“What’s her story?” I asked Katie as I stroked her velvety ears.
“Don’t know for sure,” she replied. “You know we take the animals without asking questions. It’s the only way to make sure they’re not just dropped off in the middle of nowhere and left to fend for themselves,” Katie said sadly. “She arrived earlier this week, and I’m afraid that it’s going to be hard to find her a forever home because she’s older than most of the dogs in our shelter. Most families are looking for cute puppies. She’s great with other pets though, especially the kitten Otis that you posed with earlier. They showed up on the same night and bonded quickly.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Do you want to see Sadie and Otis together?”
“Sure,” although I wasn’t sure why until Otis crawled on top of Sadie’s broad back and took a nap. Sadie’s expression changed from sad to content in an instant.
“Katie, I think I know where these two cuties can find a good home.”
“You do?” she asked hopefully.
I smiled down at the sleeping duo on my lap then looked at her. “I’ll take them.”
“Dr. Vaughn, that’s wonderful news! I just know you’re not going to regret it.”
“I think so too, Katie,” I said. “I need to pick up some things for them at Brook’s Pets after the shoot, but I can swing by and formally adopt them in a few hours.”
“And I thought I couldn’t possibly adore you any more than I already do,” Katie said. “Do you hear that, Sadie girl? You get to keep Otis.”
“That’s a wrap,” Scotty called out.
“What?” I asked. “We didn’t pose yet.”
“Sometimes the perfect pose happens naturally, and it’s dropped in your lap like a gift.” Scotty walked over and showed me a picture on his camera. “See what I mean?” In the photo, Otis had curled into a tight ball on Sadie’s back while Sadie looked up into my smiling face.
“Oh, that’s a great picture. I’d like to have a framed copy of that for my desk,” I told the photographer.
“I’ll email an edited version to you so you can have prints made,” Scotty said as he began packing up his equipment.
“That sounds great. Thank you.” I turned to Katie and said, “I’m really happy that I agreed to do the calendar. It was a lot of fun, and I found some new best friends.”
“Thank you so much, Dr. Vaughn. I know this calendar is going to be a big hit and I’m positive that Sadie and Otis will be amazing companions for you and your future family.” Katie clipped the leash back onto Sadie’s collar and scooped up Otis in her arms. “Come on, Sadie girl,” she said, tugging gently on the leash. Sadie didn’t budge from my lap. Instead, she made herself as heavy as she could against my leg.
I looked down into the face of the dog who stole my heart in seconds. “Okay, girl. You can come shopping with me at Brook’s. You can help me pick out stuff for your brother too.” I held out my hand for the leash, and Katie handed it to me.
“I’ll be by to get my cat as soon as we’re finished,” I told Katie.
“No problem. We’ll be waiting for you, won’t we, Otis?”
Meow.
“You want some help at the pet store?” Chaz asked.
I figured I could handle it on my own, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet. “I would appreciate that.”
Chaz followed Sadie and me to the store rather than leave his car at the lake. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to buy, so I bought a little of everything.
“You don’t think this six-foot cat jungle gym is a bit much for a tiny kitten?” Chaz asked as he looked at the display model at the store.
“He won’t be little for long,” I replied. “Besides, it’s a scratch post and a jungle gym.”
“You’re the expert,” Chaz told me.
He helped me load my purchases into the bed of my truck then knelt down in front of Sadie. “You’re one lucky girl,” he told her. “Did you see that big fluffy bed he bought you, Sadie girl? And the treats and the toys?” Sadie barked in response. “She’s smart and beautiful,” Chaz said, smiling up at me.
“Of course,” I said proudly. “Do you want to come over and hang out with us?”
The smile slid from Chaz’s face as he rose to his feet. “I wish I could, but I have plans tonight.”
“Oh,” I said, not bothering to hide the disappointment in my voice. A thought occurred to me, and I asked, “Do your plans involve Beefcake Andy?”
Chaz threw his head back and laughed like it was the craziest thing he’d ever heard. “Definitely not. They’re solo plans, but I can’t put them off any longer.”
“Oh, I’m sorry if I messed up your day when I called you.”
“You didn’t,” Chaz assured me. “I had a great day, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Thank you for coming,” I said softly.
“That’s what he said,” Chaz replied with a wink.
“Not yet,” I said to him as he walked away.
“Good one, Dr. D,” he said affectionately.
I looked down at Sadie who looked like she was smiling at Chaz. “Yeah, I like him too, girl. What do you say we go pick up your brother?” I held open the passenger door of my truck for her, and she jumped inside.
The day was nothing as I expected and far better than I could’ve imagined. I spent my Saturday night getting my new pets acclimated to their new environment while wondering what my next step should be with Chaz. I just hoped it involved the feel of his lips against mine once more. Then I realized that hoping and wishing wasn’t getting me what I wanted. I wanted him; he wanted me. It was time I stepped up my game and did something about it. I just needed to find the right moment—one where we weren’t surrounded by people or had a chance to get interrupted.
The next day we gathered at Josh and Gabe’s for our weekly family dinner. We mowed through the delicious food like normal, but we didn’t play cornhole afterward like usual. Instead, I brought up something that had been bothering me lately.
