Chapter 5
Mace
Completely out of my element, a rarity in my mundane life, I decided avoiding eye contact and staying silent were my best courses of actions.
Poseidon. What did that even mean besides the obvious?
Slade was an actor, a subject I knew dick about. I hadn’t owned a television for most of my adult life. I didn’t watch TV and didn’t care to. Life happened outside the box, or screen, or whichever Slade was on.
Now, with him standing a few feet away, all confident and movie-star hot, I wanted to know more.
And I didn’t like that one bit.
Of course, I’d thought about the actor for most of the day. What a ridiculous fool I’d been.
So Poseidon was here in south Texas… Doing what? Killing time?
But why?
Resisting the urge to reach for my cell phone to google this guy, I leaped from the first step to the ground, following Lori.
My brain scrambled in disappointment. All the flirting this morning meant nothing. I wasn’t Hollywood material.
What else had I missed?
Slade was one of the best-looking men I’d ever seen. Jeez. My body betrayed me again, turning hard and needy, embarrassingly aware of Slade. Heat flooded my face. How many people in Slade’s life threw themselves at him like I wanted to?
I watched my brother-in-law lower the tailgate and leap into the bed. To think I actually thought this guy was interested in me. No wonder he could spend so much money on the chairs. If the world would swallow me up right that minute, I’d still die from mortification.
“They’re beautiful chairs. Do you really make them yourself?
” Slade’s voice was so close, puffs of his breath zipped over the skin of my neck.
I jerked away, spinning around in overreaction.
I rolled the knots in my shoulders, shaking out my arms, doing my best to keep my thumping heart inside my chest.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, still close, causing me to retreat another step. This time stumbling over my feet again.
Still, the world didn’t swallow me whole.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said, ducking my head.
In that same downward stare, I stalked to the bed of the truck, needing out of here as soon as possible.
“Want these on the porch, Whitaker?” Scout called out with a chuckle.
My humiliation was on full display for everyone to see.
I bet Lori set me up to be here. From the corner of my vision, I saw Lori watching me, her knowing smile curved her lips. I finally lifted my head to see everyone focused on me and Slade.
Time to get the hell out of here.
From the side of the truck, I hoisted the heavy chair out of the bed, swinging it around to hold differently, barely missing Slade who had come up behind me a-fucking-gain.
“Mace,” my sister yelled at such a close encounter to knocking Slade out.
“Sorry,” I muttered, taking quick steps up the porch to place the chair there.
“Did you really build these by hand?” Gray asked, bringing the second chair out of the bed and to the porch.
“Yeah,” I said, stuffing my hands in my front pockets, staying on the porch many feet away from Slade.
“He’s always been really good with his hands,” Lori stated proudly.
My stunned expression swung toward my sister. When had Lori ever been proud of me over anything? What was happening?
I didn’t know if I could take much more of this.
“I bet my mom would like a set of these. Do they ship well?” Gray asked, seeming serious.
“Yeah, I guess. Where does she live?” I answered. “I feel I’ve heard you guys are from around here.”
“She lives about an hour and a half north of here,” Gray said. “If I could get two to my mom before Christmas, I might win the best gift this year.” Competitive delight sparked a wicked glare as he glanced at Bryce.
“I’ll give you double whatever he plans to pay to make the card read, ‘with love, Bryce . The one making her a grandmother,’” Bryce said, flanked by everyone else in the circle drive.
“Yeah, I’ll have ’em ready by November,” I said, ducking my head, and bulldozing my way past Gray, down the stairs, to my truck. I glanced at Lori on my way past. “We gotta go. They’re havin’ dinner.”
“Why don’t you guys stick around for dinner? We have more than enough. Numbnuts made sure of that at your butcher counter,” Slade asked.
I instantly shook my head, but he wasn’t looking at me, instead at my sister and brother in-law.
Lori, say no. Say no. I willed her to cooperate.
The way all the heads shifted from one direction to the other made the air seem to move with them. By the round of looks of astonishment, none of the guys were prepared for Slade’s offer. And based on the looks I received, I might have actually said my internal thought aloud.
“Oh, we can’t. We have to pick up the kids,” Lori said, like a boss. A moment of relief shot through me until her next words. “But Mace should stay. All he does is work. He needs a night away.”
Fuck her. She was doing it on purpose. Traitor. “I can’t stay. I’ve got things to do,” I said, digging my truck keys out of my pocket.
