CharlieEspress-yo Self Coffee Shop must have exceeded its maximum capacity when I arrived a little before nine on Monday morning to meet Benji. I was looking forward to discussing the details of hosting his fundraiser. The door could barely close behind me as I squeezed in and immediately found myself at the end of the line. I leaned to the right to peer down toward the counter. There were a good fifteen people ahead of me.I’d be standing herd waiting to be served for at least ten minutes. Good thing I’d had the foresight to show up early.I should have asked for Benji’s number when we made the plans for coffee. I could have texted him and got his order so he wouldn’t have to stand in line when he arrived. Maybe I would order him a plain coffee. Or an Americano.Most adults liked that, right?A couple minutes passed and I had barely moved forward an inch. The woman in front of me, perfectly tailored in a crisp white business suit, muttered under her breath about how she was going to

BenjiI’d never been to Ascension before. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting.The club was located on the top floor of a high rise business building. There was a security guard in the elevator as I rode up, and he took the liberty to press the button labelled ‘A’ in cursive font. I wondered how much Charlie had paid to get that button in there.When the doors slid open I found myself standing in a lobby with a gothic sort of vibe. The carpet underfoot was dark red and plush, and the walls were black. Candle flames flickered in lanterns mounted on the walls, casting a warm but dim glow around the space.There were a few people milling around the room. I stood there, feeling a little out of place, until my gaze slid to the black double doors at the far end of the room. Another security guard was posted there. Written above the doors in the same gold cursive font as the ‘A’ in the elevator was the word ‘Ascension’. It screamed luxury, class and drama with a bit of edgy masculinity tos

Charlie“Fucking jerk,” I hissed, as I lashed out at the garbage can beside my desk in my office. The kick I dealt to the side of it sent it slamming into my desk, where it promptly fell over and spat out all the paper and trash. I groaned, crouched down, and gathered it all back into the can before standing it upright and putting it back in its rightful place.Then I dropped into my chair and sighed, leaning my head back and trying to ignore the pulsing pain in my hand.Why had I hit him? Usually I was able to keep my temper under control. But he’d gotten on my last nerve, and it felt so fucking good to feel his nose squish under my fist.I shook my head. Who was I kidding? If I had to do it over again I would have handled it the same way. He deserved it. Someone needed to put him in his place and I wanted to be damn sure it was me. My girls already dealt with some shady clientele. I had zero tolerance for harassment and it was my job to keep my girls safe. That included protecting t

BenjiCharlie made a mean martini—and I wasn’t a guy who drank them often.Or at all.I preferred a glass of whiskey or something simple. A one ingredient kind of cocktail. But her martini was something to be rivaled and I enjoyed every sip of it.Except, I passed off my olives to her.I liked watching her pop them in her mouth. And I liked how she chewed. In fact I liked everything she did.How she walked. How she talked. How she giggled in an almost reserved sort of way.We sat at the bar together and enjoyed our drinks and chatted about all sorts of things that didn’t really matter. Surface level things. Like how the evening went, how annoying Mason and my sister were when they were being lovey-dovey, and we even cracked a few jokes at the expense of the guy Charlie had decked earlier.“You should see if you can get a doctor to look at that hand of yours in the morning,” I said, as I finished my drink. “Just to be safe.”Charlie shook her head. “No. I’m alright. I swear. This isn’t

CharlieAs soon as Benji relinquished his grip on my hair my lips curled in a smile. I gave his lap one last roll of my hips before dropping to a crouch between his legs, looking back at him over my shoulder, and straightening my legs slowly. I maintained my bent-over position, giving him a good view of my ass and the thin strip of fabric that covered my lady bits.It had been a long time since I put on a show like this.I’d ball park it at about three years.Sure, I’d had some fun with some of my girls up here after closing on the occasional Friday or Saturday night when we had the whole place to ourselves, but it was a completely different thing when there was a man in the room. Especially a man who made you feel all hot and bothered every time he turned his brilliant green eyes on you.Benji was something special. I felt like a fool for thinking it, but I thought it anyway. He was kind and attentive and not at all self-involved like all the men I’d been with before. Every conversat