Open Doors (Suncoast Society #27)(3)

“It is, sort of. We’ll hold two parties a month, for now. Nothing serious.” He made her look him in the eye. “Not a full-time job,” he assured her.

“Famous last words,” she muttered.

“The place has bathrooms, and no, it’s not pretty, but it’s functional. Hey, it means we don’t have to agonize over the guest lists anymore and leave people off. It also means no one’s home is in jeopardy, and it completely resolves the parking issues. It means we don’t need to try to find a hotel to start hosting these parties. And we can start inviting newbies to the parties without making them jump through as many hoops and go to a bunch of munches first.”

“What about the lease? Whose name is it going under?”

“Ed and Kaden will look into drawing up an LLC for me to put it in. And Kel’s the landlord. So it’s not like it’s going to be a problem with him. We’re going to call it something innocuous.”

“Thank god we own our own business,” she said. She wasn’t an accountant, but she managed the office for Derrick and the three CPAs and four accountants working under him. “I’d hate to think how the shit would hit the fan if you were still working for Dad and this got out.” She stared at him. “What if news of this does get out?”

He shrugged. “So?”

“You don’t think that could cause problems?”

“With who?”

“Anyone? Everyone? Our families?”

“There’s nothing to get out,” he said. “We aren’t going to allow alcohol, so there’s no risk of problems there. Kaden and Ed have a standard liability waiver for everyone to sign. And everyone will be over eighteen, obviously.”

“What if someone gets hurt?”

He laughed. “Isn’t that kind of the point?”

“The nonconsensual, unintended kind of hurt, doofus. The kind of hurt that could get the pants sued off of us and make the newspapers.”

“Liability insurance for space. It’s a rented space. It’s not like there are assets. Something happens, we simply close everything down. The only money we’ll keep in the bank account will be just enough for the insurance, rent, and utilities every month.”

“And we are not paying those out of our own pocket.”

“At first, we are, actually. We’ll ask people to donate. If someone doesn’t donate, they won’t get invited back. Easy-peasy.”

“Will Kaden and Ed pay our legal costs, or work for us pro bono, if we get sued?” she drawled.

“We’ll be fine. It’s just a playspace.”

“Uh-huh. Famous last words. You never do anything half-assed.”

He smiled. “No, I just like doing you bare-assed.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, earning him an eye roll and a groan.

“You’re damn lucky I’m not switchy. I should beat you for that comment.”

“Look, how long has everyone been saying we needed a space for the group to play in? Well, this is perfect. Tony can’t put his name on it, or he would have done it. Kaden and Ed need to watch their reps because they’re attorneys, so their names can’t be on it.”

“Why can’t Kel put his name on this?”

“He’s got enough on his plate as it is. He offered to be the front man for it, but that’s not fair to him to make him shoulder the entire burden like that. Hell, he owns the building. He’s got enough skin in the game. That’s too much additional liability for him. If they can show he knows what happens there, it opens him up. As the landlord, he’s limited.”

“Lucky him. What about Scrye, then?”

“June teaches kids’ gymnastics,” he said. “He can personally absorb a PR hit, but she can’t. And they’ve got two kids still in school. We don’t have any kids.”

“Wrong,” she said. “It looks like we do. Its name is…what the hell is its name, anyway?”

He shrugged. “We haven’t got that far yet. Doesn’t matter what we call the club itself, really.”

“Well, I suggest Venture.”

“Why?”

She poked him in the stomach. “Because it is a venture, dummy. Not exactly one I’d thought we’d be taking, but that’s exactly what it is. And it sounds innocuous. You call it ‘Club Spanking Asses’ or ‘Cock Torture Is Us,’ and it might draw unwanted attention.”

“Good point.” He pulled her close again. “Venture. I like that. The more I think about it, the more I like it.”

“Yeah? Then don’t ever accuse me of not helping or being supportive.”

He kissed her. “I wouldn’t do that, sweetheart.” He stared down at her. “Thank you. I know this is big.”

“Big is a massive understatement, Derrick. Are you sure we’re not biting off more than we can chew?”

“With everyone’s help and support, I believe it’s totally doable.”

“Don’t forget the 80/20 rule.”

“The what?”

“Eighty percent of the work is done by twenty percent of the people. We’re in that twenty percent. Our friends have lives of their own, you know.”

“We have a core group of friends who are all behind this. This means more of them will be able to attend and play. That means more people chipping in. I’m not looking to get rich with this, because honestly? We won’t. We’ll be lucky to make expenses after six months. But it’s worth it to take the burden off the shoulders of our friends. And we can have classes there. We can set up a permanent, safe, secure rope suspension rig. Think about it, about everything we can do that we’ve been wanting to do right here in our area.”