Riptide (Sand Dollar Shoal Book 2)

by Pandora Pine

  Presley knew there was no way to go from being so intimate with Drake to just being his friend again. “It’s a line we can never uncross, although when you were down on your knees in front of me last night, I wasn’t thinking about crossing lines or working relationships.”

  “Neither was I.” Drake bent forward to kiss Presley, but pulled away at the last minute. “Presley, look!” Drake dashed about fifteen feet away and bent down in the sand.

  Curious about what had caught Drake’s attention, Pres hurried over to his new boyfriend who was holding something. “What is it?”

  “It’s a beached starfish.” Drake held it up to show Presley. “Do you think it’s still alive?”

  Presley’s heart squeezed in his chest. He could see from the anxious look in Drake’s eye that he would be devastated if the little creature were dead. He knelt down in the sand next to Drake and looked at the brownish-red starfish. It fit perfectly in the palm of Drake’s hand. “Flip it over.”

  “Why?” Drake looked appalled.

  “Sea stars have hundreds of little tube feet. If it’s alive, we’ll see the feet moving.” Presley had no idea if this was true or not. He knew almost nothing about these animals to begin with.

  Frowning, Drake did what Presley asked and held his breath.

  “See, look!” Pres pointed to one of the sea star’s legs. He could see the tiny feet moving. “It’s alive.”

  Drake snorted and flipped the starfish over. “Thank you, Doctor Frankenstein. Now what do we do? Do we throw it back in the ocean?”

  “Why don’t we walk it down to those rocks over there?” Presley pointed back toward the hotel to an outcropping of rocks the waves were crashing against. “Starfish like to cling to rocks.” When he moved to stand back up, Drake grabbed Pres with his free hand.

  “I can’t believe how lucky I am to get to hold one of these little animals in my hand. Promise me that we’ll never decorate the hotel with dead starfish.”

  “It feels good to play Crocodile Hunter and rescue a stranded animal. I never quite understood why people who love the sea so much would decorate their personal space with dead sea creatures.” Pres shook his head.

  Drake gently slid a finger over the bumpy surface of the sea star. “Thank you, Pres.”

  “It’s a no-brainer to keep starfish in the ocean instead of in our hotel. I bet there are a ton of websites that sell starfish décor without using real starfish.”

  Drake rolled his eyes. “I meant about giving me a chance. Giving us a chance. I’ve never been in a relationship before, but I promise I’ll work my hardest to make you happy.”

  “All you need to do is be honest with me, Drake and I’ll be as happy as a starfish on a rock.” Pres stood up and offered a hand down to help Drake stand up. “Come on. Let’s go find this little guy or gal a new home.”

  12

  Hours later, Drake was staring at a nearly blank Word document on his new laptop. Griffin had asked him to submit a list of proposed room names to him by 5:00pm. It was nearly noon and all he’d managed so far was to list all of the room numbers and fill in one name. Everyone had agreed Captain Benson’s ship, the Hiraeth, should have a place of honor at Sand Dollar Shoal.

  It wasn’t that Drake was lacking in ideas for the room names. It was that his mind was spinning over his earlier walk with Presley. He still couldn’t believe that he’d told Pres he was interested in seeing where this thing between them was going.

  He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he had no experience with relationships. He’d messed around and had different lovers while he’d been in high school.

  Once he’d gotten out to California and started working in the porn industry, he’d gotten all the sex he could handle and then some. Since his more carnal needs were met, Drake didn’t see a reason to date anyone.

  Until now. He enjoyed the time he and Presley spent together. All of the men he’d worked with in California had been self-serving and gossipy. Presley, on the other, hand was the complete opposite. He kept the things Drake told him to himself and always had Drake’s needs in mind rather than being concerned with what was best for himself.

  Drake sighed, sounding world weary, which he guessed he was. The thing that had really been eating at him over the last few hours was Presley saying all he needed to be happy was Drake’s honesty.

