Prelude to Love

by Anne Barwell

  Hang on. Who owned the SUV parked outside? He read the side of it. Brendan Jarratt. Lawns and section clearing. No job too big or too small.

  The penny dropped. His lawns had been mowed. But he hadn’t made any specific arrangements for that to happen. Sure, he and Marcus had talked about it, although they hadn’t gone further than that.

  Joel opened his front door and dumped the crate on the table. He glanced out the window and froze.

  Marcus was mopping his face with his shirt, the muscles in his bare back flexing as he moved. Joel swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

  Oh God. He licked his lips. He’d thought Marcus was ripped, but actually seeing it in the… flesh….

  Joel felt himself grow hard, just as Marcus turned around.

  A slow blush spread across Marcus’s equally bare chest when he saw Joel. He pulled his T-shirt back over his head.

  Shit. Don’t do that!

  Nannerl rubbed herself around Joel’s legs and meowed loudly. “Don’t worry, kitty,” he said absently. “I’m not going to let him get away.”

  Joel froze, mortified at the words that had just come out of his mouth. What the hell had possessed him to say that? He barely knew Marcus, and definitely not well enough to…. Shit, Marcus hit all of Joel’s buttons with that physique, though. He’d always liked his men with a few muscles, although not overly so. Add to that the lovely tanned skin—how far down did that tan go?

  The loud rap on the back door made him jump. He sprinted to the door and opened it.

  Marcus met his gaze. He seemed embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said. “I kind of hoped to have finished before you got home.” He indicated the freshly mowed back lawn. “I know we didn’t discuss any details during that conversation the other day, but I figured as I had a free morning I’d get started. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Oh, right.” Joel pulled himself up sharply. “Of course I don’t mind.” He wished he’d got home earlier and been able to watch Marcus work. He shifted his gaze from Marcus’s abs to the empty water bottle in his hand. “Umm, thanks. Would you like me to refill your bottle? It’s hot… as today.” He fell back on the Kiwi tendency to use as when his brain refused to supply a suitable comparative word.

  “Yeah, thanks. I can wait outside.” Marcus indicated his boots. “I’m sure you don’t want me to traipse grass inside.”

  “It’s fine.” Joel turned toward the kitchen. “It’s just floorboards in this part of the house, and I haven’t washed the floors this weekend yet.” He heard footsteps behind him as Marcus followed him through the laundry into the kitchen. “Tap water or cold out of the fridge?”

  “Out of the fridge, thanks.”

  “There you go.” Joel refilled Marcus’s water bottle and handed it to him. Their fingers brushed, Marcus’s skin warm against his own. “Leave me the bill, and I’ll get it paid ASAP. Do you prefer cash or internet banking?”

  “The first time is on the house.” Marcus finished his water and turned the neck of the bottle this way and that. He looked as though he wanted to say something but couldn’t decide whether he should or not.

  “I won’t bite,” Joel said. “If there’s something else you want to say, I figure it’s better to say it, right?” God, had Marcus seen him ogling his muscles through the window? Surely he wouldn’t have an issue with it. After all, it wasn’t as though Joel had actually done anything. And Marcus was definitely gay. He’d had a boyfriend.

  Had. As in past tense.

  Joel poured himself a glass of water and drank it slowly while Marcus seemed to gather his thoughts. Not a guy who ran off at the mouth like Joel did, that was for sure.

  “I was worried about you last night,” Marcus said finally. “You seemed really upset, and I wanted to help.” He squeezed the bottle with one hand, leaving a dent in the plastic. Joel watched the bottle slowly expand into its proper shape. “I think it sucks that your dad has issues with you being gay. No one should go through that shit.”

  “Thanks.” Joel figured he should say something a little more intelligent, although he got the impression Marcus didn’t expect him to. “Your parents didn’t have an issue with it? You being gay, I mean.”

  “No.” Marcus smiled as though remembering. “The opposite really. They were very supportive and had already guessed, although they waited for me to get up the courage to tell them.”

  “That’s nice.” Joel let out a long breath. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound trite, but….”

