The Male Room
Page 7
Jeff sat quietly, a grin on his face.
“And let’s not forget all the PR work on the ten million blogs where we posted promos and bought advertising. Those were a joy to keep up with. I had far shorter hours as a slave to that boring, pain-in-the-ass bank.”
“How long do you plan on ranting before you check and see if anyone has actually tried the site? I could bring you another cup of coffee, but somehow I think more caffeine may not be the answer this morning.”
Lowering his head into his hands, Craig groaned. “Why the hell did we do this? What if it doesn’t work? We’ve invested everything, not that we had all that much to begin with. But if it goes bust, how the hell are we going to find jobs in this shitty economy?”
“Have faith.” Jeff set a cup of herbal tea on the desk next to the computer keyboard. “Here. It’s chamomile. It’ll calm you down.” Then he cupped Craig’s chin, gently forcing him to look up and tenderly pressed their lips together. “You’re smart, and you’re an amazing promoter. That’s why you were the one on the road while I was sitting here, making sure everything was in order and working perfectly.”
“How many fake profiles did you set up during your two weeks of experimenting?”
“I have no idea, but I’m beginning to see a future for myself in either creative writing or criminal profiling.”
“Very funny.”
Jeff dragged another small chair up next to Craig’s. He rubbed his back. It felt good, grounding. Jeff always seemed to know just the right thing to do or say to keep him calm and focused. It still amazed Craig that of all the guys Jeff had dated over the years, he was the one Jeff wanted. What was wrong with all those assholes? They’d had no idea what an amazing man they had and the fools let him go. Thank God.
Looking into Jeff’s eyes and threading his fingers in the slightly longer-than-usual waves of hair, Craig drew him in for another, deeper kiss. Running his tongue over Jeff’s lips, Craig coaxed Jeff to open up, welcoming Craig inside, as he always did. Craig couldn’t get enough. He was always hungry, always desiring more from Jeff, and Jeff was always willing to give everything.
The heat built up rapidly as their tongues dueled for dominance, Jeff allowing Craig to rule. If Jeff knew the power he had over Craig—the power of love and the power to hurt him, he never let on. He loved him, plain and simple. It was the purest love Craig could imagine existed, and he was the beneficiary.
“God, you’re so beautiful and you always taste so good. I can’t get enough of you, ever.” Craig gazed at Jeff, ghosting his fingers over the stubbly cheek, neither man having shaved or showered yet.
“I hope you never get enough of me.” Jeff leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and sighing.
“Maybe in the next ninety or a hundred years I may reach my fill of you, but certainly not before.”
“I love you, Craig.”
In answer Craig kissed him again, holding Jeff close, relishing the warmth and comfort his lover inevitably brought whenever they were together.
“We need to get to work. We need to see if anyone paid for a profile.” Jeff panted as he opened his eyes and pulled away from Craig.
“I know, but touching you is so much more gratifying.”
“Maybe celebratory sex will be next on our agenda. In fact, I’m sure it will be. Unfortunately, we can’t find out if we get our treat if you don’t turn on that thing and check.” Jeff winked, patting the top of the monitor.
Craig huffed. “You’d better be right.” Reluctantly dropping his hand from Jeff’s toned arm, Craig turned on the computer and entered the password to log on. As the screen came to life, Jeff laced their fingers together.
“This has to be a success. It has to. We deserve it.”
“We do?”
“We’ve waited so long. Now we finally have a life together, the business should go hand in hand. I just know this was meant to be.”
“Sounds a bit overly romanticized to me.”
Jeff shook his head, but the grin remained on his face. “You’re definitely still a work in progress, Craig.”
Nodding, Craig opened up the program to check the progress of The Male Room. He hoped to find a few new additions added to the profiles Craig had submitted for Jeff and himself, now listed as a success story on the site. They had left the experimental files posted to make it seem like others had already made submissions. Jeff had coded the fake profiles to only match with other test entries to avoid customer disappointment.
“Here we go.” Clicking the accounting portion of the program, Craig’s eyes widened. In the five hours since the online company had been opened up to the world over six hundred new profiles had been added from all over the United States and Canada.
