Page 10 of Devil's Deal

Ugh, why was I embarrassing myself? “Sorry, I get a little passionate. This was my dream, and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to do it, so it matters.”

“No, I get it. If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right. And you did, Mr. Letterman.”

“Ugh. Mr. Letterman. Did you read that or did you meet Everest?”

“I did. I really liked him.”

“Me, too. He’s one of my favorite employees. I don’t care how hard a day I’m having, it’s hard not to feel a little better after chatting with him.”

He hummed. “I can assure you he appreciates working here. I think that says a lot about what kind of owner you are.”

My face warmed from his approval. I didn’t know how badly I’d needed someone to acknowledge that. “I’m glad. Oh, I know you won’t be here long, but please, call me Cory.”

“And I’m Bosley.”

Bosley?I bit back a snort. A man this fine should have a better name than the guy from Charlie’s Angels. My treadmill started the warm-down, and my pace slowed.

“Do you usually work out this early in the morning?” he asked.

“God, no. I wasn’t sleeping, and I have a lot going on today, so I decided to start here.”

“Ah. That makes sense. Harlow mentioned when I was checking in that you were in the gym then, too.”

I felt my face warming again. It wasn’t against the law to go to the gym so close together, but the way he said it made me think that he knew something was up with me. But how could he? He didn’t know me. We’d just met. This was my imagination working overtime. This breaking-and-entering thing really had me rattled.

“Uh yeah. I lifted weights last night, but the treadmills and ellipticals were occupied, so I thought I’d come down nice and early.”

“Well, Cory, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks for the chat,” he said with a smile as my machine came to a stop and I hopped off.

Picking up the towel I left on the floor, I wiped the sweat from my face, wondering if I looked a total mess. Not that it mattered. This was a gym. At this point, Bosley was sweating, too. Again, not that it mattered. He was a guest. No more, no less. “It was nice meeting you, too. Have a good day.” I waved awkwardly, then wanted to face-palm. My lack of sleep was obviously affecting me. Maybe I should run back up to my room and take a power nap.

As I walked down the hall connecting the building housing Vigor to the hotel, I realized how nice it had been to have a normal conversation with another man. One who wasn’t an employee who got paid to humor me or a customer complaining. For a few moments, Bosley had distracted me from the issues in the hotel. It had been nice. Catching sight of the picture of me and Mac, I averted my gaze. It felt wrong to have enjoyed such a simple interlude so much. It felt even worse that I’d noticed him as a man.

Chapter

Four

BOSLEY

The conversationin the gym with Cory this morning had been a great way to start my day. He’d been even more interesting in person than I’d expected him to be. Plus, fuck he was hot. He had to spend some serious time in Vigor for that body, and I approved.

Then there was that kicked-puppy aura that shrouded him like a cloak. When I’d noticed the framed photo of him and the older gentleman hanging in the hall, I’d gone right to the elevator and asked Everest about it. Sorrowfully, he’d informed me that Cory had lost his husband, Mac, in a car accident a year ago.

The sadness made sense now, and I wanted to do something to put a smile on his face before I moved on. Normally, men like him weren’t my type. Not because he was older or as fit as me, but because I generally chose boys who would call me Daddy when I sought pleasure. That didn’t matter with Cory, though. I didn’t need him to look at me as a temporary Daddy as long as I found a way to make him truly smile.

Getting out of my car, I made my way toward the entrance to The Tap Tavern. I’d heard about this place so many times, it was a bit surreal to finally be here. Chip wouldn’t be joining us, but Omar had said that Chip’s Daddy, Olli, wanted to meet me. Hopefully, the guy didn’t plan on punching me in the face. Although, he couldn’t be too mad. I hadn’t claimed and stayed with Chip like Omar had with Nigel. If that had been the case, Ollie would’ve never ended up with the little cutie.

I barely made it through the front door when Omar stood from a table off to the left, back near the bar, and waved me over. As I got to the table, I saw that some of his Daddy friends had decided to join us for dinner. I held out a hand as I reached the tall Black man, which he gripped, then pulled me in and gave me one hard slap on the back. “Hey, Bosley. It’s so good to see you, man.”

I hugged him, giving him my own hard thump, and stepped back and looked him up and down. “Look at you. You’d never know so much time has passed. You’re aging well.”

He laughed. “Nigel keeps me young. But you look like you’ve got a little more silver there,” he said, pointing at my beard.

“Hey.” I scrubbed my hand down my beard. “I think it looks good. Distinguished.”

“I agree,” a silver fox with a thick mane of his own silver white hair said. He stood from the head of the table and held out a hand. “Hey, Bosley. I’m Christian. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Omar had given me the rundown on all his friends through the years, so I placed Christian immediately. “Nice to meet you. The bar owner, correct?”

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