Plaid versus Paisley

by KC Burn

  Careful not to disturb anything, Dallas inspected the chaos of Will’s desk. Like he was defusing a bomb, he lifted a pile of paper, searching for a picture. Since Will hadn’t been his immediate superior at Savron Dynamics, Dallas had never been in Will’s office, and he didn’t know if Will kept a picture of Jesse at his desk. Maybe he never had at Savron Dynamics. Will hadn’t been in the closet, but he’d been incredibly discreet, and Dallas would bet his life savings—which at the moment totaled less than fifty bucks—that there were people in their department who believed Jesse was a woman.

  Dallas lifted his head and cocked an ear toward the door. Was that someone coming along the corridor? Would he even be able to hear anyone approach? His pulse raced, just a bit faster, but curiosity drove him harder than any worry about getting caught with his fingers on Will’s rabidly guarded desk.

  In light of Will’s prickly welcome, Dallas was playing with fire, but he wanted to know if Will and Jesse were still together. Had they moved down to Florida as a couple? Or was Will involved with someone else? Not that Will had given any indication he’d noticed Dallas in that light, either two years ago or yesterday, but dreaming about Will had been one of the only things that had gotten him through some very tough times, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever fully relinquish those dreams.

  Dallas got lost in sifting through the paper bomb on Will’s desk, but he couldn’t find anything of a personal nature. Which proved nothing, unfortunately.

  The door burst open, hitting the wall with a bang. Dallas’s hands opened in reflex, sending a cascade of paper to the floor. His heart rate rocketed as his attempts to stem the tide only made things worse.

  “Oh shit.”

  Dallas let himself breathe as he realized it was only Kyle, although his fingers trembled a bit from the sudden rush of adrenaline. “Oh my God. I thought you were Will.”

  One of Kyle’s eyebrows rose. “Good thing I’m not, but he’ll still have a shit fit once he notices.”

  “How would he possibly notice?” Dallas gathered up the papers on the floor and arranged them back on the desk as close to their original configuration as he could. There wasn’t any sort of filing system or organization that he could see from his cursory examination. “Are these even in any sort of order?”

  Kyle just shrugged and slung his backpack on the floor under his desk. “Not that I’ve seen, but he usually can find what he’s looking for. Eventually. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when he gets in.”

  Dallas grimaced. That didn’t sound promising, and he hadn’t even found out the answer to his question. Having spent so much time hiding his orientation from his parents and engaging in a clandestine relationship with a deeply closeted man, it wasn’t in his nature to ask anyone about Will’s love life, even if that would be the easiest route. Besides, Will surely wouldn’t be pleased if he found out Dallas was prying. He’d just have to keep his eyes and ears open.

  Dallas slid into his chair beside Kyle. Even if he couldn’t bring himself to ask questions about Will’s love life, there were other, legitimate questions he could ask. Any little bit of information about his new employment situation would be valuable.

  “Is it always like this around here?”

  Kyle’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he logged in and opened up the Help in-box for the Idyll Fling site. “Yeah, I guess. I do my work, and then I can do whatever I like until it’s time to leave.”

  Dallas frowned. From what Stefan had told him, Will had to be drowning. Not that Stefan had a clear idea of the true labor requirements his operation needed, but he’d described the proposed operation to bring everything in-house. The very fact Stefan couldn’t give him hard numbers on any sort of analytics told him Will was letting nonessentials slide. By rights, both he and Kyle ought to be run off their feet, but Kyle made it sound like he didn’t even have enough work to even fill his part-time hours.

  Dallas had learned the hard way it couldn’t all be done by one man, but he was concerned that Will seemed to be attempting just that. He truly hoped he was mistaken, but he suspected one major denial-of-service attack, one virus slipping through the cracks, or one catastrophic server failure would bring this house of cards down, and Stefan didn’t have a clue.

  But going over Will’s head to tell Stefan how precarious the situation might be would only make Will angrier and less likely to accept Dallas’s help.

