by Anne Barwell
Disappointment washed over him when Marcus shifted his hand higher up the door instead, glanced behind him at Isabel waiting in the SUV, and cleared his throat. “I guess I’d better get going.”
“I guess so, and thanks.” Joel almost asked Marcus what he was doing for dinner that night, but fortunately common sense reared its ugly head first. Ella would already have dinner ready, and her cooking was a much better option than takeout with him. “See you Friday, then.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Joel closed the door and leaned with his back against it after he heard Marcus walk away.
Shit. What had happened to his determination to keep clear of another relationship? Each time he saw Marcus, it became harder to ignore the urge to kiss him, especially when his cock hardened in anticipation as Marcus leaned in like he wanted the same thing.
And pulled away again.
They’d seen each several times since the ice cream outing at Oriental Bay five weeks ago. Marcus always brought Isabel for her lessons, and they’d chat awkwardly afterward while Isabel waited for her uncle. Last week Marcus had come straight from work, and Joel found himself very distracted by the shorts Marcus wore. Marcus had very sexy knees. Joel had always had a thing for knees—that and buttocks were the first things he looked at in a guy.
After his eyes of course. Joel firmly believed in the saying that eyes were the gateway to the soul. And he was very taken with Marcus’s eyes. At first the color had reminded him of clouds, but now it made him think of a coat he’d had as a child. He’d loved that coat, the warm gray offering comfort on a cold day.
Blast it. Yeah, Joel was well and truly smitten with Marcus.
At least he found it easier to hide his attraction during their regular Friday dinners with Darin and his family. Joel and Marcus both chatted easily with each other then, and Joel looked forward to their conversation. Marcus had a laid-back sense of humor and a stash of funny stories from his time working in Hokitika. His laugh was warm and deep. He didn’t talk much about himself, but when he had something to say, it was worth listening to.
Joel traded some of his stories about his music students, although he didn’t miss the blank looks from Marcus in response to some of the comments. Joel had quickly explained some of the musical jokes, and Marcus seemed to be slowly getting used to them. However, he still nodded politely in places, and Joel wasn’t entirely sure he really got why particular stories were funny.
Not only that, but Joel could have sworn this wasn’t the first evening Marcus had flirted with him. He’d brushed his hand against Joel’s at the dinner table and smiled like he had that day he’d first mowed Joel’s lawns. One day soon, Joel would get up the nerve to ask Marcus out for dinner, or at least organize a time they could meet without someone else around. He’d tried a couple of times, but either his or Marcus’s work schedules got in the way. Marcus always seemed to mow Joel’s lawns when he was out too.
Joel found himself disappointed when he arrived home to discover his lawns had been mowed. He’d berated himself the first couple of times and then figured out he felt irked that he’d missed watching Marcus at work. Okay, so Marcus might not take off his shirt every time he mowed the lawns, but a guy could dream, right?
Damn it. He was thinking too much.
Joel marched into the music room and pulled down a music book from the top of the piano. He flipped forward to the page he was looking for and started to play, the music soothing him as he lost himself in the melody. He’d finally found the piece he wanted to play for the concert, and—
He faltered when the front doorbell rang. Perhaps if he ignored the bell, whoever was pushing the button would go away. Most people would be having dinner by now, and Joel wasn’t in the mood for someone trying to sell him something.
The bell rang again.
“Bloody hell,” Joel muttered. He stalked out to the front door and opened it. “Isn’t it a—Marcus, what are you doing here?”
Marcus looked apologetic. “Sorry, Isabel forgot one of her music books, and she wants to practice tonight. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, it’s fine. Hang on and I’ll take a look.” Joel didn’t remember seeing anything left behind, but it never hurt to check. “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure, that way we can both look. The weather’s deteriorating out there. Nasty wind coming up, and the temperature’s dropped.”
“Yeah, it does that.” Joel walked back into the music room, knowing Marcus would follow. He glanced around, couldn’t see anything, and then checked on top of the piano and by the stool. “Nothing here. Are you sure she didn’t leave it in the car?”
