by Abigail Kade
“So, you see, Lach, I didn’t have much choice. I needed to get away from anything that might make me think about Troy and his happy, finally fucking fulfilled life.” Like a switch had been flipped, I was suddenly livid. I grabbed one of the pillows next to me and hurled it across the loft space knocking a lamp off the table by the sofa. The shattering glass seemed to resonate in my chest, and that place inside me full of pain and betrayal finally broke open revealing the anger I had bottled up for months. “Jesus Fucking Christ, Lach, why can’t I find a guy who likes me for me? Why do guys always want to play games and lie and cheat? God, I wish I could find someone who just wants to be mine, a part of my family and maybe start a family of our own. Why is that so much to ask?”
Lachlan was unusually quiet, then with a subdued voice, he replied, “I don’t know, Conn. I really don’t, but between you and me, that’s everything I want for my future, too. It’s not too much to ask, but maybe we’ve just been looking in the wrong places, or it’s not the right time yet. I know Dad’s dying made a bigger impact on you than it did us. You felt like you needed to be the man of the family and took all of that onto your little eight-year-old shoulders, but that was twenty-two years ago, Conn. Mom found Dean, and we had a great life after we moved to Atlanta. I know you think you failed somehow with Troy, but that wasn’t on you. You’ll find your perfect person eventually. And knowing you, you’ll fall in love at first sight. I just hope he’s not emotionally stunted. I love you, bro, but Troy was a user. I feel like I can finally be honest with you. I am so fucking glad that you got away from him.”
“Don’t hold back, Lach, tell me how you really feel.”
“Shit, Connor, I don’t have the answers, but you should just know you’re not alone. I want you to be happy, and I’m selfish because I want that for me, too. We all deserve to have our greatest wish and our happily ever afters.” I snorted at his choice of words, and he eventually joined in. I could feel my temper chill, leaving me oddly light-headed.
“Don’t laugh at me, Conn. You want it all, too, you just admitted it. You may be the tall dark badass protector of the family, but I know you’re also the closet romantic. How many romance novels do you have on your Kindle now? Over a hundred?”
I tried to deny it, “I use my e-reader for work books and magazines.”
He wouldn’t let me get away with it though. “Uh huh, no way, big bro, you called me out and threatened me with Mom. I call bullshit. You’re the biggest bear romantic I’ve ever met. I bet you even watched the meteor shower last week and wished on a star.”
“Well, actually, you rude bastard, if you must know, I did watch the meteor shower. I saw it from my new balcony off my loft. It was a great show by the way and if I did wish on a falling star, what’s it to you? Lots of people do that shit. It’s like the wishbone thing or dropping a coin in a fountain.”
Lachlan had been slowly building up a head of steam and laughing throughout his little speech and my response, but now he was hysterically belly laughing and snorting. I even heard a bang and imagined he might have fallen off his chair. “Awe, Connor, you’re too much, man. I can just imagine you out on your balcony dressed up like Juliet calling for your Romeo.” He went on in a disgustingly bad female impersonation, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo.” Lachlan made a loud banging noise like he was hitting a tabletop, “Oh, oh, I know, you stood out there and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” This time he sang in a completely camp way with lots of swish and sass, “Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are. I’ll tongue around his hole so pink, if you please send me my very own twink!” He roared with laughter at his joke yet again, and I had to laugh with him. If he was way too close to the truth that was my business.
“All right, Lach, that’s enough. I need coffee and a shower before my meeting, and it sounds like you need to go check yourself before you piss all over Mom’s Persian rug. Tell Isobel to call me sometime, and I’ll talk to you later, bye.” With that, I hung up on his hysterical ass.
After a long shower, I put on my best dark wash jeans and plaid button down shirt. This was as dressed up as I ever got, my business casual. Over a quick breakfast of some fruit and oatmeal, I took a minute to look up the firm we would be working with on my project. The pictures on their site of projects they had completed were impressive. They had an attention to historical detail that would be needed to make my dream a reality. They seemed to breathe new life into the buildings and interiors.
