Kept Man: Firsts and Forever Stories

I set aside the phone and asked, “What were you saying about having visitors cleared?”

“I have to submit the names of anyone who wants to come see me to my PO, so he can run a background check on them. That’s because I’m not allowed to associate with anyone who has a criminal record while on house arrest.” He sighed and muttered, “I hate having him up in my business like that.”

“I’ll pass a background check, just so you know. I’ve never been arrested.”

“That’s good.”

“Why don’t you tell him I’m your new personal assistant? We obviously wouldn’t admit I’m a prostitute anyway, since it’s not exactly legal,” I said. “But it’s none of his business whether we’re sleeping together, so you don’t have to pass me off as your boyfriend or anything like that.”

“I like that idea. I’ll message him later and tell him I’m planning to hire someone, then follow up in a day or two with your name.”

I picked up my phone and shot him a quick text before saying, “I just sent you my full name and address. I’m not sure what else you need.”

He came over and read my screen, then smiled at me and said, “Thanks, Jasper Gordon. I’m not sure what I need either since I haven’t tried to clear any visitors yet, but we’ll see what he says.”

As I stuck the phone in my pocket, I asked, “Does he really have the authority to put you in jail?”

“Absolutely, no questions asked.” He sighed and added, “I get that it’s all my fault, a classic case of you made your bed, now lie in it with this whole house arrest situation. But there’s no reason for Boseman to try to micromanage me the way he does. There’s not much point to his visits, either. I don’t have drug or alcohol testing as part of my sentence, and I’m not supposed to be holding down a job, or completing counseling, or whatever he checks on with the rest of his case load. So, he just sits there and glares at me, asks some irrelevant questions, makes notes, and leaves.”

“Yeah, I can see why you’d hate that.”

“I have to keep reminding myself it’s not forever. I only need to get through six more months, and now I have you to help me keep it together.” Micah pushed his hair back and said, “Anyway, enough of my pity party. Want to go back to the boxes? I’m curious to see what else drunk me decided to spend my money on.”

I climbed off the bed and said, “So am I.”

Once we got everything unpacked, Micah decided to run all his new sex toys through the dishwasher, because he thought they were probably “icky” from the factory. Sure, why not? Meanwhile, I carried all the boxes out to the side of the house and tried to cram them in the recycle bin. Then I joined him in the kitchen, and as I washed my hands, I asked, “So, when do I get to see this secret sex dungeon?”

He turned to me and grinned as he rested his hip against the counter. “It’s probably overstated to call it a dungeon, since I’m not into whips and chains. Also, it’s a work in progress, but I’d be happy to show you.”

I followed him up the back staircase to the master bedroom, and as he slid aside a panel beside the bathroom door, he explained, “This used to be a walk-in closet, so I wasn’t really trying to hide it away or anything. Then again, I like to keep my sex life private, so if my PO ever decided he had a reason to search my house, it’d be nice if he failed to discover this.”

I followed him into the windowless room, which had deep blue walls and a mural of a night sky with outlined constellations on the ceiling. Empty shelves lined the left side of the space, and there were three pieces of furniture—a sling suspended from the ceiling, a breeding bench, and a black leather sofa. All of them were so new that the bench was still wrapped in plastic, and there were hang tags on the couch and sling.

I asked, “Has this been one of your projects while in lockdown?”

“No, I had it built about three years ago.”

“So, you just lost interest in it?”

“Not exactly. I built it at the request of my boyfriend at the time. He broke up with me before it was finished, and neither of the men I got involved with after him were interested in it. They weren’t all that interested in me either, as far as that goes.” He sighed and muttered, “It’s no wonder I gave up on dating. The guy who cheated on me was just the latest in a long line of relationships that failed miserably.”