  In his heart, he knew he had to tell Pres about his old life back in California. In his head, it all sounded so simple. All he had to do was say, “Presley, I’m a retired gay porn actor.” There it was. Seven little words that would finally tell his secret and give his spinning mind a rest.

  His heart, which had finally woken up after being asleep for his entire twenty-five years, was afraid of finding Presley only to lose him with his story of his last job. Hell, it wasn’t like he’d been a construction worker or a physical therapist and decided to change jobs. He’d fucked men, lots of men, on camera, for money.

  He wasn’t a Pollyanna by any stretch of the imagination. He knew men watched porn. A lot of female friends back in California had enjoyed watching his work for the reason that there weren’t any women involved and they didn’t have to think about how it would feel to get fucked the way the people on the screen were getting it.

  It was one thing to enjoy watching porn with your dick in your hand. It was another thing altogether to find out the man you were starting a relationship with had a starring role in those kinds of movies.

  “How’s it coming?” Noble asked from behind Drake.

  Startled, Drake turned around to see Noble giving him a wistful look. “Not so good.”

  Noble laughed and dragged a chair over to join Drake.

  “Gee, thanks for your support.”

  “While I was working on the hotel renovations, this was Landon’s desk. When he was battling writer’s block, he’d sit here, just like you’re sitting, with a look on his face identical to the one you’re wearing.”

  “What kind of look is that?”

  “Like you’re constipated.” Noble laughed again and slapped a hand on Drake’s meaty shoulder.

  Drake thought about the analogy for a second. “It’s exactly how I feel. I know the names are here.” Drake tapped his index finger against his forehead. “I just can’t get the words to come out.”

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret if you promise not to tell any of Landon’s legion of rabid fans.” Noble rolled his eyes.

  Swiping a finger in an X over his heart, Drake held up his other hand. “My lips are sealed.”

  “When Landon is having trouble writing, he grabs a notebook and a pen. “

  Drake raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  “No, I’m serious. Grab your legal pad and I’ll show you what I mean.”

  Knowing it wouldn’t hurt to play along, Drake obeyed and grabbed his pad and a pen. He turned in his chair to face Noble, balancing the yellow lined paper on his knee. “Okay, now what?”

  “You said you were going to name the rooms after famous ships, sea captains and sea creatures, right?”

  Drake nodded.

  “Seems to me like the simplest one is the sea creatures. So let’s name them.”

  “You mean like word association?”

  Noble nodded. “Sand dollar.”

  Drake grinned “Starfish.” Not that he wanted to give Noble a bigger head than he already had, but the idea was genius. Ten minutes later, they had come up with thirty different sea creatures, more than what he needed to present to Griff.

  “Thank you so much Noble. My head wasn’t in the game earlier.”

  “I know. It’s because you’ve got a secret.” For once, the look on his face was serious and without a lurking smile.

  “What are you talking about?” Drake tried to sound shocked, but feared he only sounded guilty.

  Noble raised an eyebrow. “Don’t bullshit me, Drake. Presley has been my best friend for half of my life. I love him like a brother. He’s had a real rough go of it over the last few years an
d I think that me getting together with Landon made him sad.”

  “Sad? He’s always watching the two of you with a smile on his face.”

  “He hasn’t said it to me, but I think he’s looking for what I have with Landon.”

  Drake nodded. Pres hadn’t said anything to him about it either. “I think you’re right.”

  “So, I took a page out of Presley’s book and I’ve started watching the two of you when you’re together. He’s totally smitten with you.”

  Drake couldn’t help smiling. He knew that, but it was nice to see others could see the same thing. “It’s a good thing because I’m smitten with him too.”

  “I know, Drake. I can see that every time you look at each other, but the problem is when Presley looks away.”

  Drake’s stomach was pitching like a ship in a hurricane. “What do you mean?”

  “You look guilty. I don’t know about what, but about something. Am I right?”

