Lucas gave Kirk an assessing look but then pulled out a card from his wallet and handed it to Kirk. “That has the home phone on it. Now, I’d better take Eej back to his room. He’s supposed to go to X-ray soon. Tobias, nice to meet you. You, too, Kirk.”
“Bye, Lucas.” Toby waved. They waited until Elijah and his brother turned the corner. Toby sighed. “What a dream.”
“He is really cute,” Kirk agreed. “I can’t wait to ask him out.”
“Not Elijah, Lucas.”
“Oh. Yeah. He is, too.”
Toby wheeled him down the hall toward the bank of elevators. “Too bad he’s taken. Just my luck.”
“What happened to Rick?”
“Went back to his ex. I seem to have that effect on lovers. Send them flying back to their formers.” Toby shrugged. “So, you’re going to ask Elijah out, huh? He seems sweet.”
Kirk smiled. “Yeah. Who knows? Now, hurry. I’m starving.”
Chapter 3
Elijah Cartwright sighed and hit the fast forward button on the DVR. He adored his brother, but damn his television show was lame. He’d never, ever admit that to Lucas, even under threat of torture.
He’d been home, rather at Lucas’s home, for weeks after the accident and he was so ready to go back to his own life. He had a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and he really hoped the doctor would say he could go back to his own apartment.
Elijah was not one of those types who couldn’t bear to be alone. For the most part, he was better company than most of the people he’d known. Definitely better to be alone than to date a bunch of bozos, which seemed to be his fate.
He got up from the couch, struggling a bit with his crutch, and while he still moved a bit slow, he thought he was healing pretty well and couldn’t imagine the doctor saying he needed Lucas’s help anymore. During his last appointment the cast had been removed and now he only had a leg brace to deal with.
Lucas’s show was on hiatus and wouldn’t return to filming new episodes for another month, which meant his older brother hovered over him like a blasted mother hen. If, in fact, his brother hadn’t run out to the store a while ago, he’d be yelling at Elijah for daring to get up and hobbling into the kitchen himself.
His brother’s big fluffy orange cat, Alfred, decided to join him, rubbing against Elijah’s legs while he opened the pantry to search for food.
“You want something, too, fur ball?”
The phone on the kitchen bar rang and Elijah debated whether to answer it. Usually it was someone for Lucas anyway. But at the last minute he reached for it.
“Hello.”
“May I speak with Elijah?”
“Speaking. Who is this?”
“It’s Kirk. Matheson.”
His day suddenly seeming much brighter, Elijah smiled. “Oh, hey. I was beginning to think you’d lost my number.”
“Yeah, sorry, I thought I should give you plenty of time to recover. Um, sorry.”
“It’s okay. At least you’re calling now.”
“How are you?”
“Pretty good. Got my stitches out a while ago. Arm’s all better. Basically the leg’s the only problem left and it’s much better. I’m hoping the doctor will give me the okay tomorrow to go back to my own place.”
Elijah removed a box of reduced-fat cheese crackers from the pantry as well as a little round container of crunchy cat treats in tuna flavor. Alfred had now begun to yowl noticing the cat treats.
“You are doing great, it sounds like.”
“Yeah, how about you?”
“Oh, I’m as good as new now. Listen, do you think if the doctor does let you go home you’d like to have dinner with me?”
Leaning down to pour treats into the cat’s dish, Elijah said, “Yeah, I’d love that.”
“Love what?” Lucas asked from the doorway of the kitchen, his arms full of grocery bags. His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing up off the couch?”
Elijah rolled his eyes and turned his back on his brother. “Can you call me tomorrow night on my cell?” He’d replaced the phone since it had been destroyed in the accident. “Say, um, like four or five? I should know by then.” He quickly gave Kirk his cell phone number.
“I definitely will. I can’t wait to see you, Elijah.”
He could hardly believe a hot guy like Kirk would be interested in a geek like him, but, well, maybe it was true that opposites attracted. “Me, too. Thanks, Kirk. Bye.”
