Everyone's Man – 25

 

"I don't… I mean you don't have to…" Colin was feeling totally thrown by Bill now. This was exactly the opposite of what he'd expected from him.

 

"Here." Bill tossed him a potato. "The peeler's in that drawer. Around here we all pitch in." He opened the freezer. "Corn, Brussels sprouts, or spinach?"

 

Colin shuddered as he found the peeler and stood at the sink dealing with the potato. "Not Brussels sprouts."

 

"I'm with you on that, but Marc likes them." He took out corn and set it to heating before getting the makings for a salad and the steak.

 

"You aren't eating?" Colin asked.

 

"I ate after Marc left since I wasn't sure when you'd surface. Can I ask you something?" When Colin nodded hesitantly Bill said, "How the hell did you end up whoring for a living?"

 

"Well, that was…blunt." Colin cracked a smile. "It just happened. I'm good at it and like I told Marc, I happen to like sex. Lots of it."

 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think whores—damn it, there has to be a less pejorative word for what you do."

 

Colin chuckled. "It's what I am, so why sugarcoat it? And you were going to ask 'do whores actually get off when they're servicing a client', I bet. Yeah, we do sometimes if that's what the client wants, if it isn't just hit-and-run, so to speak. We can't fake it like women can, you know." He looked at the potato. "What do I do with this now?"

 

Bill handed him the grater. "We'll turn it into hash browns so you don't have to wait an hour to eat. And getting back on subject, isn't there something safer you can do?"

 

"If I wanted to, probably. I'm sure I could wait tables or clerk in some shop, but that's not me." He handed Bill the plate of grated potato and was immediately told to make himself a salad. "Slave driver." He grumbled good-naturedly before getting to work on it.

 

Fifteen minutes later everything was ready and on the table. As Colin ate, Bill studied him again. "You could model," he said finally.

 

"Not now," Colin replied somewhat morosely, hunching his shoulders.

 

"True. Right now you have to concentrate on getting better," Bill said, deliberately misinterpreting Colin's words. "So stop talking and finish eating."

 

"Hey, you're the one who started the conversation," Colin muttered indignantly, but he was smiling a bit as he dug into the rest of his meal.