Following Gannon outside, Cam managed to pull his eyes away from the long, lean lines of his impressive body long enough to take in the view. “Very nice,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.
“Me? Or the view?” Gannon teased.
Cam rolled his eyes, smiling. “The view, of course.”
“Of course.”
And what a view it was. The scene before him wasn’t exactly what he’d imagined, but fairly close. High up on a cliff, Gannon’s house was surrounded by massive trees that opened up enough to give an impressive view of Lake Travis far below. There were no neighbors on either side, nor anywhere below that he could tell. It was secluded and private, and based on the comfortable furniture, this was clearly a place Gannon spent some time.
Cam could imagine sitting out on the rustic deck, drinking coffee, and watching the morning sun peek over the horizon.
And he could imagine doing it with Gannon.
“Tell me somethin’,” Cam said, sliding a sideways glance at Gannon. “If you’re this close to Lake Travis, what took you all the way out to Buchanan?”
“Travis is down a little, so it gets crowded. Or so I was told.”
“Not much of a water guy, huh?”
“No,” Gannon said simply.
Cam nodded, surveying the beautiful expanse of water laid out before him. That explained why Gannon had a view when Cam would’ve preferred a house on the water.
“What do you think?” Gannon asked, coming to stand next to him.
“Eh,” he said teasingly. “It’s all right.”
Gannon laughed, bumping Cam’s shoulder with his own. “Looks like I’m gonna have to ramp up my game if I hope to impress you, huh?”
Cam smiled to himself. Little did Gannon know, but he was already impressed. More so than he wanted to be.
“So, how long have you been in the area?” Gannon asked. “From what I gather, I’d say you’ve been here your whole life.”
Cam turned around to face Gannon, leaning back against the railing. “What gives you that impression?”
“You’ve just got that vibe,” Gannon said with a teasing smirk.
“What vibe is that?”
“The keep Austin weird thing.”
“That right?” Cam smiled. “Or did you read up about me on the website?”
“I plead the fifth,” Gannon answered, tilting his beer to his lips.
Enjoying the playful banter, Cam dropped his eyes to the deck floor. “Yeah, I’ve been here my whole life. Couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”
“And how many years would that be?”
“Subtle, Gannon. Very subtle.”
“I thought so.”
Lifting his gaze to meet Gannon’s, Cam saw the not-so-subtle glimmer of curiosity. “Thirty-two.”
“Well, I don’t feel old now.” Gannon’s eyes slid away, his attention focused on the water below.
“Old?” Cam figured Gannon was close to Teague’s age, though he wasn’t positive.
Gannon lifted his eyebrows as though waiting for Cam to continue, so he did.
“Fine, I’ll take a stab at your age,” Cam said lightheartedly, wanting to draw Gannon back in. He liked the way the man looked at him, as though he wanted to figure out every little nuance. The feeling was mutual, because Cam wanted to know what made Gannon tick, what had driven him to become one of the most successful video game developers in the nation, possibly the world.
And yes, Cam had done a little digging of his own.
“Careful,” Gannon said, his gaze sliding back up to rest on Cam’s face.
“Sensitive about your age?” Cam joked. “Well, I’d say you’re in pretty good shape, which probably hides a few years.”
Gannon laughed. “Go on.”
“And you’ve got the air of success that seems to come with age and wisdom.”
“Is that right?”
That absolutely fucking adorable dimple formed in Gannon’s left cheek, and Cam was suddenly riveted by it. “Only none of that matches up with the baby face. You still get carded for alcohol, don’t you?”
Cam loved the way Gannon blushed, his eyes darting away quickly.
“Yep,” Cam continued, “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re closer to twenty than you are to thirty.”
“Wrong. But because you tried hard, you earn a participation medal, but that’s about it.”
Cam chuckled, once again transfixed on Gannon’s handsome face. He was tempted to reach up and brush the lock of dark hair from Gannon’s forehead, see if the strands were as soft as they looked. “I’m more of a first place kinda guy,” he told him.