When he turned back, Lucas had put the bags on the counter and was emptying them.
“That the guy from the bus?”
“Yeah, he wants me to go to dinner with him.”
Lucas crouched and rubbed behind Alfred’s ears. “Do you think that’s wise?”
Elijah frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Your leg.”
“First, it’s healing nicely enough that I’m only using a brace now, and I’m hoping the doctor says I can go back to my place.”
“There’s no reason to rush things, Eej.”
“Second, it’s dinner, Lucas. I think my leg can survive that.”
Lucas rose and put a gallon of milk in the fridge. “How do you know it’s just dinner? This guy might be expecting you to put out.”
“Put out? What are we in the fifties?”
“You know what I mean. He might be expecting sex out of you. Having rescued you and all that. Want me to check him out?”
“Huh?”
Lucas smiled. “I know a great private investigator. I can check him out.”
“No. Man, are you crazy? This is the first normal guy I’ve had interested me in a long time. You are not going to ruin it by getting some thug to dig up dirt on him.”
“Not a thug, little brother. Just a private eye.”
“Whatever. This isn’t your television show, Lucas. I don’t need you to protect me and scare off Kirk.”
His brother sighed. “All right, but I still think it’s too soon after your accident.”
“Duly noted,” Elijah said dryly.
“And ignored.”
“Yep.” He grabbed his bowl of cheese crackers and made his way awkwardly to the living room, Lucas on his heels, offering to help.
Going home couldn’t be soon enough.
* * * *
“I still say you should hang around my house for another couple of weeks at least. Maybe even until you go back to work,” Lucas said as they got into his car after Elijah’s doctor’s appointment the next day. “Or I do.”
“The doctor said there was no need and that I should start putting weight on it. Lucas, I love you for helping me for all this time after the accident, but I have to start doing for myself again. The only way that’s going to happen is if I go back to my apartment. Now, it’s fine. It’s on the ground level so there aren’t any stairs. It’ll be okay. I will.”
Lucas grimaced as he pulled out of the parking lot of the medical group. “I think maybe you should just move in with me permanently anyway.”
“What? Why?”
“We’re both single. I’m making a lot of money with the show. You could work from home or something, have the house to yourself whenever you wanted it. It would keep us both from being lonely.”
Elijah snorted. “You’re hardly lonely. You’ve got people knocking on your door at all times. You have a girlfriend, fans. And anyway, what happens if you get married and have a family? What do I become? Weird Uncle Elijah?”
“Married? I’m hardly ready for that. If I ever will be.”
“I thought you and Melissa had a good thing.”
“We do.” Lucas shook his head. “I’m just…I haven’t decided I want to settle down with a woman rather than a man or vice versa, really.”
“Okay, makes sense. But my point is, whether it’s with Melissa or with a guy or some other woman, eventually you’ll want a long-term thing with someone and three’s a drag. Same with me, Lucas. I want to find someone, too.”
“This Kirk guy?”
&nb
sp; He shrugged. “Maybe, I don’t know. I just hope he’s not like the last guy I went out with.”
“Geeky?”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “No. Jerry was more interested in you than in me. I think his sole purpose in dating me was to meet my famous actor brother.”
Lucas smiled. “You think I’m famous?”
All actors had egos, Elijah reminded himself. As much as he loved his brother, Lucas was no different. He’d seen him preening in front of the mirror one too many times not to know.
“Yes, Lucas. Didn’t they know you at the hospital?”
“They did.” Lucas sat up straighter in the driver’s seat.
Holding back a sigh, Elijah shifted his leg in the car to be more comfortable. “The point is, I don’t want a Lucas groupie.”
“I could still have him checked out.”
“I told you no. I get the protective big brother act—”
“It’s not an act.” Lucas scowled.
“I know. Just, let me handle this my own way, okay?”
