“That’s beside the point—” I start to say, but Kynan cuts me off.
“It’s exactly the point,” Kynan says and the smirk is now gone. His expression turns serious as he takes a step toward me. “Trista is a nice girl. She’s gorgeous and a dynamite fuck. But she is not your girlfriend, and I’m pretty damn sure she’s nothing more than a dynamite fuck to you as well. So why shouldn’t I take a shot at her?”
“What?” I sneer at him. “Are you offering her monogamy?”
“Fuck no,” Kynan says, horrified. “I love the single life. I’m just saying unless you tell me your relationship is exclusive with her, you’ve got no right to be proprietary.”
“Christ,” I mutter as I turn away from Kynan and rake my fingers through my hair in frustration before whipping back on him. “I’m asking you to stand down and stay away from her unless it’s by my invite to join us.”
Kynan cocks a skeptical eye at me. “You going to tell every guy who’s sniffing around her that?”
“Who’s sniffing around her?” I ask, another flare of anger rushing through me.
“The question is who isn’t?” Kynan says with a knowing look. “People have taken notice of your interest in her, and the men think her pussy must be magical or something.”
My shoulders sag as my gaze drops to the floor in consternation because I realize I have no right to ask any man to stay away from Trista. We agreed this was casual and we could see—well, fuck—other people.
“Jerico,” Kynan says softly, and I look back to him. “You asked me to back down and I’m your best friend, so I will. But if you want others to stay away, that’s Trista’s call, so you better talk to her about this. If you want to be exclusive, just lay it out there to her.”
“I don’t want to be exclusive with anyone,” I snap at him, because I’ve trained myself over the years to not believe in love, trust, and loyalty between a man and a woman. The losses that could result from love are too painful to tolerate.
Kynan nods in understanding, his eyes sad for me and my unwillingness to open up. While he indeed enjoys the single life, he believes in love. In fact, he had a great love he let get away, so I think it makes him even more empathetic to what I’ve been through and how it’s made me.
Turning toward the door, Kynan grabs the knob but before opening it, he turns back to me. “She’s not Michelle. Maybe you should give her a chance.”
I don’t say anything in response. Kynan gives a sigh of frustration and walks out of my office.
At least I can be assured he won’t go after her, but not sure what to do about her sudden popularity among the men in the club. I have no standing to say anything to them, not to mention it would be bad for business.
I stare at the door Kynan just walked through for a long time, and then it hits me.
I may not be able to say anything to them, but I’m her employer and she works exclusively for me. I can sure as hell say something to her.
Walking to my desk, I pick up the phone and buzz the podium. Trista answers, knowing it’s me because it will show her from what extension the call is coming from. She cuts right to the point. “Are you done beating your chest?”
Ignoring her remark, I say, “Come to my office. We need to talk.”
“Right away, sir,” she says and from her tone, there’s no doubt she’s not happy about me pulling Kynan away from her.
Well, tough shit.
I take a seat behind my desk after taking off my suit coat and loosening the knot to my tie. It only takes moments before there’s a soft knock on my door. Trista walks in confidently, her expression frozen into a mask of impassiveness so I have no clue what she’s thinking. But it doesn’t matter since I’m the boss.
“It’s come to my attention that you have a few men interested in you here at the club,” I say lightly.
Trista just shrugs. “I guess.”
“You’re not to have sex with any of them while you’re in my employment and fulfilling the terms of our deal,” I say in the most businesslike tone I can muster.
Her whiskey eyes go dark, and she glares at me. “I notice you didn’t offer the reciprocal to me. That you won’t sleep with any of the other women here.”
“That’s because I’m the boss and they’re my rules,” I say, and even as the words come out, I know they are way fucking wrong.
They feel wrong to me, and yet I don’t take them back.
Trista pushes out of her chair, leans over, and slaps her hands on my desk. “You are the boss as it pertains to any work I do here at The Wicked Horse, but you don’t have any say over what I do with my body on my own time. I can fuck who I want, when I want.”
“And who do you want to fuck?” I growl at her as I stand up, placing my hands on my desk and leaning in toward her.
The fight drains out of her eyes immediately over my question, her eyes dropping to stare at the desk. She takes in a deep breath. Without looking at me, she admits almost shamefully, “I don’t want to fuck anyone but you.”
A wave of relief hits me followed by almost a giddiness that she only wants me. I put my hand under her chin and lift her face so she looks at me. “So then why are you so angry about me asking you to stay away from other men?”
Her eyes fire up again, and she jerks back from me. “Because, you ass, you didn’t ask. You told. And without offering me the same, it screams of ownership, and I don’t like that at all. It sucks I only want you, and I hate myself for it, but there you have it.”
Something that feels like a wrecking ball punches into my chest, robbing me of my breath for a moment. While I was mired in these stupid fucking feelings of jealousy, it never hit me once that perhaps Trista wanted to only be with me. I mean… she did take Kynan’s dick last night and she was flirting with him today, but…
Coming around the desk, I walk up to her as she watches me warily. I take her hands in mine, give them a squeeze, and say, “How about for the duration of our deal… you and I agree to sleep with each other exclusively unless we both agree on inviting someone into our bed?”
Trista’s eyes soften. The smile she gives me is one of relief. “That is something I can agree to, I believe.”
Leaning in, I give her a soft kiss before pulling back. With total transparency, I tell her, “I’m sorry I was a jackass. I handled it badly.”
“Forgiven,” she says with a smile. “But just out of curiosity, will you be inviting anyone else into our bed?”
My hands release hers and take hold of the hem of her dress. Leaning in, I press a kiss to her neck before pulling back and telling her, “We’ve got three weeks left in our arrangement. I think you and I can come up with plenty of ways to entertain ourselves without involving others, but if we get bored, we can talk about it.”
She smiles, draping her arms over my shoulders. With a glance down at my lips, she whispers, “Then let’s seal the deal.”