  “It’s okay.” Marcus tilted his head to the side and studied Joel for a moment. “As I said, I was concerned, and if you ever need someone to talk to and all that…. I’m not much of a conversationalist, but I’ve been told I listen well.”

  “I think you’re a great conversationalist.”

  Thankfully at that point, Nannerl sat down in front of the fridge and provided a well-timed distraction.

  “I think your cat wants to be fed.”

  “She always wants to be fed.” Joel realized he was still holding his glass. He put it down on the counter next to the fridge. “Thanks again for mowing the lawns.”

  “No problem.” Marcus bent to pet Nannerl, who purred loudly. He smiled, his eyes crinkling up at the edges. The color reminded Joel of clouds on a stormy day just before it rained. “I’d better be going. You’ve probably got a lot of work to catch up on, especially with this concert to prepare for.”

  “Concert? Oh, yes. I guess I do.” Joel returned Marcus’s smile. “Thanks again for doing the lawns. They look great. Do you need a hand packing up?”

  “No, it’s fine. All part of the service.” Marcus headed for the door, then turned when he reached the doorframe. “Would you like me to keep doing them? It’s fine if you’d prefer I didn’t. As I said, I was just helping out today.”

  “Yes. Thanks. I mean yes, please. I’d love it if you keep doing them. I don’t have much time, and at least this way it’s only the garden that looks wild.” Joel remembered Marcus saying he gardened as well, but Joel wasn’t about to ask him to take on that too.

  “Okay. That’s settled, then. See you later.”

  “See you later.” Joel waited until Marcus left and then shut the door behind him.

  God, awkward much? Joel had gone between not saying much at all to babbling like an idiot, just like he’d done the first time they’d met. No wonder Marcus had timed his mowing when Joel was out.

  MARCUS busied himself packing up. He didn’t dare look back at the house. What must Joel think of his offer to listen to him talk about something very personal? Not only that, but he hadn’t charged for his work that morning. He never did the first mow for free and doubted Brendan did either. He’d pay for it out of his own pocket, and that way no one but Joel needed to know.

  As long as Mavis didn’t find out. Marcus noticed her quickly move away from her window as soon as he’d left the house. Probably wondering why he’d gone inside. Well, she could keep wondering.

  He’d seen Joel watching him earlier through the window too, but he wasn’t sure what to make of that. Joel had seemed embarrassed when he’d seen Marcus without his shirt, but that didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t going to mean anything.

  That smile Joel had given him in the kitchen still made Marcus feel warm inside. Garth’s smiles had always given the impression he was party to some joke Marcus didn’t know about. Joel had felt genuine, and his eyes had twinkled as his lips had curled up into an almost grin. It was obvious as hell his cat adored him, and cats were usually a good judge of character. Not only that, but Nannerl had taken a liking to Marcus too.

  He missed having a cat. Garth had kept theirs—it made more sense as they’d been living on the farm and it was her home.

  He sighed and hefted the mower onto the back of the SUV.

  Besides, Marcus wasn’t ready for another relationship just yet…. He had to find his feet in a new town, and with Joel being a close family friend, if things didn’t work out, it would get very awkward very quickly.
>
  But maybe what Joel needed right now was a friend. If that was the case, Marcus could be that for him, no problem. He smiled at the thought of getting to know Joel better. His mother had always said that making friends was important, and it never hurt to make new ones. Marcus hadn’t done much of that for a while. His life for a very long time had revolved around his work—and Garth.

  One turn of the ignition and the SUV roared to life. Marcus would have to do something about getting his own vehicle, especially as business expanded. Darin had several contacts and assured him that getting another at a decent price wouldn’t be an issue. One of the perks of having a mechanic in the family. Meanwhile Brendan had a spare mower and Weed eater as his son had helped out on occasion when things had been busy in the past, so borrowing them until they figured out how they were going to split the workload wasn’t an issue.

