by Lane, Shawn;
Barnaby forced back a sigh and searched for something else to say. “How’s your soup?”
“It’s fine.” Nathan smiled.
“I guess you can’t do much to harm canned soup.”
“Unless you forget it’s on the stove and burn it dry,” Nathan said somewhat sheepishly. “Can I ask you another question?”
Tensing, Barnaby nodded.
“Where’d the name Barnaby come from?”
He laughed. That was easy. “My grandmother. She loved seventies television. One of her favorites was Barnaby Jones with Buddy Ebsen. Thus, the name.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope. I’m just lucky she didn’t name me Maude or Rhoda.”
Nathan chuckled. “Oh, Lord.”
He grinned. “Yeah, my grandma’s something else.” He noticed Nathan had pushed his bowl away. “Had enough?”
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks again.”
“Drink some water, too. You feel pukish?”
“Surprisingly no. I still feel weak, but I don’t think I have the fever anymore.”
Barnaby nodded, realizing this pretty much meant he should go home. He finished off his quesadilla and rose, grabbing Nathan’s soup bowl as well. “You want me to save the soup in a container for you to reheat if you get hungry later?”
“That would be very nice of you. There are some in that cabinet there.” Nathan pointed. He pushed away and stood up from the table. “Thank you for everything, Barnaby.”
“Anytime.”
Nathan cleared his throat. “I’m sure you want to go home and all. But, maybe, when I’m feeling a little better, I could take you to dinner.”
Barnaby blinked. “Dinner?”
“As a thank you,” Nathan said quickly.
“I’d like that.”
“Good. Um. Great. I should probably go rest.”
He swallowed, nodded. “Yeah. I’ll let myself out when I’m finished. As long as you think you’ll be okay.”
Nathan smiled. “Sure. Goodnight, Barnaby.”
“When?” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
“When what?”
He felt his cheeks warm. “When do you think we might go to dinner?”
“Oh. Soon.”
Barnaby bit his lip. It sounded way too vague for him, maybe like it wouldn’t really happen, but he couldn’t really demand a more definite answer. “Goodnight then.”
Chapter 4
Nathan tossed his pen on his desk and rubbed his eyes. If he had to look at one more motion that week he’d scream. Well…no. But he was damn sick of them.
He’d been back to work a week since his illness and hadn’t gotten up the nerve to schedule the dinner with Barnaby. He didn’t even know what possessed him to suggest dinner. The two of them had absolutely nothing in common. And Nathan was certain Barnaby would be too nice not to pretend he was having a good time.
Nathan had caught sight of the man a few times since he’d returned. Barnaby hadn’t gone back to the bleached blond spiky hair, but he was once more wearing makeup and earrings. He’d been glad. Barnaby was gorgeous no matter how he dressed or how he fixed his hair, but Nathan had to admit he preferred the more flamboyant look.
On the other hand, it reminded him how different they actually were. Someone like Barnaby would never be attracted to someone like him. Geeky, dull, and conservative versus cool, hot, and fun-loving.
Nathan shook his head and shut down his computer. Even though it was just a little after six and he often stayed way beyond that, he knew he was done for the day. He pushed his chair back, stood, and stretched.
As he grabbed his suit coat, he was already deciding on which fast food drive-through to go to tonight. The firm was mostly deserted. He knew from the closed door down the hall with light streaming from below that one of his fellow partners, Mark Stevens, was still there. Mark kept longer hours than any of them. He was the epitome of a workaholic.
His other partner, Travis, had been at a trial all day so had never come in, and most of the associate attorneys left by six every day. They’d never required the lawyers to keep long hours as many of the other firms had, unless there was an ongoing case that required it.
The three of them had met in law school and had bonded over all of them being gay. Though they’d never dated each other, they’d developed an easy friendship, and later, when they were all tired of the firms they worked at, they’d formed their own law practice. They did quite well and were able to limit the practice to mostly taking on cases they believed would be victorious. Keeping things small had worked out for them.
