His eyes snapped to me. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just…” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I like him. I didn’t mean to get feelings, but I did and don’t think it’s perfect for me to continue because it could lead to me hurting in the end, and if I prevent that now, it would be better in the long run.” He started pacing. “Shit, I didn’t mean to get feelings and don’t know why I have. He’s never done anything indicating that he likes me, but I just like being around him. Even when he doesn’t talk so much.” He groaned. “Jesus, I’m fucking useless.”

“West,” I called. He stopped and faced me. “It’s fine. I’ll look into it. Besides, you’ve got your other regular customers to keep you going.” I glanced down at the roster Country must have left on my desk. “Are you okay to see him tonight?”

His eyes widened. “I don’t usually have him. We’re set for every second weekend, and that would be next weekend. Shit, what do I do? I can’t leave him in the lurch and not go, and then if I do go, I could end up rambling.” He growled at himself. “I’m not usually like this. He sends me into a ranting fool because he confuses me.” He leaned into the desk and whispered, “I don’t even think he’s really gay. Was there a mistake in the office end? Did he ask for a woman to start with and then I showed?”

“No mistake and, West, how about I see if I have someone else available for him tonight?”

He sighed and nodded. “It’s probably a good idea.”

“All right, I’ll call him and tell him of the change and see if he wants someone else. Take a break. Then you have your other client at eleven who wants arm candy at a club.”

“Thanks, Saint. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, West. Our employees come first, always.”

As soon as he was gone, I brought up Mr. Hail’s details. The details Death had found on him were that he was a businessman who owned a few casinos in Vegas. It was obvious he was a private person from the lack of details we had on him, and West had been our first employee assigned to him. Since I knew he’d respected the boundaries we had for West, meaning no sex in any form, I couldn’t find a fault in him.

Pressing in his number on the office phone, I waited for him to answer. I checked the time West and he usually caught up. Other than the first time, which was earlier, the rest had been set for late in the night—midnight, in fact. At least I had a couple of hours to find him someone else if he wanted.

“Da,” he answered in Russian. I only knew it was Russian from a show I’d seen.

“Mr. Hail, this is Saint, co-owner from Polished. Unfortunately, Ben is no longer available. Would you like to reschedule with someone else?”