Lustful Gaze (London Loves #6)

by Julie Farrell

  “Yeah. I’ll wait here until he wakes up; make sure he has a proper breakfast.”

  “He’ll appreciate that.”

  Scott poured a dash of cream into his coffee, feeling very grown up. This scenario was a stark contrast to the fun they’d just been having in the shower. But even normal life was great as long as Paul was here. Scott often felt as if they were a couple of kids playing ‘house’. And he didn’t want to ever stop.

  He dipped his knife into the jam jar and spread the red sticky substance liberally over his croissant. “So what’s actually gonna happen with Edward? I wouldn’t feel comfortable turning him out onto the streets. But I’m not sure how to help him find an alternative career path.”

  Paul sighed. “I wish we could pay for him to go to university, but that’s a big commitment to someone we hardly know. And he’s got parents – how would they feel if we did that?”

  Scott shrugged. “I expect they’d be grateful. But I know what you mean. And he’s still got that student loan to pay off. If we just throw money at him, he could end up costing us a fortune. God, that sounds cruel.”

  “No, it sounds sensible. We need to empower him to help himself.”

  “We do.”

  They listened to the radio and chewed their breakfast. Scott sensed that Paul wanted to say something. He smiled encouragingly at him.

  “I have got one idea…” Paul said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, I was thinking – and Sam might not be in agreement – but maybe we could take Edward on for the time she’s away in India. Give him some work experience – like you’re giving to Harry.”

  Scott’s mood spiralled upwards. “I think that’s a lovely idea. It might be just what he needs.”

  “Well, I’ll give him a trial for today, just in case… you know. And anyway, he might not want to.”

  “At least if you take him into the office today you can show him he’s got more potential than he realises. It’ll be good for him.”

  “We’ll see. We’ve got those important Japanese clients coming in this afternoon, so I’ll try and smarten him up before I let him anywhere near them.”

  Scot chuckled kindly. “He’s only messy coz he’s been living rough. We need to make him understand how perfect he is inside, Paul. He really hates himself. But you made me love myself. I’m sure you can do the same for Edward.”

  “You did that.”

  “Nah, you nurtured it. Like the sun and rainwater. Until I bloomed like a spring flower!”

  Paul slurped his coffee. “Very poetic. But how can I do that for Ed?”

  “Well, don’t call him ‘Ed’ for a start.”

  “You know what I mean. He’s a stranger. I don’t know him at all.”

  “He’s got the potential to love and accept himself – like everyone. He just needs to see himself through a different filter.”

  Paul’s head snapped up. “Filter? Like for a camera?

  Scott frowned. “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’ll do what I can, okay?”

  “I’m sure you’ll do an amazing job, my sweet.”

  Paul rolled his eyes, obviously not as convinced as Scott.

  The radio announced that it was eight-thirty, so Scott shoved the last bit of his croissant in his mouth and stood up. “You okay to do the dishes?”

  “Of course. You don’t wanna keep Harry waiting, do you!” Paul chuckled mischievously.

  Scott bent to kiss Paul’s jam-smeared lips. “Don’t be cheeky. Or I’ll have another erotic dream about him!”

  ****

  Harry strolled into the gallery at ten o’clock, looking just as hot as yesterday, but this time without his dominating father, thank god. He was carrying two large takeaway coffee cups.

  “Good morning, Scott. I got you a latte. I wasn’t sure how you took it.”

  Scott winked. “However I can get it.”

  Scott laughed nervously, immediately wishing he hadn’t just said that.

  Harry chuckled politely and placed the coffees on the marble counter. He gazed at the exhibition they’d put up yesterday. “It looks great.”

  “It does. I’ve got a couple of buyers coming in this afternoon, so hopefully they’ll be interested in a few of the paintings. You can see what happens when we try to sell an artist’s work.”

  “Okay, sounds great.” Harry sipped his coffee. “Oh, by the way – you’ll never believe this – I woke up dreaming of you this morning! You obviously made a big impression on me yesterday!”

