Brats in Training 3: Dangerous Dusty (2 page)

Chapter 2

Alexander Sheffield was mystified as he watched Dusty walk into his office. He winced a moment later when he heard a crash and something shattered on his office floor. When little pieces of blue glass slid across the floor into his line of vision, Alexander knew the delicate vase he had purchased in Hong Kong last year was probably in a thousand pieces.

“Um…” Dusty appeared in the doorway, twisting his lips together as he did everything he could to avoid Alexander’s eyes. “Was that vase very expensive? I get paid on Tuesday. I can replace it.”

The hell he could. Alexander closed his eyes and tried to take a controlled breath. There was no sense telling the sexy man that the vase he had just shattered all over the floor probably cost more than Dusty made in an entire year. The vase was already gone. It couldn’t be replaced.

“Don’t worry about it, Dusty,” Alexander said as he opened his eyes and pinned them on the bruised man. “It was just a vase. Now, go sit down like I told you to.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alexander felt like banging his head against a wall when Dusty paused and spun around, crashing into the doorframe like he had lost his balance. He knew from watching that Dusty hit his head no less than three times while trying to right himself.

“Dusty!”

Dusty’s head snapped up. “Yes, sir.”

“Go sit down.” Apparently, his order from before hadn’t been clear enough. “Now!”

“Yes, sir.” Dusty started to turn back toward the office but paused about halfway, glancing over his shoulder. “Um, sir?”

Alexander’s hands clenched. “Yes, Dusty?”

“Do you have a broom? There’s blue glass all over the floor and—”

Alexander held up his hand as he turned to look at his secretary. “Call maintenance. Have them send someone up right away to clean up the glass in my office.”

“Yes, Mr. Sheffield.”

Once Karen had picked up the phone and started dialing, Alexander grabbed the envelope that Dusty had delivered and started walking toward his office. He had no idea why he had demanded that Dusty go sit in his office except for the need to insure that the man wasn’t injured any more than he already was.

Alexander paused in the doorway to his office and took in the chaos that had taken over his organized life. Small pieces of blue glass littered the tile floor from one end of the office to the other. If that wasn’t enough, Dusty stood by Alexander’s desk trying to pick papers up off the floor and stack them back on the desk.

“Dusty, I said sit.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alexander’s mouth dropped open when Dusty simply dropped to the floor beside the desk. And damned if he didn’t hit his head on the hard mahogany wood as he did. This man needed a keeper.

Or a padded room.

Thank fuck the man still had a helmet on his head. Maybe he needed to keep it there permanently.

Alexander barely restrained himself from growling as he slammed his office door shut and stalked over to where Dusty was sitting on the floor. He simply held out his hand until Dusty picked up the rest of the papers he had knocked off the desk and handed them over.

Alexander stacked them on his desk and walked around to sit in his chair, leaving Dusty on the floor beside his desk. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin as he stared at the man.

Dusty was attractive enough, damned attractive. He had this whole reckless pixie thing going on. When Dusty reached up, unstrapped his helmet, and pulled it free, Alexander nearly swallowed his tongue. Long, thick, shiny chestnut hair fell to the man’s back in a glorious sweep. The dark hair framed the man’s face in such a way that Alexander ached to reach over and brush the strands back just so he could get a good look at his soft blue eyes, because they spoke volumes to Alexander.

Alexander wasn’t sure what to say to Dusty now that they were alone. He wasn’t even sure why he had demanded that they be alone other than the fact that Dusty intrigued him beyond anyone he could remember in recent history.

Doby Rathom and Brian Jenkins suddenly came to mind. They were the newly acquired submissives to two of his friends. Taylor McKinley, Doby’s Dom, and Jacob Lyndhurst, Brian’s Dom, had recently claimed their submissives, leaving Alexander and their friend, Michael Grafton, as the lone men out.

But maybe Alexander could change that.

Dusty and his clumsy ways presented a challenge to Alexander, and he excelled at challenges. Maybe this was what he needed to keep his life from being so boring he might as well be in a coma.

“Dusty?”

“Yes, sir?”

Alexander winced when Dusty’s head snapped up so fast that something must have popped. He heard it. “Are you okay?”

“Oh.” Dusty smiled, and it was a great smile, a real smile. “I’m fine, sir. Thank you for asking.”

“You’re very polite, aren’t you?”

Dusty’s eyes seemed to widen for a second. “Of course, sir. It’s rude not to be polite.”

Okaaay.

Alexander folded his hands together over his abdomen and stared down at Dusty. He wasn’t quite sure how to word what he wanted to say. He had no idea if the man was even gay, let alone interested in a D/s type of thing.