Jumping out of his chair, Jeff nearly knocked the tea all over the desk. “Holy shit! We did it. Look at all the activity.” He pointed to the screen as if Craig wasn’t already glued to it.
“It’s crazy, I can’t believe it. The numbers keep jumping up and up. Four more just submitted profiles.”
“There are a lot of lonely people out there.” Jeff sat down, his voice quiet. “I was once one of them.”
“You were never lonely. I’ve never seen anyone more popular than you.”
Jeff took Craig’s hand and placed it over his heart. The contact with his partner’s bare chest made Craig freeze. “In here. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to fill the empty place in here.”
Craig lowered his eyes, unable to look into Jeff’s intense blues. “I think I understand.” Shaking his head, he continued. “I know I understand. I’m just slow at recognizing what I need.”
“And what’s that?” Jeff whispered and then rolled his lips inward.
“You’re fishing, but that’s okay.” Craig smiled and braved facing his partner. “It’s you, of course. It’s been you from the start.” Feeling the strong heartbeat, coupled with his own need and desire, Craig wanted to fuck Jeff right then and there—no, not fuck, he wanted to possess him and let him know how deeply and completely he was loved.
Letting go of Craig’s hand, Jeff blinked and turned, directing his attention back to the computer. Scrolling the newly added profiles from the morning, he started to chuckle.
“What’s so funny? Did someone go too far when lying on their profile?”
Jeff shook his head and pointed. “Look who signed up using the special coupon we designed for him.”
Squinting slightly, Craig read the name. “Sam! I can’t believe it.”
“I’m glad he gave it a shot. He deserves a good man.”
“With an appetite like his, he’ll need a good, hot man.” Craig snorted. “But he can’t have mine.”
“Never again.” Jeff rested his head on Craig’s shoulder as the two browsed through the activity on their site. It was riddled with more and more hits. Several new profiles were submitted in the short time they sat silently, side by side, watching the accounting log continue to update.
Craig had no idea how long they’d been watching when the phone rang. It was their landline. Sitting closest to the cordless phone, Craig picked it up. “Hello.”
“Good morning. I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on a great start.”
“How did you know it was great?”
“Because, as I’m sure you both know by now, I submitted a profile a couple of hours ago, and I already have eight responses.”
“Well, you do have all the requirements for a night to remember.” Craig snorted.
“Check out my picture; I’m fully dressed. I didn’t go for the full monty.”
“But look at your hands. Any guy worth a dime will know with hands that big you must have an equally—”
“Craig, shut the hell up.” Sam chuckled. “Remember, if I have a good experience, I’ll be recommending your business to a lot of others, so you’d better stay on my good side, or I might actually charge you for all the work we’ll be doing together to keep your business legit.”
Laughing, Craig
handed the phone to Jeff. “Sam wants to congratulate us, and I think he’s bragging about all his hits too.”
“Hi, honey.”
….
“I know. You do have a beautiful and caring expression. Extremely handsome.”
….
Jeff chuckled more and more. Craig stood up, suddenly uncomfortable listening to his friend and lover talking. “Hold on a minute, Sam, Craig’s green-eyed monster is showing.”
“Why the hell did you say that?” Craig’s eyes widened.
“Because it’s true. Whenever I talk to a hot hunk who you know I may have been close with in the past, you start to go all jealous and caveman on me. Well, maybe just enough so I notice, but no one else does. It can be our little secret.”
He hated to admit it, even to himself, but Jeff was right. Now that he had him, he wasn’t good at sharing, even when it was totally platonic. “Are you angry?”
“Not in the least. I’ll be angry the day it doesn’t matter to you.” Jeff brought the phone back up to his ear. “Sam, enjoy your date tonight, and any of the future ones you try. In the meantime, I think it’s time for Craig and I to celebrate our success.
“Yes, sir, we won’t get lazy, and we’ll make sure the guy on the West Coast takes good care of our server and the electronics.” Jeff laughed one more time. “See you soon. Maybe we can double date.”