“I get that about you.”
“Am I close?”
“On my age?” Gannon shook his head. “Try closer to forty than thirty.”
Cam couldn’t hide his surprise. Since the first time he’d laid eyes on Gannon, he’d thought he was in his twenties. Definitely thought Gannon was younger than him.
“I like that look on you,” Gannon said with a grin. “I’m told I look a lot younger than I am.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. How old are you?” Cam was too curious now.
“Try thirty-six.”
Thirty-six? Huh. He would’ve never guessed.
And oddly, that made Gannon even more appealing.
“How long have you lived here?” Cam inquired, curious to know more about this man with the nice house, impressive view, and more than kissable lips.
“Here? As in the house? Or here, as in Austin?”
“Both.”
“I moved to Austin eleven years ago, right after I got my company off the ground. Bought the house three years ago,” Gannon answered, glancing down at his watch. “Dinner’s about ready. Hungry?”
Starving, but not for food, Cam thought. “Sure.”
When Gannon turned to go inside, Cam followed, grinning to himself. He’d expected an awkward tension to have enveloped him by now. That was the way things normally went for him. Most of the time, it was his own fault because he’d gotten used to keeping himself distanced out of habit. Although he’d been on a few dates in the last couple of years, he’d yet to find someone he felt comfortable around. And strangely, despite the fact he and Gannon were definite opposites, and there was the whole long-distance thing, there was something about him that Cam connected with.
“Have a seat.” Gannon motioned toward the table in the small breakfast nook.
Cam knew he should’ve offered to help but worried he wouldn’t be able to focus enough to provide assistance. He was too busy staring at Gannon, taking in every inch of him. Lean and trim, it was evident Gannon took good care of himself. Unlike the clothes he’d had on that morning, the jeans he wore looked well-worn and soft, the black polo as well. But regardless of how he outfitted himself, there was an air of confidence to Gannon that said he was comfortable in his own skin.
Cam liked that about him. It was sexy.
“Do you cook?” Gannon asked Cam as he brought in a casserole dish.
“Only if I have to,” he admitted. “If you’re asking whether I know how, then yes. I can make enough to get by.”
The deep rumble of Gannon’s laughter echoed in the small space. “Are we talkin’ Pop Tarts and chicken noodle soup from a can?”
“Maybe.” Cam wasn’t much of a cook, no, but cooking for one had never appealed to him. He didn’t care for fast food like Dare and Teague, so he had learned to make a few things over the years.
“Hope you like lasagna,” Gannon said when he returned, this time carrying two wineglasses and a bottle.
“Depends.” Cam met Gannon’s gaze. “Did it come from the freezer section?”
“Not this time. I knew Stouffers wouldn’t impress you on a first date, so I pulled out all the stops.”
“Smart man.”
Smart and irresistible. Two things Cam figured he’d be hard-pressed to resist.
Although he wasn’t sure he even wanted to anymore.
“
You said you spent most of your time in the water,” Gannon mentioned as they dug into the lasagna and garlic bread he’d made after pulling up a recipe online. “Is that all you do for fun?”
“I’m sure there’re other things.” Cam looked up at him, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “But not many.”
“You have family here?”
Cam nodded, picking up his fork again. “One sister, she’s younger. My dad’s got a place on the lake, close to the marina.”
“And your mom?” Gannon prompted.
He regretted the question when he noticed the sadness reflected in Cam’s gaze.
“She died sixteen years ago. Brain aneurysm.”
“I’m sorry,” Gannon mumbled, wishing Cam would elaborate. It was obvious his mother’s death hadn’t been easy on him, and even all these years later, he was still dealing with it.
Cam’s eyes dropped back to his plate.
Realizing it was a sensitive subject, Gannon redirected. “And your dad and sister? You see them often?”
Cam’s face seemed to soften somewhat. “My sister, Holly, and her husband, Keith, work at the marina. Dad’s a retired police officer.”
