Glenn-Stormy-Love-&-Spaghetti-on-Aisle-Eight (2 page)

“Your amusement knows no bounds, I’m sure,” Gideon said.

“Actually, he’s getting dressed. We have a date tonight.”

“Aren’t you supposed to stop dating after you get married?”

“But dating is so much fun.” Gideon chuckled. “You know, will I

get lucky? Won’t I? Is he going to let me get to first base on the first

date? Will he kiss me goodnight when I take him home or invite me

in for coffee?”

“I’m pretty sure Micah is a safe bet. You married the guy.” Seth

rolled his eyes. Gideon Wulfe was unlike anyone Seth ever met, rich

as Midas and built like a really tall Greek god. And he loved Seth’s

best friend, Micah, with every fiber of his being.

Seth liked the guy for that alone.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ll get lucky by the end of the night,” Gideon

said. “I just have to survive to get there. Your friend is a tease.”

Seth laughed. Micah was a tease but only with Gideon. Micah

didn’t have eyes for anyone else on the planet except for his husband.

Seth envied that, a lot. He wanted just one person to be his, to look at

him the way Gideon and Micah looked at each other.

“So, are you going to spill the beans and tell me what happened or

make me suffer?”

“I think I have a date.”

“You think?” Gideon asked. “You’re not sure?”

Seth paused as he started to open the freezer door for a frozen

pizza. “Well, not exactly. I think I have a date, but we’re still working

out the details.”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

11

“And just who is this
we
and how did you meet him?”

“Actually, he offered to make me homemade spaghetti instead of

making me eat the jarred stuff,” Seth said.

“And his name?”

“Uh-uh, if I give you his name, you’re going to have him

investigated just like you did the last guy.” Seth grabbed a pizza and

dropped it in his basket then started toward the front of the store.

“And we both know how that turned out.”

“Seth, I was just trying to—”

“Look, Gideon, I know what you were trying to do and I

appreciate it, I do,” Seth said. “But I need to do this on my own.”

“Seth.”

Seth heaved a heavy sigh. Gideon was ultraprotective of Micah,

and that meant, as Micah’s best friend, by default, Gideon was

protective of him, too. “At least let me get through the first date. If we

go for date number two, I’ll give you his name, deal?”

“Okay, deal.” Gideon laughed.

“Have Micah call me tomorrow,” Seth said. “I’m going to head

home and eat my frozen processed meat byproduct pizza.”

Gideon laughed. “I can have a real pizza delivered, if you’d

prefer. Just tell me what you want on it.”

Seth groaned. Considering the instant pizza he had in his basket,

he almost took Gideon up on his offer but knowing Gideon, he’d have

the pizza flown in from Italy or something. He had done stuff like that

before.

“No, that’s okay, this will do me just fine,” Seth replied. “Besides,

if what this guy says is true and he can make homemade spaghetti,

then I don’t want to overload my stomach with real food until then. It

might rebel.”

“All right, but if you change your mind, just give Ivan a call.”

“Will do, and thanks, Gideon.” Seth hung up the phone before

Gideon could say more. He liked the guy, really he did, but Gideon

12

Stormy Glenn

could get really intense sometimes. Micah seemed to like it, but Seth

knew he’d lose his mind.

Seth paid for his pizza and walked out to his car. He couldn’t help

thinking about the last time that Gideon had run the background

information on a guy Seth dated. While the man had been clean, he

was so pissed that he was investigated that he refused to ever see Seth

again.

Of course, a couple of the guys Gideon investigated turned out to

be toads in gorgeous clothing. One had a police record a mile long,

and the other only dated Seth to get closer to Gideon and all of his

millions of dollars.

Seth couldn’t express his gratitude enough for the way that

Gideon looked out for him simply because he was Micah’s friend.

And usually, Gideon was pretty good about picking out the bad

apples. But just this once, though, Seth wanted to discover things on

his own.

Seth climbed into his blue two-door car, chuckling. He seriously

hoped that Frank De Luca turned out to be a good guy because he’d

never hear the end of it if he wasn’t.

