He chuckled. “What about the notes you were making in the kitchen when Tristan found you?”
Shoot. I forgot I told them about that. “They should be in my wallet, and he even made me take a picture of them so just in case I lose them I’ll still have the information.”
“He sounds smart.” Wade grinned as we headed toward the front of the house. “And like he really knows writers.”
I had to grin as I shrugged. “Yeah.”
I just hoped everything else about him turned out to be just as good as his organizational abilities, and I couldn’t help but be just a little curious about how those Type-A tendencies might impact his fantasy life.
Did control freaks have dirtier sex?
One could only hope.
Chapter 4
Tristan
I knew I should’ve called him the first time I knocked and there was no answer. By the third knock, I was starting to see that he needed a keeper, not just an assistant. He was lucky I was born to wrangle distracted artists.
Fourth time was the charm.
“What?” His boyish face looked even younger with his hair going in a thousand directions as he cocked his head, looking like he was trying to decide why I was there.
Refusing to give in and smile, I shoved the coffee he’d demanded in his direction. “We have a meeting.”
“Oh.” He blinked again, nodding.
“Do you even know what day it is?” I gave him a stern look as I ushered us both into the house so he would know I wasn’t kidding.
“Um, Wednesday?” He looked around the house like he was just seeing it. “Maybe.”
“It’s Tuesday.” Glancing around the entry, I took a stab and guessed the doorway with light coming through it was probably his office. “Let’s go sit down.”
He was distracted enough that he followed without question, drinking his coffee like it was oxygen. I’d seen that look before. “Why were you napping?”
I got another blank stare before he shook his head. “I was tired?”
Great, a smart-ass too.
“Once we lay down the ground rules, responses like that will just earn you a spanking.” His cheeks blushed faintly, but that was the only clue about what he was feeling. “Now would you like to answer my question again?”
He watched me for several seconds. “Yes.”
I raised one eyebrow.
He swallowed and blinked at me again. “Yes, Sir?”
Nodding, I sipped my coffee and walked over to the small couch that was tucked into a corner. As I sat down, I put my bag on the floor beside me and started to mentally make notes. “We have a lot to go over, but I want to get one thing clear right off the bat. You are paying me to be your assistant and to keep you organized. Anything remotely BDSM in nature is because that’s how we seem to relate to each other naturally. I am not being paid to spank you. Is that clear?”
The growing bulge in his sweats said at least the little head was getting enough circulation to answer. The big one was slower on the uptake.
His response made me smile. “Have I agreed to hire you?”
With anyone else I would’ve assumed they were being sarcastic, but he was sincerely confused. How much sleep had he been getting lately?
“No, but we’re going to negotiate my rate and responsibilities today and get that organized.” Looking around the cluttered room, I shook my head. “And I’m going to start today.”
That had Dakota looking around the room too, like he was just seeing the mess. “Oh, Jonah had some artist stuff to do and he couldn’t come in until later in the week. I’ll clean before he comes over.”
That made sense of some of the chaos.
“Jonah is your artist friend that comes in and helps with the traditionally published side of things?” I had to assume that he took care of a lot of the real-world things too because Dakota looked rough.
“Yes.” Dakota perked up. “He’s great at finding unique poisons.”
Interesting.
“And he seems to be great at keeping you on a schedule too.” I raised one eyebrow. “You haven’t answered my question. Why are you napping?”
A lazy day once in a while was good for anyone, but he’d remembered our meeting earlier because his response to my email had been to give me his coffee order. We were going to work on his communication skills as well as his organization.
He blinked several times before his brain seemed to reset. “I was