Ethan (Alluring Indulgence)

by Edwards, Nicole

  Chapter Four

  ♂♂

  Ethan forged his way into the building, heading straight to his office. He needed more coffee. Lots more.

  After grabbing the coffee carafe, he filled it with water from the small sink just outside the office door. Tossing coffee grounds into the paper filter, he got it all set up and then hit the brew button.

  Staring out into the shop, just the idea of all of the work waiting for him made Ethan cringe. As much as he detested Jared’s high-handed attitude, Ethan knew the man had a point. He really did need to hire someone to help him.

  Ethan thought back to Blake and the last time he’d come to the shop. The guy truly had done him a favor by quitting. The fact that their business relationship had been mixed with personal problems, Ethan knew it wasn’t going to last forever. Their relationship had run its course weeks before, and Ethan had actually felt a little more relaxed ever since Blake walked out. Not counting being left high and dry at work anyway. The jobs were piling up, and Ethan was tired, but that was due to the fact he had been working nonstop just to keep Jared off his back.

  Hadn’t helped, he realized.

  The phone on his desk rang, startling Ethan. The business phone never rang. Most people knew they could reach him on his cell phone. Day or night. Grabbing his cell phone from his pocket, he glanced down and realized the damn thing was dead.

  So that’s what he forgot to do last night. Charge his phone.

  “Walker Demo,” Ethan answered.

  “Hey, E. I need a favor.”

  Ethan recognized Zane’s voice right off. “What’s that?”

  “Beau needs a flatbed to come get his toolbox at Dillinger’s. They let him go, and he needs to get it out of there. I’ve got a meeting with Travis, which I’m late for, by the way. You think you could take the wrecker over there?”

  Just the mention of Beau’s name made Ethan’s heart slam against his ribs. Turning slowly, he took a deep breath. Wanting to avoid an argument, Ethan decided to make this easy on Zane. And himself. The lesser of two evils and all that. “Yeah. Let him know I’m on my way.”

  Ethan hung up the phone, grabbed a coffee mug and filled it before walking out to the shop to retrieve the wrecker keys from the locked box on the wall. He tried to hurry, not wanting to give himself too much time to think this through. What was the saying? No good deed goes unpunished? Yeah, that was it. Ethan got the feeling he was about to learn exactly what that meant.

  Once he was outside, the icy February wind sent a chill right through the lightweight shirt Ethan had on. Damn, he’d forgotten his jacket again too. Looking forward to the heater in the truck, he made quick work of locking the main door and then went around the side of the building to the wrecker.

  Managing to block the brunt of the wind by closing himself inside the wrecker, Ethan twisted the key over and flipped the heater on full blast. After scrubbing his hands together to warm them, he twisted to glance behind him as he backed the giant flatbed truck down the short gravel driveway.

  It wasn’t until Ethan hit the main road, about ten minutes from his destination, that he noticed a familiar truck in his rearview mirror. Fucking hell. What the hell was Blake doing following him? Ethan didn’t even ponder the answer to that question. Shit, half the time he didn’t know why Blake did anything he did. But, considering how possessive Blake had been lately, Ethan shouldn’t have been surprised.

  As he drove, Ethan recalled the last conversation he’d had with Blake two weeks ago, the morning Blake had quit:

  “You’re late,” Ethan muttered when Blake walked through the open bay door at seven. Just the day before, they had agreed on six being the starting time so they could cut out early in the afternoon. Apparently, Blake didn’t intend to work a full day. Not that he ever did.

  “Yup,” Blake offered enthusiastically. “Don’t deny it, you just missed me.”

  Ethan held his tongue, not wanting to let the nasty response slip out of his mouth. He wasn’t in the mood to argue. There was too much to do, not enough time, and the last thing he intended to do was spend the morning fighting with Blake.

  “What do you want me to work on this morning, boss man?” Blake called out as he headed into the office, probably looking for coffee. Too bad Ethan hadn’t made any yet that morning. The guy deserved it, considering Blake knew just how much Ethan hated being called that.

  Wait for it… wait for it…

  “Where’s the coffee, E?”

