Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALEX
The rain had stopped and darkness was already pressing in. With the lights coming on all over the city, even I took the time to take in the spectacular view that I hardly noticed anymore. I glanced at Kit and smiled. He was mesmerised, like a kid gazing at the latest cool toy.
“I don’t think I could ever get tired of this view. It’s absolutely stunning.” He got up from the sofa and made his way across to the glass wall.
It was one of the main reasons I’d bought my flat. I’d had many very happy fantasies about the hot, willing bodies I could slam and nail hard against its cool surface. Yet a fantasy was all it was, because I’d never, ever, brought anybody back with me.
Until now.
I sucked in my lower lip, narrowing my eyes as I studied Kit. He was exactly what I liked and my cock twitched in agreement; I could almost feel those long, slim legs wrapped around my hips as I—
“… get going.”
“What?” Somewhere along the line, as I’d slipped into my dirty little day dream, Kit had turned around and was smiling at me, his coffee hugged close to his chest. “You don’t have to go,” I blurted out. “I’m not doing anything for the rest of the evening.” Please stay fizzed on my tongue.
Kit came across and put his empty mug down. “I’d like to stay longer, but I’ve got to pack because I’m going away for a few days. Like you, I’m on holiday.”
“Holiday?” Maybe he was grabbing some hot sunshine, after all. Images flashed through my mind, of Kit flirting in a beach bar, of Kit dancing up close and too bloody personal with some guy in a club. I didn’t like those images, I didn’t like them one little bit.
“Well, not totally. A friend’s getting married, in some out of the way place in Norfolk. Afterwards, I’m spending a few days walking. And bird watching.”
“What? Why the fuck are you going bird watching?” He didn’t have a straggly beard and a chronic case of social ineptitude.
“I like birds, which seems like a good enough reason to me.”
“So do I—preferably roasted and served up with potatoes and veg. The ones in the air just shit all over the place.”
Kit started laughing. “Okay, so not a nature lover then.” He looked at his watch.
“I really do have to make a move. Erm, thanks for lunch and rescuing me from a wasted afternoon.” He shuffled from foot to foot.
It was kind of self conscious and shy, and as he met my gaze and glanced away a flush coloured his face.
I’d rescued him? The nervy twist in my stomach that came out of nowhere made me wonder, if only for a second, whether it had been the other way around.
“Look, do you—” Words I’d tried to say before, but Kit was already turning away, moving towards his coat which he’d draped over a chair. The moment was over before it’d begun.
Kit buttoned up his coat. It swamped him, making him look like he was playing dress up in his big brother’s clothes.
With the fluffy looking red scarf he was winding around his neck, he looked impossibly sweet.
Sweet? What the fuck? When did I find guys sweet?
“Nice coat,” I blurted out, because I had to say something to fill the weird little silence buzzing in my ears.
“Sarky git,” Kit said on a chuckle. “This came from the RSPCA shop’s top range, even if it is a bit on the big side. Maybe I’ll grow into it. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” he added when he saw me frowning.
“I know what RSPCA stands for. Are you some kind of animal rights activist? What with the birds and everything?”
“No. I just like animals and want them to be treated well. There’s no excuse for cruelty in this world. Not against animals, not against people either. If the few quid I paid for this coat can help, then I’m glad. Also, I didn’t have the money to shell out for a new one.”
No excuse for cruelty… If he knew the truth of the world I operated in he’d walk away and not look back.
“Let me get somebody to drive you home.”
“No, really—”
“Yes, really. Look at the weather.” He glanced at the glass wall being pelted with rain; he was hesitating and I pushed my advantage.
“Kit, all I’m trying to do is save you a long and tedious journey, one where you’ll be soaked to the skin as soon as you step outside.
We have a business account with a private hire company. You’re tax deductible.”
Kit laughed, and I joined in as I pulled out my phone and called one of my men, Kelvin and I being the only clients of the private hire company.
I knew Kit lived in New Cross, the arse end of nowhere with a less than pristine reputation, and I didn’t like the idea of him making his way back to the depths of south east London on his own.
I didn’t care that he was a grown man, even if he did look more like a kid in his too big coat.
I wanted to know he’d be delivered home safe, from door to door.
“Fifteen minutes.” I pushed my phone back into my pocket.
Other words tingled on my lips, words I shouldn’t have even been thinking, let alone wanting to ask.
