Coming Home- Rock Bay 1 (16 page)

“You want me to spend the night?”
Lex smiled and slipped his firm hair-roughened thigh between Tally’s legs. “Yeah, what little is left of it. I wanna hold you.”
Tally’s heart did a double thunk, and he wrapped Lex up tighter in his arms. Was Lex finally admitting that it was way more than just friendly sex between them? Maybe it was just the alcohol, maybe he’d wake up in the morning and Lex would be looking at him accusingly, asking what the hell—
“Tally?” Lex’s tired mumble and warm breath made goose bumps burst out all over Tally’s neck.
“Yeah?”
“I can feel you freaking out over there. Knock it off. It’s fine.”
Tally was silent for a few moments, absorbing Lex’s smiling but slightly annoyed voice.
“Okay,” he finally muttered and wiggled in deeper under the covers.
Lex’s lips found his for a sleepy kiss in the dark. “Night, Tal.”
“Night, Lex.”
Tally hoped like hell things really were fine, because whatever had changed between them that night, he liked it way too much to give it up.

through blinds he’d obviously forgotten to close. The light was warm and intense on his face, not a feeling he was used to waking up to. It was usually dark when he—
Oh, shit!
Lex’s eyes flew open, and he flailed his arm out in the direction of his alarm clock. Instead of his nightstand, his arm landed on plush empty pillows and the distinct crinkle of paper. He pried his eyes open, blinking in the brightness of the morning, and looked at his clock.

Morning, Babe—
Don’t freak out. I got up and let Travis in
this morning, and I’m getting all the stuff
packed and ready for the lunch thing. You
looked so comfortable. I didn’t want to wake
you. Come down when you get up. No rush. —Tally

Lex put the note down, trying not to grin. He stretched, enjoying the slight soreness from the night before and the luxury of waking up in broad daylight for the first time in the over three years since his shop had opened.
I could get used to this.
A little movie streamed through his brain, him and Tally falling asleep together every night, holding hands and watching TV on the couch. Maybe they’d take turns getting up to let the morning kid in, then they’d make each other breakfast and kiss over the toaster, go back to bed and make love….
Shit. Don’t call it that.

It was a life he’d really like, though. One that was disturbingly easy to see happening. Tally was good for the shop, good for him, fun, sexy as hell, caring and kind. Lex shook his head and hopped up, grabbing some clean clothes and heading for the shower, where he hoped the hot water would wash some sense into him. It didn’t help that he kept picturing the night before. How they must have looked all wet and desperate for each other. Lex scrubbed at his hair, enjoying his memories but trying not to make too much of what had happened. It had felt different, though. More intense, hotter than anything he’d experienced before. And having Tally stay? It was pure instinct. His bed had felt cold and empty the second Tally went to leave. Lex hoped he hadn’t made a huge mistake.

Clean and dry, Lex made his way out of his apartment and down the stairs to the shop. He found Tally in the storeroom, kneeling on the ground in front of a huge cooler. He had other coolers lined up against the wall and labeled. One for each of the gourmet sandwich varieties, one with the fruit and salads they were setting out, and the final filled with the meat, cheese, and veggie trays he’d ordered from the deli. Tally even had the coffee and tea carafes all filled and ready to be loaded. Lex couldn’t help but smile. If he’d been the one getting everything ready to go, there wouldn’t be anything near the military precision Tally had going on. He walked closer and waited for Tally to see him. He was so intent on his task, it took a few moments.

