by H L Day
I waited patiently for her stream of consciousness to abate. "There's one big problem with your whole ‘throwing yourself at the fireman and me videoing it’ plan, apart from Ben being gay that is."
Her expression wouldn't have been amiss if I'd just pulled my trousers down and pissed all over her birthday cake. "He might be bi. Did Indy say he wasn't?"
"Well, no, but..."
She shrugged one shoulder. "Well, there you go then. What's the other problem?"
I glanced over at Russell for help, but wishing he was anywhere but there seemed to be taking all his time and attention. He hadn't made any secret of his reluctance. I had no idea why he'd tagged along despite his protestations. I guessed it was either out of a sense of duty or he felt as if he needed to provide a buffer between Gabrielle and myself. "The whole ‘we're meant to be staying out of sight’ thing."
Gabrielle waved a hand at the waiter, holding her empty glass out and giving him her most charming smile to get him to do her bidding, even though he'd been on his way to another table. "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that. Anyway, what are you going to do?"
"About what?"
She sighed wearily. "About Indy."
My eyes drifted back to the reflection of their table. Ben was leaning forward, his head tipped flirtatiously. He said something and Indy smiled. They seemed very cozy together for a first date. I swallowed and looked away, not wanting to see any more. "Nothing. He can do what he wants. I don't even know why we came." I pointed at Gabrielle's plate, which was still half full. "Eat up and then we can get out of here."
Russell flopped back in his chair. "Good! Because I was really worried that something bad was going to happen."
I frowned at him. "Like what?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, but imagine if he'd realized that you were stalking him on his date. He wouldn't have been happy about it, right?"
I refused to look back at their table, reaching out to grab one of Gabrielle's chips, figuring that the quicker she ate up, the better. I stared pointedly at Russell, inclining my head toward her plate. He obediently reached out and took a chip as well.
The next few minutes were spent in virtual silence with Russell and me doing everything we could to hurry Gabrielle up. All I wanted to do was go home, go to bed, and sleep. Hopefully my head would be a damn sight clearer the next day.
I glanced up, my gaze meeting a familiar pair of green eyes as he came out of the restroom—which wasn't around the corner but directly opposite where we'd seated ourselves. I could only blame all the wine I'd drunk for that not having occurred to me. There was something hard and decidedly unfriendly in his stare before he averted his gaze. I sat up straighter. "Fuck!"
Russell paused mid-chew. "What?"
"Indy just saw me. Saw us."
His jaw clenched, his eyes darting all over the place. I had no idea why he was so worried when he didn't know either man. It wasn't like he was going to be the one in trouble. "Are you sure?"
I exhaled noisily, my heart thudding as hard as if I'd just run a marathon. "Quite sure. He looked straight at me."
Gabrielle giggled and I glared at her. She was saved from me telling her in no uncertain terms what I made of her finding it funny, especially when this was all her fault, when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and read the message.
Indy: Meet me outside. NOW!
I winced. The now in capital letters didn't exactly bode well. "It's Indy. He wants me to meet him outside, and he doesn't sound too happy."
Paul: On my way.
I stood, wondering if there was a back door I could escape out of instead. A quick check of the table where Indy had been previously showed Ben talking to someone on the phone. If he was worried about where his date had disappeared to, he wasn't demonstrating it. For all I knew, Indy had told him exactly what was going on. Would you share that sort of information on a first date though? Probably not. Not if you had any intention of seeing them again, anyway.
Stepping out onto the street, I scanned the area, spotting Indy about ten meters away as he paced back and forth close to the entrance to an alley. I took my time approaching, using the fact that he had his back to me as time to try and concoct a convincing enough explanation for my presence here. "Hi, Indy."
He spun around at the sound of my voice, his expression nothing short of incredulous. I didn't have long to contemplate it before I was grabbed, dragged around the corner, and pushed up against the wall, Indy's arm pinning my shoulder as if he thought I might try and wriggle away in an escape attempt.