  Self-consciousness consumed Scott. His cheeks flashed red and he covered his face with his hand, pretending to be hooking his hair behind his ear. His erotic dream about Harry this morning had been highly arousing. He felt like such a perv.

  “Well,” he said. “I guess you can’t help who you dream about, can you? And dreams don’t mean anything, do they?”

  Harry chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something flirty, but thank god, the bell above the door tinkled and Sam strode in.

  She beamed a lovely smile at him. “Morning, Scott! I was just in Kensington buying a new shirt – hoping to impress the Japanese clients later. I thought I’d pop in and say hi!”

  Scott hugged her, making sure their lower bodies didn’t make contact, or she’d feel his semi-hard erection. “Hi, Sam. Great to see you!”

  She glanced over at Harry, who was casually leaning on the counter. “Who’s this?”

  Scott blushed again. “This is Harry. Harry, this is Sam.”

  “Oh you’re Harry,” Sam said.

  Scott’s blood froze with fear. What the fuck had he said to her about Harry last night?

  Harry threw Scott a cocky grin. “Oh, you’ve heard of me, Sam?”

  Sam chuckled. “Yeah, nothing bad; don’t worry. Just that you’re doing some work experience here for a few weeks.”

  Scott exhaled with relief. Thank you, Sam!

  Harry inhaled dramatically. “Oh, wait, Scott, is this the Sam? The one who went to India?”

  “Yep, sure is.”

  “Are you from India?” Sam asked.

  “I am. Well, I went to high school there – born in UK, though. So how did you like our Incredible India?”

  Sam’s shoulders drooped. “Oh god… it was mental. Hot and noisy, and crowded and sexist. And then I got dysentery. And I’m still not entirely sure what side of the road Indians drive on, because they just seem to drive down the middle, honking their horns like mad!”

  Harry burst into laughter. “Anything you did like about it?”

  Sam considered this. “Well, it changed my life for the better.”

  “Really? That’s good.”

  “Yeah. It broke me down so I could build myself back up again!”

  “Ha, India will do that!”

  Sam laughed. Then she transferred her attention to the exhibition. “Wow, Scott, it looks lovely.”

  “Thanks. Harry helped me with some of the placings.”

  “Very artistic, Harry.”

  “Thank you.”

  Sam smiled kindly at him. She was good with young people, and Scott loved her for that.

  She squeezed Scott on the arm. “I’d better get going. I wanna go over my presentation before the Japanese clients arrive. Imagine how cool it’ll be if we can get our app into the Far East!”

  “It’ll be far out!” Scott said. “Good luck with the presentation. Paul’s coming in later to help you.”

  “Oh I hope he does come. I know he hates presenting, but I think it’s good if he can at least be in the meeting room with us and add all the technical details.”

  “He won’t let you down. Did he tell you he’s planning on bringing Edward along?”

  Sam’s expression fell serious. “Oh god, how is Edward?”

  “He’s okay. Paul and I really wanna help him, but we’re not sure what we can do.”

  “You’ve already done quite a lot.”

  “I know.”

  They shared a tender smile. Sa
m spontaneously reached out and hugged him. Scott wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “You’re a good guy,” she said, squeezing him tight. She disconnected from the hug. “I’d better get going. I’ll see you soon! Bye, Harry, great to meet you!”

  “Bye, Sam.”

  Sam turned and strode towards the door. Scott was about to call her back because he hadn’t seen her new shirt, but he realised she was keen to prepare for her presentation, so he just threw her a wave as she left.

  The art gallery fizzed with the vibrant energy that Sam always left in a room.

  Scott joined Harry at the counter and picked up his takeaway coffee. “Thanks for this.”

  “You’re welcome. I like your friend – she seems really nice.”

  “Yeah, she’s great.”

  Scott sipped his coffee then opened his mouth to say they’d better get on with some work. But Harry interjected.

  “Who’s Edward?”

  Scott rested his coffee on the counter. “Hmm… He’s a sex worker Paul found beaten up in Soho last night. He brought him home, poor thing. He’s been through a lot. We’d like to help him, but we’re not entirely sure how.”