If only I could find someone to renovate my life so easily.
I shook that thought off and decided to make my way downstairs for my meeting a little early. I followed the grand staircase down from my loft on the top floor, once again admiring the architectural detail that had remained untouched for over a hundred years. This place was going to be gorgeous when it was finished. When I finally made my way into the back rooms that would eventually be the kitchen, I heard a rustling sound coming from one of the storage rooms. Peering in through the cracked door, I saw a short kid poking around my workbench, moving things around like he was looking for something.
Well, it looks like someone decided to try to rob the wrong place this morning.
When the kid took a step to the side, he lifted his head, and I finally saw the side of his face in the mirror leaning on the wall behind him. I paused for a moment, just taking in his appearance. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen and was beautiful. He was the perfect height and would just come up to my shoulders. His skin was smooth and pale, but it was his hair that made me weak in the knees. He had the most glorious head of red hair, so thick and wavy. I imagined I could get a good grip on that hair and pull those luscious pink lips up into a long wet kiss. Turning back around just then with his back to the door, he leaned over to pick something up from the floor, and I had to stifle a groan at the display of his tight khaki pants as they lovingly hugged the most glorious bubble butt I had ever seen. My semi had quickly turned to full-blown interest now.
Fuck, I needed to get this kid out of here so I could get myself under control before the architect got here. I had a half hour until the meeting time. Plenty of time to get the kid out and calm the fuck down. I didn’t need to mess with some college age kid, and I sure as hell didn’t need to meet a new business associate sporting the mother of all hard-ons. I mentally cracked my knuckles and decided I was going to scare this kid straight. An evil glint lit my eyes as I made my face as stern as possible and slammed the door wide open. Time to have some fun.
Chapter Three
I was exceedingly proud of myself this morning. I had been sure to set two alarms and had gotten an early start so I could get to the Mason building an hour before the meeting time. I had to make a very special effort to be on time anywhere. I had made peace with it a while ago because I understood my issues. Being late was something I had been struggling with all my life. My other quirks always seemed to make me focus on the minutia of my life until time literally slipped away from me. I would obsess about cleaning something, and I’d be late. Or I would have to change because Penny jumped up into my lap and got cat fur on my black slacks. I couldn’t let these things go, usually, so I would have to take care of them. Then I’d run out of time.
But today, I had been absolutely sure I took care of every contingency, so for once I was early, and I needed all of the extra time to make some measurements for the freezer and refrigeration units that were going to have to be ordered. The lead time on these particular models were weeks out, and I needed to talk to the reps about options the client wanted to incorporate before the final order. I had been sent a key to the building a few weeks ago by a lovely woman named Maeve. She told me to feel free to go in and do any preliminary drawings I might need before getting started, but I had refrained. I couldn’t justify trespassing before the official meeting with their representative. I had used it this morning, however, to get these measurements done so I could get them out of the way. But let’s be honest, I really just wante
d to get inside this building by myself for the first time and just soak it all in. It was even more stunning inside than I had ever imagined. The foot thick plaster moldings were mostly still intact in most places and the tracery on the ceilings, while needing to be retouched, was still outstanding. I was in love already.
I was making my way into one of the supply closets that would eventually be torn out to make room for a cooling unit when I realized I couldn’t find my tape measure. Shit, I knew it was in the bag last night, but it was nowhere to be found this morning. I flushed in embarrassment. How unprofessional was it to show up for a big job without the proper tools? I looked like amateur hour. It didn’t matter if I was dressed smartly in my pressed khakis, bright white button down, black suspenders, and my favorite aqua bow tie. I may look professional, but I needed to act it.