It was strangely reminiscent of the first time we'd slept together where I'd done the same to him, except for the fact that he appeared as if he wanted to murder me, not kiss me. His grip changed to grab a handful of my shirt, his expression darkening even more, the green eyes stormy. "Hi! That's all you've got to say? What the fuck are you doing here, Paul?"
I'd never seen him annoyed. Not really. Pissed off, yes, but nothing in comparison to this. I didn't like it. It caused a chasm to open up somewhere in my stomach. All those times I'd tried to aggravate him and only ended up amusing him, and now that I finally had, all I wanted was the smiling Indy back. The one whose eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed. The one who was very good at silencing me with his body.
His grip tightened further, the hand forming into a fist. Did he want to punch me? His jaw tightened. "Answer the question."
Right. The question. I'd been so busy cataloguing all the signs that he was angry that I'd forgotten there'd even been one. "Erm... would you believe that we came to get something to eat? Gabrielle's fault. She likes food. She gets grouchy if we don't let her eat. A bit like Tristan. According to Dom, anyway. I don't really know him that well. I guess I'll have to rectify that at some point if those two are going to be together, which seems increasingly likely from the love-struck expression in Dom's eyes whenever he talks about the guy he used to hate. Funny, how things turn out really, isn't it?" Realizing I'd gone completely off on a tangent, I paused and tried to scrape some words that were actually relevant together. "So... erm... yeah. Just here to eat, really."
Indy let go of my shirt, but didn't move away, the heat of his body burning into mine and making me think about things that it really wasn't the time or place to think about. Especially in a dingy alley. "So, you're going to lie to me? You're going to stand there and claim that you just happen to be in the exact same place at the exact same time as my date is? Oh, come on, Paul. Even you can't be that full of shit, surely to God. I told you where I was going for my date. Which I guess in retrospect was stupid. But I didn't expect you to pull this kind of stunt."
"You didn't tell me where your date was. You just said a steakhouse near Trafalgar Square." My words were no more than a mumble by the end of the sentence. I wasn't even convincing myself, never mind him.
Indy crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me. I tried for a smile. His expression remained stony-faced. I forced a cheery note into my voice. "So how's it going anyway... the date? He looks like a nice guy. You seemed to be getting on well. Not that I was watching, that would be... intrusive. But you know, when I glanced over... once or twice."
Indy took a step back. I immediately missed the warmth of his body. "How long are you going to keep this up?"
"Keep what up?"
"The pretending that you being here is a coincidence. It obviously isn't. The question is why. What did you think you'd gain by spying on me? Because I don't get it, Paul. I really don't. I made my feelings clear last night. You had ample chance to stop me from going on this date if it bothered you that much. You didn't need to start stalking me." He waved a hand back in the direction of the restaurant. "That could have been the two of us sitting there. I'd have loved that. But you turned me down. Flat. So I've moved on. Because that's the healthy thing to do... for both of us. But you being here is fucking with my head." He stepped forward again, his hand braced against the wall while his gaze fastened intently on my face. His voice
lowered to a husky whisper. "What do you want from me?"
In retrospect, I don't know why I took it as an invitation. Maybe it was something in the way he was looking at me, or perhaps it was the two and a half glasses of wine I'd consumed before leaving home in combination with the bottle of beer I'd drunk while watching Gabrielle eat. Whatever it was, it seemed completely natural to reach for him, tangle my fingers in his hair to tug him closer, and press my lips against his. I had three seconds of everything feeling completely right with the world before he wrenched his head back, fury exuding from every pore.
He shoved at my chest. "You're unbelievable! I tell you that you're messing with my head and you try to kiss me." He held a shaking hand in the air. "I can only assume you've drunk quite a lot tonight for it to even cross your mind that trying to kiss me when I'm in the middle of a date with another guy is a good idea. " He gave a humorless laugh, taking a few steps to the right before pacing back to where he'd started. “What's wrong with you, Paul?"