  There it was.

  Ethan didn’t respond. Wiping his hands on one of the shop towels he kept close by, he returned to what he was doing and went in search of the file for the truck that he was working on. The one Blake had taken on a little over a week ago and should’ve been long gone by now.

  “Why’re you working on that one? Thought you wanted me to do it?” Blake asked, moving in to stand close. Too close.

  “You’ve gotta show up to work for that to happen,” he mumbled, angry with himself for saying anything at all.

  “Cut me some slack, E,” Blake retorted, snatching the file out of Ethan’s hand.

  Ethan rounded on the man, coming face to face as Ethan looked down at Blake. “I’ve cut you enough slack. I’ve covered for you when you don’t show up, I’ve handled your responsibilities when you disappear for days. You don’t give a shit, do you? You’re just taking advantage of me because you know I can’t sit back and let it go,” Ethan disputed.

  “Me? Taking advantage of you? That’s rich, Ethan. If I recall correctly, you’re the one who keeps saying this thing between us isn’t a real relationship.”

  “Fuck, what the hell does that even have to do with it?” Ethan bit out, taking a step back. “This is work, Blake, not a fucking reunion. I don’t show up here to spend time with you in case you haven’t noticed.” Ethan turned away, took a deep breath. He wasn’t interested in having this conversation and he knew exactly where it was headed.

  “How about this?” Blake began, his laid-back tone laced with anger. “You admit what we’ve got here, and I’ll work when I come in.”

  “So nice of you to offer,” Ethan said, his temperature spiking from the anger erupting inside of him. “You fucking get paid to work here, Blake. You don’t own the goddamn place, so you’re expected to show up on time and do what you’re being paid to do.”

  “Oh, but you own this place, huh? Yet you’re the fucking saint who shows up every day and works. Never taking time for yourself. Oh, unless you’re fucking me, is that it? Perfect little angel, lets his brothers control it all and walk all over you.”

  “That’s not the way it works, and you fucking know it,” Ethan yelled.

  “You’re right, it’s not. Not anymore.” Blake turned and stalked off, but before Ethan could breathe a sigh of relief, he was back.

  “I want to take this to the next level,” Blake said firmly.

  Before this was over, Ethan was going to have whiplash. Was he talking about work again? Probably not.

  “And what’s that?” Ethan dared to ask.

  “You. Me. A couple. I want more, Ethan. I want you to pull your head out of your ass and admit that you’re fucking gay. No matter how much you hide, it won’t change it. And I’m tired of being your plaything.”

  So it would seem they had entirely different views of the situation and as much as Ethan wanted to stand back and take Blake’s bullshit, he couldn’t. Not today.

  “You think you know me?” Ethan barked. “You think I keep my head down because I don’t accept the fact that I’m gay? Well, you’re about as perceptive as a fucking rock, Blake. I keep my head down because I don’t want people in my business.”

  “Well, I’m tired of you hiding me.”

  Ethan laughed without mirth. “Hiding you? Is that what you think I’m doing? Care to explain what people see when you fucking follow me everywhere? Do you think they don’t know? Do you think they can’t figure it out? I’m not naïve enough to believe that, Blake. But I can tell yo
u this, we aren’t together. I thought you understood that going in. I’m not looking for anything more. And I don’t want to share my private life with anyone. At. All.”

  “Well, I want more,” Blake stated, his eyes narrowed to slits. “I fucking want more. And if you’re not gonna give it to me, I’ll just find it elsewhere.”

  “Fantastic idea,” Ethan said calmly, all of the anger draining out of him.

  For the months that he’d been seeing Blake, they’d had sex, but not once had Blake ever attempted to get to know him. He didn’t ask him questions, didn’t try to understand him. And despite Blake’s accusations, Ethan wasn’t interested in him for anything more because the connection wasn’t there.

  “I should,” Blake yelled, his temper igniting worse than Ethan had ever seen it. “You’re right. I’m done. Done playing with you. I’m done spending time in your fucking closet. You want me, prove it. Come out, Ethan. Admit to the world that you’re gay. That you’re proud of who you are.”