  Harry’s expression was forlorn. “So queer-bashing does exist in UK?”

  “Nah, I think it was pimp-related. Those guys think they own Soho and wanted him off their turf, type of thing.”

  “Oh. I’ve never met a rent boy before.”

  “No, I don’t think I have either.”

  “Will he go to the police for the assault?”

  “Not a chance. Soliciting for sex in a public place is illegal – they’d probably end up doing him on charges of prostitution.”

  “So there’s no justice.”

  “So it seems. Anyway, I’m sure Paul’s taking good care of him. But for us, we’ve got some important buyers coming in soon, so we’d better get our schmoozing heads on. Are you any good at schmoozing, Harry?”

  Harry laughed. “Not sure – don’t think I’ve ever tried.”

  “Watch and learn. Just be your lovely polite self, and let me do the talking. I’ll show you how to sell these paintings to people with more money than sense.”

  Harry raised a playful eyebrow. “You mean like my father?”

  Scott hesitated. “Er… no.”

  Harry leaned against the counter and gazed confidently at Scott, which aroused his cock once again.

  “It’s okay,” Harry said. “I know what you mean. And I’m intrigued to learn how to manipulate someone into doing what I want. It sounds like a handy skill to have!”

  Chapter Ten

  Paul sat at the kitchen table, fiddling with his camera. He was surrounded by lenses, in the same way that a mechanic might be surrounded by bits of car. He’d recently found a lovely lens in a photography magazine that was perfect for portraits, but he couldn’t remember exactly which one it was. He screwed on his Nikon 85mm and held up the camera to look through the viewfinder. Then he lowered it as the kitchen door was pushed open from the hallway.

  Edward strolled in, dressed in some of Scott’s more sensible clothes – blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He looked handsome this morning, and he seemed to be walking with a more confident swagger.

  Edward grinned. “Good morning, Paul! Is that coffee I smell? Mind if I help myself?”

  Paul gestured to the pot on the hotplate. “Go for it.”

  He watched as Edward poured the coffee into a mug with a flourish. The sleep seemed to have done him good. He looked rejuvenated. There was now a cheeky glint in his eye – a rebellious streak that had probably gotten him in trouble at school. Hopefully he wasn’t going to be too much of a handful. Was this a mistake? Paul wished Scott was here – he was so much better at this sort of thing.

  “So how did you sleep?” Paul asked.

  “Fucking amazing. My place is so fucking noisy, it’s impossible to ever sleep well. And if I’m with a client, they usually kick me out hotel first thing in the morning. It was fucking awesome to get a comfortable night’s sleep. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Why don’t you sit down and have some breakfast. And Scott said you can borrow one of his suits and a shirt.”

  Edward eased himself onto a chair at the opposite end of the table. He cradled his coffee. “Why do I need a suit?”

  “Because you’re coming to work with me today.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. And if it works out, Sam and I might be able to offer you some work experience for a couple of months.”

  Edward’s expression suddenly surged to fury. “Oh I see, I’m your little project, am I? Some fucking charity case to make you feel less guilty about being rich?”

  Paul laughed kindly. “No, Edward, this isn’t My Fair Lady and you are not Eliza Doolitte. But you said you wanted to do business studies at university, right?”

  “Yeah. And?”

  “Well, Sam’s abandoning me for six weeks soon, because she and Verlaine have got this crazy idea of going to India to set up a charity. So, I’m gonna need some help at work. How about it? Do you want the chance to use that brain of yours?”

  Edward sipped his coffee. “I s’pose so.”

  Paul’s heart filled with lead. He’d hoped Edward might seem a bit more enthusiastic and grateful. “Well, just try it for today, okay? See if you like it. And if we like you.”

  Edward narrowed his eyes. “Just for today?”

  “Yeah. We’ll see how you go. You’ll need to watch your language, though. I don’t have a problem with your cursing, but we’ve got important clients coming from Japan later. They might be interested in taking our app global – could be worth millions.”

