Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Darren must have nodded off, but probably not for long. The program was still playing, but he was resting against Chet, who had his arms around him. Darren closed his eyes for a second, letting the care and closeness wash over him.
“We can stop if you want,” Chet said softly, but Darren shook his head, catching up to the story at just about where Edmond was being taken off to prison.
“Jesus. These folks are tough.”
“Oh, yeah? Just wait,” Chet said softly as the first episode ended. “Do you want to watch another one?”
Darren was tired, but he didn’t want this to end. It felt good to be held, and being with Chet was amazing. Maybe it was the fact that they had just met and there weren’t a whole bunch of expectations, but Chet got his pulse racing and, at the same time, made him feel special and cared for.
“We can watch another one,” Darren said softly, and Chet put on another episode.
An hour later, he was wide awake. The story was exciting, but it was getting late.
He was warm, even though the foghorn from the lighthouse told him that it was cold and damp outside.
Usually that made its way into the house, but not this time.
He was cozy and comfortable. When he lifted his gaze to Chet’s, he found him looking back.
Darren didn’t move, and Chet leaned toward him.
He put his hand on the back of Chet’s neck, drawing him nearer until their lips met.
It was an amazing sensation, and all the fatigue from work slid away.
He wanted to be awake for this, and hell, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind.
He shifted on the sofa so he could get closer.
Chet’s arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly.
Darren loved the feeling of solidity. His life had always seemed like quicksand, but Chet was solid, and he gave himself over to the feeling, letting go of his need for control and to know what would come next.
“Darren…,” Chet whispered as he pulled back, his eyes deep and dark, filled with passion.
It was nearly overwhelming to think that he could inspire such an intense reaction.
Without looking away, Darren flipped off the television and stood up on wobbly legs.
Somehow, he managed to take Chet’s hand and take the few steps off the living room to his bedroom, where he closed the door behind them.
What am I doing? Darren asked himself for a mere moment.
But to hell with it. Right now, he didn’t need to have all the answers.
Chet was leaving in a few days, maybe a week at most, and he intended to make the most of the time they had together.
When Chet pressed him back against the bed, Darren went easily, sitting on the edge with Chet between his legs, kissing him back until he lay sprawled on the mattress.
Chet slid his hands up his chest, pushing up Darren’s shirt.
He squirmed under his touch and his intense gaze.
He tried to remember the last time anyone had looked at him like this and came up empty.
It was like fire zipped from Chet’s eyes and right into him, sending him on a wild ride…
and his clothes were still on. Chet tugged off Darren’s shirt, then leaned over him, kissing him intensely and to the point where Darren’s head began to spin.
“You’re gorgeous, you know that?” Chet whispered. Darren shrugged. He wasn’t going to argue, but he also thought Chet was just being nice. “I mean it.”
Darren tugged at Chet’s shirt as he kissed him, pulling it upward.
He had felt the muscles and solid strength from under his clothes, and now to see them and to actually feel them against him was so damned hot.
Chet was the beautiful one, with his strength and intense eyes that made Darren forget everything, at least for a little while.
His chest was a work of art, with honey-colored skin covering muscles that flexed with each movement and a belly that looked like a roadmap to heaven, one that Darren really wanted to follow.
He slid farther back on the bed, hoping to entice Chet along with him, and it worked.
Chet climbed up, and once Darren was comfortable with his head on the pillow, Chet kissed him some more, as he managed to get most of their clothes off.
It was a kind of weird dance back and forth, but Chet seemed intent on not letting him go or breaking away.
“You know, there is an easier way to do this,” Darren whispered.
“Maybe, but then I have to get off the bed and stop kissing you.” He kicked off his pants, and they fell to the floor.
“And I don’t want to do that.” Yeah, it took longer, but Chet was there with him, his eyes boring deeply into Darren’s, and he didn’t want it to end.
So, if some acrobatics were required, he was more than willing to give it a try.
“So, you go through Cirque de Soleil–level movements to get our clothes off?” Darren teased.
Chet drew closer, his lips so close that Darren could feel his breath.
