Lord of a Thousand Steps: An Age-gap, Sexy Babysitter, Single-dad MM Romance (Love in Laguna Book 4)

by Tara Lain

  He barely pushed the words out. “I thought you were my family.”

  “I know. But we were so young. You have such bright prospects. You can’t be building your life around someone else’s needs.”

  “Isn’t that what love is?”

  “Oh, Ian, I’m so sorry. Please try to understand. It’s important to me. This can be a whole new life and opportunity.”

  For who? He didn’t say it out loud. “So this is good-bye?”

  “No. No, of course not. We’ll talk, stay friends. I’ll always love you.”

  His heart leaped. The L word. “I love you too.”

  “I have to go. We’ll talk again soon.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bye, Ian.” He hung up.

  Ian stared at the phone.

  Ken spoke from behind him. “What did he say?”

  “He’s not coming back.”

  “Well, hell.”

  “He needs to take over his family business. They’re going to be incorporating architectural services.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  Ian looked back at Ken. “Do you know what’s involved in moving to Mexico?”

  Braden moved the parallel bar across the big sheet of paper and drew a straight line. Yes, he could design with CAD, but for his initial ideas, nothing beat the feel of a pencil and a stack of vellum to create variations.

  “Bray?”

  He peered over his shoulder. “Hi, Doug. What’s up?” Doug stood in his open office door, looking stern and uncertain.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Of course.” He turned from his drawing table back to his desk and faced Doug, who closed the door and sat in one of Braden’s guest chairs.

  Doug chewed on his lip. “I know you’re going through a lot, and I don’t want to make anything harder. I certainly don’t want to tell you how to live your life.”

  Which was exactly what Doug was about to do. Braden sighed quietly, crossed his arms, and leaned back. Yes, it was, according to psychologists, a “closed” posture, and that’s precisely how he felt. “Okay.”

  “I was just surprised to see Ian Carney at the fund-raiser last night. Especially sitting at our table.”

  “Yes, and? I didn’t invite him and I had nothing to do with the seating arrangements, so what was my role in this surprise of yours?”

  “Don’t get defensive, Bray.”

  “Why the hell not? Our client took a liking to the guy and insisted he come to the party. In fact, she’s further insisted that Ian be involved in the design of her building. Would you like to call her up and tell her she doesn’t get what she wants? Be my guest.”

  “What is the woman thinking?”

  “I’m not sure.” Although he had a clue. “Max thinks the kid has exceptional skill, and Audrey saw some inspiration in him. She’s big into education, so she wants Ian to learn in the best school he can have—designing a real building.”

  “I didn’t know any of that.”

  “Now you do.”

  “And the big hug and kissy face from Mireille?”

  “Like she said if you were listening, she met Ian on the beach with his cat. She fell in love with the animal.”

  “What the fuck was he doing on the beach with his cat?”

  “Also not my doing.”

  Doug sighed and leaned forward. “You had a lot of people talking at the fund-raiser, is all. Hack Twonbley asked me specifically who the guy was and if this was your new boyfriend.”

  “Hack Twonbley suits his name and should find more interesting things to talk about.” He turned halfway back to his drawing. “If we’re done here, I have buildings to design.”

  “I’m afraid we may lose clients, Bray.”

  Braden spun back to face Doug. “Because I’m gay?”

  “Kind of. I mean, when the head of a company is gay and out, clients can decide if they want to work with him. In this case, they kind of signed on under false pretenses.”

  Braden cocked his head, and the words slid out like oil. “Maybe you signed on under false pretenses too, Doug? Are you reconsidering our partnership?”

  “Hell no. Of course not.”

  “Then if clients leave because they don’t want to work with a gay architect, I expect to hear you say fuck ’em. They’ll get what and who they deserve.”

  “Of course. I just wanted you to know.”

  “So now I know.”

  “See you later.”

  “Yes.”