“Hi.” Lex tried to keep the goofy smile from spreading over his face, but it was impossible. He reached down and ruffled Tally’s hair.
“I, uh, borrowed a shirt from you,” Tally told him, looking mildly embarrassed.
“It looks good on you.” Lex followed the shirt’s lines with his eyes for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Thanks for doing all of this. It’s so far above and beyond.”
Tally stood and leaned toward Lex. Lex breathed in the smell that somehow managed to smell like his soap but still all Tally. “Of course I’d do it. I couldn’t stand to wake you up when you looked so content.”
Content. There was that word again. Don’t fight it.
Tally leaned over and kissed Lex casually. Lex slipped his hands into Tally’s back pockets and leaned against the leanly muscled chest he was growing to love. It felt oddly perfect, standing in the back of his shop and holding Tally like they were at some school dance. He didn’t want to let go. It was nice to have a blissful ten seconds where he wasn’t worried about feeling too much, or not feeling enough, or whether he should’ve never asked Tally to spend the night. Lex just concentrated on how right it felt to just
be
with Tally.
“Hey, Tally, do we ha—” Lex’s newest employee stood in the doorway of the storeroom, his mouth frozen in a surprised “O.”
Lex was mortified. His young, just-out-of-high-school employee found him practically making out with his other employee in the stock room. Who did that? Apparently he did. Shit. Tally hadn’t moved his arms from where they were slung around Lex’s neck, Lex was still frozen, hands in Tally’s pockets. Travis’s surprised face slipped into a knowing grin.
“That explains the way you two look at each other,” he told them, continuing to smile.
Lex stepped away from Tally. “We don’t look at each other any different than we look at you.”
Travis snorted. “If that’s what makes you happy. Hey, I need a new vanilla syrup. We’re getting low, and I didn’t want to have to run back here when I had a customer.”
Lex grinned. “See, that’s why I hired this kid.”
Travis smiled at both of them. “You guys look really happy together. Just saying. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I know how this town gets.”
“Are you—” Lex began before he realized it was none of his business.
“Gay? Nope, but I met a girl at the community college who isn’t even mixed with white. My parents are going to have a shit fit, but I’m really into her.”
“You really think that’s still a problem?”
“Around here? It’s probably worse than you two.”
Lex shook his head, disappointed. “Probably.” He handed Travis the syrup and watched silently while the kid walked back into the front of the shop.
As soon as he was gone, Lex leaned back into Tally’s arms for a brief, quiet moment. Tally pressed a tender kiss to the back of his head.
“I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. It was nice to hold you.”
Lex’s heart melted a little. Why did Tally have to say stuff like that? It wasn’t fair. “Tally,” he murmured, wishing he could just return Tally’s sentiment and not have to worry about getting hurt in the end.
“Sorry. Well, not actually. I’m not sorry. I can’t help having feelings for you. It’s not just sex for me. Not even close. I think about you the whole time I’m not with you, and when I am with you all I wanna do is smile. Like all the time. Do you know how long it’s been since I smiled for real and not just for a tip?”
Lex tipped his head back to look at Tally. “Why are you saying all this when you know you’re leaving?”
Tally was quiet for a few very long and painful moments.
“What if I don’t know I’m leaving?”
Lex froze. He didn’t know what to say, what to think, anything. “I—”
Tally stepped back. “Did I read you wrong? Do you only want me if it’s temporary?”
Lex turned and closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Tally’s waist. “No, you just surprised me. How long have you been thinking about this?”
Tally shrugged. “A while. It really hit me this morning when I woke up in your bed and realized there was nowhere in the world I’d rather be. Not Seattle, not anywhere.”
“But the people here—”
“Will get used to me again. Or they won’t. But it seems like they’re warming up to me. And truth is, my grandmother’s not getting any younger. I know my mom’s not going to take care of her, which only leaves me. I have a job that I’m actually really liking, and then there’s this guy….” He gave Lex one of those blood-heating smiles that he was so good at.
“You can’t stay here for me. Things happen, you know.”
“I know. I’m not expecting to skip off into a rainbow-colored sunset, but don’t you think we’re worth trying for? Lex, I’m falling for you. Hard. Am I feeling this alone?”
He wasn’t. Not even close. “No, you’re not the only one. Are you sure you want to stay?”
Tally closed his eyes and hesitated for a moment before leaning over to touch his forehead with Lex’s. “Yeah. I think so.”

T
HE
Coastal Gardening Convention luncheon was one of the best, silliest, most fun afternoons Tally’d had in a really long time. The women were ridiculous, flirtatious, and a bit like an unruly class of fourth graders. The poor presenter who was trying to wrap up her speech as Lex and Tally were setting up their lunch service nearly got drowned out by the constant chattering that was going on. A few of the women even blatantly got up and walked over to another table to gossip. Tally started to wonder how much the women were really interested in gardening. To him it seemed like an excuse to socialize. He supposed it was harmless, but he did feel bad for the supposed speaker.

When lunch finally started, he and Lex stood behind the table dishing out sandwiches, drinks, and the cursed red velvet cupcakes. Tally had never been winked at, pinched, or propositioned that many times in one afternoon probably ever, but he was so happy that he couldn’t even bring himself to care. Lex had it just as bad. Turned out that while Tally was getting the flirting, Lex was getting numbers slipped to him so he could be set up with daughters and granddaughters who were “just the thing” for a nice, handsome young man like him. He looked a bit strangled but still managed to laugh and smile more than Tally had seen in the two months he’d been working at the shop.

That smile made it close to impossible for Tally to keep his hands off. All he wanted to do was drag Lex into the back room and have his evil way—or let Lex have his evil way with him. It had only happened a few times that way, but damn, Tally loved it. More than he ever had before.