  Not knowing what else to do, Drake nodded miserably.

  “Are you married already? Or just playing at being gay?”

  “No! God, no, to both things. I’m not married and I’ve known I was gay since high school. I do have a secret, but it’s not…” Drake sighed. He’d been about to say not that serious. But it was serious.

  “Whatever it is, tell him. One thing I can tell you about Pres is that he’s very open-minded. He can handle anything except a lie.”

  “I’ll work out how to tell him, I promise. Can I count on you to keep this to yourself?” Drake was almost more scared of Noble blabbing to Presley than he was of telling Pres himself.

  Noble chewed his bottom lip with a thoughtful look on his face. “I’ll keep quiet for now, Drake. What’s your plan?”

  “The masquerade ball and grand opening of the hotel are two weeks away. I’ll tell him after that. I don’t want anything to interfere with the hotel’s opening.”

  Noble stood up, nodding his head. “I think that’s for the best. Just remember that no matter what it is you’re keeping from him, he’ll forgive you.”

  Drake nodded. “Thanks, Noble. This chat really helped settle a lot of things in my mind.”

  Slapping a hand on Drake’s shoulder, Noble’s face grew serious again. “If you hurt him, Drake, I swear to God, I’ll end you. Understood?”

  Having already heard a similar promise from Gregor, Drake smiled at Noble. “Understood. Thank you for loving him so much, Noble.”

  Noble grinned and turned to leave the dining room, but stopped abruptly and turned back around. “One more thing.”

  Drake stiffened his spine. “Okay.”

  “There’s a pirate shipwreck off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about twenty miles from here. Ship is called The Widow or something like that. You should name one of the rooms after her.”

  “I’ll look it up. Thanks.”

  Drake watched while Noble strode out of the dining room, holding his breath until he heard the front door of the hotel shut behind him. With shaking hands he set the legal pad back on his makeshift desk. He had two weeks to figure out how to tell Presley his secret.

  XX

  Presley was exhausted. He’d spent the entire day on the phone with different media outlets trying to get coverage for the masquerade ball, which was only two weeks away. He’d been so busy with other responsibilities and pining over Drake, that he’d put off doing the leg work.

  He’d managed to get a weak agreement from one of the major Boston television stations to send a news crew out for the event, along with some local newspapers and bloggers, but he knew the hotel needed more coverage for word to get out about the grand re-opening.

  Resting his face on his desk, Presley pounded his fist on the highly polished surface.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound good.”

  Pres looked up to see Griffin grinning at him from just inside his office door.

  “Hey, Griff, sorry. I’m just not having a lot of luck with media attention for the ball.”

  “Who’ve you got so far to cover the event?”

  “Someone from the culture section of the Boston Globe is coming and I think Channel 5 is sending a camera crew. Their answer was kind of an ambiguous yes.” Pres carded his hands through his already messy red hair. Griffin liked to say this hotel was theirs, but in fact, he was the one who’d put up the money to buy and remodel the place. It made Pres’ heart hurt to give Griff bad news like this.

  “I’ve got an idea. Hold on.” Griff moved back in the hallway and shouted for Drake. “I think the reason you’re having such a hard time with this is because you’re so old.”

  “Old? Christ, Griff, we’re thirty.” Pres had no idea what his friend was talking about.

  Griff laughed. “Yeah, but in technology years that makes us about eighty!”

  “Is everything okay?” Drake ran into the office out of breath and with a panicked look on his face.

  Pres stood up and walked around his desk. He took Drake’s hands and pulled him into the office. “Griff just wanted to talk to you for a sec, but maybe next time he’ll just send a text.” Pres rolled his eyes.

  “Fine, I’ll text, but since you’re here now. I have a question for you.” A small smile played around Griff’s full lips.

  “Shoot.” Drake slotted his fingers with Presley and smiled at Griffin.

  “If you wanted to get the word out about something, how would you do it?”