A guy who loved all things fluffy and feathered and who deplored cruelty, he had no place in my world, which would crush him and spit him out without a second thought.
“Can I see you again?” I said the words I should never have, and it was too late to take them back.
Hesitation clouded his eyes. My heart crashed against my ribs, and I steeled myself for the rejection I knew was coming. And maybe that was for the best, because I had no right inviting him into my world. My heart kept crashing, and my mouth was dry as dust.
“Okay. Yes. Maybe go for a drink?”
I’d opened a door I should never have with just a few words. It was too late to slam it closed and lock it up tight, even if I’d wanted to. My heart calmed down, slowing its rhythm.
“When you’re back from bird bothering?”
Kit chuckled. “All right, so I’m a bit nerdy.” He tilted his head to the side and without a thought I stepped forward. A kiss, small, light, chaste, to seal the deal we’d made. A kiss, when I’d never wanted to kiss a man and couldn’t remember when I last had.
My phone bleeped and I jerked backwards as I fumbled it from my jeans, and Kit swung around, grabbing his small backpack. The car was just a couple of minutes away. Moments later we were in the lobby, arriving just as the driver walked in followed by—
Oh, fucking hell.
“Hello, Alex. Enjoying your break from work?” Kelvin grinned over the driver’s shoulder, his hard gaze not on me but on Kit, who was looking too damned small and a million times more vulnerable in his too big coat and fluffy red scarf.
I instinctively shifted, placing myself between them, knowing on some level I needed to protect Kit from my oldest friend. Kelvin noticed, because he noticed everything. His eyes flickered to mine, a flash of curiosity replacing his assessment of Kit.
“Alex, it’s not like you to be so impolite. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Did I hear the sneer in Kelvin’s voice? I wasn’t sure, but what I was sure about was the cold glint in his eyes and the feral smile revealing his incisors.
Kit smiled and held out his hand. Christ, it was like a lamb offering himself to a wolf.
“I’m Kit. You must be Kelvin, Alex’s business partner.”
“Oh, yes. That’s me. His business partner.” Kelvin thrust his hands into his pockets. A faint colour washed over Kit’s cheeks as he let his arm fall to his side. I ground my teeth as I glared at Kelvin, who returned it with a wide smile.
“Kit’s a friend of mine.” So fucking behave.
The questions in Kelvin’s eyes were impossible for me to miss. Friend? Really? Since when did you have friends? Next to me, Kit shuffled closer. It was the instinct of the hunted cornered by the hunter, and I felt rather than saw the confused glance he threw my way.
“Well, that is nice, isn’t it? And how did you meet Alex?”
“I—”
“Kit’s just leaving.” I beckoned the driver, who’d retreated to the concierge’s desk, showing the discretion he was mostly paid for.
“Take Kit to—” I stopped and glanced at Kelvin before addressing the driver.
“He’ll give you the address in the car.” Kelvin smirked.
If he wanted to know where Kit lived, all he had to do was ask the driver.
I tossed my keys to Kelvin, harder than necessary; he caught them effortlessly in one hand. “I’ll see you upstairs.”
“It was very nice to meet you, Kitten. It’s always a pleasure to meet Alex’s friends. And will we be seeing more of each other?”
“Er, possibly. And it’s Kit, not—”
Kelvin had already swung around on his heel, heading towards the lift. I ushered Kit outside, the blast of cold, damp air a relief after the hot, woodsy cologne laden atmosphere in the lobby.
“Christ.” Kit rubbed his hands down his face. “That was… I don’t know what it was. But definitely weird. Your friend’s a bit scary,” he said, laughing nervously.
Scary. Kit had hit the nail on the head without knowing it. He had no idea how scary Kelvin could be. He stared up at me by the open door of the car, the glow from the streetlight reflected in his eyes.
“Don’t take too much notice of him. It’s a technique that’s proven useful for business in the past. I think he forgets he’s using it most of the time.” It was complete crap, a pathetic attempt to allay the instinctive reaction Kit had had to Kelvin. “Call me, when you’re back from bird bothering?”
Kit laughed, the tension visibly leaving him. My own shoulders loosened a little, but it wouldn’t be like that for long. I hit the top of the car. It glided away into the night. As soon as it turned the corner, I swung around. I wanted to know why Kelvin was here.