“All right, all right. I guess we’ll go get your stuff and move you back to your apartment. Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.” Elijah glanced at the digital clock on his brother’s car. It had taken longer at the doctor’s than he thought it would and it was already close to four-thirty. So far his cell phone hadn’t rung. It was true he’d told Kirk four or five, but he wished the man would call already. If he hadn’t changed his mind.
Lucas, the mind reader, smiled. “He’ll call.”
“Maybe.”
“He will. I saw the way he looked at you at the hospital.”
Elijah chucked. “Really? I thought the only thing you noticed was Kirk’s friend.”
Lucas nodded. “That guy was seriously hot.”
“He definitely thought you were. But you’re with Melissa.” His phone vibrated to life, followed by his ringtone. His face flaming at his brother’s knowing look, Elijah answered, “Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Kirk.”
“Hey.” His stomach fluttered with a thousand butterflies.
“What did the doctor say?”
“I’m going home.”
“That’s terrific. Then, you can have dinner with me?”
“I’m having my brother move me back tonight, can we do it another night?”
Kirk laughed. “Oh, definitely. I didn’t mean tonight.”
Elijah felt a bit silly for thinking Kirk couldn’t wait to see him that badly, but he covered his embarrassment by clearing his throat. “Uh, great.”
“I’ll give you a couple of days to settle in and then give you a call.”
And just like that, Elijah was certain he’d never hear from Kirk again. Call it a hunch, but he felt it in his gut. It was a sort of brush off. Had to be. Elijah didn’t have good luck with men. Most barely noticed him. “That’s cool, Kirk. Thanks. Uh, talk later.”
Elijah sighed after disconnecting and leaned back against the car seat.
“What?” Lucas asked, glancing his way curiously.
He shrugged. “Just got the vibes.”
“The vibes?”
“The I’m not as interested in you as I thought vibes. Trust me, I’ve gotten them often enough to know.”
“Well, if that is the case, his loss.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Depressed at his lack of prospects, Elijah let the conversation lapse. The last time he’d had sex was with Jerry, and to say it had been less than thrilling would be an understatement. As soon as Jerry pulled out, he’d brought up Lucas again. Which had pretty much rung the death toll on that relationship for Elijah. Clueless Jerry had continued to call him a couple of times after that, but eventually he got the message.
Was it too much to expect a guy to like him and be attracted to him for himself? Was he really that much of a dork?
Don’t answer that.
Because really, Elijah guessed, he really was that much of a dork.
* * * *
Three days after moving back to his own apartment, Elijah sat at his computer playing a video game. He didn’t have to return to work for a couple of more weeks, so he found himself rather bored most of the time. At least at his brother’s there was someone to talk to even if it was a mother hen.
After exhausting his choices for daytime television earlier in his convalescence, Elijah found himself almost every day playing a game with the online community.
Shaking his head at just how pathetic he actually was, he clicked out of the game, and hobbled into his kitchen. At least he could walk around his apartment without the crutch now.
His phone, which he’d left on the kitchen bar, began to buzz and shake.
“Not again,” Elijah muttered. Must be time for Lucas to check on him. He reached across the sink to the bar and grabbed it up. “I’m just fine, okay?”
“Glad to hear it.”
Oh. Oh, crap. Not his brother. At least Kirk had sounded amused.
Clearing his throat, Elijah tried again. “Um, Kirk?”
“Yes. Expecting someone else?”
“I thought you were Lucas. Sorry. How are you?” Truthfully, he didn’t even know how to react. Considering he hadn’t expected Kirk to call. At all.
“Good. I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me.”
“Still?”
“Excuse me?”
Crap, he’d said that out loud. Geez, he was an idiot. “I mean…I don’t know what I mean. Exactly.”
“All right.” Kirk had dragged out the word, as though he thought maybe he’d dialed a lunatic. Elijah thought maybe he was. “Do you want to have dinner with me?”
“When? Like next week?”
“I was thinking more like tonight, if you’re free.”
