Page 35 of The Professional
Rourke laughed gently and turned his head to apologize to the woman in the corner. Apparently he didn’t need to because she rested her chin in her hand while gazing at them hungrily. The stare alone made Rourke laugh louder in embarrassment and turn away again.
“I think we have a fan,” he said.
Forrest flicked his gaze over to her before chuckling. “That’s Sahanni. She’s in here all the time. Reads gay romance.”
“Gay romance? As in books?” Rourke frowned.
Forrest bobbed his head. “Yeah. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the genre? It’s a thing.”
“Have you read any?”
Forrest’s flush deepened and he shrugged. “Maybe a couple. I’m a fan of Ki Brightly.”
“Never heard of her.” Rourke took a sip of his coffee and nearly sighed in pleasure. He hadn’t allowed himself coffee in weeks, after deciding he needed to cut his caffeine intake. If he’d been given a choice, he’d live only on cappuccinos.
“They. Ki’s nonbinary. They are a really good writer. Do you read at all? I’ve only ever seen you look at paperwork.” Forrest leaned his elbows on the table and slid a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, moaning. “That’s so good.”
“I don’t have time to read.” Rourke grinned. “Enjoying that?”
“If I needed to choose between sex and ice cream, it’d be a close match.”
“Ice cream wouldn’t win, though.”
Forrest raised his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t it? I like my cream.”
A sizzle of pleasure zipped through Rourke’s body and went straight to his balls. His cock twitched in his pants, and he closed his eyes, praying to God that he had enough self-control not to bend Forrest over this table and fuck him right here and now. When he opened his eyes again, Forrest dropped some ice cream on his hand, between his thumb and forefinger, and he made a display of staring at Rourke intensely as he darted his tongue out to lick it off painfully slow.
“Mm. That’s nice.”
“Jesus Christ, Forrest.” Rourke leaned back in his chair, his cappuccino forgotten. He didn’t need it to heat up with Forrest in front of him. He already felt too hot around the collar.
“Do you remember when we first met?” Forrest asked quietly, sucking in another spoonful.
“Yeah, how could I forget?” Rourke slid a hand under the table and cupped himself. Peeking at Sahanni, he let out an exhale when he saw she’d gone back to her book. Thank God. He didn’t want to give her a show, even though she’d probably enjoy it.
“You walked in the Virtue with O’Riley and Terrance. Terrance looked so pissed off.” Forrest cocked his head, eyes hot and promising he could do naughty things if Rourke would let him. “When I saw you, I thought you were fucking hot. You stood there, quiet, as O’Riley explained the situation. He told us you were taking charge of the brothel until we could bring our profits up. I didn’t even understand most of what O’Riley said. I was more interested in you.”
“Really?” Rourke gave his cock a good squeeze before he went back to his coffee cup. He took a sip. “What made me so interesting?”
“I don’t know.” Forrest chuckled and ducked his head. “I’ve seen my share of hot men with great bodies. I couldn’t work out what made me attracted to you. Then you spoke with this gravelly, deep voice, and I popped wood so quickly I thought I’d faint from the blood that went straight to my cock.”
Rourke couldn’t help the snort of laughter that left him. “Really?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t see it,” he teased. “When you walked down the line, asking for introductions, you knew how horny I was for you.”
Rourke smiled. “How could you tell?”
“You looked at my cock.” Forrest ran his tongue over his top lip. “You liked what you saw.”
Rourke’s eyes followed the movement of his tongue, unable to look away. Rourke felt every one of Forrest’s stares right down to his bones. He created his own rules to follow, though, and that meant Forrest remained off limits. He’d already stepped over the line by letting Forrest blow him. What was he doing? If word got back to Sloan, Rourke’s loyalty could be questioned, and that’s the last thing he wanted.
He shook his head. “I saw an asset I could use.”
The smile fell off Forrest’s face, the happiness draining from him. It left behind an emptiness in his expression that made Rourke’s chest ache. It didn’t suit him. “Of course. Whores are possessions, right?”
“You are.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth, but he needed to stop this foolish dreaming before they went too far. Rourke finished off his coffee in a few gulps and rose, sliding the cardboard cup into the nearby trash. “Are you ready to go? We need to head back and get you ready for tonight. We have high payers coming, Forrest, and I expect nothing but your best behavior.”
Forrest glanced at his half eaten ice cream and shoved himself to his feet. He dropped the cup into the trash as well and then rolled his shoulders. “Your possession is ready to earn his worth, boss.”