There was something special about the two of them—and the fact that he could apply the word “special” to them without gagging or making a joke was a testament to how, well,
special
it really was. He hated to use the other word, the one that started with “L” and had been banned to the “never going to happen in a million years” part of his brain for so very long… but there it was, poking at him, saying, “here I am.” He’d thought it, even though he thought he
shouldn’t
think it. The word was there. And in Tally’s experience, once words like that were in a person’s brain, it was close to impossible to get them out.

Love.
There it was. Again. Every time he looked over at Lex’s adorable flustered smile, every time Lex looked back at him and his eyes melted like he wished they were alone and back in his bed, Tally felt it.
Love. I love him
.
Tally’s stomach flipped hard. It was the last thing he’d ever expected to feel, and hell if he knew what to do about it other than hold onto Lex as long and tight as he possibly could. Lex glanced over and smiled at him again, bumping hips with him when he was sure none of the women were watching.
“You surviving?” Lex sidled up to Tally and bumped him softly with a hip.
“Yeah, but if that Don Juanita in the purple hat pinches me on the ass one more time, I swear….”
Lex laughed out loud. “Send her my way, and I’ll tell her to back off. You’re mine.”
“Yeah?”
He stuck his tongue out at Tally, then smiled and went back to reorganizing the cursed cupcakes. Tally waited until all of the ladies had been served, then he leaned over and whispered in Lex’s ear.
“When can we get outta here? I want you inside of me.”
Lex groaned and nearly dropped the tray he was balancing on his hip. “Shit, Tal, it’s not fair to do that to me here!” He took a deep breath, then gave Tally a naughty grin. “Clean faster.”
“
B
ABE
?” It was the second night in a row that Tally had spent in Lex’s bed, arms and legs entwined, faces resting right next to each other on the pillow.
“Yeah?” He could tell by Lex’s voice that he was halfway asleep.
“What are we doing here? I need to know.” He hated how insecure he sounded, how needy.
“I’m holding you.” Lex cuddled up tighter and kissed Tally sleepily.
“Lex, you know what I mean.”
Tally felt Lex’s sigh. “Yeah, I know. What am I doing in the bigger sense? I’m done fighting it, I guess. This thing between us has never been just sex for me—not since the very first night and definitely not after that conversation this morning. It seemed stupid to keep pretending it was.”
“So we’re…?”
“You want it to have a name?”
“I just….” Tally trailed off. He didn’t know how to tell Lex he wanted everyone to know Lex was his and only his without sounding a little nuts.
“You just what?”
“I just want it to be real.” He slid his fingers through Lex’s honey brown hair.
Lex tightened his arms around Tally. “It is real.”
“I know. That’s not what I meant. Maybe I need to know that you’re mine, for now at least.”
Lex chuckled and tightened his arms. “I
am
yours. Go to sleep, Tal. You got, what, like two hours last night?”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Now who’s the five-year-old?”
Tally pinched Lex on the butt. Hard.
“Ouch, dork. That doesn’t exactly help your ‘I’m not acting like a five-year-old’ case.”
Tally snickered and rubbed a small kiss into Lex’s neck. “You felt really good earlier, you know.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmm-hmm. I wanna do it again.”
“Yeah, me too. But I have to get up early tomorrow.” “You sure you don’t want me to work?”
Lex moaned. “I wish. How many do I have you booked for already this week?”
“I’d do it for free.”
“I can’t do that to you. I already made you my cupcake slave last night. You deserve to have some sort of life.”
“Trust me. I don’t have one anyway.” Lex huffed out a tired chuckle. Tally pushed his hair off his face and kissed his forehead. “Okay, since you won’t let me work in the shop tomorrow, you want me to go do battle with MacAuliffe at the city building? I bet I can get the bastard to sign your permit.”
“You think?”
“Hopefully. Like I told you before, my ass-kissing skills were legendary when I wanted something.”
“And you’ll dust them off for me?”
“Of course, babe.”
“Awww, how sweet.”
Tally pinched Lex again. “You’re such a smart ass. You want me to go see him or what?”
“Uh, yeah. I already know the old goat’s never going to say yes to me. Might as well try a different tactic.” Tally smiled, happy to be able to help, and kissed Lex softly. “Now will you go to sleep?” Lex’s voice was tired, yes, but Tally could tell he was more awake then he had been.
Tally shook his head. “Still want you.”
Lex groaned, but his hand had already slipped down to fondle Tally. “Who needs sleep anyway?” he mumbled before sliding his thigh over Tally’s hip and bringing their lips together for a kiss.