“Dr. Marks said he was so impressed with my contributions to the team that he was going to speak with HR about extending my internship. Can you believe it?” I speared a forkful of salad and shoveled it into my mouth, then talked around the food. “And then I’d even get paid more, which means I might be able to replace Pretty Baby—”

“Jesse,” Tor interrupted, leaning forward from where he sat across from me at a busy café near his condo.

“Yeah?” I said, wiping my mouth with my napkin.

Tor stared at me like he was debating whether to say what was on his mind, and then shook his head and gave me a close-lipped smile. “Never mind. I think an extension and promotion are wonderful and well deserved.”

I beamed under his praise. “Thank you.”

“But I meant what I said. I can easily replace your car, though selfishly, I enjoy being the one to take you where you need to go.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Both of those options are too much. You’re not buying me a car, and I can’t let you keep playing chauffeur.”

“Mmm. That’s one we haven’t…played before.” Tor’s tongue ran across his bottom lip in a way that had me thinking about the way his tongue had teased my cock earlier, and I reached down under the table to adjust myself. An impish smile tipped up one side of Tor’s mouth as his words had the desired effect on me, but I wasn’t letting him change the subject yet again. Every time he’d brought up replacing Pretty Baby and I’d said no, he tried to convince me by using his mouth in ways other than talking. It was a good distraction, but I was already practically living with him, having stayed at his condo every night this week; buying me a car was going too far.

“Anyway. I can walk or bike or even ask Brayden, since he’s not doing much this summer.”

Tor’s jaw snapped shut and he went back to cutting apart his chicken. His silence was deafening, though, and it wasn’t long before I had to break the ice.

“I just don’t want to impose on you,” I said.

“You don’t.” He took a bite, and when he pulled his fork out slowly, his teeth scraped against the steel.

“It’s just…you’re busy and Brayden’s not.”

Tor’s piercing eyes shot up to mine. “You’re not his responsibility. You’re mine.”

With that, the conversation was effectively over, because what could I say to that? No, please don’t make me spend more time with you? That wasn’t gonna happen. Tor was like a drug, and I couldn’t foresee ever getting enough of him, so if he wanted to drive me around, I’d stop complaining and let him. The past few weeks had been the most exhilarating of my life, and every day I had to pinch myself that the man sitting across from me was mine. Sure, he didn’t call it a relationship, and I wouldn’t dare say he was my boyfriend, even if that was how I thought of him, but he called me his, for God’s sake. That had to count for something.

I took another bite of my salad, lost in thought. Maybe I was wearing him down in that way, making Tor realize he wanted more with me than just fucking. I wasn’t holding my breath over it, but there was always a chance, especially in moments like this, where we did something as simple as grab lunch together. That was what couples did, not fuck buddies, right?

“Jesse? Did you hear what I said?”

I blinked. Tor was looking at me with an expectant expression. “Uh, sorry, say that again?”

“I said I’ve been invited to a preview of the new Oceans Exhibit at New York’s Mead Museum of Natural History next month. Would you like to go?”

My mouth fell open. Was he seriously asking me to go out of town with him? Alone? For a romantic weekend? Oh my God, oh my God. I was about to jump out of my skin at the prospect, but I needed to make sure I heard him right. “You want me to go to New York with you?”

“I thought it might be something that would interest you.” He shrugged. “But if you’d rather not—”

“No,” I shouted, causing heads to turn in our direction. One woman a few booths down across the aisle seemed particularly put out by my outburst, if her stunned expression was any indication. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and tried to take my enthusiasm down a notch. “I mean, of course I want to go. Yes. Absolutely.”

That half-smile I loved so much, the one that made him look as mischievous as he was pleased, lifted one side of Tor’s beautiful mouth. “I’m glad to hear it. I’d also like to—” His cell chimed from his pocket, and he held up a finger as he glanced at the display. “I’m sorry, I need to take this. I’ll be right back.”

As Tor slid out of the booth, I admired the way he fit into the dark jeans he so rarely wore, and as he headed out of the café to take the call, I leaned out of the booth to get a good look at his ass.

That breathtakingly beautiful man wants to go away with me. ME. Hope bloomed in my chest as I thought about what that might mean, and I smiled as I reached for my drink. Tor. Me. New York. There were so many butterflies in my stomach that I thought they might carry me away, and as I brought the glass to my lips, I caught eyes with the blond woman that had been looking at me during my excited outburst. The shock on her face was gone, but it had been replaced with something altogether different. Something unsettling. With her menu now propped up on the table in front of her, she peered at me with a mixture of curiosity and…was that…alarm?

I looked away from her and took a sip of my drink, and then dug back into my salad, but still, I could feel her eyes on me. What, was she thinking I was too young for Tor? That I was nowhere near on his level? It wouldn’t be the first time, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. Or maybe she was jealous he was with another man instead of occupying the empty seat in front of her…

I chuckled to myself as I took another bite. Yeah, that had to be it. Poor woman. If she only knew what she was missing out—

“Excuse me?”

The soft voice intruded on my thoughts as I was mid-chew, and I lowered my fork and raised my eyes to meet those of the blond. What the— “Yes? Can I help you?”

She moved beside the table to look down at me, and the way she situated herself with her back to the windows blocked my line of sight to Tor. It irritated me that she was interrupting my lunch.

Please don’t let her be one of those homophobic bigots. They were few and far between up here in Westport, but it wasn’t unheard of. Then it occurred to me that, shit, maybe she was a past plaything of Tor’s. They didn’t all have to be male, right? He didn’t always have sex with them, just inflicted pain? Maybe she knew him from the den…

“I couldn’t help but notice who you came into the café with, your date,” she said in a hushed voice I had to strain to hear, and then she glanced over her shoulder toward the front door before turning her attention back to me, her eyes slightly manic. “Tom Covington.”

