Hot & Sweet

by Sean Ashcroft

  Wyatt hesitated a moment, picking at the remaining chicken—it was good, and there was no sense in wasting it—before deciding that he definitely needed to know what the hell that had been about.

  Chapter Six

  Kai looked up from licking his plate to see Wyatt stalking over to him, scowling deeply. The look didn’t suit him at all, his otherwise warm, friendly face strange to look at with anything other than a smile.

  Obviously, he was upset. And he was about to tell Kai about it.

  Kai didn’t let that stop him from cleaning up the last few streaks of chocolate before passing the plate off to one of the people hovering around the set to clean up. The cake was good, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste just because Wyatt was mad at him.

  Wyatt stopped in front of him, arms crossed over his chest.

  “What,” Wyatt began, “the hell was that?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific,” Kai said, though he had a fair idea what Wyatt was talking about. He’d expected Wyatt to just… respond, like he always did, because Wyatt was good with people. It was what he had that Kai didn’t. It was the thing that made him so popular.

  “You suddenly… making every single innuendo that popped into your head,” Wyatt said. “Were you just trying to make me uncomfortable, or…?”

  Kai swallowed thickly, a stab of guilt hitting him in the stomach. He’d thought Wyatt would take well to it, and once he was committed, he didn’t feel as though he could just stop, even when it was obvious that Wyatt wasn’t responding.

  Donna had been watching the whole time. He’d been under a lot of pressure.

  At first, he’d thought Wyatt was just ignoring him out of spite.

  But he’d been aware ten minutes in that Wyatt wasn’t comfortable, and he’d kept pushing because he’d been told he had to for ratings.

  Which, while potentially smart from a career-saving point of view, hadn’t exactly been fair to Wyatt. The look on his face told Kai everything he needed to know. Wyatt was genuinely upset, and he’d done that, and he could have avoided it if he’d chosen Wyatt’s comfort over his own career.

  Kai knew he had a reputation as being kind of an asshole, but he tried not to intentionally hurt people. Expecting them to be competent at their jobs was one thing, but this had been…

  Hell, the idea had made him uncomfortable in the first place, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Wyatt felt that way. Kai had just thought that, since Wyatt was several orders of magnitude more approachable than he was, he’d be the only one who was uncomfortable with it.

  “Donna pulled me into her office before filming and told me that the audience wants to see me flirt with you. They like that,” Kai said. “The online ratings are apparently amazing because of… what I said last week.”

  “About the promo photos?” Wyatt asked.

  Kai nodded.

  He knew he needed to apologize, but he wasn’t quite sure how to do that without making the situation worse.

  “I was told it could make or break the series, and both of our careers are riding on it, and you flirt with everyone anyway…” he said, realizing he was digging a deeper hole for himself but unable to stop.

  Wyatt was still looking at him like he’d committed murder in front of him.

  “So you’re just gonna… play gay for ratings? Like it’s no big deal?”

  Kai blinked.

  Wyatt didn’t…?

  That was what he was upset about?

  “I am gay, you ignorant hick. I’m just pretending to be attracted to you,” Kai said, and immediately regretted it as Wyatt’s face turned to stone, his eyes narrowing.

  He’d always had a knack for pushing people’s buttons, and he knew that was one of Wyatt’s. Wyatt thought that other people thought he was stupid.

  He wasn’t, he clearly wasn’t, but it was his big insecurity. Kai could see that from a mile away by the way he explained everything he was doing, even when it didn’t need explaining.

  Before, Wyatt had been annoyed, maybe a little upset.

  Now, he was angry. It was rolling off him in waves like a physical force.

  He’d gone too far. And he’d assumed the worst of Wyatt, he realized, without really knowing what was going on.

  Instead of talking about this like an adult, he’d shut the conversation down. His grandma would have been so disappointed.

  “I’m-” Kai began, planning to apologize.

