by N. R. Walker
I didn’t get a chance to reply. Paula beat me to it. She hissed at him. “Max. Don’t be rude.”
Max rolled his eyes. “Don’t stress. Tom’s cool.”
I don’t know why it embarrassed me, but his acknowledgement made me blush. “Ah, bathroom through that door,” I said, pointing the way. “That’s mine and Cooper’s room,” I added, then regretted literally pointing to the bedroom I shared with their son. I cleared my throat, and led them back out to the living room. “Balcony out there.”
It was obvious they were a little impressed by the apartment—the place Cooper now called home. But it was still a little awkward.
Thankfully Cooper called soon after, and after chatting for a short while, invited us all to his office for some celebratory drinks. Paula and Andrew suggested they take a walk for a look at the city before we were due to leave, so the three of them left for an hour or so. And quite frankly, it was a much-needed reprieve.
The first meeting with his parents—on my own, no less—had gone quite well, I thought.
I called the office and spoke to Jennifer for a while. She said nothing was that urgent that couldn’t wait until Monday, that Robert was curious as to my absence, but apart from that, all was well.
I spent the rest of my time alone choosing something to wear that wasn’t too old or too young, wishing Cooper was there to just pick it for me. So I phoned him, and he roared with laughter. “Just pick something,” he said. “Be yourself. They will love you.”
“Cooper,” I whined, rather childishly.
“Your black jeans, white button-down shirt and my charcoal vest,” he rattled off quickly.
“Okay.”
“God, Tom, are you that easy?”
I sighed. “You know I am,” I said, and clicked off the call before he could answer.
But an hour later, dressed in the outfit he had suggested and with his family in tow, I walked through the lobby of Arlington for the second time in as many days. The receptionist nodded me through this time, and we walked down the hall to the large communal office room where the party was being held.
I was quite looking forward to it.
Until I saw Xavier Baurhenn with his arm around Cooper.
Fuck.
Chapter Nine
Cooper saw us as we walked in, and peeled himself away from under Xavier’s grasp as we approached. He hugged his parents first, bumped fists with his brother then slid his arm around my waist. “Thank you,” he whispered, leaning into me.
“Is he annoying you?” I didn’t have to say Xavier’s name.
“Hasn’t stopped yet,” he said, then turned to his parents who were watching us. “Let me show you around.”
Cooper took his parents and showed them around his office, the place where he spent so much time, and in particular the boards and scaled model of the project he just completed.
Which left me alone with Xavier. Thankfully before we could say more than a brief hello, Louisa saved me. “Tom!” she said, kissing me on the cheek. “So good to see you again.”
“Louisa,” I said. “Exciting times for Cooper.”
“Oh my God,” she said. “He deserves this. He’s really worked hard for this.” Then she included Xavier. “Xavier can attest to that. He’s gone above and beyond.”
The slimy bastard smiled at me. “Oh, he sure has,” he said, with innuendo dripping off every word. “Mr Elkin,” he said, sipping his champagne, “it’s good to see you again. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be with the man of the hour.” He looked over towards Cooper, then back at me as if daring me.
Xavier turned on his heel and walked over towards Cooper and his family, and Louisa handed me a glass of champagne. She put her glass to her mouth and mumbled, “He’s an arrogant prick.”
I hid my smile behind my drink. “Cooper can’t stand him.”
“Oh, I know,” Louisa said, still smiling behind her glass of champagne. We watched as Xavier introduced himself to Cooper’s parents and brother. “I think the reason Cooper pushed so hard to finish the job was to be rid of him. It’s a blessing and a curse that Cooper had a Baurhenn job as his first,” Louisa said. “Great on the portfolio, but putting up with Xavier is…” She seemed stuck for the right word.
“Trying?”
“I was going to say ‘skin-crawling’.”
I laughed. “Well, there’s that.”
We were interrupted by two people whom I’d met before. Skye and Tyson were happy for Cooper, and as much as they assured me it was his job and his alone, Cooper would assure me it was a team effort.