  Ethan couldn’t even come up with a response.

  “Stop being a fucking pussy, Ethan. Admit it to everyone, or we’re done.”

  “Looks like we’re done,” Ethan said softly, his hands balled into fists at his side. “Thanks for the good time,” Ethan added for good measure, immediately regretting the statement.

  “Good time? Is that what you thought it was? It was pathetic, Ethan. Fucking pathetic.”

  Ethan nodded, moving away from Blake. He knew what Blake was trying to do. He was pushing him, and Ethan’s thread on his anger was frayed. If he let him keep on, he’d snap, and that was the last thing either of them needed.

  “I’m done,” Blake repeated, sounding defeated. “I quit. As soon as you realize that I’m the best you’ll ever have, the only man who will tolerate your bullshit, you’ll be back.”

  Ethan sucked in a breath. He’d heard it all before. Blake was verbally abusive when he didn’t get his way, but Ethan had never considered them a couple, so he’d always been able to ignore it. Now… This… this was beyond anything he could’ve predicted.

  Ethan took a deep breath, forced himself to focus on the road. He was grateful he didn’t have to deal with that anymore.

  For the last two weeks, he had enjoyed not having someone up his ass about every move he made. That was only one of the things about Blake that irritated him. The man was possessive. Always wanting to know where he was going, who he was with, who he might run into. It had been suffocating.

  And now Blake was showing his true colors, following him like some creepy stalker. Ethan had no doubt that Blake was going to follow him all the way to Dillinger’s. There wasn’t anything he could do about it either. It wasn’t like Coyote Ridge was big enough that he could hide and since Dillinger Automotive was just off of Main Street, the flatbed would be a little noticeable.

  Turning on the radio, Ethan tried to ignore the black Ford now just a couple of car lengths behind him. When he braked at the four way stop just before downtown, he considered getting out of his truck and telling Blake to go home. He didn’t.

  If nothing else, he figured Blake was about to learn a lesson. He knew it wasn’t going to go well once Blake realized Ethan was going to help Beau out, but he couldn’t very well leave Beau stranded. After all, Ethan was doing Zane a favor. Not Beau.

  Maybe he’d be lucky and Blake would get pissed off and leave. He doubted it, but it was the only thing he could hope for at that point.

  Chapter Five

  ♂♂

  While he waited for Zane to arrive, Beau transferred the tools he had in his roll-around over to the main toolbox and proceeded to load his personal items into his own truck. He had just finished hefting the empty roll-around into the bed of his truck while Ralph and Ricky tracked his every move. The only thing left was his toolbox, which he had locked in order to keep Ricky out of his shit. Beau was grateful when he heard the sound of the flatbed’s diesel engine as it pulled into the parking lot.

  Considering he had told Zane what he needed, he wasn’t surprised to see the black F650 backing through the gate slowly, getting closer to the bay doors. Unlocking the wheels, Beau rolled the heavy toolbox as far as he could, desperately wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. As it was, he’d already had to stall for a solid fifteen minutes because, as usual, Zane was late.

  Offering a few hand signals for direction, Beau helped Zane back the truck in so that the bed would lower just outside the bay door. Once the truck was parked, Beau launched himself onto the bed in order to retrieve the winch cable.

  Less than a minute later, Beau hopped back down and took it upon himself to head over to the controls that would lower the bed to the ground. No reason to wait for Zane because he was ready to get the hell out of there. Listening to Ricky whine like a fucking girl for the last twenty minutes had made him want to stab something into his ears just to make the obnoxious sound go away.

  Beau wasn’t paying attention to anything around him, with the exception of the flatbed sliding back and dropping down so that he could get the toolbox winched up onto it. The minutes seemed to tick by slowly while he waited with Ricky’s beady eyes boring into him from across the shop. Once the bed was down, Beau stepped over to the storage compartment to retrieve the tie straps when Ethan came around from the side of the truck.

  Ethan. Not Zane.

  “Need help?”

