Page 79 of The Apprentice
I huffed. “That doesn’t count.”
He winked. “Let’s argue over some greasy food.”
He grasped my elbow as my belly chose that moment to growl in appreciation at the thought of burgers. Straightening, I pointed at him. “We’re still going to discuss this.”
We didn’t. The conversation was firmly over as we enjoyed all the greasy food from the bar that Daire had promised me. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did, but it’d been a long time since I’d had something that wasn’t prepared by five-star chefs.
On the car ride home, I shot Daire a grin. “We should take Sloan there.”
He laughed. “Yeah, he might enjoy it.”
“I’m serious. He needs to relax sometimes.” I stared out the window as the streetlights rushed by, a reminder of how quickly the world passed. It was hard to believe it’d been eight years since Daire and I had begun fucking, and it had taken us this long to be something more.
“Are you going to tell your uncle that?” Daire laughed as he turned his SUV in to the driveway that led to the garage under his building.
“Fuck no. I was hoping you could.” I nudged him with my elbow when his laughter grew louder.
“He’s already mad at me about the Aodhan thing. I’d rather not push my luck, boy. You like my cock, and if he decides to kill me, you won’t be able to enjoy it anymore,” he teased with a wink.
“Good point. Maybe I should tell Conall to talk to him about it.”
“He’d be the only one who’d survive that conversation.” Daire pulled the vehicle into his parking spot and put it in Park.
“The only one who Sloan might actually listen to.” I chuckled.
“Careful, it sounds almost like you respect him,” he said, clearly amused.
I shrugged. “Conall’s not too bad.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I slipped from the SUV and unbuttoned my suit jacket to make me feel more relaxed as I waited for Daire. When he reached me, I laced my fingers with his and tugged him.
“Come on, Daddy Daire. You’re going to give me a real tour of your penthouse now. There are some rooms I haven’t seen yet.”
He yanked me back and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he led me into the elevator. “There’s only one important place you haven’t seen. My office. The other door is just the bathroom for the guest room,” he said while we rode upward.
The doors opened, revealing the entrance to the penthouse. Once we were inside, he hooked his hand into the lapel of my jacket and yanked me toward the stairs.
“Oooh, Daddy, you’re getting rough with me. Are you trying to turn me on?”
He chuckled and guided me up the black steps to the second floor of his home. He slapped me on the ass playfully, and I gasped at the pleasant sting, even through the layer of my pants and underwear.
He led me to the door I’d seen but never entered and opened it, then stepped aside so I could move into the room. I paused as soon as I passed the threshold, gazing at the orderly office. In the center, toward the back, was a black steel desk with a black office chair. A laptop was open in the center of the desk. Other than that, there was nothing else except for three walls of black shelves stuffed full of books. The right wall had floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out toward the Manhattan skyline. Lights sprinkled across the horizon, glittering like a thousand diamonds.
I took one step after another, moving toward the shelves, and picked up a book randomly. Red in color, it was plain except for the gold font on the front.The Truth About the Mayans. Each title that I came across was related to history.
I replaced the original book and turned to Daire, who leaned against the front of the desk with his arms crossed. “You like reading?”
He smiled, soft and sweet—in a way I hadn’t seen before. “I do. I enjoy reading about history. We as humans should always be aware of the mistakes we made in the past, but unfortunately, we don’t learn from them.”
“Why—” I shook away the tiny prickle of hurt and tried again. “Why didn’t I know this?”
He made an amused sound in the back of his throat. “Because it wasn’t important to the job. You didn’t need to know.”
“And now?” I asked, hesitant but hopeful.
He stared at me for a long moment before he shoved off the desk and ate up the distance between us. He cradled my face, and I pushed up on my tiptoes to get closer. “You wanted to learn about the real me. Here I am, opening up to you, boy.”
I dislodged one of his hands to nuzzle his jaw and inhaled his spicy masculine scent. My dick twitched and I ground my hips against his. “Tell me more, Daddy.Fuck.Please.”
