It probably shouldn’t have made me hard.

I mean, being yelled at wasn’t sexy in itself, but when what seemed to be a thick Scottish accent was combined with a stern-looking older man who looked like he’d just walked off the screen of a BDSM website, I couldn’t help myself.

I also couldn’t help the fact my brain and my dick didn’t work at the same time, or the fact I was a stereotypical American moron and accents were just fucking sexy.

And men in suits with sexy accents were even hotter.

Yep, there was nothing I could’ve done about it.

“What the fuck is going on, Benny? I swear to God, only you could get stranded at the fucking airport in a foreign country during a blizzard.” Before I could point out I was in London, not Timbuctoo, Skyler continued without pause.

“I don’t give a fuck what they told you. I’m not driving down that goddamned mountain in this weather! This is my time and you know it.” His eyes flashed with dark emotions as he stalked toward the porch.

If I thought he was sexy when he was angry, I was smart enough not to show it.

My standing stupidly in the doorway didn’t seem to help his emotional instability. But in my defense, I had no idea what he was talking about and it was incredible to see little Joe all grown up. I shouldn’t have found him hot considering I’d known him since he was five.

But the man standing in front of me only vaguely resembled the little boy he’d once been.

Especially the anger part.

Little Joe had been sweet and almost painfully shy. I could still picture him peeking around the wall by the staircase whenever I would visit his parents’ house. Even as he’d gotten older, he would smile hesitantly before quietly escaping any dinner party his family dragged him to.

“I—”

I didn’t get much out before he cut me off, but it seemed to only make his anger worse. “I’m a part-fucking-owner and this is my week. The goddamned lawyers I had to hire to make sure I got use it cost me a fucking fortune! The rest of the assholes that raised me might have money lying around like toilet paper, but some of us have to work for a goddamned living.”

They were back.

How those crazy old ladies always knew when the store was empty was beyond me. I’d honestly started wondering if they had the shop under surveillance. It was a stupid thought but it was the only somewhat logical option I could come up with. There were only so many times it could happen before it wasn’t an accident.

“Hello.” Their overly cheerful voices grated on my nerves as they called out in unison, but that was mostly because I knew how devious they were…and how nosy.

Last week they’d started asking my parents about my hobbies.

God.

That was the last thing I needed.

Luckily, my father thought they were all senile. Every time they came in, he’d just start muttering under his breath as he wandered off and left someone else to deal with them. It was rude but they hadn’t helped their case any when one of them asked him why he was so stodgy and judgmental.

He’d taken it better than I’d expected until she’d questioned his sanity and seemed to indicate his penis must be small because he wasn’t a happy person. The logic in that argument had stumped me and I was still trying to take apart the insult, but it’d been the last straw, so now I was relegated to crazy old lady duty.

“Now please take this in the way it was intended. You’re a wonderful model, and I think this is the perfect opportunity to use your skills.” My boss’s overly professional smile as he sat perfectly straight in his chair behind his desk only made me more suspicious.

What had he done?

What skills?

Was his wonderful new opportunity figuring out how to hide Eli’s body because he’d killed him?

Preston was never nervous, so the whole thing was confusing. He was the ultimate cool cucumber because he’d been baptized by fire working with so many drama queens. Not me, of course, I was sweet and calm.

It was the rest of them that were nuts.

Leashes & Lace was a magnet that drew in more interesting people. Something about modeling male lingerie and fetish gear like puppy play tails pulled out people’s more passionate side. At least, that was how Preston had described it the last time a prospective new employee had asked him to describe us.

“I just don’t want you to take this the wrong way.” Preston’s polite insanity had Roman, one of the main photographers and Eli’s partner, snorting from where he was leaning against the far wall behind Preston’s desk.

“I think Gordon is trying to hint that he wants kids.” I was serious, but Dean laughed so hard he nearly fell off his couch. “I’m not kidding.”

He kept shaking his head as he tried to catch his breath. “Then you must be drunk.”

I held up the single beer I’d been playing with for the last hour. “Nope.”

We’d been binge-watching the old Star Wars movies all afternoon and I might have had a buzz at one point, but it hadn’t lasted.

“Don’t get me wrong. He seems to be a great boyfriend, but you’ve both always been adamant about not wanting kids.” Dean cocked his head. “You guys didn’t even want a dog when Kathy’s beagle had puppies.”

I wanted to be the attention-whore in the relationship, and Gordon seemed to agree with our respective roles. “I know. That’s one of the things I loved about him from day one.”

If he got any more nervous, I was going to put vodka in his bottle. Vodka and orange juice went well together, so maybe apple would work in a pinch.

“I know. You don’t have to say it again.” But the way Bryan was aimlessly wandering around the apartment pretending to clean said I probably should.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Starting in on my speech for the third time, I smiled when he jumped in.

“But I need to remember that they won’t think any less of me and there’s nothing to worry about.” Bryan sighed as he finished. “I know it up here.”

He gestured toward his head then shrugged. “It’s the rest of me that keeps forgetting.”

Dr. Shepard thought the best way for Bryan to ease into being little around others was by being in that headspace around Kevin. It was a sound idea, but it wasn’t easy. Bryan had kept all of that inside himself for so long, sharing it made him feel more exposed than if he was running naked through campus.

I had a feeling he’d rather run naked through campus.

But he wanted to be able to play with other littles, and I had a feeling he wanted to prove it to Cody. Their relationship had gotten better, but Cody was still nervous around us because Bryan was so nervous around him. It was a weird cycle that needed to be broken…and the only way to break it was for Bryan to get more confident.