by Jenna Byrnes
“Role-playing. So what, you’ll be the dog and he’ll be the trainer, that kind of thing? You’ll lick his boots or whatever he asks of you?”
He hesitated, unsure how much he should tell her. The time felt right, so he went for it. “Actually, Tucker is a submissive. He craves a Master to command him during sex. Not all the time, just sometimes, when everyone is into it.”
Her eyebrows rose as she processed the information. “So you’re the Master and he’s the slave. Where does that leave me? Or is this your way of breaking it to me that I’m out?”
“Hell no, babe! I told you from the very beginning that I’d only consider seeing him if you were okay with it. You and I come first. Nothing has changed.”
Her chuckle held no mirth. “You seriously expect me to believe that? I can see in your face that everything has changed.”
His heart sank and he tried to find the words to make her understand. “He’s an amazing guy, Brooks. I’m totally infatuated with him, that’s true. I might even be falling in love with him. But it’s more than just the sex. He’s funny, smart, sexy and incredibly generous. We went to the mall today and he bought me a jacket, shirt and tie. He got peanut M&M’s out of a candy machine because he can’t resist them. He’s just so damned sweet.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s bribing you to make you love him. Stupid fool, he should have been buying me Gucci bags because I’m the one who needs to be bribed. I’m not sold on this, Gabriel. I don’t care how sweet the fucker is, he’s not going to take you away from me.”
“He’s not trying to do that. How many different ways can I explain this to you?”
Brook stood. “Stop trying to explain. If I asked you to quit seeing him because I didn’t feel good about it, would you do that?”
Gabe’s heart fell with a thud into his gut.
Before he could answer she snapped, “You shouldn’t have to think about it. You just told me ‘you and I come first’.”
He stood to face her, resigned to what he had to do for now. He hoped like hell she’d change her mind later, but he hadn’t lied. His marriage came first. “If that’s what you want me to do, I’ll stop seeing him.”
“Do you actually mean you’ll sneak around and fuck him on the side? Because that would be it, Gabe. Our marriage wouldn’t survive deception like that.”
“Of course not. I’ve never lied to you, and I won’t start now.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. “Not telling me about your gay leanings is what’s called a ‘lie of omission’, dear.”
“I beg to differ, because other than a dalliance in college, I didn’t know I had ‘gay leanings’ until I met Tucker. And as far as us finding another man to bring into our bed, never mind. I don’t want another man. I want Tucker Gleason. But if I can’t have him, then life goes on. We’ll be as happy as we ever were, and we won’t discuss this again.” He turned and walked from the room, knowing that for the first time ever, he’d just consciously lied to his wife.
Chapter Six
Early the next morning, Gabe texted Tucker and asked to meet him about a mile from the job site. They sat in Tucker’s SUV and steamed up the windows a while before Gabe told him about Brook’s reservations. She’d ultimately agreed to allow Tucker to come around ‘occasionally’, and he still had hopes of changing her mind. But for now, they had to cool their relationship off. “Which won’t be possible if I see you every morning,” Gabe announced. “So I’m going to stay on site and let you deal with Evan. If he needs me, he can call. But in fairness to everyone, including him, our employees and Brook, I can’t face you every day.”
Tucker ran a finger down Gabe’s sweaty biceps. “Because you’d want to sneak away and do what we did yesterday after the mall?”
“Exactly because of that. I promised Brook I wouldn’t cheat on her and I won’t. And it’s not right for me to take off, leaving everyone else working in this heat.”
Tucker shook his head. “I can’t believe this is your dream, babe. You’re smart and talented, not to mention a hunk. You could do whatever you set your mind to.”
He smiled affectionately at his lover. “The feeling is mutual, stud. And during the worst of the summer I question my choice about ten times a day. Ultimately, we’d like to grow the company so I’m not on the front lines as much. But that’ll come with time.”
“Grow it how? You have dozens of employees now.”