I started to rummage around on the workbench in the closet in hopes I could find a tape and salvage some small part of my professionalism. It was not looking good. I looked all around the table, then moved to the other workbench nearby. When I still hadn’t found anything I could use, I turned away from the door, leaned down and decided I’d look in my bag one last time. Maybe I had put it in a different pocket than I thought last night. I reached into the back slip pocket and hit pay dirt. I grinned like a fool and stood up holding my prize when out of nowhere the door to the supply closet banged into the wall. I whipped around, startled, and felt all the color drain from my face as my eyes bugged wide.
“You know, trespassing can get you arrested, boy, and with an ass as beautiful as yours, you’d be mighty popular.” This deep rumbling voice came across the room and sent chills up my back. Slowly a huge hulking figure emerged through the doorway taking up the entire opening. He was huge, tall and bulky, not husky, just muscular. His shoulders and arms bulged against the sleeves of his plaid button down, and his thick thighs were tightly encased in dark wash denim. Even his thick-soled work boots seemed oversized. If his feet are that big, I wonder…
I gave myself a mental shake and brought my eyes up to his face. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what a face. The god in front of me was stunning. He had thick dark hair that waved just right and was a little long, so it curled lovingly around his neck and ears. He had a strong jaw with the perfect amount of dark scruff. All of that dark hair and thick eyelashes framed the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. The color was like sea glass, somewhere between green and blue and glowed against his tan skin. I knew I should be nervous about being caged in a small room by this stranger, but fuck, this guy was every wet dream I had ever had come to life. Why did I always find danger so sexy?
Those gorgeous eyes were staring daggers at me now, but there was a little glint of amusement. He had noticed me checking him out, just fucking great. But if I was being honest, I didn’t care. Tall, dark, and sexy could tell me to drop to my knees right here and worship his more than likely beautiful thick cock, and I’d do it without hesitation. There was something about him that made me nervous and comfortable all at the same time. This was a whole new kind of dangerous. I was fucked, and I didn’t really care if that was literally.
“You through, or do you need another minute to get the full picture?” He was openly chuckling at me now, a deep rumble I felt like the swoop and dive of a rollercoaster deep in my belly. I blushed all the way down my chest and all the way up to my ears and bit my lip at the delicious feeling. The dark Adonis began moving into the room, and I realized he was backing me up against the wall behind me. “You know there’s nothing back here worth stealing. What are you hoping to find?” As he walked forward, he was now giving me a slow up and down perusal that made my skin prickle wherever it landed. He paused when he reached my crotch, and my cock gave an involuntary twitch. He must have noticed because a sinful smile spread across his mouth before his tongue peeked through and slowly licked his lips. He drew his eyes back up to my face and settling on my mouth a second before finally making eye contact. I felt an instant connection, my breathing kicking up another notch. Fucking hell, who was this guy?
“Tell me, beautiful, how old are you? I’ve got to meet someone for an appointment in about half an hour, but we can have some fun before then if you’re legal.” He kept walking toward me until my back was pressed up against the wall and he was right up against me and only inches from touching. Those eyes, I now could see were actually blue, kept getting closer and closer, but then his words finally made it to my fuzzy brain, and the truth clicked into place.
“Are you, Mr. McDaniel?” I asked softly against his lips. They were so close I could have stuck my tongue out and licked them. I really, really wanted to lick them.
But those soft pillows were suddenly gone, replaced with empty space when he reared his head back and stepped away from the wall. “How do you know my name?” He had a scowl on his face now and looked downright scary, “Do I know you?”
I took a moment to gather myself before answering. I was really rattled, but now that I knew who he was, I needed to pull up my big boy pants and regain my professionalism. I pressed my hand down my shirtfront, made sure my suspenders were in place, straightened my tie—How the hell had my tie gotten turned sideways—and wiped my hands down my khakis to ensure non-sweaty palms. I plastered on my best professional smile and got my shit together.
“We haven’t actually met formally, no. My name is Ladd Eldridge. I’m your new architect. I believe that meeting you were just alluding to is with me.” With that perfectly professional introduction, I held my hand out and waited to see what would happen.
