I watched as Rafe looked over at the table where Gabriel had been sitting and smiled. “Yes, I can see that.”
He followed Rafe’s gaze to the very handsome young man with an oddly purple shade of hair sitting at his table. He was really stunning though, and I looked at Gabriel with a new appreciation.
“So, you’ll call if you need me?” he was saying, and Rafe nodded. Gabriel looked over at me. “Again, I’m sorry to have interrupted. Enjoy your evening.” He patted Rafe’s shoulder and walked back to his table.
I watched him all the way back to where he joined his dinner partner, date, or whatever the hell he was. All I knew was that Gabriel was way too good-looking for him to have any business putting his hands all over Rafe. I was feeling that ugly feeling again, and I didn’t like it. It made me want to lash out, and I knew that I didn’t have a right to do that. That didn’t seem to matter, though, because I said, kind of through my teeth, “I didn’t know that you and Nic Gaudet’s brother were such big buddies.”
Rafe looked surprised. “I wouldn’t say that we are. Really, I barely know him, and we’ve never liked each other. He’s more of an acquaintance than a friend.”
I quirked a brow at him. “He’s awfully touchy, feely for a mere acquaintance you don’t particularly like. And why would he tell you to call him if you needed something? Why wouldn’t you call me? I’d like to think that you consider me more than just an acquaintance. I thought we’d moved past that a while ago.”
****
Rafe
A while ago? More like four months ago. Had he forgotten that he’d called that night, our first time together, a mistake? For someone whose job was solving crimes, the man was absolutely clueless sometimes. And I found it annoying and hot at the same time. If he was jealous then that meant he cared for me more than he was letting on. Or more than he would admit, even to himself.
I didn’t realize I was smiling until Gage asked, “What are you smiling about? A happy memory of Gabriel?”
I looked over at him, biting my tongue to keep from saying something I shouldn’t and ruining this evening, because I was having a good time and he was, after all, buying me dinner. There was a moment, though, when I gave some thought to zapping him with a little magic.
“No, no happy memories of Gabriel. He was Nic Gaudet’s brother, so naturally I’ve been around him from time to time. Since my brother is in New York right now with Nic, Beau probably asked him to check on me.” I didn’t see any need to mention that there had been a time when there seemed to be some chemistry between us, but we’d never acted on it, because we soon discovered we really didn’t like each other at all.
“Your brother seems to be very protective of you even though he isn’t that much older than you.”
“He is, Gage. I wasn’t even two years old when our parents were killed in an accident, and the three of us, Sophie, Beau and I, came to live at Ravenwood. I don’t remember anything about that time because I was so young, but apparently, I was traumatized. We all were, I think, and Beau, being the oldest, was who we clung to.” I stopped for a minute and shook my head in disbelief. “Can you imagine that? He was only about six.”
“There’s something I’ve always wondered about—and if you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“Was your grandfather good to all of you?”
“He provided for us—for all our needs, but he wasn’t an affectionate man. Why do you ask?”
“Well, during the investigation into your grandfather’s murder, I noticed that sometimes you referred to him as Grandfather, but at other times, you called him Abel. And Thibeau always said Abel whenever he was talking about him. I know it’s none of my business. The case is closed and what you called Abel Delessard had nothing to do with his murder, but it just seemed odd to me.”
I sat there for a minute, deciding how much to tell him about what my grandfather had done to Beau. I had only found out myself since Nic had come back to town. Right after Sophie left and before Beau went to New York, he and Nic both sat me down and finally told me the story of what happened all those months Beau was missing. I had been shocked and then furious on my brother’s behalf. I was still working through some of that rage. I took a deep breath and told Gage exactly why Beau and I had come to hate Abel Delessard.
We’d talked our way through our appetizer and were waiting on the entrée, and I was on my second glass of wine—or maybe it was my third. Anyway, my tongue was a little loose, I guess. I told him how my grandfather would not accept that Beau was gay and in love with Nic Gaudet. He wanted Beau to marry and produce an heir to the Delessard name. They had a huge fight, and Abel had him committed to some kind of religious “asylum” for conversion therapy. Beau was there against his will for months and was given electric shock therapy. There was other stuff, too, but I don’t know all the details.
“He still wouldn’t talk about it much. All I know is, he was different when he came home.”
“Oh, my God, Rafe, I’m so sorry. And you didn’t have any idea where he was all that time?”
“No, I asked my grandfather constantly, but he would never tell me anything. Fuck, Gage, don’t you think I’d have gone after him if I’d known?”
He reached over and took my hand. “I know you would have. I’m so sorry, bebe, for you and for Beau.”
I looked down at my hand in his and thought that even though he could get on my nerves a bit, he could be really sweet, too. Then, it hit me. Wait. What? Back up. Did he just call me bebe? And for the second time? I looked up at him and saw that he looked a little uncomfortable, like he’d realized, at about the same time I had, what he’d said. I decided that what I needed to do was act like I didn’t hear it, so I smiled sweetly and just said, “Thank you, cher.”
