I rolled my eyes and tried to wriggle out of his hold. “I can’t be late, El. We can pick this up when I get back, okay?”
He ignored my words and pulled my panties off to the side to give his cock clear passage. One quick thrust and he was fully nested inside me, making my legs go weak. Giving in, I sat up and straddled him for some of that morning wood he was sporting. In truth, I had a little time before I had to leave, so why not begin with a breakfast of champions?
I didn’t make it two steps into the coffee shop before my best friend Carrie looked at me and said, “Shay, you look like you just rolled off that hot man of yours.”
Quickly, I looked down my body to check that my clothes weren’t wrinkled and screaming “I just had sex!” There was no sign of any untidiness, so I took a seat across from her at our usual corner table and shook my head. “Don’t be jealous.”
Carrie took a sip of her latte and smiled, pushing her dark blond hair off her forehead. “No jealousy here, girl. That boy isn’t even legal. You getting a coffee?”
“No. Not today. I already had a cup at home. I don’t need to be jumpy today. And he’s perfectly legal. Twenty is legal.”
“That boy can’t even get into a club, Shay. What do you plan to do with him if you get this job at Club X? It’s not like you’ll be able to take him there.”
Reaching over, I broke off a piece of her coffee cake and popped it into my mouth. “I don’t plan to take anyone there, Carrie. It’s a job. Do you take people to the boutique?”
“You know what I mean. He’s four years younger than you.”
“And the problem is?”
Carrie and all her twenty-six years of cynicism stared at me with a look full of judgment in her jaded brown eyes. “He’s a child. You’re a grad student, and he doesn’t even have a job. What exactly are you doing with him?”
“Other than fucking him every chance I can?” I said with a chuckle I couldn’t hold back.
“Shay, there are millions of men in the world who aren’t boys and have great bodies and penises who are actually gainfully employed. Some might even be good in bed too.”
This wasn’t the first time Carrie had given me this lecture. Elliot was an acquired taste, and as a woman who’d made a success of her own boutique all on her own, she found his boy-toy act appalling. For her, a man had to wear a suit, and an expensive one at that, and as she always said, “bring something to the table more than a big cock.” That Elliot only brought the right size cock wasn’t enough, in her mind.
She wasn’t necessarily wrong. I knew that. I knew El was a passing fancy. He had no idea what I meant when I talked about my work, and he had nothing to say to my friends, even the ones who didn’t think he was one step above gigolo like Carrie thought. I freely admitted that he was merely great sex.
Breaking off another piece of her coffee cake, I leaned forward and nodded. “Gainfully employed penises?” She shot me a look of disgust. “I know. I know. I don’t plan on this being a forever thing. Elliot is just something for now. I’ll be leaving in a few months anyway, so we’ll be over then, if it doesn’t happen before.”
“He must be incredible in bed, Shay. You know I wouldn’t give you a hard time if I didn’t love you like a sister, but he’s way too young for you. You need a man who can handle his business. That boy has no business at all.”
“I get it. I don’t want you thinking he’s a freeloader. I never pay for him.”
Jesus, I sounded like one of those abused women making excuses for their man.
“He has no job, honey. Where does he get money from?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve never asked?”
Avoiding her intense stare, I looked away and mumbled, “No.”
“Shay, look at me. I’ve known you long enough to know this isn’t healthy for you. Maybe Elliot’s a great guy. Maybe he isn’t. That isn’t the point. You bring a ton of great stuff to the table, and he shouldn’t even be let in the house to find the table. There are levels, honey, and he’s not at yours.”
I looked at her and knew she was right. The problem was I didn’t want to let Elliot go. Not yet anyway. “I know all of this, Carrie. And I know you love me, but give the poor guy a break. It must be terrible to be used just for sex.”
Her face twisted into a look of disgust. “Uh-huh. A hardship like no man has ever endured before.”
“Let’s change the subject. I need to go into this interview feeling good.”
Carrie pulled her cake away from me and shook her head. “Speaking of that, why are you bothering with this job at Club X anyway? You’re leaving, so why get a new job? What’s wrong with the one you have already?”
“I’m not making enough at The Brew House. I need to save up some money for when I go to Copenhagen. I just figured if I could get a job at Club X, I’d be able to have a stockpile when I leave.”
“You think you’re up for that? I hear that place is wild. Members only and freaky.”
I rolled my eyes at her use of freaky. Like I hadn’t seen my fair share of that in and out of the clubs I’d bartended in. “I’m not worried. I heard from one of the girls who used to work with me that there’s money to be made there, so why not? She worked there for a while and it was fine.”
Carrie leaned forward and whispered, “You have to tell me if the rumors of the fantasy rooms are true. I’ve heard things.”
“I don’t plan on doing anything that involves fantasy rooms, Carrie. I’m going there to bartend. That’s it. My friend from The Brew House got me an interview, so I’m going in with the attitude that they need a bartender and I’m their woman.”
“I’ve heard things about the one brother, Stefan, who runs the nightclub part. Major league player, Shay.”
“So?” What the hell did I care about some guy she thought was a player?
“So nothing. I’ve just heard things.”
Leaning back in my chair, I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care what this Stefan does when he isn’t running Club X. As long as he pays me the money I need, we’ll get along fine.”
“I hear he’s loaded. He and his two brothers run the place and make millions every year off the wild shit our fellow citizens like to act out in those fantasy rooms.”