It was a good question, and one I was beginning to wonder myself. He was right. Trying to kiss him had been completely inappropriate, given the circumstances. The least I could do was say sorry, but I couldn't seem to force the word to leave my lips. All I managed was a shrug.
He shook his head, his hand wrapping around the back of his neck to massage the muscles there. He glanced briefly up at the sky before focusing his attention back on me. "I don't even know why I've left Ben alone to waste time talking to you."
The words and his tone stung. "Go back inside, then."
He pointed a finger at me. "You see that there, that expression, the one when I said Ben's name. Do you know what it seems like to me? What this whole scenario looks like, and I'm sure I could find a hundred people who'd all agree with me."
I shook my head.
He exhaled noisily. "Jealousy, Paul. Pure and simple. You don't want to date me but you don't want me to date anyone else either."
Heat flared in my chest. "That's not true."
Indy cupped his hands over his face, staying like that for way too long, the silence stretching uncomfortably between us until I felt forced to break it. I cast around for a suitable topic, my brain screaming at me to say something nice. Something that might defuse the tension. "I was right about the shirt. It suits you."
Indy slowly lowered his hands from his face. "Stop it!"
"Stop what?"
"Everything. Complimenting me. Following me around—"
"I don't think once really constitutes following you around. It..." The rest of the sentence died in my throat under the weight of his stare.
He stalked toward me, stopping a few steps away. He was probably afraid to come any closer in case I tried to grope him again. "One last chance, Paul. Which God knows you don't deserve, but apparently, I'm that stupid. All you need to do is admit you're jealous. Admit that there's more between us than just sex and I'll go back in there and tell Ben that I made a mistake, that I'm hung up on someone else and I can't see him again. One sentence, Paul. That's all. I'm jealous and I have feelings for you. How hard can that be?"
My gaze flitted around the alley, alighting on anything that wasn't the man who stood in front of me waiting, the man who seemed to think he knew how I was feeling better than I did. Was that what had happened? He'd managed to get me so entwined in a fog of lust that I didn't even know my own mind anymore. I wasn't going to say it just because he wanted me to. Besides, I wasn't jealous. Was I? It was just that my supply of ready sex was drifting away. That wasn't jealousy. It was practicality—an unwillingness to return to being celibate. That was it. I lifted my head. "I'm not jealous."
He nodded, a small sigh escaping his lips. "Then we're done. I'll delete your number. You delete mine and we agree not to contact each other. Deal?"
I nodded, ignoring the fluttering in my chest, almost as if my heart had gone into panic mode.
"Have a good life, Paul." Indy's gaze lingered and then he lifted a hand in a wave and turned away. I leaned back against the wall, needing it for support. Footsteps sounded, Gabrielle and Russell rounding the corner wearing matching expressions, Gabrielle unusually quiet. "Were you listening?"
She grimaced and then nodded. "Yeah, sorry. You were pretty loud. We came outside to wait and then couldn't really miss it."
I sighed. "Great."
Gabrielle grabbed my arm. "Come on. Let's get you home. We'll discuss Russell's virginity on the way. That'll make you feel better."
I managed a weak smile at the look of complete horror on Russell's face.
Chapter Thirteen
GABRIELLE SCRUTINIZED me from below lowered brows. I ignored her. She pursed her lips. "Have you heard anything from him?"
I shook my head. It had been three days since we'd gatecrashed Indy's date and, true to his word, he hadn't contacted me. He'd obviously meant what he'd said about us being done. He and Ben had probably already been on their second and third date.
"Have you contacted him?"
I shook my head again. "Why would I?"
Gabrielle shot me a look like I was stupid. "Erm... maybe because you've been miserable as sin for the last three days. Everyone's noticed."
I rolled my eyes despite the uncomfortable feeling in my gut that immediately started up. "I'm not miserable. Why would I be miserable? I had a fling. It's over. Done with. To be honest, it's a relief."