We finished our meal and even had dessert—actually, we decided to split one, but I have to be honest and say that I probably had more than half. It was some decadent chocolate confection, and I couldn’t resist it. We were eating off the same plate, and the truth is that I didn’t even realize how much of the stuff I’d eaten until Gage slid the plate with what was left of it toward me.
I looked up, then, and he was chuckling. “Like chocolate much?”
I laughed. “I love all kinds of sweets, but chocolate is my favorite—as you can see. I’m sorry that I ate half of your half.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had more than enough. I just wanted a taste of it. I’m not really crazy about sweets. I can take them or leave them and usually, I prefer to leave them.”
I pulled the plate closer to me and took a bite. “I don’t understand that at all, but whatever—it’s good, because it’s more chocolate for me.”
Gage just sat smiling at me while I polished off his part of the dessert, which was done in three bites. As soon as I finished, he asked, “Are you ready to go? I’m not rushing you, but I thought we might stroll over to Bourbon Street, check some of the clubs out—maybe do a little dancing.”
“You dance?”
“Don’t look so surprised. I’m not ready for the nursing home yet.”
“No. No. That’s not what I meant.” I stared across the table at him, trying to picture him at Oz, dancing with his shirt off. Hang on—that just made me hot. And jealous. Shit. I didn’t want anybody seeing any part of his body, but me, and that was a scary realization, because that indicated that Gage meant more to me than just a casual fling. Who was I kidding? I’d known it the first time I saw him.
Gage cleared his throat. “Earth to Rafe. You were saying?”
That brought me out of my daydream. “Huh? About what?” It took me a minute to catch back up. Before he could say anything, I said, “Oh, yeah—about going dancing. I don’t think you’re too old. You just don’t seem to be the type to like it.” You know, with that big ole stick up your butt and all. I thought it, but I didn’t say it—a plus for me.
“I enjoyed it in my twenties, but to tell the truth
, I haven’t been dancing in a long time. I thought you might enjoy it, though.” He’d paid the bill and the waiter had just brought his credit card back, so he stood up and said, “Let’s go. We’ll decide what to do while we’re walking.”
Chapter Seven
Gage
I really had no desire whatsoever to go dancing, but I was willing if Rafe wanted to. I was relieved at his reaction when I brought it up—he didn’t seem to be too keen on the idea either. As we walked back the way we’d come earlier, I looked over at him. “You didn’t seem interested in going to a club so…”
“Oh, I don’t mind, if that’s what you’d like to do.”
“No, I’m not really into that scene anymore.” I shrugged. “I guess I am getting old.”
“No, you’re not, and I wish you’d quit saying that shit.” He stopped walking and glared up at me. “If you’re trying to make me think you’re too old for me, you can stop it right now because it’s not working. You’re fucking sexy as hell and you know it, so just shut up about your age. I know you think I’m just a kid, but I’m not. I’ve lived through a lot, even at my age.”
“Oh yeah? Like what trauma have you lived through?” I said, partially joking, because I’d grown up poor as hell, while he lived in a mansion. A run-down mansion, but still. And he’d probably gone to some fancy private school, too.
“I lost my parents when I wasn’t even two yet, like I told you. Beau tried to take care of me. We shared a bedroom, and he used to try to hum me to sleep.”
I smiled. “Hum you to sleep?”
“Well, he was six, so...he didn’t remember the words to the songs our mama sang to us, but he tried. I learned how to climb out of the crib and get in bed with him, apparently, but one night Abel caught me. He was strict, and according to what Beau told me, he snatched me up that night and carried me back over to the crib, throwing me down inside it. I started yelling and reaching my arms back to Beau, and Abel backhanded me. Then when Beau tried to help, he threw him against a wall. I wasn’t even two yet.”
“Jesus,” I said, and I heard my voice go low and angry.
“So other than having my brother Beau to count on, I’ve been pretty much on my own since I was little more than a baby. The truth is that I know you’ve been worried about our age difference from the beginning, so it’s weird, right now, that you look so damn cute with that angry expression on your face.”
“I-I’m shocked. I shouldn’t be because of the things I see in my job, but it still shocks me to hear about somebody hurting kids. And I’m so sorry for asking you what kind of trauma you’ve faced.” I put my arm around him and pulled him close to me.
Neither of us had much to say for a couple of minutes. Finally, he broke the silence. “You know, Gage, this has been a wonderful evening so far, and I really don’t see the need to go anywhere else. I was wondering if I could come up to your place for a while and we can talk, or watch a movie, or something. I think it’d feel good just to hang out and relax. Get to know each other better. Would that be okay?”
I grinned at him. “Absolutely. That’s the whole idea of dating isn’t it?” And I’m thinking especially the “or something” part he’d mentioned. It was what I’d wanted all along. “Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“No, I’m off for the next two days. I’ve been off a lot this week, but I worked some mega hours last week because we had a guy quit. The boss hired somebody a few days ago, though, and Billy is training him, so I won’t go back on my regular schedule until next week. The new guy seems to be doing great, but since it’s the weekend, Billy wanted to see how he’d do when it’s super busy.”
I nodded and said, “I’m curious about something.”
“What’s that, Gage?”
