Something in Common (Dreamspinner Press Bundles)

by Talia Carmichael

  “Okay.” Kenton retrieved the items he needed and started to make the sandwiches.

  “What is your problem?” Del asked.

  “Harper needs someone who will stand by him. If you don’t plan to do that, then walk away.” Kenton put down the knife he was holding, staring at Del challengingly.

  “I’m not walking away,” Del stated firmly.

  Kenton studied him, then nodded once and went back to making sandwiches.

  “That’s it?”

  “Yep.” Kenton lifted his head, smiling wickedly. “For now. If you get around the others, be prepared for an interrogation and some overprotective attitudes.”

  “I can handle it.”

  Kenton laughed, not saying anything further on the subject. Del watched the efficient way he worked, then broached the idea of him being part of the restaurant. Kenton listened, not saying much.

  “Sorry it took so long. You ready?” Harper strode toward them, resting his hand on Del’s back when he was close enough.

  “He’s good to go.” Kenton put the sandwiches in a bag, then two bottles of iced tea.

  Harper took it and gestured for Del to come on. Del followed Harper out, waiting as he greeted customers along the way. When they were on the sidewalk, Harper held out his hand. Del placed his in Harper’s, and they strolled toward the park.

  “So, did you get Kenton to agree to be the pastry chef at the restaurant?”

  “He didn’t say so, but he’s in.” Del was very sure of that.

  “Hmmm… I do agree he would be good at it. Simon would too.”

  “Yep. They’re a good fit.” Del watched as a woman power-walked past them.

  “I’m going to enjoy seeing how this good fit works out,” Harper said.

  Del glanced at him, smiling. “Me too.”

  Harper snorted. Del strolled beside him, enjoying the April sun and slight cool breeze. At the park, they found somewhere to eat and enjoyed watching the people around them as they chatted. They retraced their steps back to Harper’s store, and Del kissed him before he left.

  Each day, Del came by at lunch, and they enjoyed their time together. On Thursday night, Del went to Bacchus Sloan with Harper. Not many of the friends Harper usually hung around with were there that night. Del excused himself and talked with Rory. When he returned, he was expecting some sort of comment from Harper’s friends, but they said nothing. On Friday, he joined Simon and Harper for movie night. The rest of their regular people who joined in couldn’t make it. By Saturday, Del figured Kenton had been messing with him about the questions and attitudes from Harper’s friends—until Harper took him to the poker game at his friend Alejandro’s. When they stepped in, all conversation stopped.

  “Why are you blocking the doorway?” a growly voice asked, pushing at his shoulders.

  Del and Harper shifted out of the way, watching as Gerald and Bur, followed by Bernie and Tomas, entered.

  “Del.” Bernie sounded surprised.

  Harper looked at Del, then back to his brothers. “You didn’t tell them?”

  “Tell us what?” Bur asked.

  “Why is everyone so damn quiet?” Gerald asked.

  “I have no clue, but it’s freaking me out,” Tomas grumbled.

  “No, I didn’t.” Del glanced at his brothers. “Haven’t seen much of them this week. We’ve been in meetings with various people about the center.”

  “You could have picked up a phone. No, wait. I forgot you have an aversion to it. God, you’re aggravating,” Harper said.

  Del pulled him against his side, kissing the side of his face. His brothers stared, and then Bur walked over to Del and smacked him upside the head. Del pushed him in the shoulder.

  “What the hell? Del is with Harper? When the fuck did that happen?” Gerald asked.

  “That’s something we all would like to know,” a voice Del didn’t know said.

  The tone was cool, but he heard the underlying demand for an answer. Del watched the man leaning on the wall between the two men he recognized. One was Miguel, who was the partner of one of Bernie’s friends. The other was Alex Hayes, also a friend of Bernie’s. Alex looked amused by what was going on. He focused on the man in the center, who looked very much like Miguel and Tomas.

  “It’s not your business, Alejandro,” Harper stated firmly.

