by Pandora Pine
“No, I meant alpha reader. I want to be the first person to tell you how amazing the book is.” Noble grinned, pressing an icy kiss to Landon’s lips.
“Your confidence in me is amazing.” Landon couldn’t believe it. No one had ever had this much faith in him before.
“I meant to tell you that I finished Killer Cure the other night. With Dad here and things being so crazy with the snow and Charlie, telling you slipped my mind.” Noble kissed him again. “It was fantastic! I never saw that twist at the end coming, that the doctor was the killer. The writing was brilliant. I can’t believe my lover is a brilliant, gorgeous, sexy writer.” Noble waggled his eyebrows at Landon.
Landon blinked a few times, not quite able to believe what Noble had just said to him. “You really mean it?”
Noble made an “X” over his heart. “Cross my heart, Wordsmith. You’re incredible.”
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Landon blurted out, taking a step back from Noble.
“What is it? You’re scaring me a little.” Noble closed the gap Landon put between them, reaching to cup Landon’s face in his gloves. “Are you still upset about the way I acted last night? If it makes you feel better, you can push me down in the snow.”
Landon chuckled. “No, it’s not about last night.” He took a deep breath, knowing now was the time to tell Noble about his secret. “You gave me permission to stay here until I finished the first hundred pages of Killer Instinct. In all the hubbub with your father being here and us becoming lovers and Charlie getting sick, I didn’t get a chance to tell you that I did it. I wrote the first hundred pages.”
“Landon, that’s incredible!” Noble hugged him, lifting Landon off the ground and swinging him around. “I’m so proud of you.”
Landon’s face crumpled. Noble being proud of him was nice, but he hadn’t said a word about wanting him to stay on to finish writing the book or because Noble wanted him to stay.
“What is it? Why do you look like you just lost your best friend?” Noble’s blue eyes wore a worried look.
“You invited me to stay at Sand Dollar Shoal until I finished the first hundred pages.” Landon rested his head on the cold lapel of Noble’s parka. “I didn’t want to tell you I’d finished because I was afraid you’d ask me to leave.”
“Ah.” Noble wrapped his arms around Landon, holding him close. “I told you a few days ago that I wanted to explore this thing we’re building together. Have you changed your mind about wanting that too?”
Landon shook his head no. He didn’t want to look up and see the disappointed look in Noble’s gorgeous eyes.
“I haven’t changed my mind either.” Noble pushed back from Landon, lifting the other man’s chin so they were eye to eye.
Landon nodded.
“How can we keep getting to know each other if you’re two and a half hours away up in Plum Island?” Noble snorted, pressing a kiss to Landon’s forehead. “Half the time I don’t like being more than ten feet away from you. I sure as hell don’t want you a hundred and thirty miles away from me.”
“I don’t want to be away from you either,” Landon admitted shyly.
“Thank Christ we agree on that.”
“I guess I can call Frank now and let him know I hit his goal, then send him my pages.”
“Hold on a minute there, Wordsmith. Since you still have a few days, what would you say to me reading what you have so far?”
What could he say to that? No one had ever read his stuff prior to his agent and then publisher. “Do you know what the worst part of the writing process is?”
Noble grinned, wrapping an arm around Landon’s back, steering him toward the hotel. “Writer’s block? Writer’s diarrhea?”
“Writer’s diarrhea?” Landon burst out laughing. “What the hell is that?”
“Well if writer’s block is like constipation then diarrhea is when you’ve got too many words coming out all at once. When you write like that, the sound reminds me of machine gun fire in old war movies.”
Landon rolled his eyes. “I’ll never be able to un-hear you explain that to me.”
Noble opened the French doors, laughing when Charlie zipped in ahead of them. “Tell me what the worst part of the writing process is.”
“Edits. Remember back in school when you’d get essays back marked up with angry red ink?”
Noble nodded. “I don’t remember it personally because all of my writing assignments were perfect, but I do remember Pres would get his papers back like that. Sometimes it looked like there was more red ink on the page than the black ink words.”
“Right, well that’s what it’s like to get a book returned to you from the editors, only on a larger, more personal scale. Over time, with me at least, these characters become part of me. Part of my family.” Landon was ashamed to admit that he felt that way about his characters.
“I can see how that would happen. You’ve been walking around with Marcus Pike in your head for years now, right? It’s easy to see how he’d become a part of your life.”
Landon let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “I’m so glad you understand. When I got Killer Cure back from the editors, I was devastated. There was so much wrong with the book, according to them. At times, seeing all of the marks and comments, it was hard to believe there was anything good in the book at all.”
Noble pulled off his parka and went for the zipper of Landon’s, before slipping the coat off his shoulders. “That must have been awful for you.”
“It was, but the point of this sad tale was that there were a lot of mistakes that I should have seen myself before I sent it off for review. Things like missed words, calling one character by another character’s name. Misusing ‘you’re and your.’ So I really would love it if you read my pages looking for those kinds of mistakes and other continuity issues.”
Working his left boot off, Noble studied Landon. “What do you mean by continuity issues?”