“She seemed sure she’d left it here.” Marcus glanced at the book on the piano. “Is that what you were playing before?”
“Yeah. I didn’t realize you could hear it outside.” Joel lifted the cushions off the sofa, shifting Nannerl in the process. The cat gave him a glare. “Nothing here either.”
“You’ve left your front window open. Might want to shut that before it gets dark.” Marcus shook his head. “I’ll tell her the book isn’t here. Sorry to have troubled you.” He paused for a moment. “Whatever you were playing, I really liked what I could hear of it.”
“Thanks,” Joel mumbled. Thankfully he was rescued from having to say anything else by Marcus’s phone announcing the arrival of a text message.
Marcus fished it out of his jeans pocket and read the text aloud. “Sorry, found it.”
“Isabel?” Joel asked.
“Yeah.” Marcus bent to pet Nannerl. “Sorry to have bothered you. I’m sure you have stuff to do. I’ll get out of your way.”
“It’s no trouble, really.”
Ask him to stay for coffee, you idiot. This is your chance.
“Well, I’ll see you on Friday, then.” Marcus replied before Joel could say anything.
“Yeah. Friday. Sounds good.” Joel walked Marcus out to the door and watched him leave for the second time that evening.
God, could he have sounded any more pathetic? How difficult was it to ask someone to stay for coffee? He stalked into the room, shut the window, and drew the curtains, closing himself off from any distraction outside.
This time when he sat at the piano, he played scales. Up and down. Major. Minor. A third apart and then a fifth apart before moving on to arpeggios. The constant rhythm only served to fuel his frustration, and finally he slammed the lid down.
“I’m an idiot,” he told Nannerl. The cat looked at him and then jumped off the sofa and wandered out toward the front door. “Great. So even you don’t want to listen to me.”
Joel had only just reached the door to let her out when the doorbell rang again. He opened it, ready to give whoever the poor soul was on the other side a piece of his mind.
“Hi, Joel.” Marcus looked even more embarrassed than the last time he’d stood there. “My SUV won’t start. I’ve rung Darin, and he suggested I wait inside for him.”
“Sure, come in.” Joel opened the door wider. “You’re wet. I didn’t realize it had started raining.” Nannerl peered out the door before Joel closed it and then turned around and walked back into the living room.
“Yeah, about the same time I lifted the bonnet to see if I could figure out what was wrong with the SUV. It’s hosing down out there now.” Marcus shrugged off his wet coat, and Joel hung it up for him.
“I’ll make some coffee,” Joel offered. “Darin shouldn’t be too long. Must be wet if the cat doesn’t want to go out.”
Marcus chuckled. “Yeah, it’s raining cats and dogs out there. Thanks for the offer of the coffee. Sounds good.” He followed Joel into the kitchen.
Joel put the kettle on to boil. “So…,” he said, suspicion starting to form in his mind. “The SUV you bought a couple of weeks ago, which has been running fine, decides to suddenly not start tonight. And this is after you came back for music that Isabel didn’t really leave behind?”
“Yeah.” Marcus perch
ed himself on one of the barstools and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Probably a coincidence, though. The SUV not starting, I mean.” His phone rang again. “It’s Darin,” he told Joel.
“Of course it is.” Joel figured he knew what was coming next.
“Okay. And how long is long exactly?” Marcus glanced at Joel and rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. And all of this is just a coincidence, right?” He shook his head. “Okay, and yeah I know what serendipity means.” Marcus glanced at Joel again. “Tell you what. Why don’t I phone you when we’re ready?” Another pause. “Because you’re about as subtle as my sister and niece, that’s why.” He punched a button and shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“Let me guess. Darin’s had something come up just as your car breaks down and strands you here.”
“Yep.” Marcus sounded more amused than anything. “This reminds me of when we went out for ice cream that time. I think my niece and brother-in-law have given up on their poor attempts at being subtle. I’ve lost track of how many times Darin’s reminded me you’re single, and Isabel’s told me how….” He trailed off.
“Is that a bad thing?” Joel asked quietly. He noticed Marcus hadn’t used the word he presumed they were both thinking.