  If he’d been thrown a challenge like this at Savron Dynamics, he’d already be feeling that telltale tightness in his shoulders and jaw, foretelling an oncoming tension migraine, accompanied by dread that he’d have to work through the pain, work through the exhaustion.

  Maybe it was the change in venue, or maybe it was just the chance to get Will to notice him, see him for the first time, but he was invigorated. Eager to prove himself. Sure, he had another week or three of part-time hours, but surely even that would be enough to lighten Will’s workload and convince him that Dallas made a valuable coworker. Getting Will to notice him as a person, and maybe as a potential lover, well… that was a challenge for later. After he figured out if Jesse had relocated with Will.

  Dallas returned his attention to Kyle and watched what he was doing. He asked a few questions, and while the tasks were ones that had to be done, Will had obviously given Kyle nothing more than busy work. Which was more than Dallas had at the moment, but Will had better not think he could pawn off that stuff on Dallas.

  “Oh, by the way, it really pisses Will off if he catches you watching videos while you’re on the job, so just be careful about that,” Kyle said.

  “Videos?” With as much downtime as Kyle indicated he’d have, surely Will couldn’t care about killing time by watching cats being chased by vacuums or whatever.

  Kyle laughed. “Oh, yeah. Didn’t Stefan tell you? We all get a free subscription to the site. Best thing about working here. I’ve never watched so much porn in my life.”

  Blood rushed to Dallas’s cheeks, heating them. God, he could be so fucking naïve sometimes. But in this case, he couldn’t fault Will for getting pissy. Watching porn on company time, even if the company was an adult-film website, seemed a little beyond the pale. And not only that….

  “You watch porn in here? Like, while Will’s in here working too?” From what little Dallas had seen, Will didn’t spend all that much time in the server room, but he’d yet to determine if that was because of Dallas’s presence or if it was status quo.

  “Bit of a prude, are you?” Kyle wasn’t more than a few years younger than Dallas—maybe even only one or two—but his tone of voice made Dallas feel like someone’s elderly maiden aunt. “Wrong place to be working, maybe. Seen any of the filming yet?”

  “Uh, no.” Kyle had said yesterday that he’d watched, but surely they couldn’t just wander by and see… things.

  “Right. Guess you didn’t get the good tour. We’ll do that later this week.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Dallas didn’t want to shoot down Kyle, who might well be an ally in this job—he couldn’t rely on Stefan to fight his battles—but he was a little terrified about what Kyle considered a “good” tour. Especially since he didn’t seem to have any qualms about watching porn in the office while sharing a room with his boss. Compared to that, Dallas was someone’s maiden aunt.

  ON THURSDAY morning Will took a deep breath and walked into the Idyll Fling studios, soaked to the skin. After living for two years in Orlando and enduring the plentiful torrential tropical storms during hurricane season, remembering an umbrella shouldn’t be so fucking difficult. But work was stressful at the best of times, and this week was hardly the best of times, thanks to the unwelcome presence of his new employee. His recent distraction was another fault he could lay at Dallas’s feet.

  He’d successfully avoided Dallas for the past two days, and he planned to do so again today, if the fates were kind. Even better, Dallas might not be around. Kyle worked part-time too, and he worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Will hadn’t spoken t
o Dallas long enough to find out what schedule Stefan had put him on, and he had no idea if Dallas was going to work a similar schedule or if he was going to come in a few hours five days a week.

  “Good morning, Will.”

  He grunted an approximation of a greeting. Normally he appreciated Joanie’s cheerfulness, but this past week it had grated on him, aggravating the wound Stefan had caused by hiring Will’s nemesis.

  “Dallas’s computer came this morning.” She waved a slim laptop box, and suddenly Will’s day looked as bleak as the weather outside. “He was thrilled. I think he’s eager to be a part of the team.”

  Eager to be part of the team? Yeah, right. He also didn’t know why Joanie insisted on using so much corporate-speak. Idyll Fling was hardly a typical company, something Will hadn’t known he’d be grateful for until he ended up here.

