by Zoe Piper
"Babe, that's not a cheap option," Mike said to her.
"Mike, money is not really a problem here." Kyle grinned at him.
"Oh. No, I suppose it's not, is it?" Mike conceded, flushing slightly with embarrassment.
Sarah was tapping away on her laptop. "Right, Kyle. I've found a helicopter company that does charter flights. I have emailed to enquire if they have anything available tomorrow and they should ring back first thing in the morning."
"Thanks, Sarah. You know if you ever want a job, I have a PA vacancy going," Kyle teased her, the tension of the last twenty-four hours easing.
"I may take you up on that, Mr Foster." Sarah grinned back at him.
The helicopter company rang back early the next day and Kyle was able to arrange a flight that would arrive in Whitianga by mid-morning. Thanking Sarah and Mike for their help and hospitality, he drove to the heliport.
The flight was only forty-five minutes and soon he was thanking the pilot, and after getting directions to the ferry dock, took a brief walk through the small town which was bustling with people enjoying their summer holidays. Kyle thought the little coastal town was wonderful and hoped he could come back with Jase to explore some more. He paid the nominal fare and the ferry ride took less than five minutes to cross the short strip of water to Ferry Landing. Disembarking, he checked the map and saw it was only a short walk up the hill to his destination. He tried ringing Jase again but getting no answer, he decided to see if he could find him. He took off up the road, the summer sun hot on his back. Reaching the brow of the hill, he had a stunning view across the bay and he felt a sense of peace settle within him. It was truly beautiful here and he could understand why Jase called it his happy place. He reached a junction in the road. One way led up over the top of a cliff with multiple houses on it and the other down towards the beach. Instinct made him turn down towards the beach. He decided to walk along the road and see if he could find Jase’s car outside any of the houses that were dotted along the road. If not, he would turn back and just knock on every door until he found his wayward lover.
He discreetly checked driveways as he walked, keeping an eye out for the blue sedan that Jase drove. He got to the end of houses and paused to take a drink from the bottle of water he had in his small knapsack. Feeling a little disappointed, he returned the bottle to his bag, and slowly turned back towards the junction in the road. He would try the cliff top residences, but wasn’t holding out much luck. He was almost back to where he started when a flash of bright red caught his eye. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t taken notice of it before, but now he paused and looked at the cherry red, new model Ford Mustang tucked away in a carport to the side of a modest brick cottage. His mind flashed back to the brief conversation they had had about cars and he remembered telling Jase about his old Mustang. Deciding to follow his gut, he walked down the short driveway and knocked on the front door. Getting no answer, he went around the side of the house. Facing the beach, the house had large bi-fold windows that opened onto a wide wooden deck. The property was slightly raised up from the beach and a small, well-kept lawn led down to the sand. The surrounding hedge provided privacy, it’s height casting long shadows across the lawn.
A hammock on a free-standing frame stood under one of the trees and on the deck were several comfortable looking loungers, a large table and chairs, and to one side a large gas barbeque. Kyle couldn’t see any signs of life and walked across the grass to the top of the path leading down to the beach. He could see a few people on the golden sand, but it certainly wasn’t crowded. He scanned the expanse and noticed a figure walking towards him, head down with hands in the pockets of their shorts. A baseball cap was the only other item of clothing the tall man had on, the sun casting shadows on the muscular chest. Kyle’s heart lurched at the sight of the man he had been looking for. He took a breath to call out when the figure looked up and stopped walking when he saw Kyle.
Kyle raised a hand and waved. Jase did not wave back, but he did start walking again, his eyes never leaving Kyle’s face.
“How’d you find me?” were the first words he spoke, the tone resigned.
“Peter told us you’d bought a place here. I’ve been walking up and down the road trying to figure out which one was yours as he couldn’t remember the address.” Kyle let his eyes roam over Jase’s face, noticing the shadows under his eyes. Eyes that did not have their usual sparkle. “Why’d you run away, Jase?” he asked softly, not wanting to cause a confrontation but needing to know.
Jase dropped his gaze and then brushed past Kyle and nodded towards the house. “Come on. Let’s get out of the sun.”
Kyle followed and joined Jase on the shaded deck. He wanted to grab him and shake him and then kiss him senseless, but, sighing, he dropped onto the side of one of the loungers. Jase sat opposite him. After a moment or two, Jase finally broke the silence.
“Why are you here, Kyle? I told you I’d be back on Wednesday. You should be with your family.”
“Why am I here?” Kyle couldn’t believe the question. “I’m here because of you. I need you to know that I don’t care about the money and I’m pissed at you for taking off before we could talk properly. Before I could apologise for my parents.”
“You don’t need to apologise for your parents. Don’t get me wrong, I am not happy with what they did, but I understand why they did it.” He took his cap off and ran a hand through the sweat dampened curls. “It was because of what happened with your sister, wasn’t it? They guy she was going to marry?”