  At the name, Del realized he was the oldest of the eight Rodriguez bothers, and the oldest of all the men who spent time together. Del met Alejandro’s look with one of his own, waiting to see what the other man would say next.

  Chapter Five

  “NO INTERFERENCE from any of you,” Harper said.

  Del glanced at him, noticing he was looking around the room. Del lifted his head, watching the men in the room. They seemed to relax, starting to talk among themselves.

  “What just happened?” Del asked Harper.

  “It’s as I said. With this group, if you tell them to back off, they will.” Harper paused, then said, “They’ll still try to question you, but without attitude. Because they know I don’t put up with it.” Harper raised his voice.

  “Wow. We haven’t heard that tone in a while. Hot damn, Harper. We missed you,” a mocking, yet playful voice called out.

  “Bite me, Longoria,” Harper said.

  Del glanced around, then spotted Theron, who had spoken. They had hired him to run one of the centers. The men laughed, making various comments to Harper. Harper strode away toward Simon, flipping them all off. Del chuckled.

  “What’s going on?” Bur demanded.

  Del shrugged.

  “You could have called us.” Bur pushed at his shoulder.

  “I could have, but didn’t.” Del glanced at Bur, giving him a look he knew would aggravate him.

  He hadn’t even thought of it. He and his brother had been busy finalizing the last of the contacts they would need once Treble Duo opened. Once it was, they expected to probably need others, but they would take on people as they needed them. For now, everything was lined up, and the construction was almost completed. In about five weeks, at the end of May, they would be able to do the final walk-through of the buildings. They then planned to move in all the furniture and other things they needed to set up both centers the first week in June. By the second week of June, the main staff they had handpicked with the directors chosen for each center would start familiarizing themselves with the setup. For both centers, they had training and team-building exercises that would last for about a month. The main staff included various people who would be teaching certain classes at the center. From mid-July until the centers opened, they would be bringing in the volunteers who would run various activities and classes. There was also planning for the opening ceremony. There was a lot to do before August 13, when the centers officially opened.

  “Irritating as—”

  Bernie cut Bur off. “Quit it, you two.” He put his hand on the back of the each of their necks and squeezed.

  “Sorry, Bernie,” they said together.

  “Oh boy. They’re in stereo. Are there any more of you? Because I could swear you are multiplying or something.” Gerald joined them, tugging Bur close to him by Del’s right side.

  Del noted Tomas moved Bernie by him to his left. He didn’t even know if they realized it, but they had flanked him. Bur and Bernie were right next to him, and Tomas and Gerald by their sides. Del wondered if it was to interrogate him.

  “They’re not so bad once you get to know them.” Tomas touched him on his left shoulder.

  “Just tell them you don’t like people. That’ll scare them away,” Gerald teased, placing his hand on Del’s right shoulder.

  Del looked at each man, realizing that they were actually, in their own way, showing solidarity with him. Trying to make him comfortable with them. It was sweet and very weird. The whole experience was strange. Del glanced around, looking for Harper, and didn’t see him in the room. He frowned, but it cleared when Harper came toward him from the kitchen holding two bottles. Ha
rper, on more than one occasion, had mentioned how Del’s movements reminded him of a tiger, but watching Harper walk toward him, Del was captured by his innate grace. Harper’s motions were relaxed, as if he had all the time in the world.

  “Here.” Harper held out the bottle to him.

  Del took the beer. Harper turned, standing before him. Since they were the same height, he was blocking both Del’s view of the room and the men in the room from seeing Del. Del was amused by the five of them.

  “Am I a treasure or something to be so closely guarded?” Del asked.

  “Don’t be an ass.” Harper looked over his shoulder, glaring at him before turning his head back to face the room.

  “Just go with it. Harper tends to be overprotective about people he cares about.” Gerald removed his hand.

  “And don’t try to hide it from him if you have a problem. He gets it out of you. I don’t know how, but he does.” Tomas also removed his touch.

  “Del does too. It’s a pain in the ass.” Bur pushed his finger into Del’s side.