  Edward leaned his elbows on the table like a Wall Street banker. “Okay, I can totally help you today. And no fucking problemo on the swearing – I can fucking stop any time I fucking like!”

  Paul laughed. Somehow this energised version of Edward was even more appealing than the fragile lad he’d brought home last night. Paul pushed the plate of croissants towards him.

  “Help yourself. Then I wanna take some photos of you.”

  Edward reached out and grabbed a croissant. He grinned cheekily. “Sounds kinky. I’ve never been asked to do that before.”

  Paul chuckled wearily. “You can drop the flirty act, okay – we’ve established that I’m not interested in you in that way. The reason for the photography isn’t for sexual titillation, I can assure you. But Scott said I should try to show you yourself from a good point of view.”

  Edward stared at Paul mid-chew. “Scott said that?”

  “Yeah. He’s nicer than me. And he tends to know the right thing to do.”

  Edward smirked at Paul’s self-deprecating cynicism. “You’re nice, too.”

  Paul lifted his camera and gazed at Edward through the viewfinder. Edward swallowed his mouthful and pulled a stupid face – crossing his eyes, curling his upper-lip, and flaring his nostrils. This spontaneous playfulness made Paul laugh so much that he accidentally pushed the shutter button. Edward creased into laughter at the fact that Paul had just snapped him pulling a silly face, and this time Paul pressed the button again on purpose, feeling glad that he was able to capture a precious joyful moment for Edward to see the next time he was feeling blue.

  Chapter Eleven

  A bond of jovial fun connected Paul and Edward as they continued their photo shoot in the living room. They selected some upbeat music to enhance the mood, and Paul enjoyed capturing Edward’s cheeky smile as he posed like a pro. He was incredibly photogenic, and they both relished the almost-orgasmic relief of laughing hard and being silly.

  Afterwards, Paul made them some lunch and they flicked through the photos on the laptop. Paul selected the one he thought was the best, where Edward was leaning his chin pensively on his hand and gazing off to the side. The black-and-white wash and the dark shading disguised the remnants of Edward’s bruises, and he could’ve easily passed as a movie star. Paul enlarged the photo on the screen so Ed
ward could see himself looking so lovely. Edward seemed captivated by the photo, so Paul printed it off and told Edward to stick it on his wall to remind him of how handsome he was.

  “I will, as soon as I get my own wall!”

  “You can stick in the spare room for now,” Paul said. “Come on, you’d better get changed into your suit and shirt and we’ll drive to the office. Sam’ll kill me if I’m late.”

  Paul adored his convertible BMW, and he could tell that Edward was proud to be with him, as they cruised through the streets of London with the top down. The journey from Hampstead to Putney was smooth, and they soon arrived at the serviced offices where he and Sam ran their business.

  Edward gasped as Paul led him into the plush reception area. It sparkled with wealth – the chrome features and marble floor still impressed Paul every time he came in here. Sunshine streamed into the foyer through the glass ceiling, and the air-conditioning counteracted the summer heat, making it feel cool and fresh. The spiral staircase looked like it was directly out of a 1950s Hollywood movie, and the young lady behind the huge reception desk was well-groomed and eager to please.

  “This place is awesome!” Edward said, agog.

  Paul chuckled. He called over to the receptionist that Edward was with him, and they made their way – in the lavish elevator – up to the office suite.

  It was equally as impressive in here as it was down in the foyer. No expense had been spared, which was good considering how expressive the rent and service charges were. Paul led Edward across the neat blue floor tiles and past the modern art that hung from the cream walls, making it feel elegant and professional. This space was probably a tad too large for just the two of them, but they’d always imagined the business would expand employee-wise, rather than just outsourcing everything offsite. But Paul knew the Japanese clients would be impressed later. He glanced into the glass meeting room as he and Edward walked past, and he saw that Sam had already kitted it out with a projector screen, flip chart, and notebooks.

  At the moment, Sam was sitting at her sturdy modern desk, typing at her computer – probably adding the finishing touches to her presentation.