Turning toward the doors leading out of the office, Nathan was surprised to see Barnaby’s lithe body just ahead of him.
“Still here?” he spoke before he could stop himself.
Barnaby jumped a fraction and turned around. He smiled, but it was strained. “Oh, hi.”
“I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t,” Barnaby denied. “Well, goodnight.”
Nathan frowned. There was a sadness about Barnaby he was not used to and he definitely didn’t like. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure, I just…never mind.” Barnaby turned to grab the door handle.
“Wait, what?”
Barnaby faced him again and flattened himself against the closed door. The younger man wore skinny jeans, a T-shirt with the words Exercise Kills, and a plaid long sleeved shirt over that. His blue-gray eyes mesmerized Nathan and he knew he was staring, maybe even drooling.
“Well, it’s just that you asked me to dinner and then you didn’t. So now I don’t know what to think.”
“Oh.”
A little more sadness showed in those eyes and an almost profound disappointment. “Yeah, I get it. Have a great weekend.”
Nathan forced himself to speak before Barnaby went through the doors of the firm. “What about tonight?”
“Really?”
He figured someone like Barnaby probably had a different date every night or close to it. Barnaby was the kind of guy who would have ten guys interested the second he walked through the door of a gay bar.
“Too short notice, huh?” Part of him hoped it was, he was damn nervous. When Barnaby was over nursing him while he was sick he felt too bad to care very much, but now being alone in a romantic sort of way caused fluttering in his stomach.
“No, I think it sounds great,” Barnaby said. “But can I ask that we choose a place that has vegetarian choices?”
“Oh, definitely not a problem. In fact, why don’t you choose where you want to go?”
Barnaby nodded and went through the firm doors and outside. He hesitated just a second to admire the man’s firm round ass and then followed him out.
“You want me to follow you or you want me to just take you?”
Barnaby raised an eyebrow.
Feeling himself blush, Nathan quickly said, “To the restaurant.”
“I’ll ride with you. It’s easier that way.”
* * * *
Nathan thought it was a minor miracle he’d been able to calm his racing pulse on the drive to the casual chain restaurant Barnaby had chosen. Sitting next to him in the front seat, Barnaby smelled of cinnamon, cloves, and orange. It reminded him of his favorite tea.
The restaurant was open and cheery with a skylight in the ceiling and a large rectangular bar in the middle. It was crowded, but not enough to cause a wait and they were quickly seated by a bubbly hostess who openly gawked at Barnaby.
He was actually glad for the well-populated restaurant. He didn’t know if he was ready for a dark, cozy, candlelit setting.
“Nice choice.”
Barnaby flashed his blinding white smile. “I figured we both needed a place like this to put us at ease.”
It would never have occurred to him that Barnaby might be nervous. He had thought the perky man was unflappable.
“You didn’t go back to the bleached hair,” he blurted out.
The other man nodded. “I
would have but my stylist suggested waiting a bit to prevent too much damage. Are you sure you like me better this way?”
He swallowed. “Yes. Well, I mean, you definitely have the look to pull it off.”
Barnaby frowned, looking a little confused, and Nathan couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t known what the hell that meant either. He raised his menu to cover his face.
The waiter came by and Nathan ordered a chicken sandwich and Barnaby the spaghetti marinara. Both of them ordered iced tea.
Nathan realized as the waiter walked away just how bad he was at small talk. He didn’t have a clue what to say. Clearly I’m socially inept, he thought with self-disgust. He glanced to the table next to theirs. It was occupied by a woman and two children who were chatting away. Great, kids were better at conversation than he was.
“So, your grandmother named you? Your mom agreed to that?”
Barnaby nodded. “My grandmother raised my brother, Calvin, and me.”
Nathan vaguely remembered Barnaby’s brother coming to their firm once a few months ago to visit Barnaby, but he really didn’t remember much about Calvin. He smiled a little. “Calvin? She didn’t name him, too, did she?”