Marcus swallowed. “Isabel has told me several times that she thinks we’d be great together. I… I didn’t want another relationship.”
“Neither did I,” Joel added quickly, careful to use the past tense as Marcus had done.
“I really like you, Joel.” Marcus colored and ran one hand through his hair. “I’d like to give this a go if you do.”
“I’d like that too.” Joel smiled. Did Marcus realize how hot he looked when he got all awkward like this?
Marcus let out a long breath. “Great. Thing is, I was with the same guy for a long time. It’s been years since I’ve dated anyone. So I apologize up front if I suck at it.”
“You and me both.” Joel reached for his phone. “I haven’t eaten yet, and I guess you haven’t either. What say I order some pizza and call this a first date?”
“Sounds great.”
MARCUS took another swig of beer and wiped his hand across his mouth. After the pizza arrived, Joel had pulled a couple of cans of beer out of the fridge. They’d decided to eat in the kitchen, and Joel shifted one of the chairs so they were sitting next to each other rather than across the table.
“I’ll make some more coffee once we’ve finished eating,” Joel said. “We can move into the living room then. It will be more comfortable.”
“Thanks. I’d like that.” Marcus helped himself to another slice of pizza. “The real question,” he said, “is whether we tell the conspirators that their plot worked or keep them in the dark a while longer.”
Joel laughed. His voice was lighter than Marcus’s—more of a tenor—and his laugh brought a smile to Marcus’s lips. “I’d say let them squirm a bit, but that depends….” Joel seemed more nervous than thoughtful.
“Depends on what?”
“On how long you want to wait.” Joel shrugged. “I suck at hiding my feelings, as you’ve probably noticed.”
“That’s not always a bad thing.” Marcus hesitated for a moment. “I have the opposite problem. I’m not good at talking about how I feel, so I envy someone who is brave enough to voice their emotions.”
“You’re talking about them now.” Joel bumped Marcus’s shoulder, then reached across him to grab another slice of pizza.
“I figured as you were, it wasn’t fair if I didn’t.” Marcus finished his piece of pizza. He felt comfortably full and more at ease than he had in months. Joel was easy to talk to, and when he listened, it felt like he was giving the conversation all of his attention. “Besides, it’s not as though I don’t know you. We’ve been chatting over dinner for weeks now.”
“Yeah, but a lot of that was what I’d call safe conversation. I know I’ve avoided stuff I didn’t want to talk about.” Joel visibly cringed. “Apart from that first night at Darin’s. God, you must have thought I was an idiot, reacting like that.”
“You were upset about your dad,” Marcus said. “If I’d found out my dad was sick, I’d be worried too.”
“It wasn’t just worry. I was angry.” Joel sighed. Marcus took Joel’s hand in his and squeezed it without thinking. Joel glanced down at their joined hands and smiled. “I’ve missed this,” he said. “Just being able to be with someone and talk.”
“I’m sure you and Darin talk.” Marcus realized he’d never met any of Joel’s other friends.
“Yeah, but although we’re comfortable with each other, we’re not about to hold hands.” Joel grinned. “Besides Darin being straight and a good friend, he’s not my type.”
“Not mine either.” Marcus rubbed his thumb over Joel’s hand. His skin felt warm, and Joel shuffled in closer. “Besides, he’s married to my sister, and that would be all kinds of awkward. Not that I’d hit on him and….” Marcus didn’t know why he’d felt the need to make that perfectly clear. “I don’t flirt with anyone who is already taken. It’s bad form.”
Joel chuckled. “Your sister would kill you. She’s protective as hell of the people she cares about. Although it’s obvious as hell she cares about you too, so you might be safe.” He grew quiet and then cleared his throat. “When we first met at their wedding, I wasn’t there with my partner, as we were going through a rough patch. I wasn’t flirting with you, despite the fact I behaved like a twit. I wouldn’t do that either.”
“I noticed you at the wedding too,” Marcus said. “I thought you were cute.” He shrugged. “I didn’t think you behaved like a twit. It was an awkward moment, and Garth probably didn’t help.”