“Like what?” she asked with all the sass she usually used with me.
“I have a life you know nothin’ about.”
Her burst of a cackle might as well have been nails on a chalkboard. Max’s hand slid down over her face to keep whatever words she planned next from escaping, understanding we were on course for an epic showdown.
“Stay. I can get you home if you have a drink,” Slade offered and again all the heads turned his way. We were in a verbal ping-pong match.
“Thanks, but I don’t wanna intrude. We’ve already been here too long. I gotta get the doorbell workin’.”
“Do it in the mornin’,” Lori said. She shook her head and tossed out a hand. “They have beer and red meat. All your requirements for a good time.”
Warmth locked on my face as at least two of the guys chuckled at the implication.
She reached for Max’s door handle, hoisting herself inside the passenger seat.
“I think you should stay,” Scout said from the porch. “I’m the grill master. Wyatt has a couple of cases of Heineken. We’ll have dinner on the back porch. You think this view’s good, wait until you see back there. Stay.”
The shackles locked around me. Fuck. Out of nowhere, Max clamped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, “Looks like you’re stayin’, buddy. Call if you need a ride.”
All right. I was here. Okay.
God officially hated me.
=?=
Slade
I didn’t miss the astonished then frustrated expression Mace wore as he slowly climbed back up the porch steps, or the obvious confusion of at least Bryce and Gray as to what was happening.
I also didn’t take the mental minute to find out what was driving me to invite this guy into the first night of my vacation with my friends. By having Mace here, I was breaking well-established rules of no spouses, partners, or dates for these three days.
Instead, I casually lifted a hand as Lori and her husband circled the drive and pulled away.
“I’m gonna start the grill,” Scout stated. He was the only one who didn’t feel the awkwardness of the moment.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Wyatt said, relaxing his outrageous reactions. “Bryce, Gray, we met Mace in town. His family owns a bar that’s been here for a hundred and seventy or eighty years.”
Mace nodded, otherwise, staying quiet as he followed Wyatt inside.
“Wyatt’s baiting you?” Bryce said as the two of us took up the rear, slower returning to the house.
“Yeah, but I claimed him,” I said possessively, locking the door behind me once inside.
When I started back to the kitchen, Bryce blocked my path. “You know, this is how it starts. I see it in you. I tried to get her out of my head, but she didn’t budge. She didn’t even pursue me. I couldn’t help but do everything to lock her in.”
“All I’m thinking about is having some sex and company while I’m here,” I said. Bryce was trying to help me keep Mace in his mental place in my life. Before Bryce responded, Wyatt came back into the living room, locking a hand on both our shoulders.
“Dude, he’s hot. Isn’t he?” Wyatt said, first to Bryce then waggling his eyebrows at me.
Tool.
“You’re playing with fire, Wyatt,” Bryce said, moving out from under Wyatt’s hold, opening the view of Gray, Scout, and Mace in the kitchen, staring at us.
“We know how to act properly, Mace,” I tried to excuse our bizarre behavior.
“Bryce, raise your hand. He has a baby on the way. Scout, you next.” I waved a hand in his direction to get him to comply.
“He’s the chef and career military.” As I spoke, I gradually made my way back into the kitchen.
“Gray, raise your hand. What to say about him…” I sidestepped Mace, because he took a giant step backward as I came forward, and headed to the refrigerator.
I grabbed Wyatt’s Heineken and twisted the top off before handing it to Mace. “He probably does bite. Be forewarned.”
“He’s not wrong,” Gray said sarcastically. Mace’s grin was bright and full. Finally.
“I’m Slade. And no one else here matters. You can ignore them.” I sent the bottle cap flying to the trash can.
“This is Mace,” Wyatt said. “The front of his bar is a café and saloon. The back is a liquor store that took some time to find this morning.”
“Did it?” Mace asked, lifting the bottle to his lips. The way they pursed fascinated me. Plump and full, while he took a long swig.
“Not so long,” I answered, my hip resting against the island, lost to watching his Adam’s apple bobble as he swallowed.
“Wyatt acted an ass,” Scout said, coming through a side kitchen door, gathering a stacked tray with raw steaks, spices, grilling tools, and his can of beer.
“I was outgoin’ and charmin’,” Wyatt corrected defensively. Which gathered all the pffts and eye rolls from the room. They knew what Wyatt was about.
“The baked potatoes are almost ready. Grab the foil, Willis, and come outside. The steaks go on soon.” Scout’s presence had stolen the room, and he was off again. The rest of the guys following.