“Something like saying Marcus graduated from medical school in 1991in one paragraph and then saying in another that it was 1995. Or that he was wearing a red shirt at the beginning of a scene and at the end it’s now blue.”
Noble nodded. “Gotcha. I can do that. I was really good at English grammar back in school.” He wrapped his arms around Landon’s hips and pulled him close.
“Thank you for understanding and being there for me.”
Noble kissed him. At first it was a quick press of their lips together, but then Landon opened his mouth, rubbing his tongue against Noble’s. “My pleasure, Wordsmith.”
After the chaos of the last few days and Noble’s cold-shoulder act last night it felt so good to melt into his lover’s arms, their bodies pressed as close to as possible with them each wearing heavy winter sweaters. There was no place on earth Landon would rather be in this moment than wrapped up in Noble’s arms.
18
It was strange to be sitting at what Noble had come to think of as Landon’s desk. Landon had spent the last ten minutes showing him how to go through a fresh copy of the Killer Instinct manuscript to point out errors and suggestions.
Noble had never seen Landon looking so on edge since they’d met. Every time Noble had worked on a new house, he’d always gotten terrible butterflies and anxiety attacks as the day got closer to the owners seeing his work. He understood completely what Landon was going through by turning his “baby” over for his critique.
Once Noble was all set up to work, Landon had disappeared into the kitchen with Charlie and his Kindle. Noble was grateful for the quiet time with the manuscript. It was going to be hard enough to work on Landon’s book without the author peering over his shoulder.
His plan was to read each chapter first and then go back and take notes on it. Landon was especially worried about continuity issues and it would help Noble to keep the story’s details straight by writing important things down. His last step would be to go over each chapter with a critical editor’s eye.
Noble coul
d definitely see the appeal, in Landon’s eyes, of having him work on the book. This way, Landon would be able to get the critical feedback he needed, but from a place of friendship and kindness, rather than from some cold professional who didn’t know Landon and certainly didn’t love him.
Love him? Where the fuck had that come from? He wasn’t in love with Landon. Was he?
“Jesus Christ and all the ships at sea.” Noble stood up from the desk, pacing toward the kitchen before stopping himself. The last person he needed to face right now, in light of this stunning revelation, was Landon.
Love? Was it really possible?
When he’d lost Vincent, his whole world narrowed down to grief. He had lost interest in working or in spending time with his Dad or his friends. The only thing he’d been able to focus on was the huge hole in his life that Vincent’s absence created.
Their lives had been totally entwined. They lived together, worked together and socialized together. Where Noble was, Vincent was too. Without his husband, he had literally lost everything. Was he strong enough to build a new life with Landon?
Never mind being strong enough, did he want to build a life with Landon? Noble knew that the successful re-launch of Sand Dollar Shoal was literally in his hands. The grand opening was scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. He knew what was left of the next five months was going to zip by in a flash.
There was so much to do cosmetically and structurally to get the hotel ready to meet that deadline. Not to mention getting the staff houses ready to occupy by April when his friends would be on the Cape to stay.
The hotel property came with six guest houses located on the left side of the access road leading to the hotel. Each of these little cottages had a kitchen and living space along with two bedrooms and one bathroom. Griffin figured these houses would be perfect for the four of them to stay in during the hotel season. If the place really took off, Griff planned on using those cottages as additional guest rooms.
For now, they were going to go with being open from Memorial Day through Columbus Day in October. If the hotel was doing well and there was enough demand, Griff was willing to consider keeping the hotel open year-round.
The most important thing was getting the hotel ready for its debut. Did Noble have the time or energy to work more than full-time on the renovations and spend time with Landon too?
He sighed, raking his hands through his hair. From the kitchen, he could hear the clang of pots and pans. Smiling, he figured Landon was rustling something up for their dinner.
The good thing about Landon’s career was that it traveled. He wasn’t tied down to an office. As long as there was Wi-Fi, he could work from anywhere. So it wasn’t like Landon would be stuck on Plum Island working. He could just stay on here at the hotel. Hell, there were even two guest cottages that would be vacant. Maybe Landon could stay in one of them?
Noble knew instantly that wouldn’t work. He’d said earlier to Landon that he didn’t like being ten feet away from him. There was no way he’d like the two of them living in separate houses. But, on the other hand, was he really ready to live with another man?
All of the experiences he had with adult relationships came from his life with Vincent. Until the other night, Vincent had been his only lover. Until Landon’s first night at the hotel, Vincent had also been the only man Noble had ever lived with. It was sort of amazing to Noble that he and Landon had been living together since the day they met.
These lunatic ramblings in his head were of little use to him until he found out if Landon had the same kind of feelings he did. Hell, Noble didn’t even know if Landon wanted to be in a relationship. All he’d done so far was talk about being in one disastrous relationship and a string of one-night stands.
The best thing to do, for now, was to shut up about his growing feelings for Landon until he could figure out what the other man wanted. Noble knew Landon was interested in seeing where this friendship between them was going, but that didn’t mean he was looking for or was even ready for a relationship.
What Noble needed to focus on now was Landon’s book. There would be plenty of time later to figure out what the hell came next for the two of them.
