Page 28 of Night By Night
Chapter Seven
Wednesday morning, Maddox was at work and happily tuning out the world while thinking about the brief text message exchange he’d already had with Hank. Then he became aware of two people standing in the doorway of his cubicle.
Marcia…and Eliza.
Both of them wearing playful, knowing smiles.
Marcia crooked a finger at him, beckoning, before the women turned and headed for Marcia’s office.
With his happy mood now shattered, he stood and followed.
They waited until he closed the door behind him to start laughing.
He waited them out.
“Rusty damn near gave himself pneumonia from choking over worrying about freaking you out,” Eliza playfully said. “But you already knew, didn’t you?”
“I suspected. That’s why I name-dropped Marcia and Derrick. I figured it’d get that out of the way sooner rather than later.”
Eliza nodded. “Smart guy.”
“Why do you think we hired him?” Marcia teased. “We like smart people. That he’s one of us is a happy and unexpected bonus.”
“Does Hank know you’re kinky?” Eliza asked. “Or is he kinky?”
“No, he doesn’t know I am. And I doubt he is, but we haven’t had that conversation. I’ve only had him back in my life a couple of days. I don’t want to freak him out. Besides, not exactly a conversation that you have with a little kid around.”
“True,” Eliza said.
“So why the drop-in today?” he asked.
“Just wanted to make sure we’re copacetic,” Eliza said. “We volunteer at the club a lot. Would rather have this conversation outside of there to prevent freaking you out on-site.”
“I’m not freaked out. Sort of makes sense to me, in retrospect.”
“Marcia said she told you about this already, but I’m part of the matchmaking group, if you’re interested. One-hundred-percent success rate.”
He thought about Hank. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
“Straight, gay, or bi?” she asked. “I mean,” she quickly added, “for me to keep my eye out.”
“Bi. I’ve dated guys and women.”
“Switchy, or Dom? Or am I totally off-base and you’re a bottom?”
He smirked. “You’re not off-base. Dom. Not switchy, but I’m a little flexible, in some ways.”
“Bi vers Dom. Got it.” She grinned at Marcia. “This’ll be fun.”
“I think I’d like to meet people in the area before I start dating again.” He didn’t want to let it slip he wasn’t really available out of fear they might accidentally tip Hank off.
The last thing he wanted was to put more stress on Hank than he was already under.
After chatting for a few minutes, he knew he needed to get back to work. “By the way, thank you, again, for what you and your other friend did for Hank and JJ. I’d like to chip in for the ‘scholarship,’ if need be.”
She waved him off. “It’s handled, trust me. Just let me know if he’s stressing over money too much, and we’ll figure another excuse to cut him slack on the fees. I don’t want him feeling guilty over this.”
“Will do.”