“I’d go through a hell of a lot to try to make you happy.
” Then he kissed him, almost bruisingly.
Darren was excited, but Chet practically vibrated in his arms. Damn, Darren had never thought of himself as particularly sexy.
He was a tall, skinny guy who waited tables and worked in a grocery store.
He never saw himself as anything special, and yet Chet, who was as sexy and beautiful as they came, seemed to think otherwise.
Darren held Chet tightly, the two of them moving together. What surprised Darren most was how Chet seemed to know what he liked and what he wanted. “Yeah…,” Darren whispered, and Chet groaned in his ear.
“Don’t you dare stop,” Chet said as Darren’s mind clouded over with sheer ecstasy that left him breathless and unable to think of anything else for what seemed like hours and hours.
“I won’t,” Darren whispered, and he didn’t, not for a very long time.
The morning light through the bedroom window was muted, the way it often was under the marine layer.
He rolled over slightly, not wanting to disturb Chet, who had an arm over his hip.
He still had half an hour before he had to get up, and he closed his eyes, determined not to fall back to sleep, but to simply enjoy the warmth and closeness.
He sighed softly as he went over what he was going to need to do.
“Did you sleep much?” Chet whispered.
“Some.” It was strange being with someone new. A combination of something unusual, exhaustion, and not wanting to miss anything. “But it’s okay.” He rolled over and kissed Chet lightly. “I have to get up for work soon.”
“I know. I’ll head back to my hotel when you do.” Chet tugged him closer, and Darren snuggled under the covers and hoped things stayed just like this.
A knock on the front door made him still.
He didn’t move, and the sound came again.
“Who could that be?” He got up as the sound came once more.
Darren pulled on his dark blue robe and went to the door, peering out to where his aunt stood outside.
He opened the door a fraction. “What is it?” He was not going to let her inside.
She seemed actually happy. “I loaned my mother some money toward the end of her life, and since you were the beneficiary of her estate, it needs to repay those loans. I have the paperwork here.” She shoved a manila file folder at him.
“And what do you expect me to do with all this?” Darren asked.
She grinned. “I expect you to take it to the estate lawyer and figure out how that is going to be repaid.” She turned on her heels and strutted down the walk as Darren closed the door.
“What was all that about?” Chet asked from behind him.
Darren shook his head and sat down. “She’s claiming that she loaned her mother money and now she’s trying to get it repaid.
Gramma left a few things to my father and Regina, but everything else went to me.
And I suppose that means her debts too.” His hand shook as he set down the file.
What the heck was he going to do? “I know she made all this crap up. Gramma never borrowed money from anyone. She didn’t have a lot, but Gramma had a small savings account and some money that was used to pay for the funeral and stuff.
There’s even a little money left. I closed that account when the lawyer said that there were no more expenses left and the estate was closed and settled.
That money I moved into a CD, and the interest helps pay for the taxes and stuff.
” He put his head in his hands. “Why is it that every time I might get just a little ahead….”
Chet put his hands on his shoulders. “Do you have a copy of the will?”
Darren nodded. “Yeah. The lawyer gave me a copy of it at one point. It’s around here somewhere.” He could barely think. His own aunt was so greedy that she would do this. What a selfish old bat.
“Okay. First thing you need to do is get dressed and ready for work. Then you need to find a copy of that will. Once you’ve got that, I can send it to a friend of mine here in California. He’s licensed here.”
“But I can’t afford thousands of dollars in fees for this.
” He opened the envelope and nearly choked.
“She’s claiming that she loaned Gramma nearly a million dollars with principal and interest. That old hag would never lend anyone a dime, let alone that kind of money.
” He shook his head and tossed the papers on the table.
Chet took them, read them, and put them back in the folder. “Keep these. They could be evidence of fraud.”
“Yeah, okay… but….”
“You go to work and don’t worry about any of this.
And to save time, call the estate lawyer and get a copy of the will.
I’ll contact my friend, and then you call me when you get a break.
I’m going to see if he’ll take a look at everything we have and see what the options are.
Skip is really good. After college, while I was getting an MBA, he went on to law school. ”