  “Stop it,” Del warned.

  “Don’t start, you two,” Bernie cautioned again.

  Del grinned at Bur, and they turned on Bernie, grabbing him and jostling him between them. Used to them, Tomas and Gerald stepped back out of the way. Harper was bumped and turned to them, looking confused.

  “Get back from the nutty brothers. They like to play-fight. Very weird,” Gerald said.

  “Says the man who does the same thing to many of us,” a voice unfamiliar to Del called out.

  “You’re easy to take down, Link,” Gerald retorted.

  Gerald and the man he didn’t know started arguing. Bernie pushed Del and then Bur away, moving back to Tomas, and Bur went to stand by Gerald. Del listened to Gerald and the man exchanging very inventive insults that didn’t have any heat behind them. They were more playful, and from the amused and indulgent expressions of the various men in the room, something that happened often. Del lifted his beer, taking a drink. Harper watched before moving closer in front of him. Harper kissed him gently, and Del held his waist, quickly becoming lost in his kiss.

  “Get out of the way, Harper. You can kiss him later.”

  Harper was pulled back, and Del blinked as Simon stood before him.

  “Tell me about this matchmaking you want to do.”

  “I don’t matchmake, despite what Harper told you.” Del looked at Harper, exasperated.

  “Come on. Do your thing.” Harper grinned and gestured between Del and Simon.

  The people in the room got quiet again, their attention on Del.

  “What thing?” Gerald asked.

  “He’s good at matching people with businesses they could fit with. He’s a business matchmaker.” Harper’s grin widened.

  “Stop teasing me. I don’t do any such a thing.” Del didn’t really mind. It was exactly what he did.

  There was a twinkle in Harper’s gaze when he teased, and Del liked seeing it.

  “He does.”

  Del glanced briefly at Alex, who had spoken, then at Harper, who was watching him curiously.

  “He matched me and Dustin up,” Alex said.

  “Your new business partner?” Gerald asked.

  “Yep. Del called me, and before I knew it, I had a partner, and I wasn’t even planning to get one.” Alex laughed. “He’s very persuasive.”

  “Must be, since he got Harper to go out with him and I didn’t even know. I’m going to get to the bottom of it, though. I need to know how,” Gerald mumbled.

  “Leave it alone, Gerald,” many voices in the room called out.

  “You all want to know. So do I,” Gerald said.

  “Tell me about this matchmaking.” Simon’s tone was demanding.

  Del focused back on him, where he stood with Hector by his side. “We can find somewhere to talk—”

  “Here is fine. They’ll all find out anyway,” Simon said.

  Del once again observed the various people at the poker game, then turned to Simon, filling him in. As they talked, people interrupted, asking questions, and he answered. Del didn’t let it show, but he was impressed by their caring and thorough questioning of him to make sure Simon wouldn’t be taken advantage of. They were savvy men, and protective.

  “You know you’re going to do it, Simon.” Hector hugged Simon from behind. “We’ll call you, Del, so we can set up a sit-down with you and these Anderson cousins.”

  “But Hec—”

  “Sim, you’re excited and want to know it all now, but let’s play some poker and let you digest what you heard. Come on and win us some money so you can buy me dinner at Destinations.” Hector led him away, still protesting.

  “I’m going to go win us some money, too, so I can buy you dinner, snookums.” Harper patted him on the butt.

  The devilish expression on his face and wiggling of his eyebrows made Del chuckle. Harper winked, heading for the poker table. He sat next to Simon and picked up the cards. He started to shuffle fast, then passed it to Simon. They did a few tricks back and forth as men started to take seats around the table. Del stood back, watching with others who hadn’t sat yet.

  “Stop your showboating and get on with it. I’ve got to get Bur a steak at the bar later,” Gerald said.

  “You want steak?” Del turned his head to Bur.

  “Destinations makes a fabulous steak. Their food is very good. Drinks too.” He shrugged, leaning against the wall. “Gerald, I want a big one, so get to winning.”