  Marcus planned to deliver the SUV back to Brendan and then get on with the rest of his weekend. Starting on Ella’s garden would take care of the rest of the day. He’d promised Isabel he’d take her into Oriental Bay on Sunday and they could walk along the beach after buying ice creams. She was looking forward to the train ride and had hinted at looking at some new exhibition at Te Papa too.

  He was already part of a family here. He didn’t need another relationship. No need to be lonely.

  But that didn’t mean he and Joel couldn’t become friends.

  IT took a while for Joel to register that the music he could hear wasn’t coming from his stereo. He picked up his phone and smiled at the familiar name on the screen. “Hi, Issy. What’s up?”

  “Hi, Uncle Joel.” Isabel sounded very cheerful, perhaps a little too much so. “Daddy said I could phone you after two because you’d need a break by then so you don’t work too hard. It’s one minute past two now. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

  “Of course it is.” Joel waited for the other shoe to drop. “Everything’s okay, isn’t it?”

  Isabel lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. “I’m in town, and we’re having ice creams. Do you want to come have ice cream with us?”

  Joel stretched. He’d been working since early that morning, and he had to admit he was getting tired of the sight of his laptop. He glanced at the pile of paperwork he still had to get through. It could wait until that evening, and he would probably get through it faster if he took a break now.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind me intruding?” Joel didn’t want to butt into quality father/daughter time. He knew how busy Darin was with work.

  “Of course not!” Isabel sounded positively gleeful. “We’re leaving Te Papa now, and we’re heading around to Oriental Bay. We could meet you by Freyberg Pool and walk the rest of the way to Kaffee Eis together. They have really yummy gelato ice creams.”

  “Okay, see you soon.” Joel saved the file he was working on and closed his laptop. He grabbed his wallet and headed out the door. Nannerl glanced at him from her favorite spot under one of the bushes by the front door, then went back to sleep again.

  He reached for a CD to listen to, then decided on the radio instead. Hearing the voices of the DJs gave the illusion of having company for the drive, and he was in the mood for some humorous banter. He’d chosen some music for the concert, but the only arrangements available for orchestra were too difficult for the kids to play. He’d have to simplify them, but not too much. His students would enjoy a challenge, but if it was too difficult, he’d scare them off.

  The traffic wasn’t too bad for a Sunday afternoon, and he was soon on the Esplanade heading toward the motorway and Wellington city. People sunbathed on the beach, and kids splashed in the water with their parents. One of these days, he’d find the time to go swimming in the sea again. He hadn’t done it in years, but the warm weather made the glistening water seem very inviting.

  A train rambled past him as he changed motorway lanes for Aotea Quay. Another ten minutes and a couple of red traffic lights later, and Joel approached Oriental Bay. Finding a car park took a bit longer than he’d expected, so he had a good five-minute walk to reach Freyberg Pool. He dug out his phone and sent Isabel a quick text with his ETA.

  Joel let out a contented sigh as he walked. This was exactly what he’d needed. A few minutes out in the sunlight and the feel of the cool sea breeze against his skin had washed away all the tension he’d felt earlier that afternoon. By the time he reached the yacht club a couple of hundred meters from the pool, he’d decided he needed to schedule some downtime into his weekend. Even if it was just a walk along the beach and sitting on the wall, watching children playing in the sand. He’d buried himself in his work for too long and forgotten what it meant to stop and smell the flowers, or in this case, the brisk scent of ocean on a summer’s day.

  He saw Isabel waving and sped up his pace. “Issy!” he called.

  The man standing with her, looking out at the ocean, turned in surprise as Joel approached. “Joel,” said Marcus. “What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?”

  Joel skidded to a halt. “Marcus? I didn’t know you were here with Darin and Isabel.” It was a nice surprise but odd that Isabel hadn’t mentioned it.

  “Darin?” Marcus frowned. “Darin’s at home with Ella. It’s just me and Isabel here.” He gave his niece a look. “This isn’t just a coincidence, is it?”

  “Why, Uncle Marcus,” Isabel said, “I don’t know what you mean. I never told Uncle Joel I was out with Daddy. If he made that assumption, it’s hardly my fault.”

