Chapter Thirteen
Kari
Kari got off the elevator on his floor before Bowie, his mind in turmoil over finding Rex living in the same building as Bowie. It was what he blamed for the slip up of calling Bowie by the pet name he had given Bowie the first week they’d worked together full time.
When those doe eyes peeked up at him with uncertainty as he turned to Bowie hovering inside the elevator, it was a hammer blow to his chest. Kari wanted more than anything to kiss the trembling lips. He took a step away, forcing himself to paste a smile on his face.
Professionalism, he clung to it like a dying man.
Kissing a colleague because he’s upset is not what you should do, he told himself. “I’ll let you speak to Hollis and catch up on your emails. We have Verve coming in for a meeting at eleven-thirty, I’ve popped it in your diary.”
“Okay.”
Kari was starting to hate that word when it came out sounding so unsure. He gave a salute before the door closed, and then he made himself walk to his office.
Outside, he paused at Miranda’s desk. The scent of fresh jasmine wafted from the little flowerpot he’d bought her last week as a thank you for fetching him some lunch when he was too busy to go himself.
Her attention was on the screen in front of her and whatever she was typing as he stood by her elbow.
“Morning Miranda, can you get Dad on the phone for me, please?”
She didn’t shift her attention from the monitor. “Morning, Kari. Yes, of course.”
He had barely taken off his suit jacket when his desk phone rang. “Dad, we have another problem,” he said with no preamble.
“What is it, son?”
Kari pinched the bridge of his nose at the headache brewing. “Rex lives in the same building as Bowie.”
“Well, fuck me.”
“My sentiments exactly. I had considered asking you for one of Oakland's security team to watch Rex, but they are in Drinkwater. And that is more of a priority than this… just…”
“It’s Bowie, and he’s vulnerable, so leaving it as is isn’t an option.”
“Yes,” he replied, grateful Dad understood his dilemma.
“Have you thought about maybe sticking closer to Bowie yourself?”
Kari groaned at how it was all he’d thought about since Bowie had unexpectedly called him this morning. “Dad, if I do that, it’s asking for trouble.”
“How so?”
He could hear amusement, and he pinched harder at the bridge of his nose. “Don’t play dumb with me. He’s so vulnerable, and he has just come out of a relationship where there was violence.”
“That is not the reason, and you know it, Kari,” Dad stated bluntly.
Kari shut his eyes and released a gusty exhale.
“Alright. You know I’m attracted to him.
Want more than he’s possibly willing to offer or capable of right now.
And even if he was interested, he’ll run a mile when he discovers I like to be called ‘daddy’ and want to look after him all the time.
” He wasn’t shy about stating the facts.
His parents were aware of what he wanted from a relationship, unlike Bowie.
“You’re making a lot of assumptions about what Bowie might or might not like.
Talk to him. I’ve never known you to shy away from something you want, Kari.
It’s why you were honest about what type of relationship you wanted with a partner in the first place with me and your Popi. What’s different this time?”
Dad knew what the fuck he was doing, and Kari cursed aloud. “Fuck. All of it. Is that what you want to hear? He has the power to break my heart if I’m not enough for him.”
“Kari, sometimes we have to take a risk and leap off into the darkness to find our light. The one that will guide us home no matter what life throws at us. Popi was that for me. He is my home, and you boys. Is Bowie that for you?”
The sharp exhale whistling through his teeth was his only answer, when he wasn’t sure if he was already in too deep where Bowie was concerned.
“Just give it some thought while you take care of him and show him who you are at heart.”
Kari’s head thumped back on the seat as he shut his eyes, resigned to how much he wanted to do exactly that. “I will.”
Sometime later, a soft knock got Kari glancing up from the email he was pretending to read when he couldn’t stop thinking about the man on the other side of his office door. The smile was automatic. “Come in, Bowie.”
The man didn’t have a loud bone in his body. Everything the omega did, he did quietly, unless he was upset.
When he entered the office, it struck Kari straight away that there was something wrong.
After the talk with Dad, he had given himself a stern talking to.
He couldn’t expect Bowie to want to fall in his lap the way he wanted.
He needed to keep his own expectations to himself, and let Bowie go at whatever pace suited him.
If it suited Bowie at all, because so far, Kari couldn’t seem to hold his tongue around him.
Babycakes. It rolled off his tongue far too easily.
It suited the sweetness of the man in front of him, who currently thought the floor was more appealing to look at.
His size made it impossible for anyone to miss him, yet Kari suspected the man right now aimed to make himself appear as small as possible at how hunched he was. Closed off was possibly more accurate.
Have I caused this?
It was a real possibility. Kari had been careful not to push this morning to get Bowie in his car, more encourage.
Then he’d slipped up with the pet name when they were at work.
A promise to himself to think before speaking was needed.
He hadn’t missed how Bowie had gone from hopeful to crestfallen when Kari had stopped himself.
He was making himself dizzy, and he suspected doing the same to Bowie with his behavior.