XX
While Noble had been in the dining room reading Killer Instinct, Landon had been in the kitchen trying to figure out how to get the rotisserie attachment to work in the oven.
After a little time and a few errors, he managed to get the bird to spin. As it cooked, Landon worked on making homemade stuffing and fresh mashed potatoes. Lastly, he’d made the gravy from the chicken drippings.
“Well?” Landon crossed his fingers under the table as Noble lifted the first bite to his lips.
“Oh. My. God.” Noble’s face lit up like Christmas morning. “This is the best chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life. It’s so juicy.” Noble shoveled a bite of the potatoes into his mouth and moaned.
Grinning, Landon could feel a blush rising up his neck. He loved the way Noble raved over his cooking.
As much as he enjoyed making dinner, it had been a rocky afternoon for him knowing Noble was reading his book. Landon had tried losing himself in his favorite food websites trying to find the best rated recipes for stuffing and potatoes but every few minutes he’d jerk back to the present and wonder what Noble thought of the manuscript.
Landon looked up at Noble who had cleared half of his plate in just the few minutes they’d been sitting at the table. “Good?”
Laughing, Noble nodded. “It’s literally the best meal I’ve ever eaten in my life. If I were on death row, this would be my last meal.”
Landon laughed along with him. “Let’s hope it never comes to that, huh?”
“Speaking of good, do you know what else is good?”
“The potatoes and stuffing.” Landon rolled his eyes. “The next time I make this meal I’ll try making a homemade cranberry sauce and maybe my own rolls.”
Noble’s eyes snapped up to meet Landon’s as if he were shocked at the idea Landon would make this meal again. He shook his head. “Yes, those are good too, but what I was thinking of was Killer Instinct.”
Taking a deep breath, Landon studied Noble. His blue eyes were sparkling at him and his smile was as sincere as the look in his eyes. “You’re serious.”
“Of course I am. I love how you started the book off with a bang. The way that you brought the reader into the killer’s psycho mind right off the bat was a stroke of genius. Marcus Pike won’t know what he’s dealing with at first, but the reader will, which will make them care for him and worry over him. To be honest, I was bummed when I came to the end of what you wrote.”
“You got through it all?” Landon’s head was spinning. Not only had Noble loved it but he wanted more.
Noble nodded, taking another bite of the chicken after dunking it in his heap of mashed potatoes. “Actually, I went through it three times. Once to read it, the second time to take notes and the third time to add my suggested corrections.”
Landon loved that Noble had used the word “suggested.” Nothing pissed him off more than an editor who insisted that Landon do what they told him to do with his own words.
“I left my document up on the screen for you to go over later.” Noble grinned, finishing up the last bite of potatoes on his plate. “I’m gonna run into the kitchen and grab seconds. Can I bring you anything else?”
“No, thanks.” After what happened last night with Charlie, they’d both agreed to leave all the food in the kitchen and go back for seconds, rather than eating family-style.
Noble scooped up his plate and dropped a kiss against Landon’s head before slipping into the kitchen.
It took all of Landon’s will power to stay in his seat and not go running to the computer. He was dying to see Noble’s comments, but knew they’d keep for now. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but what Noble thought of his words was more important to him than anything else.
Until now, Landon never had anyone he could share his words with. Fans on
Facebook and Twitter constantly wrote to him asking if he needed beta readers or editing help. He knew these fans just wanted to be a part of his process, but Landon couldn’t help worrying that some could have a more nefarious idea in mind.
It wasn’t unheard of for so-called fans to steal a writer’s work and pass it off as their own. If that happened, how would Landon ever be able to prove that it was his book? His words?
He hadn’t been uneasy in the slightest here with Noble. He never locked his computer or even bothered to shut it down half the time. He hadn’t been worried that Noble had access to everything on his computer while he’d been working on his edits.
“So, I was thinking…” Noble came back through the kitchen door with his plate piled high with more food.
Landon burst out laughing as he eyed the enormous pile of food. “Is there any chicken left or is it just a carcass now?”
Noble laughed along with him. “The entire other breast is still intact, but I did take the other thigh and leg. Hope you don’t mind.”
Landon shook his head, finally calm enough to eat. The dark meat was his favorite, but he had plenty on his plate. “What were you thinking?”
Noble grinned around a mouthful of potatoes. “Since tomorrow is Saturday and you’re ahead of the game with your writing, what would you say to going on a date with me?”
A date? Noble was asking him out on a real date? “I…” Landon smiled brightly. He was gobsmacked.
“Don’t look so shocked, Wordsmith. We agreed to see where things were headed between us. What better way to find out than going on a date.” Noble waggled his eyebrows.
An actual date. No one had taken Landon out in years. Well that wasn’t actually accurate, some men had asked, but he’d always said no. “Yeah, I’d like that.” The butterflies in his stomach now were in full riot mode. If he’d thought he’d been nervous about Noble reading his words, he was downright terrified about going out on a date with him.
“You know, I’m no expert on dating, but when a man accepts a date from another man, he doesn’t usually look like that date is with the hangman.” Noble reached across the table to set his hand on Landon’s.