“Most of those guys are subcontracted labor. We have ten on our crew full-time. It’s fine. Once this job is complete we hope to use it as a reference for other jobs like it. That’s how we’ll grow.”
“You know you’ll get a good reference from me.” Tucker pushed a stray lock of hair behind Gabe’s ear.
“Thank you. I don’t think sucking good dick is on the list of qualifications, but if it shows up I’ll know I’m set.”
“You just can’t accept a compliment, can you?”
“I guess not. And I can’t accept the clothes you bought, either. Brook says they’re a bribe to make me love you.”
Tucker started to say something then bit his tongue. He inhaled then blew the breath out. “Brook is mistaken,” he said, obviously choosing his words carefully. “The M&M’s were a bribe to make you love me. The clothes were something I wanted to do, because I already love you.”
Gabe opened the car door and gazed at him with the same true love. Trying to lighten their goodbye, he teased, “Should have given me more than one freaking piece of candy, then, you cock-sucker. Have a good week. I’ll work on Brook and hopefully we can get something going for the weekend.”
Tucker sighed, and appeared pained as he watched Gabe go. “Have a good week,” he said softly, his voice tight.
Gabe returned to his truck quickly and drove off without looking back.
* * * *
A couple of mornings later he was surprised to see a shiny black truck with a dealer’s license plate parked next to their mobile office. He admired it for a moment before going inside, bracing himself to see Tucker.
The man wasn’t there. “Morning,” he said to Evan. “Is Tucker here?”
“Good morning. Nope, not yet. He doesn’t usually arrive until after eight.”
“Whose truck is that?”
“No idea. This envelope was dropped in the mail slot.” He handed over a legal sized envelope with his name written neatly across the front.
Gabe swallowed and ripped it open. Keys to the new truck were inside. He blinked to aid his comprehension.
“Keys, huh?” Evan smirked. “That’s what it felt like. I didn’t know you’d ordered a new truck. Guess your money woes have loosened up?”
“I didn’t order it.” He wadded the envelope and threw it in the trash as he stomped out. Gabe couldn’t look at the new truck, just climbed into his old rust bucket and sped off. He came to a clearing and pulled off the road, then dialed Tucker.
“Good morning,” the man answered.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Now that’s a loaded question. Not fucking, that’s for sure. But I could be if you moseyed on over here. Or at least talked dirty to me on the phone, so I could jack myself off.”
“Tucker, stop it! Why is the same truck you and I saw at the mall parked in front of my office, in just the color I said I liked?”
“Look, don’t get your boxers in a bunch. Your truck is a safety hazard, and I can’t have one of my business partners driving such a dangerous vehicle. This is a work expense, something to get you to and from the job safely.”
“Business expense? What the fuck ever! You think my wife will let me accept it? Damn it, man, she didn’t like me taking the jacket and fucking necktie. She said the shirts had to go back. I don’t think she was pleased about the one M&M, either, but what’s done is done where that’s concerned.”
Tucker was laughing on the other end of the phone.
Gabe felt a curious mixture of love and rage. “God damn it, this isn’t funny. She’d kill me if I
drove that home.”
“I’d really prefer she didn’t kill you. Leave it at the site for a while. Maybe together we can change her mind. We’ll bring it up right in the middle of a really good orgasm, something like that.”
He didn’t know what to say. “Tucker Gleason, you’re an ass.”
“But I’m your ass, right? And you’re my hot mess?”
Gabe sighed. “Damn it. Yes. I love you.” He ended the call before the smooth-talking lawyer could get in the last word.
* * * *
On Friday, Brook’s office phone rang and she picked the receiver up. “This is Brook.”
“Brook, it’s Martha in Mr. Dryer’s office. He’d like to see you at two o’clock if you can clear your schedule.”