It was pretty obvious word had spread around the office that the ‘Tom’ Cooper had talked about was in fact Thomas Elkin. There wasn’t a huge number of people there, but they all eyed me and took turns at introducing themselves.
I kept a bit of an eye on Cooper as he mingled, and over the course of the evening, I saw first-hand just how much Xavier touched him. No wonder Cooper hated to be around him. And it seemed the more glasses of champagne Xavier had, the sleazier he got. Admittedly, it wasn’t just with Cooper, it was with anyone, but it still irked me.
I finally had a quiet moment, so I grabbed a soda for Max and saved him from dying of absolute boredom. “What’s with the douche-king?” Max asked, giving a pointed nod to Xavier.
I laughed. “He’s the grandson of a property developer millionaire who’s been given permission from his father to try his hand at real estate development.”
Max sipped his soda. “He’s a wanker.”
I laughed again, and Cooper sneaked up beside me and slipped his arm around my waist. “Oh my God,” he said. “This is a bit insane. I’ve just been lined up to do an interview for Architect magazine next month. Can you believe that?”
“I can,” I said.
“We were just talking about the douchebag,” Max said with another pointed glance at Xavier, who was talking rather loudly to a group of Cooper’s co-workers.
Cooper gritted his teeth. “Thank God today’s the last day. After tonight, I’m done with him.” Then Cooper looked at me. “You don’t seem to mind letting him put his grubby hands on me.”
“Mind?” I asked. “It’s disgusting.”
“Well, tell him to stop it,” Cooper said with a smile, like it was the most obvious thing to do.
I spoke to him through smiling lips and gritted teeth. “I didn’t want to make a scene in front of your colleagues.”
Cooper rolled his eyes, which silently said, That’s the lamest excuse ever.
“After tonight, you don’t have to see him again,” I said, trying to placate him, just as Paula and Andrew came up to us.
“It’s getting kind of late,” Paula said, obviously wanting to go home. “It’s been a long day.”
But then, like the slimeball he was, Xavier came over to us and put his arm around Cooper’s shoulders. “How about,” he said just to him, “we go out? This party is all but over, but the night is still young.”
Cooper’s eyes darted to mine, so I stepped in closer to Xavier, looked pointedly at his offending arm around Cooper and said, “The funny thing about architecture, Xavier, is that there’s a distinct rule on space. You don’t encroach on what’s not yours,” I said, still smiling but with fair warning in my tone. “There are boundaries. You should learn them.”
Xavier shrugged like he didn’t care, like the arrogant little fuck he was. “My school days are over. No one owns me,” he said, which I’m sure was a jab at Cooper. “I’m free to do what I want.”
“I’ll be sure to tell your father all about that,” I told him cheerfully. “I’m meeting with him on Wednesday. We’re discussing tenders for the Eccleston Apartment complex. I’m sure he’ll be very interested to hear it.”
A few shades paler, Xavier smiled, though it was more of a sneer. “Well, then,” he said. “I should be going. Pleasure to meet you all,” he said to Cooper’s parents. Then he turned to Cooper, but glanced at me first. He extended his hand, which Cooper sho
ok. “It’s been a pleasure. Hope we can continue this professional relationship in the future with new projects.”
It was a practised spiel, translucent as he was.
When Xavier had gone, Cooper shuddered. “Are you really meeting the Baurhenn group on Wednesday?”
“No,” I said with a smile. “But he doesn’t know that.”
Max laughed. “He was whistling a different tune after that, though.”
Cooper chuckled, but looked at his parents. “Come on, let’s go home.”
We said goodbye to Louisa and the others and when we stepped into the elevator, Paula sighed and said, “It just goes to show that all the money in the world can’t buy you class. That guy was a…”
Max finished for her. “A douche!”
Cooper smiled and leaned into me. “Yeah, the last few weeks have been…character-building.”
Cooper’s father looked at his son, and said, “Don’t know how you haven’t punched him.”
Then Paula looked at me and said, “I don’t know how you haven’t punched him!”