Gannon took a bite, gave Cam a few minutes to eat as well. He didn’t want to drill him with questions, but there were so many things he wanted to know about him.
“What about you?” Cam asked, using his fork to point at Gannon. “Family here?”
“No,” Gannon said simply. He knew he should elaborate, but telling Cam that his parents, along with his straight-laced older brother, had disowned him years ago would only put a damper on the mood, and that was the last thing he wanted.
“There’s a story there,” Cam concluded, his gaze lingering on Gannon’s face.
“There is,” he admitted. “But not one that’s worthy of a first date.”
Cam appeared to understand, or so it seemed, when he nodded his head and returned his attention to his food.
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Cam suddenly asked, his blue eyes glittering with interest.
“I started my own business.”
“Not crazy, Gannon.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. It might not be crazy to Cam, but for Gannon, it was. “I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Then, when I was in high school, one year I wanted to be a chemist, another year I wanted to be a physicist.”
Cam’s grin widened as he took a sip from his wine glass. “I can see that.”
“Can you now?”
“Yeah.” The honesty in Cam’s tone made Gannon relax again. “You’re buttoned up pretty tight there.”
“Is that code for nerdy?” Gannon laughed.
Cam laughed. “Maybe.”
“And you like it?” Gannon prompted.
“What? The nerdy thing?” Cam nodded. “Yeah, it kinda suits you. So how’d you get into software design?”
“Fluke,” Gannon admitted. “In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve been a geek most of my life. Logged many hours playing computer games.”
Cam’s laugh released the last of the tension that had knotted in his chest when they’d gotten on the subject of family.
“Find that funny, do you?”
“A little bit, yeah. But I can totally see it.”
“It’s the glasses,” Gannon told him.
Cam’s nose twitched, as though he were considering it. “Nah, the glasses are hot.”
Gannon’s face heated, and he looked down at his plate, ignoring the crazy eruption that occurred in his stomach.
Cam’s rough chuckle had him looking back up at him. Gannon grinned back. Lifting his wineglass to his lips, he watched Cam. “And you were a jock, I take it?”
“Definitely. Football mostly, but I played baseball for a few years.”
“I can totally see that,” Gannon said, throwing Cam’s words back at him.
“Safe to say I would’ve picked on you in high school,” Cam told him. “Or at the least, had you do my homework for me.”
“Possibly,” Gannon acknowledged.
“So were you a gamer like the guys who work for you?”
“Hard-core. Didn’t even get my driver’s license until after I graduated from high school. Had no need for it before then.” Gannon didn’t bother to tell Cam that he’d lived with a friend from the time he was sixteen until he’d graduated from high school. His parents had tossed him out after he’d told them he was gay. He hadn’t seen them since. “Went right from high school to college, got a degree in media, animation, and digital arts.”
“Where’d you go?”
“USC. Full academic scholarship,” Gannon told him. “And I’d always had a knack for business, so I figured what the hell.”
Cam’s smile started slowly and took over his entire face. “I’d say ‘what the hell’ looks good on you.”
“Thanks.”
Cam lowered his fork to his plate. “I went to community college. I’ve spent my entire life on the water. For a while, I considered competing in water sports professionally, but when I was seventeen, I started workin’ at a small marina on Inks Lake. Fell in love with it but knew I needed something a little more…”
“Ostentatious?” Gannon offered.
“Somethin’ like that.”
While they continued to eat, Gannon eyed Cam speculatively. As much as he was attracted to the guy, he was beginning to wonder whether or not they had anything in common. From the looks of it, that wasn’t likely.
Then again, in theory, opposites did attract.
So that was certainly one thing they had going for them at this point.
Gannon only hoped it wasn’t the only thing.
After dinner, Cam helped him clear the table before they went back out onto the deck with what was left of the bottle of wine.