  “I don’t wanna hear it,” Wyatt said, glaring at him. “You should have talked to me first. None of that was fair on me, and no matter how ignorant you think I am, I deserve a little basic respect. Don’t tell me you couldn’t tell you were making me uncomfortable.”

  Kai swallowed. He had known. He could tell.

  He’d just felt like he had to. Outside of work, he would never have pushed. With someone he was actually interested in, he would have backed away immediately if they’d given even a hint of resistance.

  He’d let the fear of losing his job get to him, and he’d hurt Wyatt in the process. They might not have been the best of friends, but Wyatt was right: he deserved a little basic respect.

  Kai had completely failed to show him that, and he deserved to hear about it now.

  “Right, but you kept going,” Wyatt said. “I… need to think about this. I’ll see you next week.”

  Wyatt turned and walked away before Kai could say anything else.

  Kai’s stomach sank to somewhere around his knees. This wasn’t good, not at all.

  He needed to apologize. Not just for the sake of their respective careers, but because he’d done the wrong thing. Good reasons didn’t make it okay, and he’d obviously rattled Wyatt a lot more than he’d realized, even once he could tell that Wyatt wasn’t responding.

  Then he’d gone and insulted him in the most effective way he could manage. Saying he was pretending to be attracted to him probably hadn’t helped, either.

  So the apology needed to be good, and sincere, and to get Wyatt talking to him again, or Kai had just completely blown his chance to keep his job.

  He’d have to come up with something good.

  Chapter Seven

  The last thing Wyatt had been expecting to find in the mystery parcel he’d been sent by courier this morning was a new stand mixer and a really good bottle of wine.

  Even more surprising was the note from Kai, who Wyatt was still mulling over his mixed feelings about. On the one hand, Kai had been in the wrong.

  On the other hand, Wyatt suspected he’d overreacted. He’d been made to feel stupid, and he’d let his anger at that—at himself—spill over into his reaction to Kai.

  The guy had just been doing what he’d been told to keep his job. It would have been nice to know ahead of time, but… it was Wyatt’s job, too, and he shouldn’t have been so goddamn flustered over it.

  It was the eyes, he’d decided. Kai’s eyes made him feel like his insides were being looked at, like Kai could see everything that made him up. All his hopes, dreams, and insecurities.

  Kai made him feel vulnerable, because he was everything Wyatt wasn’t. Smart, educated, well-travelled, sharp and clever and just… better. Better at what he did than Wyatt could ever hope to be, even with all his years of practice.

  Kai made him uncomfortable because he was a better chef. Wyatt was jealous of that, and he could admit that to himself if not to anyone else.

  Which meant he’d overreacted, and he probably needed to apologize just as much as Kai did. That didn’t stop him being shocked that Kai had apologized, and so quickly. Wyatt had taken him to be the kind of person who was prone to sulking.

  The contents of the note were the most surprising thing of all.

  If you’d like to let me apologize properly, bring the wine to dinner. If not, feel free to drink it alone.

  Wyatt smiled wryly. Kai probably hadn’t even realized that was insulting—Wyatt might have had someone to drink it with, and it was rude to assume he didn’t, or couldn’t
find someone. But all the same, he was clearly trying.

  And it was clever.

  And above all else, he’d been listening when Wyatt had said his stand mixer was broken while they were filming the first episode. Not only that, but he’d remembered, and he’d taken it upon himself to fix it.

  It was a thoughtful apology. Wyatt hadn’t been expecting that.

  He’d already been thinking that they needed to make up, or else the show would go to shit with constant bickering and cold shoulders all round. No one wanted to watch two people who clearly didn’t want to be in the same room together cook.

  They wanted chemistry. Donna had gotten that right, and…

  It wouldn’t have been impossible to have that with Kai, if he could remove the stick from his ass for five minutes. His idea of an apology said that somewhere under those piercing eyes and razor-sharp cheekbones, there was a thoughtful man.

  The kind of man whose loyalty must have been amazing to have, even.

  Not that Wyatt needed loyalty. They just needed to get along.

