Chapter 14
A couple of taps sounded on his open office door. “Come on in,” Gray said without looking away from his screen.
“Hi, Gray.”
He didn’t recognize the voice so he darted his gaze toward the doorway. Either the receptionist or his assistant would have called him if a client were there to see him and they would have escorted them over.
“Oh. Hi, Brian.” He didn’t know why an attorney from the commercial litigation group was standing in his office, but he’d find out soon enough. “Give me a minute to finish this email.” He refocused on his work. “It’s time sensitive.”
“Sure.”
He heard his door click shut. A closed-door meeting was even more unusual than an impromptu visit from someone whose work had no crossover with his and who was too new to the firm to be on any committees.
After reading over his email to make sure it’d be clear to his client, he hit send and then swiveled his chair to the left to look at the man now occupying one of the armchairs across from his L-shaped desk.
“What can I do for you?”
“Right”—Brian cleared his throat—“so this isn’t work related.” He wiped his palms on his slacks and then fidgeted with his wedding ring. “It’s, uh, personal.”
“Personal?” Gray barely knew this man. He had joined the firm as a fairly low-level partner at the end of the last calendar year, but he wasn’t in Gray’s practice area, which meant he’d had nothing to do with that process.
That aside, Gray rarely talked about personal matters with his colleagues.
When they socialized, it was in a professional setting, and even if the atmosphere was friendly, it wasn’t ever personal.
“Yes.” Brian sat up straighter and squared his shoulders. “You’re a very, very attractive man and—”
What the hell? Gray reared back. “Let me stop you right there.” He held his hand up. “My appearance has nothing to do with my legal skills, and we are, as I’m sure you’re aware, in the office.”
“Right. Right. But I saw your profile on Grindr. I sent a few messages but you didn’t respond, so I—”
“Oh, Jesus, stop.” The conversation was incredibly unwelcome, but the reminder was actually useful.
He had completely forgotten about that app and hadn’t checked it in over four months; not since he had learned Jack was finally ready to date and then started his campaign to upgrade his role in Jack’s life.
The campaign was a resounding success and the past couple of months living with Jack had been the best in Gray’s life; he’d never need that app again.
“I forgot about it.” He reached for his phone.
“I need to delete it.” While working on his phone, he said, “I’m not comfortable with this conversation. Let’s never do it again.”
“Come on, man. You should be flattered. I’m a good-looking guy. Not as hot as you, but lots of people want to be with me.”
“You’re a married guy. I think I remember your wife from the holiday party.” He glanced up from his phone. “Don’t you have kids?” He shook his head. “You know what, never mind. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing more for us to talk about and I need to get back to work.”
“If you’re worried about my wife, don’t be. We have an unspoken arrangement where I don’t ask her about the charges on the credit card and she doesn’t ask me what I do in my free time.”
“I’m not sure why you thought this was the right venue for you to confess something like that. Personally, I’d guard that information with my life, but best of luck to you and your family.” He pointed to the door. “Leave.”
“Come on, don’t act like you’re shy. I started asking around about you after I saw your profile and I know you’re down for anything. You and I can have a lot of fun together.” He lowered his voice, making it go husky. “I’ll do anything.”
Now he was both uncomfortable and disgusted.
“I have a boyfriend.” He glanced at the large bouquet situated at the corner of his desk, not far from his monitor.
In that spot, he could see it when he was working on his computer or when he was reviewing paper files.
Since the first time Jack had sent him flowers, he had received a fresh delivery every week.
One time he had mentioned to Jack that he didn’t know the names of the flowers, and after that, every arrangement had come with a note describing them.
This week’s was pink and white lilies, snapdragons in a slightly lighter shade, and baby blue eucalyptus.
They made his office smell amazing and they made him feel loved.
Jack truly was the most thoughtful man Gray had ever met and he was endlessly grateful to have him in his life.
“You have a boyfriend?”
“Yes, I have a very serious boyfriend.”
“Oh.” Brian scrunched his forehead in confusion.
Gray hoped he’d slink out of his office in embarrassment and avoid him going forward. That hope was short-lived.
“I haven’t tried a threesome, but it sounds fun. Let’s do it.”
He gasped at the gall and obliviousness.
