"You've awakened me." Thomas lets his breath escape, touches his lips to Burr's temple in a gesture too tender for this. "I wanted to be intimate again, I--" He stops himself. "I thought of you, quite a bit," he says, instead. "Absurd, and I'm sure you hear that entirely too often."

He would do well to keep his heart out of the mix, here.

"I am under no illusions," he adds. That this is anything more than a job, no matter how genuine Aaron seems in intimate moments. "But if this event goes well, I would like to discuss an ongoing arrangement."