Dad was right; he needed honesty. Kari just didn’t know where to start. A first for him.
They hadn’t spoken about Rex, except to clarify about keys. Was that a good starting point?
“Something wrong, Bowie?” He didn’t curse at how concerned he sounded when he wanted Bowie to open up to him without too much prompting.
Soulful brown eyes peeked up at him from under long, dark eyelashes, which framed Bowie’s gorgeous eyes. Kari’s inner tuning fork for others’ distress vibrated.
“Erm… we… erm… no… yes.” His cheeks were bright pink as he stood behind the chair he used, as if uncertain about taking the seat, clutching the iPad he held in front of his chest like a barrier.
“Sit for me, Bowie,” Kari encouraged in a soft tone that got an immediate reaction from Bowie, who did as he was told, placing his iPad on Kari’s desk before folding his hands in his lap, wearing a look of expectation that did stupid things to Kari.
“Bowie, you seem upset. Is it connected to work? Talking to Hollis about everything or is it… Rex?” he asked cautiously.
Bowie rung his hands together, and they became his focus, while sitting a little straighter. Not once did he let his gaze drift up. Instead, he shook his head. Messy, dark hair flopped over his forehead adorably.
Gods, he was in so much trouble.
“I didn’t tell Hollis what happened.”
If Kari was surprised by that, he kept it to himself, waiting to see if Bowie would elaborate further.
He squirmed in his seat. “I never told the others we were dating… Rex didn’t want me to.” That was no more than a whisper. “Now I know why he didn’t want me to say anything…”
A sense of foreboding came with the dewy eyes that finally glanced up. Kari resisted prompting Bowie when he picked at the side of his thumb, seconds turning into nearly a minute before he spoke again.
“He told me he had another boyfriend… you know, at the same time as me. Though now I’ve thought ‘bout it, I don’t think we were dating… not properly.” A sheen of sweat coated his paling skin by the time he finished speaking.
Kari was going to rip the fucker's head off.
“Do you think that means he’ll leave me alone?”
Back was the hammer to his heart, taking Kari’s breath when Bowie’s shimmering eyes met his. “Will I have to move out of my apartment? I can’t expect you to pick me up and drop me off every day… can I?”
The trembly voice that held hope was too much when Bowie, whether he realized it or not, begged Kari to say yes.
Defenceless, Kari was up out of his seat and around his desk, crouching in front of Bowie, taking hold of his icy hands.
One thing was obvious: Bowie was frightened that Rex would come back and hurt him.
Which begged the question, had something happened since they’d arrived at work? Or was this all connected to what went down two days ago?
Kari searched Bowie’s expression to see if he could find the answer. A clue.
Bowie sent out so many signals that Kari went with his gut instincts. “If you could be granted wishes, what would they be over this situation?”
Surprised as Bowie by what came out of his mouth, he went with it, because there was no way he could take it back now. Absently, he gently rubbed his thumbs over the back of Bowie’s hands, working on warming them.
Bowie’s head tilted to the side. “Wishes? Like Aladdin and his genie of the lamp?”
“Yes, like that,” Kari encouraged, despite how scarlet Bowie went. “It’s one of my favorite animations.”
“It is?”
Kari chuckled at how unconvinced Bowie sounded.
Yet his hands relaxed in Kari’s. “Hey, you don’t need to sound like that.
I love those movies. The Little Mermaid is my second favorite, followed by The Lion King.
However, Sebastian from The Little Mermaid is hilarious, so he kind of vies for the top position.
So, wishes? Do you have some right now?”
“I can wish for anything?” he checked, and Kari nodded reassuringly. “To stay in my apartment and not be scared when I leave. And I never have to see Rex again.” He tugged one hand free and rubbed it over his mouth, his eyes shifting away.
Heart beating faster, Kari nudged a little. “Any others?”
“I’ve never had a nickname.”
Oh, you sweet boy. “Babycakes suits you.”
“Why?” he asked with so much innocence Kari struggled not to scoop him off the chair and cuddle him.
“You’re as sweet as your baking and even more adorable than Boo-Boo.”
“I am?”
His voice held a childish delight, and Kari tweaked the end of his nose.
“You are. Can I ask you something?” At his nod, Kari weighed his words carefully.
“I noticed you have a spare room in your apartment. You wished to never see Rex again and to stay in your apartment without being scared. How would you feel if I used that room for a little while so you aren’t alone?
Just for as long as you need me, and when you’re happy, you can ask me to leave,” he added so Bowie didn’t feel any pressure.
“You’d do that for me?”
The hopefulness would have Kari slaying demons if that’s what it took to keep Bowie happy. Unable to find his voice, he nodded.
The sound of his phone ringing saved him from making a fool of himself when Bowie gave him a shy smile. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” Kari gently squeezed the hand he still held before letting go to return to his desk.
Work.
They needed to work.
The rest could wait until they got back to Bowie’s—together.
Gods, what the hell am I doing?