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Joey
Joey was steaming by the time they arrived back home. How dare that man threaten to put those photos online? That was if he hadn’t already. When they locked the door behind them, he pulled his phone out and called a woman he sometimes used to help with his media presence. Ani did a fantastic job, but she wasn’t a professional. Polly, on the other hand, had many years under her belt working with reporters and dampening down stories.
“Hey, Polly. Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday, but we have a situation.” He spent the next half an hour explaining what was happening and how David fit into everything.
“Okay. Leave it all with me, and I’ll see what I can find out before I come back to you. We might not be able to stop the photos from being leaked, but we can cause an uproar to whoever does it.”
Joey wished there was a better answer. “Thanks, Polly. Anything you can do is great.”
It took her nearly two hours to come back to them, but when she did, it was with some good news and some bad.
“I’ve spoken to several news outlets. They said they won’t run the photos if they’re sent to them, though take it with a grain of salt. And there were several who declined to stop their stories from printing, so I don’t have great news. But I’ve emailed you a statement you can put out if they leak the photos. It will call out the man who took the photo and the ones trying to make money from them.” She sighed. “I’m afraid there’s not much more we can do until we know if the photos are online or not. It could be smoke and mirrors to distract you from something else, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.”
“Will do. Thanks, Polly.” Joey turned to Ethan. “I’m sorry about this. If I wasn’t in the limelight, none of this would matter.”
Ethan slid his arms around Joey’s waist. “It still doesn’t matter. What happens, happens. We’ll deal with it. Do I want everyone to see us in a compromising position? No, but it doesn’t matter if they do.” He grinned. “Everyone will want what is mine.” He winked.
Joey chuckled, letting some of the tension release from his body. “And what ismine.”
“Someone who’s ‘adorable?’” Ethan teased.
Joey swallowed hard as his cheeks heated. He shook his head and closed his eyes. “You won’t ever let me live that down, will you?”
“Nope.”
Joey kissed him. It was the only thing he could do. Because hewasadorable. Damn adorable and sexy and amazing and submissive and…everything Joey ever wanted in a person.
****
Two days later, they stood between their cars in the car park behind the shop, clinging to each other. Why was it so hard to let him go when they’d only been together less than two weeks? And some of that was spent apart, anyway. Joey didn’t want to let Ethan go, but he had to work, and Ethan had to see his family.
“It’s two days, but it feels like more,” Ethan said into his neck.
“I know. How crazy is it that we’ve only known each other a short time, but we’re already not wanting to be apart?”
“Super crazy.” Ethan pulled back and inhaled. “Okay. I’m going.” He kissed Joey, and when he went to pull away, Joey clung to him again, kissing him deeper before letting him go.
“Have a safe journey,” he said, brushing his thumb across Ethan’s cheek.
“You, too. Call me when you get there.”
“Make sure you stop along the way, Ethan. It’s a far longer drive for you than it is for me.”
Ethan chuckled. “I will. I couldn’t do what I did on the way down here. That was nuts.”
“Exactly my point.” Joey kissed him again and then pushed him towards his car. “Go.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The way he said it made Joey’s blood heat, and he cursed the man as he reversed out of the parking space. Ethan waved, and Joey returned it, watching until the car turned out of the alley. Joey exhaled hard and then inhaled and climbed into his car. Ethan had over five hours of driving to do, whereas Joey only had around two and a half, depending on the traffic.
They hadn’t heard anything more from David and his threat to release the photos, and Polly had kept in touch to say none of the news outlets she’d been in contact with had heard anything either. Yet. It gave them a sense of standing on the edge of a cliff and waiting for the wind to blow them off.
He’d just entered Bath when his phone rang, and he smiled, anticipating Ethan’s name on the screen. That smile disappeared when he saw a number he didn’t recognise. He pressed the button on his steering wheel to answer as he concentrated on the road towards his client’s house.
“Hello?”
“Joey? It’s Grey.”