  “You heard him, boys. Be prepared to lose,” Gerald said.

  Those sitting and standing heckled him. Del didn’t join in. Instead, he observed their interactions.

  “DEL IS buying for everyone.” Gerald held open the door to Destinations.

  The men filed in, agreeing with him. Del, who was last, stopped by Gerald.

  “You’re a card shark. Damn, man. You cleaned everyone out when you joined the game.” Gerald’s tone was awed as he shook his head, striding away.

  Del followed, pushing his hands into his back pockets. Harper was waiting for him inside the door. The bar they were in was high-end and very nicely set up. There was lots of space, and the atmosphere seemed friendly. As their group headed for tables, the other men in the establishment watched them and some called out to various members of the group.

  “You all come here often?” Del asked.

  “After poker, we usually do. Since Gerald came here, he liked the food, drink, and games, he suggested it.” Harper glanced around. “It’s a great place. The owner knows when we’ll be in and keeps a few tables by the pool tables open for us.”

  A few moments after they took their seats, a waiter came to hand out menus. Del studied the selection, and when the man returned, ordered along with everyone else.

  “Put it all on one bill as well as any drinks,” Del told the man.

  “I was joking, Del,” Gerald said from across the table.

  “Since your man is retired and all, I know how tight money is.” Del handed the waiter the menu. “Have you gotten that teaching position yet, Bur?”

  The men around the table laughed. Del joined them.

  “You all are never going to let me forget,” Gerald said.

  “Nope.” Bur shoved him, then replied to Del. “I’m still working on it, seeing as I have no money and all.” He glanced back at Gerald.

  “I didn’t know you had money,” Gerald protested.

  “He told you a million times,” various members of their group said.

  “He did, and I didn’t hear it. How was I to know he was rich? Man was living with Harper, and I thought he was mooching off people,” Gerald grumbled.

  Gerald’s obstinance at not hearing Bur when he’d said he didn’t need a job was one of Del’s favorite things to tease him about. Gerald took it good-naturedly.

  “Let’s play some pool, Del. That, I know I’ll beat you at.” Gerald stood.

  Del got up and followed him. They played, rotating shots
until their food came. Then they returned to the table. Del ate his food and drank, talking with those around the table. When the waiters came and removed their plates, the men rose, heading to the game room. Del stood beside Harper, watching their group spread out at various tables and the dart boards. Some went to other games in the room that was as large as the dining area.

  “The food and drinks were really good.” Del put his arms over Harper’s shoulders.

  “You have that look on your face.” Harper studied Del.

  “What look?”

  “The business matchmaker look,” Harper said.

  “Stop saying that. I don’t have any look.” Del thought of the delicious food and drinks.

  “Go and talk to the chef and bartender,” Harper said.

  “No. I’m out having fun with you and your friends.” Del pulled him tighter to his side.

  “And you will continue to after you talk to them.” Harper stepped out of his embrace, pushing him gently toward the arched doorway.

  “I can wait—”

  “Simon, Del has two matches that would work in the restaurant.” Harper lifted his voice.

  “What? Where?” Simon came toward them.

  “The bartender and chef here.”

  “We’re going to convince them to come on board the restaurant?” Simon asked Harper.

  Del already felt it in his gut that Simon was going to be in on the restaurant. Now, hearing the excitement, it was cemented.

  “Yes.” Harper looked at Del pointedly. “If Del would stop hemming and hawing and go do his matchmaker thing.”

  “I’m not a matchmaker,” he said firmly.

  “He’s going to be your headhunter,” Harper told Simon.

  “Good. I want to pick his brain on lots of things. Come on, Del. Let’s go get the bartender and chef.” Simon grabbed his arm, pulling Del behind him.

  Del glared at Harper, who only waved as they left the room. Twenty minutes later, they returned to the game room. Del and Simon handed out drinks before Del made his way to Harper, carrying two bottles of beer. He handed one to Harper, who sat on a stool holding a pool cue.

  “You’re up next.” Harper gave him the stick.