Chapter 8
EVAN
The sight of him with his hand down his pants and his head thrown back in pleasure was enough to make me almost swallow my tongue.
Fighting my inner caveman, I did my best to hustle him out of his death trap of a vehicle and into my truck without stripping his clothes off and attacking the poor man.
“Thanks for saving me,” he said when we were halfway back to my house. I hadn’t even asked him if he was okay staying over at my place, because, honestly, I wasn’t going to accept a negative answer. So what was the point?
He sounded exhausted. The poor thing had been burning the candle at both ends. Since I’d dropped him off at the hospital for the night shift the night before, I’d learned he was also doing odd jobs at the Wilde Ranch for extra money. Lord only knew when he was getting any sleep.
I reached over and ran my fingers through his hair, preparing to tell him I’d always come when he needed me, when I realized he’d already slumped over and fallen asleep.
As soon as I parked the truck in my driveway, I opened the front door and went back to gather the sleeping Stevie into my arms, chuckling to myself at the repeat of tucking him safely into my bed.
Once again, I knew he most likely had to work in only a couple of hours, so I set my phone alarm before stripping both our jeans off. His plain white cotton briefs surprised me. I couldn’t imagine they were the sexy underwear a clotheshorse like Stevie would choose for a night on the prowl.
“I’m awake,” he mumbled to me at one point while I was undressing him. “Want you.”
I snorted softly. “Then take me, big man,” I teased in a whisper as I leaned in to remove his shirt.
His clothes smelled like male sweat and tequila, which made my nostrils flare with ridiculous amounts of jealousy.
I couldn’t stand thinking of him in the center of a crowded club dance floor with strangers’ hands all over his sweet body.
And something about seeing him in just those smooth, cotton briefs made me feel even more protective of him for some reason.
I hated the idea of him being taken advantage of by someone charming and slick, especially when Stevie himself had only ever been out of the Texas countryside for brief visits to the city.
What if someone slipped something into his drink?
What if someone took him back to their place and overpowered him?
He was small and still carried a small-town naiveté in some ways.
I thought back to what he’d mumbled the day before about never having been with anyone. Could that be true?
After dropping our clothes onto the chair next to my closet, I snuggled in next to him in the rumpled sheets I’d left behind when he’d called me stranded.
He instinctively turned and curled up against me the same way he had before, and I wrapped my arms tightly around him. This made twice in as many days I’d had Stevie asleep in my bed without being able to take my sweet time worshipping his naked body.
If I was lucky, the third time would be the charm.
One of the shitty things about being over forty is the inability to fall back asleep after you’ve been woken up in the wee hours of the night.
Sleep evaded me that night, so I simply lay there with Stevie in my arms and enjoyed being in the moment as best I could.
When it was finally almost time for my phone alarm to blare, I reached over to turn it off and snuck out of bed to the kitchen.
About six months ago, I’d walked into the bakery in time to overhear Stevie and Sassy joking around about their fantasy boyfriends bringing them breakfast in bed. I forgot what Sassy would have chosen, but Stevie’s fantasy had burned itself into my memory.
He wanted cinnamon french toast with lots of real butter and syrup along with extra-crispy bacon, a giant glass of fresh orange juice, and a cloth napkin.
Sassy had laughed at the napkin detail, and Stevie’s face had lost a little of its sparkle as he’d explained never having had one before.
His family’s dinette set had a resident roll of dollar-store paper towels that lived in the center of the table.
Even paper napkins were something saved for special occasions.
I didn’t have a bag of oranges or a juice press, but I had the rest, and by god, he was going to get the star treatment.
When I brought the tray into the bedroom, Stevie was just shuffling back from the bathroom. He must have heard me moving around in the kitchen.
“Hey,” I said, suddenly feeling nervous.
“Hey,” he said with a shy smile. Stevie’s eyes moved from me to the breakfast tray and widened. “What’s that?”
“I fixed myself some breakfast,” I said, sitting on the bed and propping the tray on my lap. Stevie’s eyes dropped to the floor before he looked around for his clothes.
“Oh. Okay. Well I guess I’d better—”
As quickly as I could, I sat the tray on the bedside table and raced over to him, grabbing his shoulders and accidentally startling him. I cupped his jaws and forced him to meet my eyes.
“Stevie, sweetheart, I was joking. I’m sorry I did a piss-poor job of it. I made this for you.”
A deep blush flooded his cheeks, and his eyes darted away again. Had I embarrassed him? Dammit. I was such a fucking idiot.
I pulled him into my arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m an ass. Will you let me make it up to you and serve you breakfast in bed?”
“I… I should probably go. I have to—”
“Work. I know. And I’m happy to drive you. Whatever you need. Just please… please eat first.”
My heart was pounding in my chest with fear that I’d fucked everything up. That I’d scared him off or made him hate me for being a sarcastic jerk.
He leaned back to look at me before tilting up the edges of his lips in a smile. “You made me breakfast in bed? For real?”
I led him back to the bed and got him settled against the headboard before setting the tray on his lap. “Yes. Cinnamon french toast, crispy bacon, orange juice—sorry it’s not fresh—and a—”
“Cloth napkin,” he said in awe. “How did you know?”