  Braden calmly watched Doug leave—but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

  Chapter Ten

  Ian stopped outside Braden’s office, carrying his laptop. The door stood open, as usual, and a bunch of people crowded around his conference table, but the meeting seemed to be breaking up, so he lingered.

  One of the women said, “We can’t have booze on the beach, right?”

  Braden nodded. “Correct. We’ll keep the alcohol at my house and on the deck. Down below, we can have soft drinks and snacks, because believe me, once people get down there, they won’t want to come back up very often. There are restrooms on the beach, so they can stay on the sand as long as they want. Especially people who bring their kids.”

  “This is going to be so much fun.”

  Braden smiled at the woman. His eyes flicked up and stopped on Ian. The grin broadened. “I hope so.”

  Ian smiled back.

  Everyone gathered their notebooks and the remnants of their lunches and started filing out of Braden’s office. Some of them nodded at Ian or said hi. A couple glanced back at Braden like they were trying to figure out what an intern was doing there. Mighty good question. Finally Braden waved him in. “Hi. Ready to be brilliant?”

  “Well, I’m always ready. Not so sure about the willing and able part.” He laughed, and Braden joined in.

  “Grab that rolling chair and come back to my design table.”

  Ian pulled up next to Braden at the big, flat expanse with the parallel bar on the front. He chuckled. “Seriously? How old did you say you are?”

  Braden gave him a grimace. “I know. I know. But I think better on paper.”

  “Show me what you got.”

  Braden started describing the light, airy structure surrounded by trees.

  It was great, but—“Just one problem. That site is lovely except for the far-off view of the freeway. It kind of spoils the illusion of nature and woods.”

  “True. If we orient it right, we can lessen the impact of that exposure.”

  Ian ran a hand across his mouth. “What if we did a courtyard?”

  “What?”

  Ian looked up and swallowed a sense of rightness. “What if the building turns totally inward? Kind of like—a womb, you know? We could do gardens and walkways for the employees, and it would be a controlled space.”

  Braden stared at him. “That’s—” Ian held his breath. “—brilliant.” He smiled. “Totally brilliant. I’ve been thinking of vast male vistas. This is a building for and about women. It needs to be intimate—”

  “As well as expansive.”

  Braden smiled. “Audrey sure as hell knew what she was doing. You just set the theme for this entire structure.” He gazed at Ian’s face searchingly. “Thank you.” All he had to do was lean forward and Ian could have kissed him. Dumb thing to think, but for a second—then Braden stretched out and gave him a one-armed guy hug. “You’re amazing.”

  Even minus the kiss, those words tasted pretty damned sweet. “Okay, let me start working in CAD while you continue with your cave drawings. We’ll see what we can come up with.”

  “Smartass.”

  Over the next hour, they laughed so much that Braden’s assistant walked over and closed the door. Still, they got a huge start on massing a building with a large central courtyard, part of which stood open to the sky. The other part was covered for a sheltered, warm environment. Using lots of glass walls, they gave virtually every person in the building a view of something g
reen and beautiful.

  Ian nodded. “It’s the Japanese idea that even an assembly-line worker will perform better if he or she gets to see flowers.”

  “Flowers. What if we decorate the walls and floors with flower mosaics? Ultramodern but colorful.”

  “Blooming.” Ian laughed. “I love it.”

  A tap on the door brought their heads up, and Braden’s assistant looked in. “Just a reminder that you have that planning meeting in ten minutes.”

  “Thanks, Gloria. I would have forgotten.”

  She smiled, and her eyes flicked to Ian. “You seemed engrossed.”

  “Yeah. We got a ton of work done.”

  “Glad to hear it.” She left, leaving the door open this time.

  Ian started saving his work and printing out a few of the roughs he’d created.

  Braden spoke from behind him. “Did you get to talk to, uh, your friend?”

  Ian swallowed. “Yes. It seems he’s going to stay in Mexico. He’s planning on helping run his father’s business.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. Although maybe it’s a good thing for him.”