  If Kai was extending an olive branch, he couldn’t afford to refuse it. Both of their futures were on the line.

  He typed the number Kai had given him at the bottom of the note into his phone, adding him as a contact and then opening a new text.

  Thank you for the mixer, he began, his upbringing preventing him from being anything but polite. I’d like to come to dinner.

  Wyatt passed the time it took Kai to respond opening up the box the stand mixer had come in, feeling like a little boy at Christmas.

  Kai really could read him, somehow, despite not knowing him well.

  Great. Seven work for you? Any food allergies/preferences I should know about?

  Wyatt smiled, the faintest spark of excitement flaring up in his stomach. Or maybe that was nerves?

  Either way, it made his fingers fly over the keyboard.

  Seven’s perfect. I’m not allergic, but I hate fish. All seafood, really. It's gross.

  People laughed at him for that, sometimes, but Kai wasn't in a position to if he was trying to apologize. Besides, there was no point in risking insulting him by picking awkwardly at something he really didn't want to eat.

  I can't believe you'd say that to a man from a small fishing village in Maine. But I think I can work something out all the same.

  Wyatt actually chuckled at that. He could imagine Kai’s long-suffering expression, but also the hint of amusement playing around his features as he said it.

  He wasn't sure exactly why he was imagining that. Maybe because deep down, he really wanted them to be friends? Wyatt liked to make friends, especially with people he worked with.

  That was the thing that annoyed him the most about all this. He could have been friends with Kai under other circumstances. There was a wicked sense of humor just under the surface, and he was obviously a thoughtful kind of guy when he wanted to be.

  They’d just gotten off on the wrong foot and then kept going, instead of pausing to correct the steps.

  Maybe this was a chance to do that.

  Wyatt paused, realizing he had an apology to make, as well. Or… maybe not an apology, but a clarification, at least.

  Hey, I just wanted to reassure you, I guess, that I wasn’t being homophobic yesterday. It’s fine that you’re gay. I’m bi, just not entirely out. But you didn’t know that so it might’ve come across that way.

  It was a little wordy, but Wyatt had been worried about it on and off all of last night. Kai might have managed to annoy him, but that wasn’t a good reason to make him feel unsafe, and Wyatt knew he might have done that.

  Being mad at him was one thing, but making him think Wyatt might have been less than a hundred percent comfortable with his sexuality was another. Wyatt deserved basic respect, but so did Kai. He hadn’t meant to come across like he did, but he knew he needed to explain himself.

  That’s a relief, came Kai’s response, and Wyatt could tell that it really was.

  They’d both behaved badly yesterday. This was a chance to start over and put things right, as long as they were both willing to be civil this time around.

  Wyatt was willing to be civil—actually, genuinely civil—as long as Kai was. It’d be better for both of them, and better for the show. Besides, Kai was interesting.

  The thought of getting to know Kai outside of work was actually kind of exciting. If they weren’t going to be at each other’s throats, he’d probably be great company.

  See you at seven, then, he texted back.

  Now all he needed to do was figure out what to wear.

  Chapter Eight

  Kai opened the door to Wyatt with a knot of anxiety in the pit of his stomach, not sure how their evening was going to end up. He planned to be on his best behavior, but what he planned and what would actually happen were two different things.

  Every other thought left his head when he saw Wyatt, dressed in a wine-colored button-down shirt that was a half-size too small and dark jeans under his coat. His warm brown eyes sparkled, the curve of his lips sweet and inviting.

  Kai’s heartbeat sped up, enough for him to notice it.

  He’d forgotten, somewhere along the line, that Wyatt was hot. Broad-shouldered and solid, with pretty features and a smile that lit up a room.

  Having that smile directed at him for the first time was startling. If Wyatt had actually flirted back while they were filming, Kai would have been helpless.

  Wyatt wasn’t even his usual type, not really, but it didn’t matter. Wyatt was everyone’s type.

  “Am I early?” Wyatt asked, nudging Kai out of staring at him.