Craig rolled his eyes, although the idea didn’t sound completely ridiculous or unappealing.
After disconnecting, Jeff took one more glance at the computer. “So how should we celebrate? Do you want me to make dinner reservations at that fabulous seafood restaurant? Or what about a walk through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall? We could even—”
Grabbing Jeff in a tight embrace, Craig crashed their mouths together. He felt Jeff’s nails begin to dig into the bare skin on his back, marking him as their need grew.
Pressed close, Craig rubbed his lengthening stiffness against Jeff’s. Moaning, Jeff deepened the kiss.
Craig broke off the kiss so as to be able to whisper in Jeff’s ear. “I want it all.”
Pulling back, Jeff furrowed his brow. “Huh?”
Grinning broadly, Craig continued to hold Jeff close, knowing their next stop would be the bedroom. “I. Want. It. All. The dinner, the stroll, and most of all you, by my side from here on in.”
Jeff swiped his eyes quickly before continuing his own hold on Craig. “Me too. I want it all with you too.”
Craig knew they’d be toasting The Male Room at dinner, but for now, as Craig guided them toward their bedroom, alternately sucking and nipping at his partner’s neck and jawline, the only thing he wanted to do was show Jeff, in every way possible how much he was desired and loved. They were without question the perfect match.
About the Author
Born in Brooklyn, CAROLYN LEVINE TOPOL grew up just outside New York City. Three passions dominated her life: reading, writing, and theater. Having always dreamed of writing her own version of The Great American Novel, it took her many years to discover her most heartfelt stories took their form in the creation of M/M romances. Sharing her writing with a small circle of online friends, Carolyn received advice, encouragement, and joy from their feedback.
Spending her days working as an executive assistant in a synagogue, Carolyn relishes the quiet wee hours of the morning to lose herself in writing of the loves, passions, and adventures driving her characters.
With the backing of a supportive husband and two young adult children, Carolyn continues to explore the fabulous world of gay romance with the philosophy “Every person deserves their happy ending.”
Visit Carolyn’s web site at http://www.carolynlevine topol.com and her blog at http://carolyn-l-topol.livejournal .com. You can contact her at cstopol@gmail.com.
Coming in 2011 from CAROLYN LEVINE TOPOL
The Attorney
Book 2 in The Male Room series
Attorney Sam Solomon is the most desired trick in the back room of the Music Box, his town's most notorious gay club—and very possibly the loneliest. Sam is tired of one-night stands, and although he likes the world to think he’s too tough for such romantic notions, he secretly longs for the love his friends Jeff and Craig seem to have found. Fortunately for him, he’s just helped set his friends up in business. They run The Male Room, a local Internet dating service for gay men, and Jeff has just the guy in mind for Sam.
Chris Kelly is the last person Sam expected. From his profile, Sam knows that Chris is strong, opinionated, and dominant... in fact, he’s a lot like Sam! Sam may very well have met his match; he just needs to concede that the man he’s falling in love with needs to be his partner in every sense of the word.
The Playwright
Book 3 in The Male Room series
Nick’s writing partner and best friend is tired of watching his buddy screw his life away to overcome the heartbreak of his first great love affair, and he also thinks that a romantic comedy playwright should actually write what he knows! Before Nick can wriggle out of it, he finds himself begged, nagged, and cajoled into a coffee date with one of the men who liked his profile at The Male Room, an online dating service for gay men.
No one is more surprised than Nick that the date is a success, and he’s interested in getting to know full-time news reporter and part-time theater critic Mark better. But better means closer, and the closer Nick gets to Mark, the more he remembers why he doesn't go for long-term relationships. Long term affairs just lead to heartbreak, right? Nick’s imagination runs overtime, and he’ll have to trust in his heart if he wants this love story to have a happy ending.
Also from CAROLYN LEVINE TOPOL
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Copyright
The Male Room ©Copyright Carolyn LeVine Topol, 2011
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
4760 Preston Road
Suite 244-149
Frisco, TX 75034
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Paul Richmond http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
Released in the United States of America
June 2011
eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-923-2