Kyle nodded. “Partly, yes, it was because of what happened with Asher. But partly with what happened with Paul too.” Jase raised an eyebrow in question. “I’m afraid I didn’t tell you the whole story either. I told you Asher was cheating on Chloe?” At Jase’s nod, he continued, “What I didn’t tell you was that Asher was cheating with Paul, my boyfriend.”
If the whole situation hadn’t been so serious, Kyle would have laughed at the expression on Jase’s face.
“The bastards. No wonder your parents did what they did.” Jase shook his head in disbelief. “Did they know each other before they were dating you and your sister?”
“They denied that they did, but in hindsight, probably. It made the whole family wary, as you can imagine.”
“Babe. I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Jase reached a hand towards him. Kyle, not wanting to miss an opportunity to touch him, grasped it. He played with the fingers in his.
“Darlin’, why did you run?” he asked again softly.
“I don’t know.” Jase’s fingers tightened in his. “No, that’s a lie, I do know. I was so angry and felt partly betrayed, Kyle. I’ve never been that angry before and I think if I had stayed I may have said or done something to hurt you or damage the relationship with your family. I left so I could get my head space right.”
“I can understand that, but why didn’t you answer my calls? I was frantic with worry about you.” Kyle swallowed back the lump in his throat remembering how he’d felt over the last couple of days.
“I’m really sorry, babe. I needed to tell my family about everything. I’d planned to do it later in the week, but then your parents forced my hand and it wasn’t fair that you knew before my family did. I was going to tell you, too, on Wednesday. I’ve been putting it off for months,” he huffed a laugh, “well to be honest, years. The stress of knowing I was taking over not only the Foundation, but my trust as well, has really been eating at me.” Jase’s green-eyed gaze implored Kyle to believe him. “The last couple of months, since meeting you, has made it easier to deal with.”
Kyle smirked at that. “Well, they do say sex is good for stress relief.”
Jase grinned back at him. “I can vouch for it.” His expression turned serious again. “But, it wasn’t just the sex babe. Great as it is. It’s just being with you. From that first night, it’s just felt right, and I’ll admit, I was afraid that once you knew the truth, you’d not want to be with me.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to be with you?” Kyle asked him gently. “It’s been the same for me too, Jase. I meant it when I told my parents you were an important part of my life here. I also meant it when I said I love you. And, if you’d bothered to listen to my voice mail messages, you’d know that I mean it when I say that I don’t care how much money you do or don’t have.”
“I have listened to your messages. Multiple times.” Jase admitted.
“Why the hell didn’t you call me back then?” Kyle demanded.
“I could blame poor coverage, but I promised I’d never lie to you and I won’t start now. I was ashamed.”
“Ashamed of what?” Kyle was getting confused again. Did Jase want to be with him or not?
“Ashamed of the way I treated you. You deserve better and I’m not sure I can be the right person for you.”
Kyle growled in frustration. “Jase. Enough of this. Do you love me?”
Jase looked him directly in the eye and nodded. In a quiet voice he said, “Yes Kyle, I do love you.”
“Do you want to be with me?” Again, Jase nodded. “Then you are the person for me.” Kyle tugged on the hand he was still holding. “Now get your fine ass over here and prove it to me.”
Jase let himself be pulled towards Kyle and he sank to his knees so he was eye level with him. Kyle leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jase’s mouth. “I love you, Jase MacKenzie. Don’t ever doubt that.” He wrapped his hand around the other man’s neck and pulled him into a long, deep kiss. Jase’s mouth parted under his, tongues tangling as they sought to remember the taste of each other.
After a few minutes, they pulled apart, eyes not breaking contact, communicating without words how they felt for each other. Kyle broke the silence. “I do have one more question.”
“Fire away. No more secrets, I promise.” Jase assured him, fingers tracing delicate patterns on the back of Kyle’s neck.
“What’s with the car?” he quirked an eyebrow. Jase shuffled back on his knees and stood up. Looking down at Kyle he said, “Yeah. About that. Um, I bought myself a birthday present.”
Kyle stood up and slipped his arms around Jase’s waist. “You did, did you?”
Jase nodded sheepishly. “Decided that if I was going to let people know about the money, I may as well spend a bit on myself. Seeing as I didn’t twelve years ago when I won it.”
“Sounds fair to me. I’m looking forward to taking her for a spin.”
“Later. I believe we have a rain check to cash in from the other day.”
“I do believe you’re right, Mr MacKenzie.”
“But before we do, I have a question of my own.”
Kyle ran his thumb along Jase’s jaw line. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you get here? Where’s your car?”
“I chartered a helicopter and flew into Whitianga an hour or so ago and then caught the ferry over.”
Jase looked at him amazement. “What happened to not flaunting your wealth?”
