Page 2 of Dear Daddy, Please Want Me

Levi sat back down from the handshake and turned his attention to Saul. His eyes still sparkled with humor. He must have been at least a little nervous about being interviewed, but it didn’t show in his warm demeanor. Saul didn’t get the sense that he was overconfident or entitled, just that he genuinely liked people.

Saul wished he could be that outgoing. He tended to be on the quiet and intense side, though he loved his friends and family dearly and enjoyed running start-up companies. He just needed to psych himself up first and withdraw afterward.

“So, your next band name?” he started.

Levi shrugged, still grinning. “I don’t actually play any instruments. Well, like violin when I was a kid. And, uh, that probably wasn’t the best way to start out my interview, was it?”

He ducked his head like he was feeling bashful, but peeked up at Saul like he knew he was being cute.

It was a surprising look on a man dressed in a smart business suit and easily six feet tall.

Saul might have guessed he was a Dom, based on the way that he took up space, but that face was all naughty sub.

It completely transformed him. He went from rather average to adorable.

Kissable.

Not that Saul had any business thinking that about his new employee.

It did explain why Nikhil had liked him, though. The tall, muscular Chief Technical Officer was also submissive, and they’d probably bonded over that. Saul didn’t know much of Nikhil’s story, but he had the sense that he’d been hurt in the past and was a bit shy talking about it. So if Levi had drawn him out of his shell to joke around, that was another point in his favor.

Given where they worked, people didn’t talk about their kinks as often as you might think, but it was usually something they shared pretty early. On the day-to-day, it was more like you should ask so-and-so if you want feedback on how we present breath play, and then you kind of went on with your work.

There were still a lot of unnecessary sex toys lying around the office, though.

Saul tried to get his mind focused again. He was all over the place today. “Actually, that was probably a great way to start the interview. There’s obviously no requirement to be kinky to get a job here, but someone who stumbles over the word butt plug isn’t going to be a good fit.”

Levi raised his eyebrows, all pretend innocence. “Unless maybe the butt plug is really big?”

Saul rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

He liked Levi’s playful energy. He especially liked Levi’s naughty boy look. Like he was hoping to get away with something, and maybe equally hoping that he’d get caught and punished. And now he was imagining what his potential new hire would look like walking around the office while trying to pretend he didn’t have a toy in his ass.

So not what Saul needed to be thinking about.

“Alright,” he turned the conversation around. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you think of as your management style?”

Levi flew through the interview. He was confident without being brash, funny often at his own expense, and seemed to love his work. He was certainly competent, as Saul had expected, and had some great insights on the two sample scenarios that Saul gave him.

He was also a flirt.

Not in an aggressive way, though, more like he was sharing his enjoyment of the world and inviting anyone near him to bask in that glow.

Saul just happened to be lucky enough to be near him.

He just had this way of giving Saul all of his attention and making him feel like everything he said was special and important. He laughed at Saul’s jokes, and his eyes lit up when Saul shared an idea.

It left Saul feeling relaxed and confident and… maybe crushing a little bit on the man who was probably going to be his employee in a few weeks.

He reminded himself that the zing he was feeling around Levi was probably what everyone felt. He reminded himself that Christy and Nikhil both thought he was the best candidate. He reminded himself that Levi had a decade of experience.

It wasn’t like he was going to hire the man based on attraction alone.

Even if a job interview with Levi made him feel more alive and desired than any date or chat he’d had in years.

When his tablet chimed, he glanced at it automatically to see that the hour was almost up and he had to get to his next meeting.

He acknowledged the time, almost sorry to see it end. When he stood, Levi stood with him.