Page 90 of Praised
“I’m in,” Dalton said, arching a brow.
“We are very out,” Rob said, giving Grayson a pull toward the door.
“And so are we,” Archie added. “But not for lack of interest. Just old and tired.”
“I’m not old,” Grayson protested, but he yawned and shuffled off without another protest.
“The four of us then?” Drake asked, giving Dalton a serious onceover.
“Is that fine with you?” I asked Rose.
“Yeah, but…can we talk first?” He turned and slid his arms around my waist, blinking up at me, expression still as washed in arousal as it had been when he jumped into my arms.
“Of course.”
“We’ll wait outside.” Dalton hooked an arm around Drake’s shoulders and the two of them headed toward the front of the club, leaving us alone at the table.
The house lights flipped on, and we both squinted, horrified at the sharp glare of the cool white fluorescent bulbs as they lit up the few remaining patrons.
“God, that’s awful.” He scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed, taking a step back and letting me get a better look at him.
“Are you upset with me?” I knew I’d acted out of turn with not just what I’d said to Cody, but what I’d done up until that point.
Grayson had written down Cody’s plate, sending it my way after their first encounter in the alley. He’d had a bad feeling about Cody and in more than one way. He’d just wanted me to be aware, he’d said. I took the concern to heart, knowing from the start that nothing was going to hurt Rose as long as I was part of his life, so I’d called in a favor and run the plate to get a name. I’d found a lot more than I bargained for alongside it, including the names of his parents and sister, their legal complaints against him, a not even close to being finalized divorce decree.
“Why would I be upset withyou?” Rose looked at me like the idea was obscene.
“Because I have more money than sense?”
A soft smile flitted across his face and his cheeks turned pink. “I’ve always rather liked that about you. So, you ran his background?”
I nodded.
“Anything damning?”
“Did you know he’s married?” I asked.
Rose let out a huff and shrugged. “Divorcing, he said.”
“Not final.”
“That…that’s to be expected, I think.”
“I’m not bringing it up to make you feel bad,” I told him.
“I wasn’t the other man.”
“I never thought you were.” I grabbed him and hauled him back against my chest, holding him and doing my best to protect him from the world that had been so unfair to him before we met.
And the night had started so well too.
The shower at my house, the blow jobs, the panties, the fucking. All of it had been so absolutely perfect. But more than that, Rose knew I loved him, and that hadn’t scared him nearly as much as it had scared me. Even though he was in front of me again, looking as lost as he had the night he showed up and tried to break up with me.
“Don’t let him ruin this,” I said.
“I don’t want to.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled his most recently soiled pair of underwear out and raised them to my face where I took a long inhale of the fabric. Rose’s flush deepened as I rubbed the panties across my mouth before returning them to my pocket.