Let me check my social calendar. Elijah rolled his eyes at himself. Yeah right.
“Yes, I am.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at six-thirty. Give me your address,” Kirk said.
Elijah provided his address and his stomach had already begun to tie in knots. What if he said or did something stupid? What was he thinking? He probably would. It was almost a given. God, how was he supposed to dress?
“Should I wear clothes?” Elijah clapped his hand over his mouth. “I mean—”
Kirk chuckled. “Well, as much as I’d like to see you naked, yeah, I’m sure the restaurant requires clothes.”
Just die of shame now.
“I meant, what kind of clothes should I wear?” In his head he ran a litany of idiot, idiot, idiot.
“Casual will be fine, Elijah. I can’t wait to see you. See you tonight. Bye.”
“Bye.”
His appetite gone for whatever he’d been seeking when he entered his kitchen, Elijah made his way out of his kitchen and down the short hallway to the one and only bedroom in his small apartment. Casual. Well, that was vague enough.
Opening his closet, Elijah stared at his clothes. He couldn’t help but think they belonged as an advertisement for a store called Geeks R Us.
Fantastic, Elijah thought, eyeing the slacks and shirts balefully. He would have to call Lucas to help him pick out something that didn’t completely scream…nerd.
Chapter 4
“All right, so show me what you’re thinking of wearing,” Lucas said, lounging against the headboard of Elijah’s double bed. Lucas’s long legs barely fit across the bed.
Elijah bit his lip and dug into his closet. He pulled out white linen slacks, a light blue T-shirt, and a white linen jacket. “How’s this?”
Lucas nodded. “Sure, that’s great.”
Elijah grinned. It had been easier than he thought.
“If you’re Don Johnson in Miami Vice.”
His pleasure faded. “What?”
Raising an eyebrow, Lucas shrugged. “I feel like Clinton on What Not to Wear.”
“Yeah, well I’m not getting in front of the three-sixty mirror so forget it.”
His brother chuckled. “Dump that, Eej
. Next.”
He pulled out a long-sleeved red shirt trimmed with a white collar. “How about—”
“No way. You’d look like Gilligan.”
Elijah decided Lucas was just too obsessed with television. Grimacing, he removed another shirt. And another. And another. His brother swiftly rejected each one.
“Fine, but now I don’t have any shirts at all to wear. You didn’t like any of them.”
Lucas nodded. “Right, but you’re in luck, little bro. I brought you something to wear.”
“If you haven’t noticed, Lucas, you’re taller and thicker than me.”
“Thick?’ Lucas rose from the bed and went to look at himself in the mirror on Elijah’s bathroom door. “You think I’m fat? Should I hire a personal trainer?”
He sighed. “Not fat, I mean more muscular.”
“You said thick.”
“Can this be about me? What clothes did you bring?”
Lucas glared and stepped away from the mirror. “I didn’t bring you my clothes. I stopped at the store on the way over and bought stuff in your size.” He grabbed up a plastic bag from a department store and handed it to Elijah.
Elijah peeked inside and pulled out jeans, a navy buttoned-down long-sleeved shirt, and a leather bomber jacket. “Wasn’t this expensive?”
His brother shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, even still, why’d you make me go through all that if you bought me these to wear?”
“Just wanted to see what you had to work with.”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “Even if I wear this on the first date, what if there’s a second date? I can’t wear the same clothes every time.”
“Well, we’ll go shopping if you get a second date,” Lucas said. “But this will get you through the first one. Now, it’s five-thirty already so in the shower with you and get ready. Need help with your leg brace?”
“No. You…out. No offense, but I don’t want my older brother here when he arrives.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m leaving. Have a great time.”
* * * *
When six-thirty came and went, Elijah tried to push aside the slight sense of panic. Kirk could just be one of those people who were habitually late. Although, he had always made the bus with plenty of time to spare. Anyway, it was silly to freak out so early.
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