  The worried look on Drake’s face smoothed into an easy grin. “That’s simple: social media. You’d need a Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, hell even a YouTube channel would be a good way to get people to pay attention.”

  “I hear you, but if no one knows this thing exists, how would they find the social media accounts?”

  Griff shot Pres a serious look.

  “Why don’t we stop talking in hypotheticals and tell me what this is about.” Drake looked back and forth between Pres and Griff.

  Presley snorted. He couldn’t help it. He and Griff had been friends for half their lives, but he’d always been a bit intimidated by Griffin Fox, businessman. It was nice to see Drake had no such reservations. “I’m having trouble booking members of the media to be here to cover the grand re-opening of the hotel.”

  Drake nodded, his face a mask of concentration. “So what we need to do is advertise. You might not have interested those media outlets to come out here and cover the hotel, but they’re sure as fuck not going to say no to our advertising dollars.”

  Griff held up a hand. “Wait, I thought you were talking about social media?”

  Drake looked at Griff and straightened his spine. “You want to cover as many bases as possible, so I’d suggest a two-fold campaign. First we need a commercial and some kind of print ad for local television, radio and newspapers. Then we’ll need to open social media accounts for the hotel. I know we talked about a website for Sand Dollar Shoal and I think now is the time to launch that.”

  “So we’d be paying to advertise on traditional media outlets, but everything on social media is free?”

  “Yeah, exactly. I don’t mean to pry, but the four of you must have a million friends and in Landon’s case, followers. If the five of you don’t have social media pages, you might want to start them and round up as many old friends and colleagues as you can and ask them to spread the word too.”

  Griff crossed his arms over his chest. “What kind of commercial?”

  “Did you ever notice that bands that you listened to back in high school are starting to tour again?”

  Pres broke out in a smile. “We saw New Kids on the Block at Fenway Park last year. The place was sold out and everyone was going nuts.”

  “Exactly!” Drake said with a big grin. “Why did you and the other guys go to the concert?”

  “It brought us back to our childhood.”

  “So that’s the kind of commercial you make. Use Landon’s story as an example. He came back to Sand Dollar Shoal because the best memories of his life wer
e here. I’m willing to bet there are other kids like Landon who spent vacation time here and now want to share those same memories with their families.”

  Presley burst out laughing. “That’s fucking brilliant and I’m not just saying that because I’m sucking your-”

  Drake slapped his free hand over Presley’s lips and started to laugh.

  Griff started laughing along with them. “Christ, you’ve sure as hell got a way with words, Pres.”

  “What the hell’s going on in here?” Gregor looked around, his perma-frown out in full force. “Let’s go, Drake. We’ve got work to do.” Without waiting for an answer, Gregor headed out of the office.

  “What the hell crawled up his ass and died?” Presley shrugged. Gregor had never been the life of the party, but he wasn’t usually this grumpy.

  “Nothing, I think that’s the problem.” Waggling his eyebrows, Drake dropped a kiss on Presley’s lips and followed after Gregor.

  Presley’s eyes were glued to Drake’s ass as he left the room. He still couldn’t believe that man was all his. “Aside from my obvious bias, what did you think?”

  “Luckiest blowjob ever, Pres! That boy is gonna make our hotel famous.” Griff shook his head and left the office.

  Presley disagreed with Griff. He was the luckiest bastard alive.

  13

  “Gregor, what the fuck, man?” Drake pushed through the swinging kitchen door, his gut clenching with anger. He could see the chef standing at the main prep station with his arms crossed over his chest. “Couldn’t you see I was in the middle of an important meeting?”

  “All I saw was you holding Presley’s hand and giving him moon eyes.” Gregor puckered up his full lips and exaggeratedly batted his long, dark lashes.

  Drake snorted. “So you’re jealous that I’m with Presley?” To be honest, he’d never given the surly man a second look. Once he’d laid eyes on Presley, it was game, set and match.