  Fuck. Kyle wasn’t here and wouldn’t be until Monday. And according to Joanie, Dallas was here today. There was virtually no way Will could avoid Dallas. Will hadn’t been the best of managers so far, but he hadn’t done anything overtly negligent. Not setting up Dallas’s computer when Dallas already knew it was here? That would probably send Dallas straight to Stefan. Stefan was the world’s most laid-back boss, but he had standards, and Will wasn’t willing to cross them. Despite Will’s position becoming more precarious with the arrival of Dallas the Usurper, he didn’t want to make it easy for Stefan to fire him. This time, he was wise to Dallas’s ways. This time would be different. It had to be. Because he liked this job. He liked his boss. He liked the friends he’d made. Sure, he was busier than he’d ever been in his life, but that only meant job security, right?

  “Thanks, Joanie.” Will didn’t succeed at all in sounding cheery, as evidenced by Joanie’s quizzical look, but he just couldn’t focus on anything but his dripping hair and how he was going to deal with Dallas. He snatched up the box, ran a hand through his drenched hair, and sighed. Thursday. Surely he could get through the rest of the week without breaking.

  A few minutes later, Will stood outside the server room. For two years it had been his sanctuary. Kyle was barely a blip on his radar. But since Monday, it had become something else. Tainted. Uncomfortable. But he’d played the avoidance game as long as he legitimately could.

  He opened the door and Dallas turned toward him.

  Looking at Dallas, really looking at him, for the first time since he arrived, rocked Will. The guy was thinner than Will remembered, those cheekbones more prominent, skin paler. But still stunning. He could easily picture Dallas on a fashion runway somewhere. Dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and sort of a classic Superman look going on, except skinnier.

  Dallas had obviously not been caught in the rain, since he could model the suit he was wearing. Obnoxious little fucker. He’d worn suits back at Savron Dynamic too, but there it hadn’t been out of place. The tech departments weren’t quite as strict with appearance, but even Will had had to wear a tie. Very few of the people in his department wore suits, and when he moved to Orlando, he’d metaphorically burned his ties and invested in a ton of cargo shorts, pants, superhero T-shirts, and Vans. He had never been more comfortable. Today being the exception, with his hair sending chilly rivulets down his neck, the cold air of the server room making him even colder, something he’d rarely experienced since he’d moved.

  “Good morning.” Dallas smiled at him, then wrinkled his nose. “Get caught in the rain?”

  Will concentrated on not growling. Raindrops probably diverted course on purpose so as to not mar Dallas’s poised perfection. Bastard. On the rare day Will made an effort to look his best, Dallas was still out of his league. Today, standing in Dallas’s pristine presence, Will felt like a drowned urchin.

  “Great observation skills, Greene.”

  Dallas flushed and looked away, making Will feel like shit. He didn’t want Dallas here, that was for sure, but he didn’t have to be mean about it.

  Will slung the laptop box on his desk. “I’m going to go grab a towel, see if one of the guys has a spare T-shirt. Then I’ll set up your computer.”

  “Where are you going to get a towel?”

  This time, Will didn’t even try to stop the eye roll. “Not all businesses have a budget line for laundry, but we do. Lots of sex happens here. The facilities by the sets are as fully equipped as a gym locker room, complete with showers. Towels aren’t hard to come by.”

  The pink in Dallas’s cheeks deepened. Will didn’t know if it was his caustic tone or the reminder of gay sex that had Dallas blushing so fiercely. Sexual orientation should never matter when it came to hiring, but he’d never have imagined a straight man would even consider, much less accept, a position with a gay adult-film studio, unless he was doing “gay for pay” in front of the camera. He’d had a number of fantasies where Dallas wasn’t straight, but that didn’t change the fact Will never saw a hint of queer in him, and he’d been looking harder than he should have, considering he’d had a boyfriend back then.

  “Okay. Right.” Dallas cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll be waiting.”

  Accommodating and enthusiastic—Dallas sure knew how to play the game, but Will wasn’t buying it. He didn’t know why Dallas had seen fit to follow him to Orlando—he’d had three days to think about it, and the coincidence was hard to swallow—but he wasn’t accepting this eager-worker routine.

