As soon as he reached his office, Thorne closed and locked the door. Then he pulled out his phone—his personal one, the one very few people had the number to—and called Dash.

“Hello, Thorne.”

Fucking hell. Dash said two words to him, and he was already horny. “I want you to stay the whole weekend.”

Silence.

“Dash?”

“I… I can’t do that.”

“Do you have other clients?” Thorne didn’t like the thought of Dash going from him to another man, which was absurd. He’d never been possessive about other men he’d hired.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.” Dash’s tone was clipped, but Thorne didn’t care. He was determined to get what he wanted.

Maybe that’s why you can’t do relationships.

“Tell them you’re not available.”

“Thorrrrrne.” At least now Dash sounded more exasperated than angry.

“I’ll pay double.”

“That’s not the point.”

Dash made a sound like a growl. Rather than deterring Thorne, it turned him on.

“You’re a businessman; profit should be the point.”

“I can’t blow off my commitments. It’s not just clients.”

“Do you have a catering engagement? We can work around that.”

“Thorne, you cannot just call and demand my time. That’s not how this works. Other people may jump to do your bidding, but you didn’t hire me for that.”

“No.” He lowered his voice to the barest whisper. “I hired you to make me do your bidding.”

“Fuck, Thorne.” Dash’s voice had gone all husky.

“At least tell me you’ll think about it and call me back.”

Dash exhaled. “Fine.”

Thorne was reeling him in. He was sure of it. “I’ll relax. Watch movies with you. Let you cook for me.”

“Let me cook for you?”

“You said you enjoy it.”

Dash laughed, the sound rich and sensual. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”

“Think about it and think yes.”

“Go back to work, Thorne.”

Thorne ended the call. If Dash said no, he’d find some way to persuade him once he was at Thorne’s apartment.

RILEY STUFFED HIS phone back in his pocket, heart pounding. He’d stepped onto Susan’s porch to take Thorne’s call. Now he didn’t want to go back into the house. Thorne had rattled him, and Susan would see through him in a minute.