  “Of course it’s not.” Joel began to smell a child-sized rat. “Sorry, Marcus,” he said. “She invited me here, but I thought it was to have ice cream with her and Darin.”

  Marcus gave Joel a repeat of the smile from the day before, and his voice suddenly softened. “Is it a problem that it’s with me instead?”

  Joel ignored the way his heart sped up in response. “No,” he said, his mouth suddenly too dry. “No, of course not. It’s perfect weather for an ice cream and a walk on the beach, and this break from work is just what I need.”

  “It’s beautiful here.” Marcus rolled his eyes as Isabel ran ahead to less-than-subtly give them some time alone. “Busy, but peaceful at the same time. Do you come here often?”

  “I used to, but it’s been a while.” Joel figured he’d better start walking to catch up with Isabel at the crossing. “Life’s been busy, and it’s not always easy to take some time out.”

  “I know that feeling.” Marcus brushed his shoulder against Joel’s and then awkwardly put more distance between them. “I’ve spent a lot of time working lately, and I keep forgetting to appreciate the world around me.” The wind tugged at his hair, and he brushed it back from his face in a subconscious, yet graceful gesture that made him look almost vulnerable for a moment.

  “I’ve been told it’s important to make time.” Joel shrugged. “Easier said than done, though.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that one too.” Marcus chuckled, and his eyes twinkled. He seemed more relaxed than Joel had seen him before. “It wouldn’t have been my sister who imparted those words of wisdom, would it?”

  “How did you guess?” Joel edged closer again, enjoying the easy conversation.

  On the beach to their left, a child giggled. Joel glanced over as the girl placed a pretty shell on the top of a huge sandcastle. She looked up at him and then said something to the older boy with her.

  Joel picked up his pace, recognizing them from school. He didn’t want work intruding into what was shaping up to be a perfect afternoon.

  If Marcus noticed Joel’s reaction, he didn’t show it. “I’ve been told there are loads of flavors to choose from,” he said as they caught up with Isabel. “What do you recommend?”

  “Huh?” Joel checked the road for traffic as they crossed.

  “What’s your favorite flavor ice cream?” Isabel said.

  “They might have new ones.” Joel sidestepped the question as his mind helpfully provided an image of Marcus licking an ice cream, his tongue curli
ng around the cold—he mentally corrected himself in an attempt to refocus—gelato. “Oh look, we’re here already.” He led the way into the shop and deliberately shoved the lovely Technicolor visual from his mind.

  The girl behind the counter smiled when they came in. “Good afternoon. What can I help you with today?”

  “I’ll have a strawberry cone, please.” Isabel ordered first. “Uncle Marcus?”

  Joel felt Marcus’s gaze on his back and moved over to let him peruse the flavors. There must have been at least two dozen to choose from, maybe more.

  “I’m still thinking.” Marcus took a step forward. He licked his lips, then swallowed hard.

  The action went straight to Joel’s groin. He cleared his throat. “Biscotti, please. I haven’t had it before, and it looks good.”

  “It’s one of my favorites,” the girl said. “Good choice.” She handed Isabel her cone and then began to fix Joel’s.

  “I’d like what you have—you’re having.” Marcus leaned in closer, peered into the cabinet, and then gave Joel a warm smile. “I agree. It does look good.”

  Chapter Five

  “SEE you on Friday at dinner, then,” Marcus said after Isabel’s lesson finished. He followed Isabel down Joel’s hallway but paused when he reached the front door and turned around as though he’d left something still unsaid.

  “Yes?” Joel asked after a few moments of awkward silence. He wrapped his fingers around the side of the door, although Marcus had his foot between it and the step to stop the open door slamming shut in the wind.

  “I… umm… I think you’re a really good teacher. I enjoy bringing Isabel to her lessons.” Marcus smiled, yet he seemed nervous. He leaned in closer and brushed his fingers across Joel’s.

  Time slowed. Joel felt his breath hitch, and he licked his lips. What would Marcus’s mouth feel like pressed up against his?