  Ian turned and tried to look Braden in the eye. “Yes, I believe it is. His father’s a developer, and they’re going to set up some kind of architectural function in the business. Rico’s an architect too. That’s how we met.”

  “Oh. I see. You seem to be feeling better about it than you were last night. That’s good.” He smiled, crinkles popping out around those deep blue eyes.

  “Yes. I think this could be a good opportunity.” He parroted Rico’s words. Sucking in a deep breath, Ian spit it out. “That’s why I’m looking into going there and joining him.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, I’m thinking perhaps I can transfer my units to a design school in Mexico City. Then when I get my license, I’d be able to practice there.” Wow. How could his heart feel so light and so heavy at the same time?

  “I-I see.”

  “I’d wait until I graduate, but I have another whole year and that seems too long, so I’m trying to figure out how to make it all happen now.”

  “You’d work for a developer? In-house architect?” The crease between Braden’s eyebrows belied the calmness of his tone.

  “Well, I haven’t been asked, you understand. But yeah, that would be the idea.”

  “I don’t think you should do that.” His voice snapped.

  “W-why?”

  “In-house architects are bound by the restrictions and rules of their firm. You’re much too talented to waste yourself on a job like that. Mexico has some truly brilliant architects. They don’t need Americans telling them what to do. You’ll go there and bury yourself in some commercial hole! If your boyfriend loves you, he won’t let you do this to yourself.” His eyes snapped with blue fire and his fists clenched.

  “Whoa. Uh, thank you, I think.”

  Braden’s eyes widened. “Shit. I’m really sorry. It’s none of my business. Please excuse me.” He grabbed up a notepad and a pencil and stalked out of his office.

  Well, fuck. That went well.

  Ian scrolled through the available classes at UNAM. It seemed like a good university. Some really famous Mexican architects had gone there. Monday at school, he’d visit his counselor and figure out how hard it would be to transfer. His heart lurched and his belly tightened. Come on, it’ll be an adventure. When should he tell Rico? Maybe wait until he had a definite plan for transferring. Of course, now that his dad was better, maybe Rico could help facilitate things from Mexico. At least he could advise Ian on what kinds of visas he’d need to study at UNAM.

  “Hey, bro.” Jim leaned in the door to his bedroom.

  “Hey. Come on in.”

  Jim sat on the edge of Ian’s unmade bed and scratched Anderson’s belly. “Ken told me about this whole deal with Rico. So he asked you to pull up stakes and move there, huh?”

  “No. No, actually he said I shouldn’t do that, since it’s my last year and I could have a good job waiting for me.”

  “With Lord and Kendrick?”

  “Yeah.” He smiled. “I even got to collaborate today with Braden Lord on a building design. Man, dope. He really liked my ideas.”

  Jim looked up. “So why are you talking about moving to Mexico?”

  “Because he’s not coming back, Jim.” It came out exasperated. “Jesus, we’ve been together three years. That’s a huge chunk of my life. I can’t just shrug it off and walk away.”

  “Isn’t that what Rico’s doing?”

  “He doesn’t have any choice.”

  Anderson stretched out to full length and threw a paw over his eyes. Jim scratched his shiny tummy. “Remember back when I was dating Constance because I thought if I didn’t go out with her, she’d take away Billy’s jobs? Remember what I said when you told me I was crazy? I said I didn’t have a choice.”

  “And your point is?”

  “We all have choices, Ian. It’s a question of priorities.”

  He chewed his lip. “And my priority is to be with Rico.”

  “Even if you’re not his priority?”

  “In this case, I have more choices.”

  “Really? He’s got a job here, a place to live, a passport and work visa. You have none of those things.”

  “His father’s sick.”

  “And yours is crazy. So?”

  “Mexicans are family oriented.” Then I must not be family. He sucked air. Don’t think that.

  “You’re young, Ian. Not every relationship you have has to be forever.”