“Brian?”
“Yes?” He leaned forward.
“Get the fuck out of my office and never talk to me or about me again.”
“But—”
Gray turned his phone around. “I screen recorded the messages and the videos you sent. I’m not in the habit of outing anyone and I’ll keep it that way if you stay away from me.”
“Is that what I sent you on Grindr? You can’t do that.”
He had done exactly that, right before he deleted the hookup app.
“If you send someone videos and photos, they can in fact save them. You should know that. We’re also at work, which makes every part of this interaction inappropriate.
You should know that too. I told you I wasn’t interested half a dozen times so no matter where we were, you should have backed off.
Add that to the list of things you should but somehow don’t know.
Try to learn a lesson or two from this incredibly awkward conversation.
” He stood up and pointed to the door again. “Get out.”
“If I leave, will you delete everything?”
“If you stay, I’m forwarding it to the head of your practice group right now.” He waved his phone. “To start.”
That threat seemed to have penetrated the dumbass’s brain, and he finally scurried out of his office.
“What in the actual hell?” he said. Nobody else was in the room, so an answer wasn’t forthcoming.
His first instinct was to call Jack, tell him what happened, and ask if he had any thoughts on what, if anything, Gray should do about it. But hearing about someone coming onto him would upset Jack and derail his busy day, so he texted their friend Thom instead.
“Drinks after work? I want to run something by you.”
“Sure,” Thom responded. “Where?”
“Roquette. 6?”
“See you there.”
“What an idiot,” Thom said as soon as Gray finished relaying the morning’s event.
“Yep.” Gray nodded and took a sip of his espresso martini. “This is good. Are you sure you don’t want one?”
“Best not to mix beer with liquor.” He held up his pint glass. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Gray shook his head. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Do you think I need to do something, or can I leave it and hope it goes away?”
“Well, he’s not a subordinate, right? He’s a partner at the firm?”
“Yes. He hasn’t been there a year yet so he’s new, but he’s not an associate.”
“In that case, we don’t need to worry about some kind of harassment allegation.
” Thom shrugged. “You scared him enough with that recording that I doubt he’ll bother you again.
Hell, I’d be surprised if he says hello if you pass him in the hallway.
The only issue is whether you want someone with such poor judgment at your firm, but we know a lot of guys who are great at their jobs and train wrecks in their personal lives. There’s not necessarily a correlation.”
“True. And he isn’t in my practice group. If there are issues with the quality of his work, that’s someone else’s call.”
Nodding, Thom said, “Right. I’d probably leave it.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Gray said, relieved. He raised his glass to his mouth and swallowed more of his cocktail. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Thom swirled the last bit of beer in his glass. “Did you tell Jack about it?”
“Not yet.”
He arched his eyebrows. “Not yet or not ever? You know this story is not going to land well with him.”
Gray sighed. “I know.”
“But you’re going to tell him anyway.”
“A man in my office propositioned me. We don’t work together and he’s on another floor, but I have to tell Jack it happened.”
Thom nodded. After a few moments of silence, he said, “Does it bother you?”
“Does what bother me?”
“How jealous Jack gets?” Thom looked at him knowingly.
“You’ve been single all your life, and suddenly, bam, you’re in a committed relationship and living with someone after only being together a couple of months.
It happened so fast we all got whiplash.
” He shook his head. “Add to that the way Jack gets insecure anytime someone shows any kind of interest in you, which let’s be honest, Gray, happens a lot. That’s got to bother you.”
“You view it like we’ve been together a couple of months; to me it’s been a couple of decades.
I’d say it’s the opposite of fast, more like a glacial pace, but let’s not split hairs.
What matters is, Jack’s finally mine and I want to spend every second possible with him.
Living with him is a dream. And, sure, it bothers me when he gets upset because I never want anything to hurt him, but it doesn’t bother me in the way you mean.
” He thought about how to explain his feelings.
“When he gets jealous or anxious, I view it as an opportunity to show him how much I value him. It’s like a calendar reminder to worship my boyfriend.
” He grinned. “Not that I need the reminder because I’m batting way out of my league with Jack. ”
***
Jack was standing in the closet, changing out of his work clothes and into sweats when he heard Gray’s footsteps in the bedroom.