I laughed quietly. “If it wouldn’t have ended Cooper’s career, I probably would have.”
Cooper snorted and shook his head at me, disbelievingly. “No, you wouldn’t have. You’d find some other way to shame him, professionally, publicly, by proving what a dick he is. But not punching him.”
I conceded a nod. “Maybe.”
“The likes of Xavier Baurhenn will never amount to anything,” Cooper said confidently. “Not long term. I don’t care who his parents are, he has no integrity.”
I smiled at him and kissed the side of the head, not caring if his parents were right there, just as the elevator doors opened. As we walked through the lobby, Cooper took my hand and asked, “Have you guys had enough to eat? We could pick up a pizza if you want?”
And so began the friendly debate over New York pizza versus Chicago pizza, which lasted until the last slice was eaten and I bade Cooper and his family goodnight. I thought they could use some time to catch up. Cooper had missed them, and even though it was late, they sat around the living room talking long after I went to bed.
I woke up to the sound of banging on my door. I sat bolt upright, making Cooper, who had been half wrapped around me, startle awake. “Wuh?”
“Cooper, get your ass out of bed and make me pancakes!”
I sagged.
Max.
Cooper laughed sleepily and fell back on the bed with a groan. If Max was awake, it meant his parents were, and figuring I’d rather not venture out in front of them half naked in my sleepwear, I headed straight for the shower.
When I came out, appropriately dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, there was a wonderful smell of bacon and pancakes cooking, and Max and Cooper were arguing.
“Dude,” Max said, “you need to add the bacon to the batter.”
“No, you don’t,” Cooper argued. “You fry the bacon first then add the batter.”
“Mom!” Max called out. “Please tell him he’s doing it wrong.”
I walked in behind the kitchen counter and headed straight for the coffee machine. Cooper smiled at me, and said, “Tom, tell him how it’s done.”
“Well, I would say fry the bacon first,” I said.
Cooper grinned hugely at me, and Max groaned. “You have to say that. Mom!” Max called again. “They’re picking on me!”
Cooper launched himself at his brother, collecting him in a headlock and dragging him out through the living room to the veranda, where I’d presumed their parents were sitting enjoying the morning sun. But just as they got to the door, Paula walked through it. She looked at her two sons and sighed. “Cooper, leave your brother alone.” It sounded like it was something she’d said a thousand times.
Max spoke from the headlock he was still in. “Mom, do you cook bacon first, or in the pancake batter?”
Cooper looked at his mom and smiled, as though having his brother in a headlock was nothing out of the ordinary. “Tell him I’m right.”
“I always cook the bacon first,” she said.
Cooper raised his free arm and crowed in victory. But then Andrew called out, “I pour the batter over the bacon.”
Cooper dropped his arm, deflated, and Max sprang up and out of his headlock. “Ha! Told ya!”
Before Max barely had the words out, Cooper tackled him onto the sofa. Paula looked at me. I smiled, shrugged and turned the bacon. “Can I get you another coffee?” I asked her.
She smiled and walked over to the kitchen island bench. “I can get it,” she said. After she’d poured herself another cup, she leaned against the kitchen counter, holding the cup with her two hands. “Boys!” she chided. “Stop wrestling.”
Cooper got off his brother, ruffled his hair for good measure, then walked into the kitchen. He took the tongs out of my hands, snapped them at me then ordered Max to set the table.
“I was quite capable of turning bacon,” I said.
He grinned at me and bumped his hip into mine. “I have it all under control,” he said. “You just need to stand there, drinking coffee and looking handsome.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and Paula smiled behind her coffee cup. And the rest of breakfast went pretty much the same. We all sat around the dining table and listened as Cooper told stories of his time here in New York.
He was so excited and happy to have his family here, and I couldn’t help but smile at him as he chatted animatedly. And as they all got dressed and ready for their lunch and theatre show, Cooper and I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. Yes, it was cute to watch them wrestle and jibe at each other, but tidy cooks they weren’t. And as his parents and brother were getting ready, walking in and out of the open living area, every chance he got, Cooper would grope my ass or kiss me.
