Chapter 73: Saturday Sex

Dorian opened his eyes slowly and looked up. It took him a second to focus. "Adrian?" he frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"You have to get home," Adrian said.

Dorian frowned up at him. "What’s going on?"

"Your wife won’t let me sleep. Your phone is off. I couldn’t reach you either. I had to track your car." Adrian folded his arms. "You scared everyone."

Dorian blinked slowly. "What do you mean everyone?"

"I mean everyone. I called everyone."

"Oh boy..." Dorian sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

Adrian’s irritation softened slightly. "I’m sorry. I thought something had happened."

Dorian looked at the whisky in front of him. "Yeah, something happened alright."

Adrian followed his gaze, then looked back at him. "Come on. I’ll get you home and come back for your car, but I am charging overtime for this."

Dorian gave a humorless laugh. "I can’t go home."

"Why not?"

Dorian’s fingers tightened around the glass. "If I go home, I’ll have to lie to her."

That got Adrian’s attention. He raised a brow.

"Should I ask?"

"No."

"Without context, I cannot offer my wisdom."

Dorian leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "I know something about her that I shouldn’t know."

"Boss, your secrets are my secrets."

Dorian chuckled quietly. "Not this time, Adrian." He shook his head. "Not this time."

Adrian studied him. That alone told him how serious it was. Dorian told Adrian almost everything connected to work, and quite a lot of things that weren’t. Adrian usually needed to know enough to clean up after him.

If Dorian was refusing now, then whatever he had found at Bedford Hills was bad.

"Just check me into a hotel," Dorian said.

Adrian frowned. "What do I tell Mrs Heathcliffe?"

"Figure something out," he said. "I just need to have a clear head before I go back home."

Adrian sighed. "Alright then." He stepped forward. "Come on."

Dorian set the glass down and pushed himself to his feet. He steadied himself against the edge of the table.

Adrian bent to pick up the suit jacket Dorian had discarded earlier. "Here."

Dorian took it without putting it on. They started toward the corridor. Adrian glanced at him from the side.

The man looked miserable. Naturally, he did the only thing he knew might annoy Dorian back into behaving like himself.

"Are you sure you don’t want to go home?" he asked. "You will be missing Saturday sex."

"Shut up..." Dorian muttered, bumping Adrian with his shoulder as they walked.

Adrian smiled, but he could tell the effort behind Dorian’s own faint smile was mostly for his benefit.

He still looked troubled. Adrian decided not to push.

"Shall I tell the rest of the Heathcliffes you’re alright?" he asked.

Dorian nodded. "Yes, but do not tell them where I am, or I’ll be smothered." He groaned. "Just get me somewhere with a bed and silence."

"That I can do."

******

Tessa and Naomi ended up going grocery shopping together later that day. Which meant Naomi finally had someone safe enough to complain to.

Not that she wanted to sound needy. She absolutely did not. She was a grown woman with enough emotional baggage to qualify as checked luggage on an international flight. She did not sit around waiting for men to call her.

Usually.

But this was Tessa. Her closest friend in the world. If Naomi couldn’t sound pathetic in front of Tessa, then what was friendship even for?

Tessa pushed the cart beside her and stared at her with entirely too much interest. "I’m going to come back to the fact that you both are having sex again, because that is golden information, but let’s address the issue first. So, he just ghosts you..."

"I wouldn’t say ghost. Adrian explained the situation to me. Work came up." Naomi picked up a carton of milk and dropped it into the cart. "Of course I cannot tell the man to blow off his career for thirty minutes of sex."

Tessa stopped walking. "Thirty minutes?"

"Give or take. There’s a lot of foreplay involved, but focus!" Naomi shook her head quickly, refusing to think too deeply about exactly how much she had been looking forward to being fucked by her husband. She had been counting down like a teenager waiting for prom. "He could have called," she added.

Tessa started pushing the cart again. "Maybe it was impromptu."

"Maybe." Naomi frowned. Dorian had practically threatened to drag her home personally if she was ten minutes late, then disappeared without a word.

Tessa picked up a jar, checked the price and put it back. "So you’re upset because he didn’t come home for sex?"

"I am upset because he didn’t communicate."

"Mhm."

Naomi rolled her eyes and reached for vegetables. "He had the time to send money for groceries. I woke up this morning to a deposit saying for groceries."

"Babe, you talk about it when he comes back. It’s that simple," Tessa said.

Naomi made a face and pushed the cart farther down the aisle. "Ughhh... I sound like a real wife, don’t I?"

Tessa laughed. "Yes, you do, and there’s no shame in that. What happened has happened. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"I miss him."

Tessa turned toward her, one hand still resting on her own cart. "Then tell him."

Naomi looked horrified by the suggestion. "It’s too... relationshippy."

"You are in a relationship."

"Not the normal kind!" Naomi whined, lowered her voice and moved closer to Tessa. "There are contracts involved." She groaned and resumed pushing the cart.

Tessa followed. "You are thinking about this too much, Naomi. Why? Why are you overanalyzing this?"

"I don’t..." Naomi picked up a bag of pasta, stared at it without really seeing it and put it into the cart. "He’s... I’m just afraid. We are going to walk away from each other eventually, and this is not..." She couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Not supposed to feel this good?

"Nao..." Tessa stepped closer and grabbed both her arms, forcing Naomi to look at her. "Enjoy it. Okay?"