  Beau stumbled forward, barely catching himself before he face-planted into the side of the truck. “Where’s Zane?” Wow, that was a stupid question, but at least he knew his voice worked.

  “He had to meet with Travis.”

  Figures.

  Not that Beau was complaining at all. The fact that Ethan was standing just a few feet away, looking hot as sin, wasn’t going to make the task of getting his tools loaded on the truck any easier, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was happy to see him, even if the circumstances weren’t what he would’ve hoped for.

  “Here, hand me that,” Ethan instructed, nodding toward the tie strap in Beau’s hand. “I’ll get it ready while you connect the winch.”

  Without hesitation, Beau handed the strap to Ethan and then moved around to the back of the truck. For the next few minutes, Ethan and Beau worked side by side, paying attention to nothing except getting their task completed. Once they had the toolbox on the bed, strapped down tight, Beau made his way back into the shop, grabbing the last of his things before returning to where Ethan was standing on the far side of the truck, double checking everything.

  “Hey!” Ricky exclaimed as he came out of the open bay door. “That ain’t Zane!”

  Captain Obvious, Ricky was today.

  Beau turned to look at Ricky, their eyes meeting across several feet of concrete.

  “That’s that fucking faggot,” Ricky said with a snarl, pointing toward Ethan, who was now making his way around to the front of the truck. “Hey Beau, did you get your girlfriend to come pick you up?”

  A blind rage began churning inside of Beau, a whirlwind of both anger and fear mixing together to form a storm so powerful, he wasn’t even sure what was happening. The next thing he knew, Beau had erased the gap between him and Ricky, lifted the scrawny little fucker right off of his feet, and was holding him at least a foot off the ground by his shirt.

  Someone was yelling at him. He could barely hear the voice over the roar of his own blood in his ears and the screeching noise that Ricky was making.

  “Put him down, Beau. Goddammit! Put. Him. Down!”

  The command was unmistakable. The voice reassuring as it continued to demand him to drop the son of a bitch. Releasing Ricky’s shirt, Beau watched as he dropped to his feet, and once he’d righted himself, a smug look on his ugly fucking face, Beau used all of his strength and shoved him. Shoved him so hard, Ricky flew back several feet, stumbling but unable to keep himself upright before he crashed into one of the diagnostic machines and landed flat on his ass.

  “Let’s go,” Ethan said rigidly,
wrapping his strong fingers around Beau’s bicep. When he didn’t move immediately, Ethan yanked on his arm, causing him to move his feet or fall on his ass. “I said let’s fucking go.”

  Beau turned to look at Ethan, noticing how calm he was on the outside, but he could see the rage swimming in his stormy blue eyes.

  “Get in your truck, Beau. I’ll follow you home.”

  “Yeah! You heard him. Go home with your girlfriend!” Ricky yelled from his perch on the floor, sounding like an adolescent bully. “Told you he was a queer, Ralph.”

  Before Beau could make Ricky eat his fucking words, Ethan had grabbed him again, forcing him back several more feet. As calm and unruffled as Ethan appeared, Beau was satisfied to see he was flipping Ricky off as he walked away.

  Unable to say a word, his body still a maelstrom of anger and outrage, Beau managed to nod his head and allowed Ethan to steer him toward his truck. Once inside the cab, it took him two tries to get the key in the ignition because his hands were shaking, but once he did, the sound of the radio blaring and the roar of the engine pulled him from the trance he’d been in. Glaring out the window, he saw Ralph helping Ricky to his feet.

  Beau had to wait for the wrecker to pull out before he could follow, and while he waited, he contemplated getting out of his truck and beating the shit out of the little bastard just because he could.

  A horn blared, startling Beau. He looked out the front windshield to see Ethan waving a hand in his direction. Stomping his foot on the gas, Beau let the truck’s oversized engine roar as he bolted out of the parking lot, the back wheels losing traction as he slid onto the main road before he easily got the truck back under control.

  Forcing himself to calm down, Beau let off the gas a little as he headed back down Main Street. His apartment wasn’t far from the shop, so it didn’t take long for him to get home and obviously Ethan didn’t have any issues keeping up with him.