The other man laughed. “Nah. But growing up Calvin hated the name. He used to try to use other shorter names. For a while he was Cal and then Vin. In the end, he just went back to Calvin. I think he figured it was still better than Barnaby.”
“He’s older, isn’t he?”
“Yep, by seven years. He’s a doctor. Way smarter than me. We’re pretty much opposites.”
“Straight?”
“Nah, that’s one thing we do have in common.”
That did surprise him. “You and your brother are both gay?”
“I know, what are the odds, huh? I don’t know, it’s just the way we are.”
“How come you were raised by your grandmother?” He smiled as the waiter set their dinners in front of them.
“Well…my mom died right after giving birth to me.”
“Oh. Wow.”
Barnaby shrugged like maybe it was no big deal. “Yeah. I never even knew her. Calvin was seven so he did some, but I don’t think he remembers her much.”
He let the silence lapse for a moment, but then heard himself ask, “What about your father?”
The other man stiffened and looked away. Uh-oh. Apparently curiosity did kill the cat.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know when to shut up, obviously.”
Barnaby’s gaze returned to him, his expression bland and unreadable. “It’s all right. I just expected to get a few more dates in before we got around to this.”
More dates? Well, that was sort of promising. If he wanted more dates himself, of course. Nathan was definitely attracted to the younger man, but they didn’t have anything in common other than both working for the firm and even then they didn’t have similar jobs. Wasn’t it important to be compatible? His parents didn’t have anything in common but initial physical attraction, according to his mother, and they ended up in a bitter divorce.
Barnaby had stopped eating his spaghetti and folded his hands in front of him. “He’s in prison. For killing my mom.”
“Shit,” Nathan whispered.
Barnaby nodded. “I’ve never known him either and don’t want to. He got life without parole so I doubt I’ll ever have to worry about it, because neither of us has any desire to visit him.”
“God, I’m sorry.”
Now the younger man shook his head. “Don’t be. I know it sounds bad, it is bad, but I had a great childhood. My grandmother was the best. She never let us down for anything, she went to all our functions, supported us. We couldn’t have had a better life than with her raising us.”
Nathan smiled and found himself reaching across the booth to cover Barnaby’s clasped hands with one of his. “Sounds like she was terrific. Is she still around?”
“Oh, yeah. You would love her.”
“I’ll bet. Go on, eat. I’m sorry I brought up painful stuff.” He went back to eating his own food and was relieved when Barnaby dug into his spaghetti with renewed gusto.
After that they steered the conversation to more mundane things such as movies and current events. Nathan was pretty glad Barnaby didn’t ask him about his own family. It wasn’t that he had anything near as bad as what happened to Barnaby, but he figured they’d had enough serious topics for the night.
Later, he drove Barnaby back to the firm parking lot where his Volkswagen Beetle had been left. When he pulled up next to it, Barnaby lifted the handle of Nathan’s car door.
“I had a nice time. Thanks for dinner.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for coming to my rescue when I was sick.” He didn’t know if he should ask Barnaby out again or give him a kiss or…what. Lord, he was a big time clod. It wasn’t as though he’d never dated before. He had, although never with someone like Barnaby. Always with guys just like himself. Dull.
“What time are you picking me up tomorrow?”
Barnaby’s question cut through the haze of self-loathing descending over him. “What?”
The other man’s smile was bright and sunny in the barely lit car. “We’re going to the movies tomorrow night.” He wriggled forward a bit, stuck his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Got a pen?”
Nathan pointed to the glove compartment and watched as Barnaby extracted the pen and wrote something on a little piece of paper he’d taken from his wallet.
Barnaby returned the pen and then handed him the paper. “That’s my address. Pick me up at seven.”
Befuddled, he glanced down at the address. He was staring at it when the other man shot forward and plastered his mouth to Nathan’s in an all too brief kiss. He tingled all the way to his toes.