  “I know. But this is Rico.”

  “Okay, buddy.” Jim rose and wiped a big hand across Ian’s too-long hair. “What you want is what I want for you, so tell me how I can help, and I’m there.”

  “Thanks, Jim. I love you.”

  “Love you too.” He pointed at the recumbent Anderson. “What about your stupid cat?”

  Oh crap. “I guess he’ll be your stupid cat. And Ken’s.” He stared quickly at the screen so Jim couldn’t see the water in his eyes.

  Braden stared at the CAD drawings. Stop torturing yourself, you idiot.

  “Hey, Braden.” Max stood in his office doorway with a stack of files. “Ready to do the status meeting?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “What’s so fascinating? You look enrapt.” He grinned. “Can’t say I’ve ever used that word in a sentence.”

  Funny, he had a weird impulse to hide the drawings and keep them all to himself. “Preliminary design approaches for Audrey Romign’s building.”

  “No shit? Already? Can I see?”

  “Yeah.” He scooted back so Max could look at his screen.

  Max leaned down. And stared. “Holy merde, this is amazing. It’s a courtyard, right? Inward facing.”

  “Like a womb.”

  “It’s brilliant. You blow me away. I’ve never seen you do anything like it before.” He looked up at Braden and smiled. “How did you get it into CAD? You don’t usually take the time.”

  Braden released his breath. “You’ve never seen me do anything like it because it wasn’t my idea. Ian Carney came up with it. He put it in CAD.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. Your faith is completely justified.” His hands clenched the chair arms.

  “That’s great. Incredible.” Max clapped his hands together, and every beaming tooth made Braden’s frown deeper. “So why the hell do you look like I drowned your puppy? You’re not feeling protective of your turf, are you? I’m sure this concept is twice as good because you helped him develop it.”

  “Probably.”

  “Smile, for fuck’s sake. Audrey accidentally created this great collaboration. What a team!”

  “No team.”

  “What? She wants you to work together.”

  He swiped his hand across his face. “Well, the client doesn’t get what she wants, because little Ian has decided to throw his fucking career away working for some developer in Mexico so he can chase after his
boyfriend.”

  “You’re shitting me?”

  “I wish. Let’s go to the status meeting before we’re late.” Braden stood and pushed past Max toward the door.

  “We run the status meeting. They won’t start without us.”

  Braden stopped and just stared at the floor. Max stepped over to him and took his arm. “You’re really upset.”

  Braden frowned. “It’s a waste of talent.”

  “I agree, especially since I’m the one who planned on taking advantage of his talent. But you’re more upset than that.”

  Braden slowly released his breath. “I feel like the big architect in the sky gave me a partner—and then took him away.”

  Shit, I’m so nervous.

  Why? I’m calling the man I love. Stop being stupid.

  Ian sat on his bed and stared at the notes he’d made in his meeting with his counselor. Yes, she’d strongly suggested he wait out the year and finish where he was. He’d lose credits and have to go backward if he transferred, but bottom line, it could be done. Of course, right now Ken and Jim paid for anything he needed above and beyond his scholarship. He couldn’t expect them to keep doing that. Plus, he certainly wasn’t assured of a scholarship to UNAM. Especially since he wasn’t a citizen. He scratched his head.

  Why are you doing this?

  That’s what the counselor had asked. He’d worded his reply as carefully as he could. The person he loved had to live in Mexico. He wanted to join him. Of course, she’d said the obvious. If they loved each other, a year wouldn’t matter. Why throw over a great education and the completion of his degree when it was within grasp?

  Why? There was the question. Don’t you believe Rico will wait a year for you?

  Man, Braden had been so pissed. Fire in those blue eyes. Way to throw away the best opportunity of your life.

  He rested his head on his forearm. No. Rico was the best thing in his life. Right? Hadn’t he believed that for the best part of three years? Family. Rico was his family. Maybe he’d get to have a big extended Mexican family now?