“I can’t believe that none of us planned a bachelor party for the two of you,” I said. “I feel like we failed you as friends.”
“It wasn’t something that we wanted. Was it?” Josh asked Gabe, sounding a little unsure. “Did you want a proper send-off?”
“Not really,” Gabe said with a shrug.
Josh narrowed his eyes speculatively and said, “I don’t think ‘not really’ is the same thing as saying no. Babe, if this is something you want to do then…”
“I don’t mind celebrating our upcoming marriage with our friends, but I don’t want to see a stripper grinding his ass against your dick. I. Do. Not. Share,” Gabe said vehemently.
“Who said anything about strippers?” I asked. “There are many ways we can celebrate.”
Everyone started tossing around ideas on how we could celebrate the pending nuptials as a group. We started suggesting ideas like golf, a trip to a day spa, dinner and theater, or a Reds game, but no one could agree on one event.
“Why does it have to be one or the other?” Kyle asked, sounding like the voice of reason. “Why can’t we start out with two separate outings then meet up later to celebrate as one large group?” No one said anything right away, so he continued. “One group plays golf in the morning then goes to a Reds game afterward. The other group does the day spa, dinner, and theater thing. All of us meet later at Vibe to dance and celebrate. We’ll stay at a hotel and use a cab or a car service, so we don’t have to worry about driving.”
Sexy, kind, and a genius. I wanted Kyle more and more every time he was near, but couldn’t bring myself to do something about it. I couldn’t give in to my feelings and the heat I saw burning in his brilliant eyes. I couldn’t answer the hunger clawing at my guts without him knowing the truth, or the guilt would eat me alive. Fear of losing what we’d started to build paralyzed me and kept my lips sealed when all I wanted to do was use them all over his luscious body.
The beautiful thing about being a creative person was how easily the images of us locked together sprung to my mind. I’d never seen his bare chest, but that didn’t stop me from imagining my hands gliding over his hard pecs while he kissed my neck or his large hands gripping my ass and pulling me tighter against him. I could almost hear the hungry growls he’d make when he would push me to my back and slide inside me. If I weren’t careful, something else would spring up. Kyle’s eyes darkened like he could read my dirty thoughts and he licked his lips like he was anticipating the moment too.
“That’s pure genius, Kyle,” Gabe said.
Kyle reluctantly looked away from me to reply to Gabe. “I think it’s a great compromise.”
I could see the grooms were skeptical that we could pull something off on short notice. The wedding was two weeks away, which meant we had to make plans for the following weekend. Everyone decided which outing they wanted to go on, then whipped out their phones and started making reservations and buying tickets.
“I guess we’re going to have a bachelors’ weekend then,” Josh said once the final plan was locked in place.
Once upon a time, us whipping out our phones and making plans for him would’ve made him crazy. I wouldn’t say his control freak tendencies disappeared when he fell in love with Gabe, but he did become more flexible in his habits. The Josh I grew up with needed reliable routines and ironclad control to keep balance in his life. The new Josh realized that the greatest things in life came to us out of the blue and didn’t include instructions or a clear path. It was hard, and often messy, but worth every second of it. Wait, am I still talking about life or has my mind wandered back to the gutter?
It was my turn to wink at Kyle when I caught him watching me. “I need to get home to Sadie and Otis. Walk me out?” Kyle asked.
Feeling everyone’s eyes on me as they waited for my response was unnerving, to say the least. It wasn’t like I could flat-out refuse Kyle without looking like a complete douche. “Sure.” I rose to my feet and gave a small wave to our audience. “See you all next week.”
“Night,” they all said in unison.
“I bet they’re all going to be looking out the window to see if you kiss me or something,” I said to Kyle once we walked out the front door.
Kyle stopped when we reached my car and faced me. “Is the ‘or something’ a viable option?”
“Um, I’m not much of an exhibitionist,” I replied.
Kyle backed me up flush against my car door and pressed his body against mine. He slid a hand up to cup the back of my head and placed the other against my neck. Kyle stroked his thumb over my pulse point and smiled when he felt my heartbeat racing under my skin. Could he also hear the way my heart pounded in my chest from his proximity and touch? “There are so many things I want to do to you, but I won’t until you trust me. I can see—and feel—how much you want me too but something holds you back. I’m a great listener, Chaz.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I already knew that Kyle was a great listener because of his late-night chat sessions with my alter ego. As Drew, I had shyly told him about my dreams of publishing books, and he encouraged me to follow my dreams. “You’ll never know unless you try.” Kyle was a big reason why I found the courage to hit the publish button. I wanted to make him proud of me; I wanted him to see me as a man worthy of him. Then I let things go past the point of no return, and I doubted a best-seller banner would help me once he found out that I lied to him.
“Kyle, I…” My words died in my throat.
“I can see you’re not ready yet,” he said in a tender voice he used on his patients. Kyle lowered his head until his lips hovered above mine. “I’m going to give you something to think about in the meantime.”