The small talk continued until Gannon couldn’t stifle a yawn. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would come early for him since he had a conference call with one of his teams in Singapore. Due to the time difference, in order for them to meet up, Gannon had to schedule calls for the early hours, three or four a.m., in order to catch them before they left for the evening.
“I guess we should call it a night,” Cam said, getting to his feet. “Thanks for dinner.”
Gannon placed his wineglass on the table beside him and forced his weary body up from the chair. “Thanks for coming.”
“Didn’t think I would, did you?” Cam asked as Gannon took a step closer.
Watching him for a moment, Gannon considered his words carefully. “Truth?”
“Yeah. Truth.”
“No, I didn’t.” Stepping closer still, he added, “But I’m glad you did.”
Cam’s blue gaze met his. “Me, too.”
Thinking back on that kiss they’d shared earlier, Gannon lifted his hand and touched Cam’s cheek, the rasp of beard growth lightly abrading his palm as he watched Cam’s face for any signs that he was being too forward. When Cam’s Adam’s apple bobbed slowly, Gannon knew this unruly attraction wasn’t just one-sided.
Brushing his thumb over Cam’s cheek, he leaned in, trapping Cam between his body and the railing. “I think maybe we should get this part outta the way.”
That sexy smile tipped the corners of Cam’s mouth, and Gannon leaned in, closing the gap between them as he reached around to cup the back of Cam’s neck.
When their lips touched, it was a hesitant mating, but that lasted all of a few seconds before Gannon couldn’t contain the driving urge to claim Cam’s mouth with his own. With a ragged groan rumbling from his chest, Gannon crushed his mouth to Cam’s, driving his tongue inside as he licked and teased. He could taste the wine on Cam’s tongue, and he wanted to get drunk on it.
His hand still cupping Cam’s jaw, he tightened his grip slightly, tilting his head as he explored the inside of Cam’s mouth, licking against his tongue. The sweet gentleness of it all was driving him mad, but he refused to
take too much too soon.
But when Cam gripped Gannon’s hips, jerking him forward, their chests colliding, lower bodies grinding against one another, he knew it was futile to resist. He needed this more than he needed his next breath, so he settled on plundering Cam’s mouth, making love to him with his tongue until they were both breathless. Long minutes passed while they made out like teenagers. Hands groping, lips sliding together, grunts and groans escaping as they devoured one another.
As much as Gannon didn’t want to, he finally managed to pull his mouth from Cam’s.
“Not bad,” Cam whispered, his breath labored, eyes glazed, and Gannon knew Cam was holding back as much as he was.
Although it would probably be fairly easy to progress this to the next level, Gannon wasn’t ready for that. Well, he was and he wasn’t. His dick was screaming and pleading with him to continue, but his brain told him he had to keep things slow between them. For both their sakes.
“Thanks for dinner,” Cam said, his voice rough.
“My pleasure.”
“Next time I’ll have to cook for you.”
Gannon lifted a brow in question. “So there will be a next time?”
“Maybe,” Cam remarked with a mischievous smirk.
“Give me your phone number,” Gannon stated firmly. It wasn’t a request. He didn’t want to let Cam walk out of his house without knowing he could call him just to hear his voice.
“Give me your phone,” Cam countered.
Pulling his cell phone from his back pocket, he handed it to Cam. A minute later, Cam handed it back, still smiling.
Without hesitating, Gannon hit the button to dial the number Cam had just programmed. A vibration sounded from Cam’s pocket.
“Now you have my number, too.”
“I won’t be calling you,” Cam said.
“No?” Gannon loved the playful tone in Cam’s voice.
“No.”
Gannon waited for Cam to elaborate.
Rather than say anything, Cam leaned in and pressed his lips gently to Gannon’s, a deliciously sweet kiss that made the hair on the back of Gannon’s neck stand on end. But then, before things could get out of hand again, Cam took an immediate step to the side, slipping out from between Gannon and the rail as he headed toward the house.
Reckless (Pier 70, 1) Page 8