“Can I make a bathroom run?” Mace asked.
In another pretty impressive move, he tilted the bottle to his lips, and I watched him drain the beer in continuous gulps.
He was still skittish as hell, not making eye contact with anyone, especially me.
I had hoped the familiarity with the guys might have relieved that tension.
“Sure. Bathroom’s down the hall.” I pointed directly behind Mace.
As silly as this felt, I tried for no sudden moves.
I took the path around the kitchen island, down the hall toward the bathroom.
When I was certain Mace followed, I counted off the doors, trying to remember which one was the guest bathroom.
“Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve been here.
I think it’s this one.” On the first try, I pushed open the correct door, reaching in to flip the light switch on. “Hey, I got it right.”
“We always wondered about the person who bought all this land,” Mace said, waiting for me to move out of the doorway, no matter how badly I wished he’d squeeze past me.
“Yeah, a friend sent me the listing. It took me about ten seconds to hit send on an email offer. There should be everything you need if your sister did her job.”
“Well, that’s questionable then,” Mace said, going inside the small room, grasping onto the side of the door and shutting it.
“We’ll be on the patio when you’re finished. The door’s in the kitchen.” I waited for a response; there wasn’t one. With my chin tucked to my chest, I stared at the design in the hardwood floors, glad that Mace was here with me, even if it was awkward as hell.
=?=
Mace
I had no need for the toilet, just a private moment. I only stared at myself in the mirror.
There was little question in my mind I was scared to death.
Years ago, I’d sworn off all men for the remainder of my entire life.
It hadn’t been a difficult oath to keep by sticking around my small town, but the first real test of my resolve rolls into town by way of a gorgeous, sophisticated, manly guy, and I was reduced to a star-struck, overeager teenager, all for an actor I’d never seen before.
“He’s just too hot,” I whispered mainly to my throbbing cock, bending my head dramatically, dropping my arms to place both hands on the edge of the cool countertop.
What I should be doing was beating my mutinous forehead against the granite to free myself of this irrational obsession. My only hope was that I didn’t make too big a fool of myself until I could break free of my newest hell.
How did I do that without drinking? And I had to drive myself home.
Fuck.
Steeling my spine, I shot back to an upright position, and squared my shoulders, meeting my blazing eyes in the mirror. Had Lori set this whole thing in motion on purpose, and I’d fallen hook, line, and sinker?
Why would she ever do that?
I rolled my eyes at how many times over the last few months my sister had introduced me to men. She knew I was gay, or she thought she knew I was gay. A blessed numbness washed over me. I’d never let her know the truth. At least now, I had the ammunition to combat her future attempts.
With a deep inhale, I pointed at myself in the mirror on the exhale. “Get it together.”
Since I hadn’t tracked time. Who knew how long I’d been in here warring with the crazy man in the mirror. For the first time in years, I did a full-body judgment on how I appeared. Not the best, maybe I’d work on that later.
I tested a fake smile, then plastered it firmly on my face. Good enough. There was comfort in hiding. I knew it well. With the grin in place, I finger brushed my unruly hair. I only managed to push it off my face.
I could do this.
I’d gone through worse.
Weirdly, that declaration helped.
With a hand on the doorknob, I paused and then backtracked to quickly flush the commode. On that thought, I turned on the sink water and washed my hands, using a hand towel to dry them off. Several seconds later, I squared my shoulders and left the bathroom like a big boy.
When I wound my way back into the kitchen, I stopped short. Slade leaned at the counter, his head bent, his feet and arms crossed. He glanced up, a sweet grin spreading across those perfectly plump lips.
Who had lips like that?
My belly knotted.
Hell. All the resolve I’d built imploded, crumbling to my feet.
I was eventually going to have sex with this guy. It was predetermined.
“We’re on the back porch,” he said, hooking a thumb to the door nearby.
“You said that before. Were you waitin’ on me?” I asked.
Please say no, please say no. That was too sweet a gesture to ignore…
“Yeah,” he murmured.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” I said, not moving from where I stood.
“It didn’t take long. Here’s another beer.” Slade extended another ice-cold Heineken bottle my direction. I had to walk closer to him to take it.
For some strange reason, it felt like I was taking more than just the beer.
“You aren’t drinkin’?” I asked him.
“I can DD to get you home tonight,” he said, and his smile grew as he moved his arm, extending a hand to let me walk in front of him toward the door.