“That’s your ex? Short guy, red hair, and glasses?”
“Yeah. He never liked it when I talked to cute guys. We hadn’t been together long, which probably didn’t help.”
“Cute?” Joel stuck his lower lip out in a pout. “Not hot? Just cute?”
Marcus chuckled at the obviously fake pout. He brushed a lock of hair away that had fallen across Joel’s face, and leaned in closer. “I remember cute. I happen to like cute guys. I think they’re hot. Or they can be.” His heart sped up. Did he dare to…? Or was it too soon?
Joel met Marcus’s gaze for a long moment before turning away. “Why don’t I put the kettle on and we can move into the living room?”
“Okay.” Marcus felt a surge of disappointment wash over him. This was a first date despite the number of times they’d seen each other before tonight. Joel might be one of those guys who only talked on first dates. Not that Marcus was one to do much more, but…. He’d waited this long to be more than friends with Joel. A bit longer wouldn’t kill him.
So much for spending the past few weeks trying to convince himself he didn’t want a relationship. He’d had feelings for Joel for much longer than he’d wanted to admit. Joel turning up for dinner the week before, soaked through with his T-shirt clinging to him hadn’t helped either. Or the fact that the T-shirt Darin had loaned Joel was tighter than the ones he usually wore, so it accentuated his firm abs and flat stomach.
Marcus had spent that night having the type of dreams a guy definitely didn’t have about someone he considered just a friend. He’d woken that morning with a very uncomfortable case of morning wood, and after relieving it, he’d worn a smile at breakfast that resulted in several grins from the rest of his family.
God, had he been that obvious?
Apparently so, if Isabel’s pretense of leaving her music at Joel’s and then Darin conveniently being busy were anything to go by.
“I can hear you thinking from here.” Joel turned the kettle on and retrieved a couple of clean cups from the dishwasher. “I…. Don’t worry, I won’t pry. Although I tend to not know when to shut up, I don’t expect you to be the same.”
“I don’t expect you to be the same as me either.” Marcus decided it was time to change the subject. “How’s the planning for the concert going? You’ve started rehears
als, right?”
“Yeah, we’ve started. It’s going okay. One of the pieces ended up being too much of a challenge, so I swapped it out for something else. Sometimes it’s difficult to get that fine line between too easy and too difficult. I have a friend who conducts a local community orchestra for kids. She’s given me some ideas and can loan me the music too, which will save time.”
“It still sounds like a lot of work.”
“Yeah, well.” Joel shrugged. “I kind of like it that way.”
He poured their coffee, handed Marcus a cup, and led the way to the living room. Marcus glanced around curiously. He hadn’t seen inside Joel’s living room before, as the door was usually closed when he passed it on his way to the spare bedroom Joel had converted into a music room. A large TV took up one corner, the shelves on either side lined with DVDs. A closer look revealed a stereo system tucked in between the TV and one of the shelves, which was full of CDs, not DVDs as Marcus had first thought. Bookcases stood side by side on another wall, crammed full with books in a variety of different genres. Marcus spotted a few of his favorite authors, and others he’d never heard of. He’d have to ask Joel if he could borrow some books.
Two comfortable sofas took up the rest of the room with a wooden coffee table between them. Joel flopped down on one end of the two-seater. “It’s going to take a lot of my free time, though, so… we’re going to have to find a way around it if we’re going to have some time together.”
“We’ll find a way around it,” Marcus said firmly. He took the other end of the same sofa, rather than the empty three-seater. “I’m flexible, if you are.”
Joel smirked. “I’m sure you are.” He took a sip of his coffee.
“If your rehearsals go late after school, I could pick you up for dinner afterwards, unless you prefer I wait till you get home.” Was Joel out at school? “Either works.”
“Sure.” Joel didn’t confirm or deny Marcus’s unspoken question, so Marcus didn’t push it. “You could come by the school a bit earlier if you wanted to listen to some of the rehearsal. Choir’s on a Monday and orchestra is on Wednesdays, so either of those is a good evening to go out if we’re not too late. I’ll need some time off after rehearsal anyway.”