Her heart raced. She’d never been summoned to one of the partner’s offices before. If I can clear my schedule? What kind of a thing was that to say? When the boss called, a person answered or she might as well clock out and call it a day. “Of course I can. Two o’clock. Um, Martha? Did he mention what it was about?”
The secretary chuckled. “No, but he’s in a good mood, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” She hung up the phone and looked around. Twenty minutes. Just enough time to run up to Tucker’s office first and find out what he knew about it.
She told her supervisor where she was going then headed up on the elevator. Fiona was at her desk but Tucker’s office door was open and the light was off. “Hey, Fiona.” She tried to keep her tone easy-going.
“Oh, hi, Brook! What are you doing in this neck of the woods? Did he ask you for something and didn’t use proper channels again?”
“No, I, uh… Is he out?”
She glanced at the dark office and gave a little ‘duh’ shrug. “Yep. He was having a rough day, so he just decided to go. Everyone told him to take off. He shouldn’t have come in at all.”
“A rough day? Why?”
Fiona glanced around and lowered her voice. “Today’s the one year anniversary of his partner’s death. Mason Millbrook. He and Tucker were, you know…” She wagged her eyebrows.
Brook’s heart lurched. “Today? Oh my God. That means it’s Mason’s birthday.”
The secretary glanced at her suspiciously. “Did you know Mason?”
“No, I, uh…” Jesus, I’m stammering. “I heard about him. So sad.”
“It was awful. I’ll be glad to see this anniversary come and gone. He’s finally gotten over Mason, but today had to bring it all back. A shame, too. He’s seemed so much happier lately.”
“Wow. I hope he can get past this, then. Thanks, Fiona. Talk to you later.” Brook turned and hurried out. For some strange reason, her heart ached for what Tucker was going through. Gabe couldn’t have known that today was the anniversary or he might have suggested they get together tonight. A pang of guilt hit as she realized she hadn’t allowed much leeway for Gabe to suggest anything lately. She’d been calling the shots. A regular Mistress, she thought with a chuckle. The irony didn’t go unnoticed, and she was so busy hatching a plan that she forgot to be nervous about why William Dryer had summoned.
His secretary smiled when Brook entered the outer office. “Have a seat. He’ll be with you shortly.”
“Thanks.” The nerves returned, flitting like proverbial butterflies in the pit of her belly.
She didn’t have long to wait. His door opened and he stuck his head out. “Brooklyn? Come in please.”
Her step was hesitant, she did as requested. She didn’t realize her expression was so fearful, but when he sat and finally glanced at her he chuckled. “Relax. There’s nothing wrong. I just wanted to speak with you for a moment. Please have a seat.”
Only slightly relieved, she sat on the edge of the chair across from him.
“My son tells me you were on your way to becoming a lawyer when tough times hit. He said you had ‘amazing’ LSAT scores, so of course I had to look them up to see if he knew what he was talking about. He was right. The dean of the USC law school spoke very highly of you.”
Brook blinked. “You talked to the dean?”
He nodded. “At Tucker’s request. He wondered what we could do to help you finish school. I’ll give you a recommendation, of course, but you’ll still have to retake the LSATs, and your score will have to be damn good. You’ll need to write a paper about why you left and want to go back now. Having said all that, the dean admitted he saw no reason not to let you back in if those things were completed in a timely fashion.”
Her head spun. “I don’t know, sir. My husband owns a business now and we bought a house. It wouldn’t be easy for me to pick up and move.”
“Why would you have to move? The school is nearby.”
“And so are about a million law firms. Everyone who graduates from USC thinks they need to stay here. My odds of finding a job in the area would probably be slim.”
He extended his hands. “What’s wrong with Dryer and Stokes? If we put you through school, I’d think the least you could do was to come back and work for us. That’d be the plan, anyway.”
“Put me through? Are you serious?” Tears welled in her eyes and she dabbed her face furiously to stop them from overflowing.