“Goodnight.” Barnaby bounced out of the car and shut the door.
Nathan waited, as anyone should, for Barnaby to get in and start his car, then he drove out of the parking lot and home to his empty house, looking forward to tomorrow in a way he hadn’t in a long time.
Chapter 5
“Hold on a second!” Barnaby yelled when the doorbell to his apartment rang for the second time. He recapped his lip gloss and spritzed hairspray over his hair and then hurried from his bedroom to the door.
He’d pretty much been trying to decide what to wear for his date with Nathan all day. He wanted to look good but be comfortable. Finally, Barnaby had settled on his skinny jeans, a green pullover sweater, and ankle boots. Maybe not GQ, but he didn’t think he’d be a candidate for What Not to Wear, either.
Barnaby opened the door with a ready smile. “Hey—what’s wrong?” Nathan frowned and kept looking back over his shoulder.
He pushed Barnaby slightly out of the way and stepped into the apartment. Nathan’s gaze barely flitted across Barnaby, which he had to admit he found annoying. All the time he’d taken with his hair and face and he barely registered?
“Do you know there’s a homeless person lying next to the stairs?”
“Oh, sure. He’s there a lot.”
Nathan stared at him. “And you don’t call someone?”
“Like who?”
“The cops.”
Barnaby laughed. “Why would I call the cops? He’s not doing anything but sleeping.”
Nathan folded his arms across his chest. He’d dressed in jeans and a blue button-down shirt. “He could try something anytime. You need to be careful, Barnaby. This is a terrible neighborhood.”
Barnaby didn’t roll his eyes, but it took a great deal of effort. Well, it was true, it wasn’t the greatest neighborhood, but it wasn’t populated with crazed killers either. Nathan was sounding just like Calvin.
“It’s not that bad,” he said defensively.
“It is. Travis doesn’t pay you enough to afford something better than this? Hell, I’m going to have to talk to him.”
Barnaby exhaled and counted to ten. “He pays me fine. Although now that I think of it, I am due for a raise. The trut
h is I am planning on getting a new place soon, but I’m saving up for the down payment.”
Nathan nodded. “Well, good. How long have you lived here?”
“About five years. When we first moved here, it was better. It’s only gotten this bad in the last year.”
Nathan frowned again. “We?”
“I had a roommate originally, but he bailed on me.”
“A…roommate?”
“Yeah, no sex, if that’s what you’re asking. He decided to go back to living with his parents and I’ve been living here by myself since. I got into a little bit of credit card debt, which is why it’s taking me a bit to find a new place. But I will.” He felt a bit like he was explaining himself to his older brother.
“Okay.” Nathan visibly relaxed. “Sorry. I guess I came on a little overbearing there. I was just a little startled when I got here.”
“No problem. But don’t sweat it. I can handle my own stuff, all right?” Barnaby definitely wasn’t some fair maiden who needed a knight to come to the rescue. And he damn well didn’t need another pain in the ass brother.
Nathan reddened a bit, but nodded. “Yeah.”
Barnaby smiled. “You look great. What about me?” He turned around, pausing just a moment to give Nathan an extra look at his ass.
“Fine. You look fine.”
Squelching his disappointment, Barnaby didn’t let his smile fade. “All right, I’m ready.” What was that line? He’s just not that into you? Barnaby wondered how long it would take him before he finally just realized that about Nathan and gave up.
* * * *
“That movie was so awesome,” Barnaby enthused as they came out of the theater at close to ten.
Nathan smiled. “It was pretty good.”
Barnaby realized the last thing he wanted was for the evening to end. He searched his brain for something they could do at night. Nathan didn’t really seem the bar type, though, he’d suggest that as a last resort. They’d eaten a large container of popcorn so he wasn’t sure suggesting going to an all-night diner would be best either.
And then it hit him. Perfect.
“Let’s go bowling,” he said just as they reached Nathan’s car.
The other man froze. “Pardon?”