Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
JON
I could listen to Seth talk all night. Tom had been right. Seth was intelligent and incredibly interesting. He’d traveled all over the world, both before and after he got married. I kept getting the niggling feeling that I knew him from somewhere. I knew I’d never met him in person—I would have remembered that. But something about him was familiar.
One of the best things about Seth was his genuine interest in what I had to say. I wasn’t used to the men I dated being interested in my career. They heard I was a nurse and pigeon-holed me into a role that wasn’t my reality. Not that Seth and I were dating—yet. But I could see it happening if he was ready.
The server brought over the dessert menu, and I groaned. Even though I was full from dinner, I couldn’t resist getting their chocolate pot de crème. To my delight, Seth was also a big fan of the delicious dessert. His moan of pleasure when he put the first spoonful in his mouth went straight to my dick. I gave him the side-eye, and he grinned. He knew exactly what he was doing.
By the time dinner was over, I was ready to skip the boardwalk and go straight to his or my place. Screw getting to know each other first. I wanted to fuck or be fucked. I really didn’t care which. I couldn’t even fault Tom for looking smug as we left the restaurant.
“I’ll see you both soon,” he said with a smile.
Mark rolled his eyes and tugged on his husband’s arm. “Come on, Cupid. Leave them be.”
Seth chuckled. “Goodnight, you two. I’ll be around more often. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Tom said.
As we watched them walk away, Seth shifted nervously. “Are you still up for a walk?”
“Absolutely,” I replied, telling my dick to calm the fuck down.
He seemed to relax. “Okay. Good.”
We spent the ten-minute walk talking about our favorite places to travel. “Even though it sounds cliché,” Seth said, “I really do love Paris in the spring. But I also love Ireland. The people there are so friendly.”
“I’ve never been there,” I said. “I haven’t been able to travel as much as I would like because I was working on my nurse practitioner specialties. I started in family practice but saw the great need for psychiatric nursing, so I went back to school for that specialty.”
“That’s impressive,” Seth said. “It’s a lot of work.”
I shrugged. “It took another year of classes to finish. But it was worth it. I’m able to help a lot of people who can’t get access to a psychiatrist.”
Seth smiled sadly. “I’m glad you did that. David had a hard time finding a prescriber because a lot of psychiatrists didn’t take his insurance.”
I nodded but didn’t ask because it was none of my business. “Access to good mental health care is important to me.” We stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal to change. The traffic was still heavy even at nine-thirty on a Thursday night. “What about you?” I asked as we were finally able to cross the street. “You said you’re a biomedical engineer. What does a biomedical engineer do?”
Seth pursed his lips. “There are a lot of sub-specialties, and kind of like you, I started in one and switched to another, beginning with biomechanics. I wanted to engineer better prosthetics. I did that for about ten years before moving over to biomaterials.”
“Why the switch?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I wanted to try something new. In biomaterials, we work to create better medical devices, like the ones that deliver insulin to diabetics. I lead a team of engineers at a company in Princeton.”
“That’s a long commute,” I commented.
“I know,” he replied. “But I love living in Asbury Park. Besides, I work from home three days a week, so it’s not too bad.”
“You live in Asbury?” I asked. “Me too. Where do you live?”
He pointed behind us. “I have a condo on Lake Avenue. Where do you live?”
“No way. I have an apartment on Cookman,” I said.
He grinned. “We live one street away from each other.”
“I’m in the apartments over Toast,” I said.
Seth’s brows rose. “Are you serious? I have breakfast there at least once a week. I can’t believe we’ve never seen each other.”
I shrugged. “I don’t eat there much. Maybe it’s because I live over top of it.”
“Could be,” he mused. “I’m in the Wesley Grove condos, so we’re, at most, a five-minute walk from each other.”
“Oh wow,” I said. “I went to a party in a condo over there. Those are really nice. Do you have the rooftop patio?”
“Yep,” he said with a smile. “It’s great on nights like this, and I can watch the Fourth of July Fireworks from the comfort of my home.”
“Nice.”