Connor
Well fuck me sideways, this beautiful boy I nearly assaulted is our new architect? I am so fucking screwed!
I just looked at the guy’s hand while I quietly got my shit together. He must be thinking I’m a complete Neanderthal. I thought back to what I had said to him and flushed with embarrassment. Christ, I told this guy his ass would make him popular in jail, for fuck’s sake. Who said shit like that to a business associate? Oh, God, Lachlan could never find out about this. He’d never let me live it down, not to mention Mom. I needed to make this right, and fast. I finally got my head out of my ass and returned his handshake. It was nice and firm. I found I liked the feel of his smaller hand in mine. But I needed to keep it professional from this point forward. I let his hand go and began groveling.
“Shit, man, I am so sorry. I had no idea. I thought you were some kid that broke in and I was going to scare you and send you on your way. You should know I would never have taken advantage of you, or a kid, or anyone for that matter.”
The guy—Ladd, his name is Ladd—smiled and shook his head, “It’s fine, really.”
“No, it’s not fine. When I saw you in here, I just jumped to conclusions. If I had been more observant, I would have noticed your clothes at the very least. I don’t know many juvenile delinquents who wear khakis and bow ties.” Man did I love his sexy as fuck bow tie. Focus, I need to stay focused. I gave him another once over with only slightly less leering than before, and a thought popped into my head. “How old are you anyway?”
Jesus Fucking Christ, I’d done it again. I dropped my head down and ran my hand through my hair in frustration as my mouth once again went rogue on me. What was it about this guy that made me instantly stupid? While still looking down, I shook my head at my idiocy this morning. I couldn’t meet his eyes for embarrassment, so I looked to the side instead, “Christ, I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that. No excuses, but I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and my morning quota of coffee hasn’t been reached yet. I’m not normally such an asshole, I swear.”
I heard a noise coming from the kid—He’s no kid. He’s a grown ass man you idiot—and realized he was giggling. I turned my head and knew I was in so much trouble. If the guy had been beautiful before, he was downright stunning now. His cheeks were flushed, and his smile reached every part of his face. I always loved it when people smiled with their eyes. His bright blue eyes sparkled with his amusement, and his pale sk
in glowed. He was my dream guy come to life in that instant. The sound of his giggle was infectious, and I let my deep bass rumble join in. I wasn’t too big to laugh at myself.
Through his smile Ladd let me off the hook, “It’s fine, Mr. McDaniel, really. It happens all the time. I’m on the small side, I get it, but I’m legal I swear. I just turned twenty-six last month.” With his confession, he blushed all the way to his ears again, and I was officially done. I was full on hard, again. Thank God I was wearing my tight jeans, so I wasn’t vulgar, but damn. How much could one man take? How could I ever be expected to stay away from all of this delicious perfection? There was no way, and at that very moment, I made my decision. If the guy was gay and showed any interest in me whatsoever, he was going to belong to me before this project was over. But right now I had to stop looking like a doofus in front of him.
“Listen, can we start over? Let’s pretend I just walked in here, and we’re meeting for the first time, okay?” I really wanted a fresh start with him.
Ladd smiled again and nodded so I walked forward in my most professional manner and held out my hand, “Good morning, you must be Mr. Eldridge. I’m Connor McDaniel with Douglas and McDaniel. It’s nice to finally meet you.” We shook hands once again, and the anxiety of a little earlier began to ease.
“So good to meet you, Mr. McDaniel, please call me Ladd. I always think of my uncle, James, as Mr. Eldridge,” he said with another of his quick smiles.
“All right, Ladd, if you’ll please call me Connor.”
There was silence for a moment as we both just stared at each other, a tingle of unspoken desire hovering between us as we still held hands long after what was considered professional. Ladd swept his eyes down to our clasped hands then slowly up to meet my eyes while biting his lower lip. I had noticed him doing it before when I had him up against the wall, and it was so damn sexy. Just as quickly as the moment had begun, it ended, and Ladd released my hand, settling back into business mode.