“I know this is totally none of my business, but…”
“What? Just ask it. If I think you’re being too nosy, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay. I was just wondering if you make a lot of money bartending.” It was totally none of my business, but I knew that he was a college graduate, and I wondered why he’d stayed in that house, under his grandfather’s thumb. He seemed to be more adventurous than that. As a matter of fact, I’d wondered why he or any of his siblings had continued to live in that crumbling old mansion with a man that neither he nor Beau seemed to care about. Like I said—totally not my business, but it had bothered me since I’d run the background check on them during the murder investigation.
He looked surprised and I was about to tell him to forget I’d asked when he said, with a sly little smile, “I do okay. The base pay isn’t all that great, but the tips make up for it. Why do you ask?”
“It was just something I wondered about during the investigation of your grandfather’s death. When we did the background check on you, I saw that you had graduated from LSU, so I was puzzled as to why you would get a degree and then work as a bartender—not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just the cop in me, noticing things that seem a little off.”
“Well, the truth is that I’d wanted to be an interior designer, but Grandfather was having none of it, so I didn’t specialize in any profession—just got the old Liberal Arts degree. I did it to spite him—passive resistance, you know, but he didn’t care. He had other plans, plans that you don’t need a college degree for. He wanted to send me to study with someone he knew, I dug my heels in and refused to go.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you another time. There are things we need to talk about, but not now. This has been fun, and I don’t want more serious talk to spoil it.”
“I couldn’t agree more so...I’m off tomorrow, too. Why don’t you stay in town tonight—with me? I don’t really like the idea of you driving out to Ravenwood alone.”
“You do remember that I’m out there by myself all the time, right?” Then, he winked at me and said, “Still, I might be persuaded to stay the night.” He smiled up at me, and I felt like all was right with the world.
When we got back to Royal Street, we could hear the music coming from the bars on Bourbon Street, which was one street over from Royal, but I didn’t have any desire to go there. I’d spent enough time at those bars through the years, cruising, looking for hook-ups. What I wanted and needed now was the person walking beside me, and it seemed to me that he felt the same about me, but was I rushing it? We didn’t really know each other all that well, and I still had that gut feeling that most cops have—you know, the one where you know somebody is hiding something from you. But what could it be? Luc and I had run background checks on him and his whole family and nothing had come up, but, on the other hand, he had just said that there were things we needed to talk about, and that sounded serious.
I couldn’t help wondering what could be so bad that it could possibly ruin our evening. I was so lost in thought that it took me a couple of steps to realize that he wasn’t walking beside me anymore. I stopped and turned around to see him standing in front of the building that housed the voodoo shop and my apartment. He was smiling as he said, “I believe this is where you live, isn’t it, Detective?”
Fuck. I felt like a fool. I turned around and walked back to him. “Hell, yes. I was woolgathering, as my grandmother used to call it, and totally missed it.” I took out my key and unlocked the front door. “How long was I zoned out?”
He was laughing as we walked into the shop. “Not long—well, long enough to miss your own place.”
“Oh, my God! Well, that’s embarrassing and rude. Sorry. So much for trying to make a good impression tonight.”
He was still chuckling, obviously enjoying my discomfort. “Don’t worry about it.” We’d made it through the shop to the stairs leading to my apartment and as we climbed them, he asked, “Is this the only access to your apartment.”
“No, there’s a private entrance in the back where I park my car, but you know New Orleans. We’d have had to walk around the block to get to it, and this is just simpler.” He nodded and followed me into the apartme
nt. “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like a beer or some wine?”
“A beer sounds good.” He followed me to the refrigerator, shedding his suit jacket and tie as he went. “That feels better. I’m not used to wearing a suit, and I always feel like the tie is choking me.”
I handed him his beer and got one for myself. “I know how you feel, but I have to say you look great all dressed up.”
“Thank you, sir. I really enjoyed tonight, Gabe. I haven’t been to Irene’s in a long time. The food was delicious, but I ate way too much.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, especially the dessert.”
“Oh, God, don’t remind me. I ate my half and most of yours, too, but damn it was good.”
“Yeah, the couple of bites I managed to wrestle away from you were very tasty.”
“Oh, shut up. Now, that was rude.” We were sitting on the sofa by that time, and he was grinning at me when he said, “Spare me your smart-ass remarks and see if you can find us a movie to watch.”
I turned on the television and did a search for movies to rent. I told him to pick one since I didn’t really care and for the life of me, I don’t remember what it was. I was more interested in the man sitting next to me. As he watched the movie on TV, he became the star of a much better movie that was playing in my head. Okay, yeah it was definitely porn, and I needed to stop thinking about what Rafe looked like naked. I could already feel my dick getting harder. As I was just getting it under control, I felt a hand sliding up the inside of my thigh. I looked over at him, and he was smiling.
He tilted his head and looked up at me. “You’re not really interested in the movie, are you, Detective?” I’d noticed that he called me that when he was in a teasing, flirty mood. It was like his own private nickname for me when he was feeling playful, and I was all about that. On the other hand, he also used it when he was pissed off at me, but he was definitely not pissed right now, so it was all good.
Haunted (Witches of the Big Easy Book 3) Page 9
