Page 38 of Something Unprofessional

He sighed. “Okay, so I have type. The Daddy type, clearly.” He waved a hand in the vague direction of his hotel room. “And it always ends badly.”

Remy frowned. “How so?”

“Well, the first guy turned out to be married with kids nearly my age, which, no shame if that’s your thing, but it’s not cool to lie about it. And the last guy cheated on me. Then when Ibroke up with him, he got pissed off and fired me.” Ev held up his hands in a “what are you gonna do?” gesture.

Remy made a face. “What a piece of garbage.” His expression turned thoughtful. “I gotta say, I can’t see Gabe pulling anything like that. And if he did for some reason, Xavier wouldn’t let him get away with it. The Daddy-types I know are all overprotective as fuck. It doesn’t seem to matter if the boy is theirs or not—they aren’t letting anyone get away with that shit.”

Remy was right, and he wasn’t the first person to say it, but that didn’t help with the rock that appeared in his gut every time those damn “what-ifs” popped into his head. He couldn’t risk it. Could he?

Ev let himself intothe room quietly, not that it mattered because Gabe was still at the desk. Ev paused in the doorway, just looking. The overhead lights were off, and Gabe was only lit by the desk lamp and his laptop screen. He’d discarded the jacket and tie from earlier, but he was still in his dress shirt and slacks. Ev really, really liked the way he filled out his suit.

After a while, Ev realized that Gabe wasn’t going to acknowledge him. Which was fair. Ev wasn’t all that pleased with himself either. He hung his jacket back in the closet and toed off his shoes before padding over to hover between the desk and the end of the bed. His palms were damp, so he rubbedthem against his pants as he gathered the courage to say what he’d practiced all the way up in the elevator.

“Are you okay?” Gabe asked, breaking the silence just as Ev was about to start.

Instead of his rehearsed speech, Ev blurted out, “Yes, Daddy.”

Gabe went still for a moment, then sighed and shut his laptop with a click. “Everett.”

“I’m sorry,” Ev said. Meaning it. He turned away and scrubbed his hands over his face. Why was this so hard? Why did he have to want things that he shouldn’t?

Gabe sighed. “We can’t go on like this.”

Sudden dread made Ev break out in chills, his throat going tight. “What?” he managed to ask.

“You’re scared,” Gabe said, voice clipped. “You’ve had shitty experiences with people who shouldn’t be allowed to call themselves Doms, much less Daddies. I don’t blame you for protecting yourself.”

Ev’s nose stung, and he rubbed it vigorously to keep it from spreading. Before he could figure out what to say, Gabe’s hands were on his hips, tugging him backward until he was in Gabe’s lap.

Ev curled into him with a whimper of relief. He locked his arms around Gabe’s neck and buried his face in Gabe’s throat.

Daddy gathered him close, his arms strong and solid as they held Ev tight. “It’s okay. We’re going to figure it out,” he murmured in Ev’s ear.

Ev wasn’t going to cry, dammit, but it was such a huge fucking relief to hear that. All he wanted was for Daddy to make it better. He didn’t care about his stupid rules or his past or any of it. He needed Gabe to take over. To take charge and fix it.

“Look at me, tiger,” Gabe said, his hands on Ev’s shoulders, forcing him to sit back.

Ev released him and wiped at his eyes to remove any evidence of how off-balance he was before meeting Gabe’s. He sucked on his piercing, trying to read what he was seeing, but he just didn’t know Gabe well enough. Determination for sure, and something else. Concern, maybe.

“There’s my boy,” Gabe murmured, his hand moving to grip Ev’s chin and hold him in place. The words made the ache in Ev’s tummy bloom bigger.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Ev said again, wanting to be sure Gabe understood his regret. But Gabe just shook his head.

“You don’t owe me any apologies. Every one of our agreements was very clear, and you did nothing wrong.”

Ev’s tension left him so swiftly that he slumped. He didn’t feel like that was entirely true, but if Daddy said it was, Ev wouldn’t argue with him. He wiggled around until he was facing Gabe, his knees tucked along the sides of the chair and his butt on Daddy’s thighs. “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “I tried to stay away, but I keep fucking it up.”

The corners of Gabe’s eyes creased in amusement. “I’m not much better. You’re a very tempting boy.”

That replaced some of the sick sloshing in Ev’s belly with warmth. “Yeah?”

Daddy nodded. “What if we make another deal?”

Ev was nodding before Daddy finished talking. Yes. Anything.

“Everett,” Daddy said sternly. “What did I tell you about agreeing before you’re heard the terms?”

Ev blushed. Why did his full name sound so sexy when it came from Daddy’s lips, but Ev couldn’t stand it from anyone else? Daddy said it just right, with a little warning purr that made him shiver and his cock wake up in sudden interest. What was the question again? “Um…”

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