  Without another word, Will left in search of clothes.

  BETWEEN FEELING like a waterlogged wreck and battling an unwelcome erection from the scent of Dallas’s aftershave, getting Dallas’s laptop configured had been pure fucking hell. After an eternity Will slumped gratefully at his own desk, leaving Dallas to wade through the work Will had assigned.

  What had he been thinking? Avoiding Dallas during the early part of the week had been stupid. Sure, he’d arranged for contractors to come in and give estimates for the work to reconfigure for his new team. But now he didn’t have the excuse of contractors, and his knee-jerk reaction to avoid Dallas earlier in the week left him in the server room without Kyle as a buffer. If he’d taken a moment to consider the ramifications, he’d have postponed measurements and calling contractors and vendors until today.

  Now he was stuck. In the same room, with nothing more than his wavering willpower keeping him from staring at the compelling beauty of his most hated nemesis.

  It had been bad enough when they’d both been working at Savron Dynamics. Will’s direct reports had thought he’d been testing out some new management technique, when all he’d been doing was finding more and more flimsy excuses to leave his office in order to catch a glimpse of Dallas.

  Guilt over the fantasies he’d had for a much younger employee had been compounded by the deleterious affect it had on his shaky relationship with Jesse. Will’s infatuation with Dallas had left him less invested in fixing things with his boyfriend, and getting laid off had pretty much been the last straw. It had been easy to blame Dallas’s role in losing his job for wrecking his relationship, but sitting just a few feet away from a suit-porn fantasy—and Will had seen a number of actual suited hotties making porn here on set—forced him to admit he’d been deluding himself.

  Somehow, he was supposed to work with a possible stalker he despised as a conniving ass-kisser, and yet he wanted the man in bed so bad he was half-hard while trying to reconcile the last round of invoices with his budget.

  Why didn’t his stupid cock realize Dallas only wanted to screw him out of another goddamned job?

  “Why are you wearing a suit?” Will’s voice cracked the silence, making Dallas jump.

  “Uh, well, dress for the job you want, right?”

  Will lifted an eyebrow. Based on that “logic,” Dallas must want a job at a different company because not even Stefan, the CEO, wore suits. The only suits Will had seen around Idyll Fling showed up when the guys were filming some sort of office or professor porn.

  Judging by the sudden—attractive, damn it—flush on Dallas’s too-thin cheeks, he was well aware
that his answer was silly.

  “You do realize this is Florida, right?” And Will couldn’t stop himself from sounding like a petulant teenager.

  “People in Florida wear suits.” Dallas’s chin firmed mutinously.

  He wasn’t wrong, but shit, why would anyone bother if they didn’t have to? Some days, Will could barely even stand the T-shirts and cargo shorts. The apartment back in Connecticut he’d shared with Jesse had only had two window A/C units; he’d thought central air in his apartment in Florida was overkill. Until he realized Florida only had one cool month—January. The continuously high daily temperatures and humidity had him rapidly revising his opinion. Central air was clearly the most important feature of any lodging in Florida.

  Nevertheless, Will ought to stop acting like someone cruising for a Human Resources violation. Even if those suits made Dallas look delicious, he hated the purple paisley tie. In fact, he seemed to recall a number of paisley ties Dallas had worn in the past. He’d thought them cute back then. Now he just wanted to rip the damn thing off.

  His traitorous mind didn’t stop there, and showed him a tousled Dallas, tie gone, jacket gone, shirt gaping open, lips puffy and moist like he’d either been engaged in a marathon make-out session or had been giving someone—Will—a thorough blow job. A throb from his groin reminded him how utterly inappropriate such thoughts were, and he turned back to his work. “Wear what you want,” he muttered, unable to control the schoolyard impulse to get in the last word.

  It took several minutes before Will could actually concentrate on his job and not on his hard cock that wanted him to act even more inappropriately.

  “Will, can you help me out with this?”

  With a supreme effort, Will didn’t let his head drop down onto his desk in exasperation. The ache in his groin had just subsided, and he’d almost forgotten he wasn’t alone in his server sanctuary.