Page 14 of Make Believe

I just know he hates to say good-bye but loves to watch me leave.

Hopefully that means it won’t take him long to call me. The clock is ticking, and this doll is ready for revengenow.

CHAPTER 6

Rafferty

Jason and Markus’sparty was days ago. I really shouldn’t be giving it much of a second thought beyond the invigoration it gave me.

But I can’t get a certain pretty doll out of my head.

Aboy,no less. A young man. The ass-fucking wasn’t all that unusual, but the fact that I eagerly jerked him off is a brand-new one on me.

I guess that’s why my mind keeps drifting back to the short but gripping encounter. It’s forcing me to ask a couple of pretty fundamental questions about myself. All I can say is that in almost fifty years, I’ve never once been swept away by another man. Those couple of guys in college pursued me, and I figured life’s too short not to try most things once. But…well, they were both effeminate. Very. In fact, one of them was such a beautiful drag queen he could have almost passed as a woman.

So…it’s not like I’m suddenly gay, that’s for sure. But perhaps I am the slightest bit bisexual? Or maybe there’s an even better word. It seems like there’s a label for everything these days. I’m still definitely attracted to beauty. But it turns out that maybe I don’t care so much what’s between the other person’s legs.

I realize someone else around the boardroom table has begun to speak, and I give myself a mental slap. In all honestly, I don’t especially need to pay attention to what’s being discussed. It’s just a lot of my department heads patting themselves on the back for another successful quarter. But this is my company, and I need to at least feign I give a shit what these people are saying.

Christ, it’s like being back at that fundraiser. I’m sure everyone here is genuinely happy that they’re just that bit richer than they were yesterday. But it all feels painfully false. I’m sure no one here actuallylikeseach other. I can hardly remember all their names, for crying out loud.

I know Kiki’s name.

No, I don’t.I can’t help but snort, earning a raised eyebrow from my executive assistant, Audrey, who’s meant to be taking notes, even though there isn’t much really going on. I ignore her, pretending it never happened. She’s far too savvy to let me gaslight her into anything, so I don’t feel too bad. However, she’s also known me long enough to know that I’ll never explain anything that I don’t want to.

Like how I’m fantasizing over a pretty doll whose last name I don’t know. I’m sure he just uses Kiki for playtime. So I have no actual name I could search for to get any further information. Nothing I could run a background check on.

I have hook-ups with strangers all the time. Like Charleen so coldly pointed out, I never lead them on or think there could be a relationship. That’s not what I’m looking for, so I rarely give the encounters a second thought other than to replay the delicious memories for my own pleasure.

I don’t wonder what they’re doing now. I don’t wonder what their job is or who the important people are in their lives. And I certainly don’t wonder if I should call them for a repeat performance.

Never have I ever slept with the same person twice except Charleen, nor have I even wanted to. But it’s as if Kiki’s number is burning a hole in my pocket. Somewhat literally, as I’ve kept the napkin he gave me on my person ever since. It’s currently on the inside of my jacket, and I rub the spot absently, like I’m soothing a wounded heart.

Now that is ridiculous. It’s not like I’m pining after such a brief encounter. I’m just…lusting after something gorgeous. I didn’t get to be this insanely wealthy without being just a little greedy, obviously. I’m not satisfied. I want Kiki again, that’s all. I experienced something entirely new and exciting with him, not like the usual young women I bed. It’s going to be a lot harder to chase what we shared with someone else.

Besides, I don’t want to. I don’t have to.

Perhaps it’s time to admit to myself that it’s not a matter of ‘if’ I contact him, but ‘when.’ I’m just trying to play it cool with how quickly I make the call. I don’t want to give my power away by seeming desperate. Again, a tactic I’m well aware of after so many years in business.

But also the thought of anyone else touching Kiki in the time it takes me to reach out makes me want to throw something.

He’smine.The control he gave me was intoxicating. In some ways, I’ve never felt that close to anyone in my life, and yet I know we barely scratched the surface of what we could have done. I want to play with him a lot more, and until I get him out of my system, I don’t want anybody else putting their hands on what’s mine.

Just in time, I realize that my CFO has glanced my way and said my name, no doubt handing the meeting back to me so I can close it. Without missing a beat, I rattle off the few statements I prepared in advance about our recent achievements but with confident assurances that in the following months we can doeven better. There’s a round of applause that I do my best to only cringe internally at, then I’m finally free.

“Good weekend, sir?” Audrey murmurs at me as she closes her laptop. We’re the last to leave the room, and I know she’s taking the chance to be cheeky and push our boundaries.

I simply give her a cool look before standing and buttoning my suit jacket. “I expect those meeting minutes typed up and emailed to all parties within the hour,” I tell her.

My assistant scoffs and stands herself. “Who do you think I am? They’ll be out in twenty minutes.” She picks up her computer and winks at me.

I merely hum in response. But just before she reaches the door, I change my mind and find something I want to ask, after all. “Is there another meeting booked in here for now?”

She pauses at the threshold. “There is now, Mr. McKenna,” she says with a grin, then closes the door behind her.

Warring with myself for a second, I unbutton my jacket once more and sit back down. The internal glass is frosted, so people might see a dark blur in here if they look closely, but otherwise, I actually have more privacy now than I would in my office. At least for a few minutes.

I pull out my phone, my only plan being to finally input Kiki’s number into it. I’d been holding off, like that might somehow take some of the magic away from our encounter. But suddenly, I quite urgently feel the need to make it real. However, I’m made to stop before I can retrieve the napkin by a message I’ve received from my wife.

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