I shrugged. “I listen when you talk. I like what you have to say.”
He stared at me. “But I’m a loudmouth.”
I thought back to the way his mother had treated him at the scene of the apartment fire when he was a teenager. No doubt that label had come from her or the jackass brother.
“Then I guess I’m attracted to loudmouths.
” I leaned over and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
“And beautiful mouths.” I kissed him again on the other corner.
“And expressive men who aren’t afraid to be themselves no matter what other people say.
” This time my kiss landed directly in the center, and I took my time showing his lips exactly how much I loved and respected them.
When I finally pulled back, he was flush-faced and glassy-eyed. Stevie Devore at his most enticing.
“Eat, sweetheart. Don’t forget today’s the day we start stripping.”
His eyes widened before looking away. “Yeah. Stripping. The paint. Are you sure you still…”
“It’s up to you. I’d love to spend the day with you after you get off work, and I’m happy to teach you anything you want to know about wood refinishing. But if you just want to hang out and relax, that’s fine too. I’m sure you’re still exhausted.”
I watched him eat the food I’d prepared and got a strange satisfaction from taking care of him. Everything in me wanted to make sure he was well-fed, well-rested, and happy. If he continued working around the clock, not to mention clubbing on his rare night off, he was going to get sick or worse.
“Will you tell me what you’re saving money for?” I asked. “I meant what I said about wanting to help.” I tried to keep my tone gentle and not pressure him, but I knew him to be a proud, independent person.
His eyes glanced over at me before looking back down at his plate. I thought he was going to ignore the question, but he finally spoke.
“My sister wants to take dance lessons.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he went back to eating. Despite his shrug, there was no hiding how important this was to him.
“What about your mom? Doesn’t she have a decent job? I thought she did accounts for Donny at Valley Cross Cement.”
“Got fired when Kade got sent up. Now she works part-time at the vape shop and can’t be bothered to look for something better. Don’t ask—it’s a long and shitty story. Besides, even if she had the money, she wouldn’t spend it on something so frivolous.”
“Didn’t you dance when you were young? I thought you took classes at the dance studio in town.”
He stopped eating and stared at me. “That was before my dad took off when there was money to spare. And how the hell did you know that?”
“I swung by the studio with the old fire chief to pick up his granddaughter once. You were there doing some kind of jazz routine. I remember how tiny you looked compared to the young teenage girls in your class. They all treated you like a baby doll,” I said with a laugh.
“And you had the most adorable scowl on your face because of it. I thought you were going to lash out and take them all down in a giant hissy fit. But as soon as the music came on, you were gone. Escaped into your own world. Like a switch flipped. I always wondered if you’d grow up to be a dancer. ”
Stevie’s jaw tightened and his eyes blinked rapidly like he was upset. What had I said?
“I really need to get to work,” he said gruffly. “Thanks for the food.”
He put the tray on the dresser as he made his way to the bathroom. The rest of our time together was spent in awkward silence as I drove him to work. By the time I pulled up outside of Sugar Britches, I assumed I’d messed things up so badly, he’d beg off our date that afternoon.
I hopped out of the truck and raced around the hood to open his door for him. “What time do you finish?”
Instead of keeping his distance from me, he leaned his forehead into the center of my chest and let out a deep exhale. “I’m sorry for being moody. I keep trying to get you to see me as an adult, but I keep acting like a child,” he said into my shirt.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer.
“I don’t want you to be anyone other than who you are.
And I know you’re not a child. You’re a bright and beautiful man who works his ass off and still manages to make other people smile and laugh every single day.
Sweetheart, don’t you know you’re a shining star?
You’re the sun and the rest of us are lucky enough to get to revolve around your steady glow. ”
He looked up at me with watery eyes. “Sweet-mouthed motherfucker,” he mumbled with a sniffle. “Will you pick me up at noon? Do you want a coffee before you go?”
“I’ll be here at quarter till. And no coffee. Just a little sugar.” I leaned in and kissed him softly, taking in the early morning taste of him and reveling in the smell of my soap on his skin. He stood on tiptoes to keep the kiss going as I began pulling back.
“Evan?” he asked in a shy, very non-Stevie voice.
“Yes, baby?”
“Do you think… would it really be okay with you if we took a nap this afternoon instead of starting on the green dragon?” His lips curved into a devilish smile, and I realized he wasn’t being shy at all.
He was playing me. “I gotta be honest. Sassy and I looked for a woodworking ensemble for me to wear in the workshop, and, well, we couldn’t find anything that didn’t wash me out.
” He gestured with his palm in a big circle in front of his face.
“This body shows better in a birthday suit than a pair of bib overalls.”
Stevie shuddered dramatically and turned to sashay into the bakery. I couldn’t help but laugh and smack him on the ass before he got out of reach. That cutie could collar me and pull me around on a leash, and I’d consider myself a lucky man.
“You break it, you buy it, Chief,” he called over his shoulder. “Oh, and don’t forget to hydrate. I have plans for you later, and I don’t want you tapping out from old age.”