Kyle closed the distance and pressed his firm lips against mine and took his time learning the shape of my lips. Pleasure hummed through my veins and I needed more of him. I parted my lips invitingly and teased the tip of his tongue with mine before I sucked it into my mouth. Kyle let out a gutteral moan that let me know he was right there with me. Then he slid his tongue inside my mouth and masterfully took charge of the kiss. I slid my hands under the hem of his shirt and dug my fingers into the small of his back just like I would if he was fucking me. Kyle slowly twisted his tongue around mine, and it felt like he was making love to my mouth. My body burned with want and lust; it drove me to push my erection against his to seek the friction I desperately craved. I was happy to see he was as turned on as me.
Kyle broke our kiss and took a step back. “That ought to do it. Goodnight, Chaz.”
I stayed leaning against my car for support while I watched him leave because my legs felt like wet noodles and I was lightheaded from my blood rushing south of my belly button.
“Night,” I whispered a few minutes after he drove away.
That kiss was still on my mind the following week when we gathered in Cincinnati for the bachelor’s weekend. Kyle and I had talked on the phone almost every night that week, but I didn’t see him again until the group met down in the hotel lobby to set off for a day and night of fun.
“What room number?” he asked.
“Three thirteen,” I replied. “You?”
“Three fourteen.” A sexy grin spread slowly across his face. “Hey, neighbor.”
“Are you going to knock on my door and ask for sugar?” I asked. I swallowed hard when I realized how suggestive my question sounded.
“I just might,” he said playfully. Kyle opened his mouth to say something else, but Gabe’s partner on the Blissville Police Department spoke up.
“It’s time to move out if we’re going to make our first events on time,” Adrian said. Half of us were going to a day spa for pampering before our dinner and a show while the others had eighteen holes of golf before the Reds game.
“I’ll see you later tonight at Vibe,” Kyle told me.
“Meet you on the dance floor.”
“I don’t dance,” Kyle said vehemently.
“You will tonight, Dr. Dimples,” I said over my shoulder as I walked away.
The full body massage and hot stone treatment were exactly what I needed to unwind and forget my guilty conscience for a little while. I was mellow as hell by the time we headed to our dinner reservation and the red wine we drank with our meal loosened me up even more. After dinner, our driver took us to the Taft Theater where we enjoyed Kinky Boots. In fact, we sang and danced to the music along with almost everyone else in the audience.
I was still buzzing when we arrived at Vibe and decided to pass on the first round of drinks that arrived at our table. Mere and I donned our Best Man and Best Woman sashes and sat on either side of the groom. We laughed and reminisced about the old days, trading barbs and telling stories about one another. I had never seen my two best friends so happy as they were that night. They had both found wonderful men to love and were loved in return. Realizing that might not happen for me—or at least with the man I wanted—had me reaching for a drink when the second round appeared.
I quickly knocked back the fruity concoction and was thinking about stealing Josh’s when I felt his presence. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up, and goose bumps pebbled my skin. I looked away from my conversation with my friends and spotted Kyle in the crowd. He stood unmovingly and stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Lust like I had never experienced before charged the air around me and I expected to hear the sounds of electricity snapping and crackling.
Gabe said something to Kyle then patted him on the back, which seemed to snap Kyle out of his trance. I expected them to
sit down and have a drink with us, but they grabbed their significant others and hit the floor instead. Kyle sat beside me and looped his arm around the back of my chair. The heat I saw in his eyes and the liquid courage I’d consumed emboldened me to lean forward and press my lips to his.
“I missed you today,” I said. I wasn’t sure which one of us was more surprised by my confession. Then I realized just how true my words were and I wasn’t ashamed of them.
“I missed you too,” Kyle said with a voice thickened by emotion. He reached over and ran the back of his hand across my flushed cheek. “Did you enjoy your massage?”
“Mmmm,” I moaned then added, “It was pure magic.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes suspiciously and cocked his head to the side. “Just how much did you enjoy it?”
“What?”
“Nothing,” Kyle grumbled.
“Oh no,” I said, unwilling to let it slide. “What made you ask that?”
“A few of the guys were razzing each other about how their spouses were getting happy endings at the spa,” Kyle said. “I hadn’t thought about it too much until then, but I didn’t like the thought of someone putting their hands on your naked body.”
“I wasn’t naked,” I told him. Kyle’s scowl relaxed until I added, “I wore a sheet.”
“Not funny,” he groused. The look on his face was hilarious though.
“Dance with me, Dr. Dimples,” I said as I rose to my feet.
Kyle shook his head. “I already told you that Dr. Dimples doesn’t dance.”
“And I told you that he did tonight. Let’s get that hot ass on the dance floor.”
I didn’t stick around to see if he would listen. Instead, I let my swaying hips do the persuading for me as I moved to the rhythm of the music. And just like when he entered the club, I could feel his eyes on my body as I danced and it emboldened me more than any alcoholic beverage ever could. Maybe I was somewhat of an exhibitionist when it came to Kyle because I loved that he was watching me. I turned after several minutes, and our eyes met and locked across the expanse of the room. Oh Lord, his eyes held so much heat and promise that I expected to go up in flames at any moment.
Welcome to Blissville Page 100