“Well, sometimes rules are made to be broken and really, what is the point of having so much money if I can’t make use of it from time to time. Besides, I needed to get here fast and didn’t like the idea of driving for three hours through winding roads,” Kyle admitted.
“That’s a good enough reason, I suppose.” Jase kissed him.
Kyle pulled him tight into his arms. “Now, can we cash in that rain check?”
Grinning, Jase led him into the cool house.
Epilogue
It was Jase's thirtieth birthday and he and Kyle were at his parent's house for a barbeque with their families and friends. They had spent an extra two days in the Coromandel with Jase showing Kyle around his favourite holiday spot. They had spent the days on beaches and taking bush walks and their nights reaffirming their love to each other.
They had met with Kyle's family on their return and it had been a tense meeting, but Edward and Heather Foster had apologised for their actions. Jase had accepted the apology, but it would be a while before he was totally comfortable with them. He had, though, forged a firm friendship with Chloe and Luke. Luke was currently sitting with Sarah, the two of them as thick as thieves, peals of laughter breaking out every so often.
"I think we're going to regret introducing those two," Jase observed as Kyle passed him a beer. Kyle looked over to their two best friends.
"I think you're right," he agreed. "The only saving grace is that Luke heads back home next week, so their contact will be limited."
"Like that will stop Sarah emailing him if she wants some dirt on you," Jase teased him. Kyle laughed in agreement. He nodded over to where their other friends were sitting.
"What's up with Charlie? He seems very subdued."
"I'm not sure. He was a bit off yesterday when I spoke with him, Stuart and Brett." Jase commented.
"It's not because of your news, is it?" Kyle asked.
Jase had met with his three close friends and told them everything. They had taken the news well and totally understood why Jase had not told them before now. "No. He was really good with that. They all said they couldn't care less."
"He and Carl look like they’re avoiding each other too." Kyle gestured to where Charlie sat and then to where his brother stood on the other side of the large garden. "He did mention earlier in the week that Carl had turned up out the blue with a couple of mates. Maybe that's it?"
"Dunno. He'll talk to us when he's ready. He's a bit like me in that he tends to get lost in his head if he’s working something out."
Kyle slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. Kissing him gently, he said in a low voice, "But you're not going to do that again, are you darlin'?"
Jase returned the kiss, looking deeply into the dark blue eyes. "No babe. I'm not."
They grinned at each other, completely ignoring all that was going on around them.
"Oi. You two. Can you dial down the lustful looks?” Stuart's laughing voice called out. They broke apart and joined in the laughter. The gregarious blonde carried on, "I reckon I should rub you for luck, Jase."
Kyle sent him a withering glance. "There'll be no rubbing of anything thank you, Stuart."
"No. I didn't mean that, you perv. You've been hanging round Jase too much, mate. I mean he's a lucky so-and-so, with his win and now finding you, I reckon he should spread the luck around."
Jase looked at the gathering. He really was lucky. He had supportive family and friends, and the man he loved by his side. He may have won the lottery and have a healthy bank balance, but he reckoned he had won love's lottery too.
The End
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to you, the reader, for taking the time to read my book. It is truly appreciated.
A lot goes into the production of a book like this and it can’t be done alone.
My biggest thanks go to author Claire Castle and her alter ego, for firstly, getting me hooked on the MM romance genre a few years ago and then for inspiring me to give this writing lark a go. I would be lost without our daily chats and this book is only here due to the support, encouragement and the advice you have given me during the whole process. I am forever in your debt.
Thanks to my initial beta readers, Janie B, Christine C, and Jackie C for telling me the truth and helping to make the book stronger and better.
To Leslie Copeland for beta reading services. You helped polish up the rough edges and you made all the right comments in all the right places.
To my wonderful editor, Jenni Lea. Your patience knows no bounds and your suggestions were spot on. This book is a million times better for your input.
To Morningstar Ashley for the wonderful cover. You gave me everything I didn’t realise I wanted.
To Barbara Moore for the final read through and giving it a final polish.
To Eden Finley for reworking my blurb. You managed to convey what I couldn’t.
To the members of the GLTBQ Writer Support Network and New
Zealand Rainbow Romance Writers groups on Facebook for answering all my questions and pointing me in the right direction to get the answers I needed.
And finally, to my family, who will never read this and think it’s just a passing fad, thank you anyway. I know you love me as much as I love you.
About the Author
Zoe Piper is English by birth and a Kiwi by choice, living in Auckland, New Zealand for over thirty years. By day she is an international arms dealer, (yes, really), mother to two horrible teenage boys and long-suffering partner of their father. She has been reading since she learned the alphabet as a small child and devours several books a week. She loves a good romance and a happy ever after. She began reading about boys falling in love with boys after a recommendation from a good friend. The same good friend then inspired her to write her own stories and now the voices in her head won’t shut up!
You can keep in touch with Zoe on social media
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