“Do you have accidents often, Dusty?”

“Oh, yes, sir.” Dusty grinned as if he found the whole topic incredibly amusing. “I can’t walk a block without tripping over something.”

Good god, how had this man survived?

“Do you have medical insurance?” Please tell me you have medical insurance, Alexander prayed silently.

“No, sir. I can’t afford to purchase it on my own, and Competent Couriers doesn’t supply it.”

Well, hell.

“Do you like being a bike messenger?”

Dusty shrugged. “It’s okay. I like meeting new people every day and riding my bike. But it does get a little cold in the wintertime. It’s not easy to ride a bike through the snow.”

Alexander gaped. “You ride your bike through the snow?” When Dusty nodded, Alexander once again wondered how the man had survived. “How old are you, Dusty?”

“Twenty-three, sir.”

Dusty had survived for twenty-three years? Maybe there were miracles in the world. But there had to be a limit, and Alexander was afraid that Dusty was coming to the end of his miracle quota.

“Dusty, I’d like to offer you a job as my personal assistant. It comes with medical insurance and, I am sure, quite the pay raise. But let me warn you, the hours are long. You’ll be expected to be at my side whenever I want you there, to see to all of my needs, and never be late for work.”

“A personal assistant, sir?” Dusty’s dark brown eyebrows drew together as he glanced away from Alexander. “I don’t know anything about being a personal assistant, sir. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be very good at the job.”

“I think you would be perfect for the job, Dusty, and I will train you in anything you don’t know. The most important thing to remember is to follow my orders immediately when I give them, no matter what I ask.”

“But, sir—”

Alexander held up his hand. He could see the argument coming, and he knew he would have a hard time convincing Dusty to take the position if he didn’t put his foot down. Alexander decided to take the decision out of Dusty’s hands all together.

He reached for his phone and dialed Karen. “Karen, bring me the employee paperwork for my personal assistant and cancel all other interviews. Dusty will be taking the position.”

“Dusty, Mr. Sheffield?” Karen sounded shocked.

“Yes, Dusty, now do as I asked.”

“You didn’t ask, sir,” Dusty tossed in. “You just told her what to do.”

Alexander narrowed his eyes at Dusty. “Karen, will you please bring me the employee paperwork for Dusty? Thank you.” He hung up the phone and returned his attention to the man.

Alexander wanted to grind his teeth at being reprimanded until he saw Dusty smile, and then he sucked in a lungful of air so swiftly he almost choked on it. Dusty by himself was cute. Dusty with a smile on his face was like walking through heaven.

Alexander remained seated when Karen walked into his office, new employee packet clutched to her breasts as she glanced around the office with wide eyes. She carefully crossed the room, tiptoeing around the broken glass as she reached out to hand the packet to Dusty.

Dusty jumped up, his helmet dropping to the floor…and then he tripped over it. Alexander jumped in his seat when Dusty lay sprawled out in front of Karen.

“Thanks,” Dusty groaned as he reached up and took the packet from Alexander’s secretary.

“That will be all, Karen.” Alexander was at a total loss of what else to say. Dusty lay there, with his hair fanned out all around his prone body, and then rolled to his side, pushing himself up with the packet in his hand.

“Should I fill these out here, sir?”

Alexander wasn’t sure if he should say yes or no. Would Dusty stab himself with the pen if left to fill the paperwork out at home? “Take a seat at the small table over there and fill them out.” It was better to err on the side of caution.

When Dusty began to walk across the room, Alexander winced. He was sure Dusty wouldn’t make it those ten steps without breaking, A, his neck, B something in Alexander’s office, or C, all of the above.

Alexander sighed.

He definitely had his work cut out for him.

“Do you have a pen, sir?” Dusty asked, and Alexander was quick to rise from his seat and give one to Dusty. Normally, he wouldn’t run to any sub, but hell if Alexander wasn’t afraid the small man wouldn’t kill himself before the day was over.

“Thank you, sir.” Dusty grabbed the pen and pulled the sheets of paper from the envelope and then frowned.

“Is there something the matter, Dusty?”

Dusty leafed through the papers, his eyes growing wide until he reached the end, and then he just began to shake his head.

“Dusty, I asked you a question.”

“Well, sir.” Dusty turned his head, his long silky hair flowing around his shoulders. Alexander damn near groaned at the sight, wanting to know how those strands would feel covering his body as Dusty rode his cock. “When I filled out my application for Competent Couriers, it was only one page, front and back. There are fifteen pages here. What do you need to know besides my social security number and previous employers?”