“You didn’t know anything about this, did you? I’d assumed my son would have discussed it with you. It was all his idea, you know. Honestly, I’m not sure of his motives. If you were a man I’d have an idea, but the last time I checked he didn’t go for women.”
She jumped to her feet. “Don’t sell him short, sir. He’s a very well-rounded individual. Thank you so much for the offer. I’ll need to speak with my husband, but I’ll tell you right now I’m very interested.”
“Good.” He stood and extended a hand.
She shook it, and as she pulled back a thought occurred to her. “Sir, could you please tell me where Mason Millbrook is buried? I know today would have been his birthday. I thought I might leave him some flowers.”
Will’s face softened. “That’s very kind of you, Brook. He’s in Palisades Cemetery. Take the first two left turns, and Mason’s plot will be the fourth on your right.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Mr. Dryer will do, young lady. And thank you, for befriending Tucker. He’s been happier these past few weeks than he has in a very long time. I suspect you have something to do with that.”
She held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “A tiny bit, Mr. Dryer. But I know who’s really behind it. I’ll pass along your regards.” With a sincere smile, she hurried from his office straight into the elevator. Stopping on her floor only long enough to punch the time clock, Brook grabbed her purse and rushed out.
The closest grocery store had a floral department so she stopped there and made a couple of quick purchases before heading to Palisades. The directions were easy to follow, and as expected she spotted Tucker’s SUV parked close to Mason’s burial plot. She pulled in behind the Lincoln and gathered her purchases before heading out.
Tucker had removed his suit coat and sat on the ground next to the headstone, legs crossed, tie only slightly loosened. He glanced up when she approached. His eyes were red and damp. He looked away quickly and wiped his face. “What are you doing here?”
Brook placed the flowers in front of Mason’s headstone. “I wanted to bring him some flowers, from Gabe and me.”
He gazed at her with surprise.
She tossed a large bag of peanut M&M’s into his lap. “I got the biggest bag I could find. That’s the ‘party size’. You said Mason loved a good party.”
He stared at the bag and started to laugh. “A party? Sure, why not? Mason would have appreciated the gesture. He missed his last birthday party.” Tucker ripped the bag open and scooped out a handful, then extended the bag to her. “I’m only offering to share because it’s such a large bag. I’m usually not so generous.”
She kicked off her heels and knelt in the soft, green grass. Reaching for the bag, she poured out a few then set it down. �
�Yeah, Gabe told me you’re a big old pig when it comes to candy.”
“One of my vices.”
“One of them, I’ll buy that. I won’t buy the ‘you’re not usually generous’ business, though. It seems to me you’ve been nothing but generous to us since we’ve met you.”
He appeared sheepish. “Gabe told you about the truck?”
Brook choked on her candy. “What truck?”
“Fuck!” He looked at the ground.
She reached for the bag and started picking green candies out.
“No choosing all the greens,” he snapped.
Popping one in her mouth, she smiled. “You don’t believe the old myth about the green ones making people horny, do you?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m never not horny, so it’s pretty hard to tell.”
“Tucker.” She said his name seriously. “Did you buy Gabe a truck?”
He didn’t answer.
“And you asked your father to put me through law school, then give me a job when I graduate?”
That got his attention. “He talked to you already? I didn’t think he was going to. He was pretty enthused about your grades and scores. I think he really likes the idea.”
“I like the idea. I’m just not sure why you suggested it.”
He gazed at her with his head cocked. “You kidding? I’d do anything for you and Gabe.”
She popped another green candy into her mouth. “You’d do anything for Gabe, you mean. Me? I could fuck off and die, and it wouldn’t hurt your feelings any.”
“Not true. You’re important to Gabe. Gabe’s important to me. Therefore, you are also important to me.”
She looked down and tried to form coherent thoughts into sentences. “I get that. I’m just trying to make sure there really is a place for me with you and my husband. I’m terrified that I’m going to invest the best years of my life and one day hear him say he wants out. That he really only ever wanted you.”