedes and Xander. Outside of business, anyway. While she was willing to tell me she was interested in entertaining the prospect of a client in Chicago, she hadn’t exactly led me to believe she was in it wholeheartedly.
