Darius smiled. The old guy was gaping between his legs now and practically drooling at his innocently exposed underwear. “Thanks, man,” Darius said, enjoying the attention.

“I’ll remember that.” Then he waved and started driving toward the main house, wondering if old guys like Thomas knew how obvious they were. Darius had a feeling if he’d pulled out his dick and asked Thomas to come over and play with it, he could have made even more money that morning.

But he didn’t want to stir anything up. He knew how important it was to maintain a good standing with this job. If he didn’t, they’d never trust him and he’d never be able to accomplish what he wanted.

When he pulled up to the house, he rubbed his jaw and looked it over. It reminded him of one of those drafty old-time historic houses he’d read about in middle school, the kind of place where George Washington had spent the night.

The exterior was white stucco over stone, with a few sections of stone purposely exposed in just the right places. Each window was identical: tall and thin, with white trim. The shutters on the first floor were black; on the second floor, white. Although the house was massive, there was also something plain and simple about it, too. Even the neat round boxwoods surrounding the house had a toned down appeal.

Coming from L.A., where everything was exaggerated to the point of gaudy, Darius wasn’t sure whether or not they wanted the house to look this plain or they were cheap. In his opinion, a few marble statues, fake palm trees, and Grecian columns would have been an improvement.

He parked around back in an out-of-the-way parking space. The ancient house didn’t seem to have a garage and he didn’t want to overstep on his first day by parking next to everyone else. There was already a small black Cadillac sedan parked close to the back patio, which he figured had to be Luis’s pretentious car. Beside the Cadillac there was a big black pickup truck and a Jeep Wrangler. He figured the black pickup belonged to Jase, the infamous virgin billionaire, whom he hadn’t met yet. He’d read that Jase only drove pickup trucks. When he’d seen that irritating young handyman with the dark beard—he couldn’t remember his name—walking around by the barn, he’d figured the Jeep belonged to him.

The handyman looked up and sent him a glare. Darius opened the door and climbed out of his truck. He waved at the handyman and nodded. But the handyman looked down at what he was doing and didn’t return the wave, which made Darius frown. He knew he’d have to be on his best behavior and watch every step with this guy. This handyman would be watching every move he made. It wasn’t worth the effort to try to win him over. Darius had run into guys like him before and there was nothing he knew he could do to please them.

The best approach was to remain quiet and do his job.

And if he had to shut him up, he’d deal with him in due time.

So Darius ignored the handyman and reached into the back of the truck for two suitcases that held everything he owned in the world. They were filled with clothes and other toiletries, jock straps, and sweat socks. The only personal item from his old life was a small framed photo of Leck that he’d wrapped and hidden in three pair of boxer briefs. He’d have to unpack the photo quickly and shove it under his mattress so no one would see it. He knew he should have thrown it away, but it was the only thing he had left of his former life with Leck, and the one thing he couldn’t seem to part with no matter how hard he tried. It always amazed him at how he could feel such peace, and still hurt so much at the same time, whenever he looked at the photo.

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He knocked on the back door a couple of times, but they were speaking so loudly no one heard him. So he swung the screen door open and stepped inside. The funny-looking little bald dog was the first to notice him enter. Darius couldn’t remember his name either; it was something like Champ, or Chance, but couldn’t be certain. The little dog jumped off a bench next to the kitchen table and started barking. Darius hadn’t expected the sound to come from such a ratty-looking runt. He felt like kicking it as hard as he could, so he could see it sail across the room and land against the wall. But he only smiled and looked down. “Hey, little guy. It’s only me, Darius.”

Luis was the first to come over and greet him. He smiled and said, “Just put your suitcases down right there and come over and join us. I’d like you to meet Jase and Hunter.

Jase is leaving for work in a few minutes and Hunter is leaving for baseball camp a few minutes after that, but I’d like you meet everyone before they leave. I’ve been telling them all about you since yesterday.”

Darius smiled and walked over to the table. The little boy, Hunter, was on a chair on his knees picking at a bowl of dry cereal. Jase was reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. Darius had seen photos of the famous Virgin Billionaire from Alaska, but he was amazed at how little justice the photos had done him. Jase Nicholas, sitting there in a casual white polo shirt and beige slacks, was probably one of the most attractive men Darius had ever seen. With his short sandy blond hair and fair features, he could have passed for Darius’s older brother. But definitely not his father. Darius had heard Jase was in his early forties, but he looked more like he was in his early thirties.

Darius sent Jase one of his warmest smiles and said, “Good morning.” Then he reached across the table and shook Jase’s hand.

“This is our new housekeeper, guys,” Luis said in a jaunty tone, as if trying too hard to impress them with the new man he’d hired. “His name is Darius Denby and he’s a big fan of baseball.”

Hunter looked up from his bowl of cereal and gaped at Darius. “Seriously?”

Darius smiled and said, “That’s right. I used to coach Little League in my own hometown back in Utah.” This was an outright lie. Though he was a fan of baseball and he had played Little League for a few years, he’d never actually coached anyone. He’d spent most of his time in the dugout, selling pot and other illegal substances to the other boys, occasionally getting them stoned so he could suck them off after practice and blackmail them for petty cash at a later date.

Hunter smiled. “Cool.” He turned to Jase. “Did you hear that, Dad?”

Jase smiled and made a move to stand. “Yes, I heard.”

He turned to Darius and said, “Luis has been telling me all about you, Darius. I’m glad you’ve decided to join our little family.”

“Please don’t get up, Mr. Nicholas,” Darius said.




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