We made it to the boardwalk, which still had plenty of people wandering in and out of the various shops, restaurants, and bars. A cool breeze blew off the ocean, whisking away the heat of the mid-July day. The old-fashioned streetlamps dotting the boardwalk’s edge gave it the feel of bygone days when the boardwalk was first built.
Of course, that illusion was shattered by the neon lights and loud music from the open-air bars. I didn’t mind though. I loved walking the boards at night. I also loved coming down in the early morning and absorbing the peace of that in-between time just before the sun peeked over the horizon. It was like the world held its breath while waiting for the new day.
“Do you want to head toward Convention Hall?” Seth asked.
I gazed at the other end of the boardwalk where Convention Hall stood in all its faded glory. “Sure. It’s a nice night for a walk.”
We talked more as we walked, and I had to try really hard not to take his hand in mine. Not gonna lie. It was unusual for me to want that from anyone. I wasn’t much of a hand-holder. At least I hadn’t been. I had no idea what it was about Seth that turned me around like that.
We got to the doors leading into the Grand Arcade, the pass-thru between Convention Hall and the Paramount Theater and stopped. Seth just stared up at the decorative designs set in the brickwork on the outside of the structure for a few moments before saying, “This is where I met David.”
“Right here?” I asked, wondering where this was going.
He shook his head. “Inside. He was selling some of his paintings at the Fall Bazaar.”
And it hit me like a ton of bricks. “Your David was David Harding, the artist?”
He looked at me in surprise. “Yes. Didn’t you know?”
“No,” I replied with a shake of my head. “No one mentioned it. That’s why you look familiar. I’ve seen pictures of you with David. You didn’t have the beard back then.”
He stroked his well-trimmed salt-and-pepper beard. “Yes. This is a new addition. After David died, I didn’t take care of myself as well as I should have. I didn’t shave for weeks. When I finally started to get myself together, I decided I liked it, so I kept it.”
“It certainly suits you,” I said. My imaginings from my shower came back and my cock perked up with interest. “I like it.” I paused, then decided to just lay it all out there. “I like you. A lot.”
Seth stepped closer to me. “I like you too, Jon. I haven’t been this genuinely interested in someone for a long time.”
I closed the distance between us. “So, what do you want to do about it?”
A large group exited the building right next to us, shattering the moment. Seth growled and took my hand, leading me away from the doors toward the railing separating the boardwalk from the beach below. The moon was barely a crescent, so the water was dark except for the sprinkling of lights from the distant ships.
He crowded me against the cool metal and said, “I want to kiss you. Is that all right with you?”
“Absolutely,” I replied.
He cupped my face with his warm hands, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks. “You are a beautiful man,” he said softly. He lowered his mouth to mine, his plush lips opening slightly when I teased them with my tongue. His beard felt as good as I’d imagined. I slipped my arms around his waist to pull him closer. Our tongues tangled and a low moan escaped his lips. He tasted like chocolate, wine, and something uniquely Seth. I wanted to do this all night.
My hands slid lower to cup his ass and the hard length of his cock pressed against my abdomen. I ground my hips against his, craving the friction. Someone loudly cleared their throat nearby, and Seth looked over his shoulder at the person. With a sigh, he reluctantly pulled away. He rested his forehead against mine. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
I chuckled. “Yes, it did.” I kissed him again softly. “Do you want to continue this at your place? Or at my place? I’m okay either way.”
He blew out a short breath. “I do. I really do…”
“But…?” I continued his thought.
“But whenever I start with sex first, I end up not taking the time to get to know the man, and it hasn’t lasted.” He brushed his fingers through my hair. “I really like you. I’d like to get to know you better. I think we could make something good out of this if I can break that pattern.” He pursed his lips in frustration. “Does that make sense to you?”
“I think so,” I replied. “I’ll admit, I’m disappointed. But I’m happy you want to try for something more than a one-and-done.”
“Oh, definitely,” he said with a rueful smile. “I can honestly say my cock is not very happy with me right now.”
“Same,” I replied.
“It was a lovely first kiss,” Seth said.
I took his hand and raised it to my lips. “It really was.”