Tom Covington? Ohh, okay, this was starting to make sense now. It was obvious the woman had mistaken Tor for someone else. This Tom Covington—whoever he was. “I’m sorry, but you have the wrong person. His name is Salvatore. Not Tom.”

A deep frown formed between her eyebrows as she looked over at Tor again. I, too, craned my head around her to see that he still stood out on the sidewalk, his broad back to us, his hand shoved in his pocket, as he talked on the phone.

“Salvatore?” she repeated, and turned back to me. “That’s what he goes by now?”

Starting to feel annoyed, I narrowed my eyes and nodded. “Yes. Salvatore Wolfe.” Surely she must’ve heard of him if she was from around here. Each and every time Tor and I had gone anywhere in public, most people knew who he was by name. If not by his face.

The woman shook her head. “That’s not his name.”

Okay… She needed to run along now. She was obviously batshit, and I was starting to get worried about what would happen when Tor came back inside. What if she wanted to hurt him? What if she had some delusional idea she was supposed to be with the handsome man standing outside with no idea what was going on here?

“Look, I’m not trying to be rude, but you need to—”

“His name is Tom Covington. Not Salvatore.”

Yep, it’s official. This lady has clearly lost her marbles.

She took another quick look at him as I tried to make sense of what she was saying, but it was all too bizarre for me to even comprehend. I raised a hand to run it through my hair, and as I did, she turned around in time to catch the sleeve of my shirt slip up my arm. Her eyes landed on the red rope burns around my wrists from where Tor had tied me to his bed last night.

“Did he do that?” she asked, pointing to my arm, and I lowered it immediately, tugging at the cuff. Who the hell did this woman think she was? I was done with this conversation.

“That’s none of your—”

“Listen to me,” she said, her eyes full of panic as she crouched by my seat, making me rear back. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with. The man you’re dating is not who you think he is. He used to date my brother, Lee.”

My stomach dropped at that piece of information, making me feel ill. I didn’t want to think about Tor’s past. Of course he’d seen others before— Wait, no he didn’t. Tor didn’t date. He’d told me that from the very beginning. Not to mention this woman didn’t even have the right guy. So what the hell was the matter with me that I was sitting here listening to this when I knew Tor better than anyone?

I’d opened my mouth to tell her she needed to go away, when the bells on the café door chimed and she straightened to her full height, her eyes widening until they were almost as round as the plates on the table.

“Lee Wood, my brother…look him up. You look just like him. And don’t tell Tom you saw me. Just…please,” she said, and before I could say anything, she dashed past me, heading in the opposite direction to Tor.

I twisted in my seat, one hand on the back of the booth and one on the table, as I craned my head around to see if I could spot her, but it was as if she’d vanished into thin air, because she was gone.

* * *

“I told you to go ahead and finish while I took the call,” I said as I slid into the booth opposite Jesse and looked at his half-eaten salad.

“Oh,” he said as he shifted in his seat, his eyes darting around the café before landing back on mine. “I, uhh, decided to wait for you.”

I scanned the crowded tables and booths of the little shop, and when I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, I returned my focus to the man across from me. When I’d left Jesse to take the call, he’d been smiling and happy, close to jumping on his chair with excitement over the upcoming trip. But now he was preoccupied and looked worried—and I wanted to know why.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I took my napkin from the table and draped it across my lap, and Jesse picked up his fork and nodded.

“Yes.”

I didn’t believe him for a second. I knew Jesse’s body language better than he did, and right now, he was agitated. His eyes were lowered to the plate in front of him so he wouldn’t have to meet mine.

“Jesse?” I said in a tone he knew better than to disobey, and as I’d known he would, Jesse raised his head. “What’s wrong? Did something happen while I was outside?”

“No, I— Sorry. I’m fine, I promise,” he said, and blew out a breath. He flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I just got a call about Pretty Baby, that’s all. It’s going to take a little longer than they thought to fix her, which means more money. Ugh. But I’ll work it out.”

I narrowed my eyes, not believing him for a second. But when Jesse held my stare, I let it go. As long as no one had bothered him, and he was okay, I would let him have whatever little secret it was he had until he was ready to talk. “Are you sure that’s all?”

He nodded and reached across the table to take my hand. “Yes. I promise everything is fine. I was just caught off guard, that’s all. Will you tell me more about New York?”

I turned my hand over on the table and wrapped my fingers around his, brushing the pad of my thumb over the red welt on his wrist, remembering how he’d struggled so magnificently under me last night.

“I will, if that’s what you’d like.” Jesse nodded eagerly, and I released my hold. “Okay then, but eat up. You need three square meals a day to keep healthy and strong, and I believe you will need the energy later.”

“Yes, Wolfe,” Jesse teased, using the name he had become very good at shouting whenever an orgasm slammed into him, and then he grinned at me and made a show of spearing his fork into the salad before shoveling a generous helping into his mouth, making me chuckle.

“Be careful, little lamb. I told you once before that look of yours invites trouble.”

After Jesse swallowed, he licked his lips, and whatever had been bothering him earlier seemed to vanish. “In that case, I’ll just have to keep on looking.”

As my cock stiffened, I vowed right there in the middle of the busy café that later tonight I’d have to teach Jesse what happened to someone who liked to keep secrets from me, and it would leave more than an angry welt on his arm. If it was done right, it would forever imprint on his soul.