Whatever Gabrielle had been going to say, and going by the expression on her face she was about to call me out on the lie, was curtailed by Russell's breathless arrival through the door of the mailroom. "Maria's in the building."
I frowned at him, struggling to compute who the hell Maria was and why Russell counted this as such a juicy bit of gossip that he'd run to tell us. Then my synapses finally started firing, my brain making the necessary links to dredge up where I'd heard the name before. Tristan's fiancée. Or ex-fiancée. I shrugged. "Well, I guess Tristan invited her. They might have stuff to sort out. You know, cancelled-wedding stuff."
Russell shook his head. "He's in a meeting." He seemed to calm himself slightly. "I guess Dominic will deal with her."
A jolt of adrenaline shot through me. That was not a good scenario at all. Especially if Tristan wasn't even around. I might never have met Maria, but I knew her reputation and it wasn't for being cuddly and sweet. You didn't get where she was in the modelling world by being a pushover, and if she had even an inkling about what had been going on between her ex-fiancé and his personal assistant, then the ramifications didn't bear thinking about. Dominic might be tough when it came to words, but in reality, he was a pussycat.
I was out of my seat and already striding for the door. I cast a quick glance back over my shoulder to where Gabrielle was staring at me with an expression that could only be described as surprised owl. "Cover for me."
She nodded, so I continued through the door with Russell at my heels. He ran to keep up. "Where are you going?"
"Tristan's office."
"Why?"
I reached the elevator, slamming my hand on the button to call it and wondering whether it would be quicker to take the stairs. Answering his question was tricky without giving away Tristan and Dom's clandestine relationship, so I kept it vague. "I need to talk to Dom about something."
The elevator door opened with a ding and I stepped inside, relieved to see that it was empty. Russell followed me. Short of telling him to go away, or stopping the elevator and pushing him out, there wasn't a lot I could do to get rid of him before we reached the top floor. There probably wasn't going to be anything to see anyway so it didn't really matter. I'd check that Dom was okay, and then I could get back to work.
As soon as the elevator doors opened on the top floor, I was proved wrong, the raised voices from Tristan's office carrying down the corridor. A number of people had left their offices to listen, none of them even trying to pretend they weren't.
Tristan's voice floated through the wide-open door. “What did she say to you? This morning w
e were fine. Hell! Two hours ago, we were fine, and then suddenly you don’t want to have anything to do with me. What the fuck, Dominic! This is insane. Surely you can see that? You can’t just dump me for no good reason. You know how I feel about you.”
Next to me, Russell went still, his hand reaching out to grab my arm as his eyes darted to my face. "Oh! They're... I see. At least I think I do, and you knew. You could have told me."
I shushed him. He could have a go at me later for my double standards of being happy to listen to his gossip but not share my own. Now wasn't the time.
Dominic's voice was much softer than Tristan's, but no less audible. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” There was an edge of desperation in Tristan's response. “Why? You haven’t given me one damn good reason why you’re saying this. Why are you doing this? Talk to me, Dominic. At least give me a bloody reason.”
I took the last few steps to the office door, taking a deep breath before poking my head inside. At least Russell had the good sense to stay a few meters down the corridor, along with the rest of the onlookers who were still hanging on every word. “Jesus Christ, guys! Keep your voices down, or at least shut the door. You’re broadcasting your relationship to the whole floor. The whole building’s going to know about the two of you.”
Tristan was too intent on keeping his focus firmly fixed on the man he was having such a heated conversation with to look my way. A heated conversation that was apparently a break-up. "I don't care."
I stepped into the room, closing the door firmly behind me. That would ruin the fun for the little crowd that had gathered outside. But they'd already heard enough to know exactly what was going on. Give them half an hour and the whole building would know, especially with gossip king Russell there as well. Although, I guessed that was my fault for bringing him.
I addressed Tristan. “You might not care, but I know Dominic, and I know he doesn’t feel the same. What’s going on, Dom?”