We finally got the mess cleaned up, and they all looked very well-dressed and ready to go. Paula offered one last chance for us to go with them. “Can’t, Mom,” Cooper told her. “I have the best dinner to cook. It’s gonna take a while. By the time you get back, it’ll all be done and we can sit down and you’ll tell us all about the show.”
Paula looked at me. “Are you really sure?”
“It’s fine, truly,” I told her.
“How come they have a choice?” Andrew asked. “I don’t mind staying and cooking, if it means I get out of going to this musical.”
Max gasped at his father. “You’d leave me to go alone? Nice. Real nice.”
“You’re both going,” Paula said, putting an end to that conversation.
Cooper laughed, and offered to walk them down to the lobby. “I want you to meet Lionel,” he said. “Then I need to come back up here and cook up a storm.”
When he’d done harassing poor Lionel, he walked back into the apartment. I was in the kitchen with most of the ingredients on the bench. “Okay, what do we need to do first?” I asked. “I thought we might start—”
Cooper spun me around and pressed me against the kitchen counter. “We need to fuck.”
My mouth fell open. “Such a romantic way to put it.”
He took my hand and led me to our bedroom. “There won’t be anything romantic about it,” he mumbled. “I can’t wait any longer. I thought they’d never leave.”
I laughed, but then he turned and kissed me, hard. He was so damn eager. And hard.
I kissed him back, running my fingers through his hair while he slipped his tongue into my mouth. He walked us backwards to the bed, but before I could push him onto it, he turned around and leaned over the mattress. Quickly undoing the button on his cargos, he slid them over his hips, exposing his bare ass to me.
“Cooper,” I whispered gruffly.
“Just do it, Tom,” he said. “I really need you.”
I reached over to the bedside table and pulled out one foil packet and the small bottle of lubricant. I undid my jeans and pulled my dick from my briefs, tore open the condom wrapper and rolled the latex barrier down my cock.
Only then did I notice C
ooper, rubbing his slicked fingers over his ass, inside his hole.
“Fuck.”
Cooper moaned. “Please. Tom, I’m ready. I just need you.”
I rubbed some lube over my cock, and with my jeans still around my ass, and Cooper’s cargos around his thighs, I pressed against him. As the head of my cock breached his hole, Cooper gripped the bedcover and moaned. And the further I slid into him, the louder he became.
I leaned over him. “You okay?”
“Don’t stop,” he bit out. Then he groaned again. “Fuck, Tom.”
Putting my hands near his shoulders, I leaned over him and kissed the back of his neck, and I rolled my hips into him, over and over. Cooper gripped my hands and my wrists and he lifted his ass for me. It didn’t take long for that familiar draw in my belly, in my balls, and I knew I was close to coming.
Then Cooper bucked his hips, like he was working my cock, and my body seized and my senses obliterated as I filled the condom. Cooper moaned deep and low as I came, and when I pulled out of him, I spun him around and leaned him back onto the bed.
I lifted his legs so his feet were on the edge of the bed and took his still-hard dick into my mouth. I slid two fingers into his ass, twisting them up, searching, feeling for his gland.
His reaction told me I’d found it.
He gripped the bedcovers in his fists and he threw his head back. “Fuck!” he growled out. “There!”
I sucked him, and fucked him with my fingers, and when his cock pulsed in my mouth, he shot cum down my throat. I pulled my fingers out of him, my mouth off him, licking as I went and he squirmed under my touch. I leaned over him and put my head on his chest.
His heart was hammering and he clumsily put his hand on my hair. “Fuck,” he murmured. “That was exactly what I needed.”
Bringing my face around, I looked up at him and smiled. “What we need now is a shower.”
Cooper squirmed again. “No round two?”
I grinned at him. “We have dinner to make.”
“We can order takeout.”
I barked out a laugh and taking his hand, pulled him off the bed. “No, we can’t. You’ve been planning this for a week.”