  Kai blinked, and then finally stepped back to let the other man inside. “No, uh… I just…”

  He wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, so he let it drop instead. He couldn’t exactly say that he’d been distracted by how gorgeous Wyatt looked.

  It was nice of him to make an effort. If this was an effort.

  Maybe he dressed like this all the time, and Kai wasn’t special at all.

  “There’s a coat rack,” he said, nodding to it.

  He watched Wyatt shrug his coat from his broad, square, muscular shoulders, and tried not to drool too openly.

  Dammit. This was supposed to be professional.

  “Beautiful place,” Wyatt said, passing the bottle of wine Kai had sent him over, and then digging through his coat pockets.

  Even with the warmer weather coming in, the wind in Chicago was brutal. Kai had thought growing up by the ocean would have prepared him for it, but it wasn’t the same at all.

  Wyatt was probably having an even harder time adjusting, though he’d been here at least as long as Kai had, judging by the length of his television career.

  Really, it was a surprise that they hadn’t crossed paths before now. Kai had filmed his show right before Wyatt for two years, and they’d barely said a word to each other.

  “Uh, thank you,” Kai said after a few moments. He took pride in his apartment. It was his sanctuary away from the world, and he didn’t invite many people into it.

  Wyatt was an exception, because he needed Wyatt. Needed his cooperation if he planned on continuing to be a TV chef.

  Which he did plan on doing.

  Wyatt finally found whatever he’d been searching his apparently numerous pockets for, presenting Kai with a small but expensive-looking bar of chocolate. “I felt weird coming empty-handed, so… I figured you might appreciate this.”

  Kai’s face heated up as he blushed, accepting the bar of chocolate. He tried not to think too hard about the spark that passed between them as his fingers brushed against Wyatt’s.

  It was just nice to be paid attention to by an attractive man. That was all.

  Since he’d learned that Wyatt was bi, Kai’s imagination had started to get the better of him. He’d stopped it, mostly, but the occasional disturbing thought slipped past his careful guard and lodged itself in his brain.

  Disturbing in the sens
e that Wyatt’s lips looked soft, and his biceps strained the fabric of his shirt. In the sense that he wasn’t supposed to be looking at Wyatt and seeing someone he was actually, genuinely attracted to.

  Kai pushed the thought aside.

  “You figured right,” he said. “Chocolate is my number-one weakness.”

  Well, it was a tie between chocolate and men that were terrible for him, but Wyatt didn’t need to know that.

  Especially as he was, potentially, a man who’d be terrible for Kai. They were supposed to be working together. He was the worst possible choice for a casual fling.

  “Whatever’s cooking smells amazing,” Wyatt said, turning his gaze toward the kitchen.

  Kai’s heart fluttered. He wasn’t used to it doing that, but he did like being complimented on his cooking.

  “It’s a Moroccan-style lamb stew,” Kai explained. “I thought you might appreciate something unusual.”

  Wyatt made a soft, interested sound. “As long as someone else does the cooking for me, I’m pretty happy.”

  Kai chuckled, despite his nerves. “Yeah, that’s… about how I feel,” he said. “Come on through.”

  He led the way into the kitchen, aware of Wyatt taking in every detail as he followed. That was fine. There was nothing out here that Kai would have preferred he didn’t see.

  The only things he could think of that might have embarrassed him were stored safely in the drawer of his nightstand, and they probably would have embarrassed Wyatt more.

  “Martha Stewart eat your heart out,” Wyatt said, nodding to the dining table Kai had set earlier.

  He’d been aiming to impress, and judging by Wyatt’s tone, he’d hit the mark.

  “You couldn’t think of a more flattering comparison?” Kai complained, but he wasn’t serious. He could tell that was a flattering comparison to Wyatt’s mind, though he liked to think he was a little more stylish and a little less kitsch.

  The kitsch had a way of sneaking in, though, and he might have gone a little far in setting a table for what was supposed to be a casual apology dinner.