“Yes, but that was before he saw you in your jock and imagined what it would be like to shove his hotdog between those buns.”
Kieran couldn’t help laughing. Sarah always had a way with words.
“What if he doesn’t bite again?”
“Find someone who makes him. Don’t go for some random guy, make it a regular, or even one of his employees. Someone he knows, and who he thinks is wrong for you.”
“I’m not flirting with a psycho,” he said, shuddering at the memory of last time.
“Not a psycho. Just a guy who Derek thinks is wrong for you. If it’s someone he knows, it’ll tap into his jealousy.”
He nodded in agreement. Hassan would do his nut if he knew what Sarah was suggesting to him, but his bestie didn’t need to know about the latest phase of the project.
Project Daddy had stalled, given the past two nights Kieran had been to The Back Room it hadn’t been busy. Derek had suggested they have a drink together in the upstairs bar where they were holding cabaret. Kieran loved a good drag show, but this wasn’t what he had in mind.
“How’s work?” asked Derek.
“Better without Jez being there. I’ve not met my new boss Carl yet, but that should happen next week.”
“Didn’t Grant make you the manager?”
“Yeah, but he’s sending Carl, as he knows I can’t handle it on my own.”
“Is that what he said?” Derek was frowning, which Kieran used to call his grumpy daddy face when he was a teenager.
“No, he said Carl was more like a mentor because he couldn’t give me support directly.”
“Well, no. Grant is probably a very busy man.”
Kieran snorted, which made Derek smile. He wanted to see more of those smiles. Okay, where did that come from?
“Do you know why he owns the tattoo shop?” asked Derek.
“Hassan thinks it’s money laundering,” he whispered.
Derek’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ve seen no evidence of it, though, and if he is using it in that way, wouldn’t he have checked whether I was on board with that before he put me in charge? He owns over fifty properties across the UK. They aren’t all used for dodgy stuff.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told me on our . . . dinner thingy.”
Derek chuckled. “You mean your date?”
“Well, it was more like a business meeting, with an indecent proposal attached.”
Kieran saw the anger flash in Derek’s eyes. Fuck, that was hot. He loved possessive guys who treated him like he was their property to do what they wanted with. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. Derek was watching him. There was no doubt he was interested, but something was holding him back. Morals and all that fun-sucking stuff. Was the fact that he was trying to seduce not only his former stepdad, but his mother’s dom completely fucked up? Of course. Was that going to stop him? No. Kieran looked around, and his eyes scanned the bar, giving him an idea.
“What’s Neil’s situation?” asked Kieran.
“What do you mean?”
“Is he a dom?”
“Yes.”
“You rarely see a dom the same age as me.”