* * * *

“There he is,” Frank said as he pointed across the parking lot,

“climbing into that blue two-door sedan right over there.”

“That’s him?”

“Yep.”

“Does he know who you are?”

“I told him my name but nothing more than that. I didn’t want to

scare him off,” Frank replied. He glanced at the man sitting in the car

next to him. “Well, what do you think?”

“He’s kind of cute, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Frank reached over and punched his partner, Nicholas Russo, in

the arm. “What do you mean
kind of cute
? He’s gorgeous.”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

13

Nick rubbed his arm as he laughed. “He’s not my type.”

“You don’t have a type, Nick,” Frank said. “You’ll fuck anything

with a dick and a pulse.”

“Hey,” Nick complained, “that’s a type.”

Frank rolled his eyes and watched Seth pull out of the parking lot.

He couldn’t believe he was obsessing over a man he met in a grocery

store.
A freaking grocery store!
Well, at least it was better than a bar,

but not by much.

His mother would be so proud.

“So, are you going to go out with him?” Nick asked.

“I am if he calls me,” Frank said. “I punched my phone number

into his cell phone and told him to call me. We’re going to make plans

to have dinner tomorrow night.”

“You know if this progresses beyond the first date that you’re

going to have to tell him.”

Franked frowned. “Yeah, I suppose.”

“He has a right to know, Frank.”

“I’d like to get to know him a little first, you know, before he runs

for the hills.”

“You’d like to get laid, you mean.” Nick snorted.

Frank grinned. “That, too.”

“Have you run his plates to even see if he has a record?”

“When?” Frank glanced away from the fading tail lights of Seth’s

car to look at his partner. “I just met the guy ten minutes ago.”

“Give me his name,” Nick said.

“Seth O’Connal.” Frank held his breath as he waited for Nick to

type Seth’s name into the police record system. He really wanted Seth

to be a good guy, because if he wasn’t, their date wouldn’t last very

long. “Well?”

“Patience, dear boy.”

Frank turned to stare out the window and down the road Seth

drove away on. Seth O’Connal was the hottest thing Frank had seen in

14

Stormy Glenn

years. Running into him in the spaghetti sauce aisle had been a stroke

of luck.

Frank stopped off at the store to grab some dog food before

heading home and spotted Seth walking into the store in front of him.

Frank had been so stunned by Seth that he followed him through the

store like a lost puppy, at a distance, of course.

When Seth stopped and squatted down to look at the spaghetti

sauce, Frank knew he had him. It took a couple of deeply placed

innuendoes to make sure Seth was on the same wave length and gay,

but Frank was hopeful. It would be such a crime for a man that damn

good-looking to be straight.

“Okay, Seth Patrick O’Connal,” Nick finally said. “He’s twenty-

seven years old, single, and pretty much has a clean record.”

Frank stiffened. “Pretty much?”

“He has a parking ticket that he hasn’t paid off.”

Frank let out the breath he’d been holding and leaned his head

back against the headrest. “Nick, I swear to god, one of these days

I’m going to shoot you with your own gun.”

“Yeah, but then you’d have to deal with your Nonna because she

loves me.”

“She tolerates you.”

“So, you’re really going to go out with some guy you just met in a

grocery store?”

“
È così bello fa il mio dolore di cuore
.”

“I don’t care how beautiful you think he is,” Nick snorted, “that

ain’t your heart that’s aching. It’s your dick.”

“Nice, Nick.”

“Oh please, like you weren’t thinking the same thing.”

“I’d actually like to get to know this one, Nick, not just fuck him.”

“Seriously?”

Frank chuckled. Nick sounded so surprised. Frank guessed that

maybe Nick had a right to sound that way. It wasn’t like Frank had a

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

15

long line of boyfriends or lovers. Once they found out he was a police

detective, they usually left as fast as they could.

Frank knew from experience that it wasn’t easy to be involved

with someone that was a police officer. His father was a beat cop

before he was shot in the line of duty and forced to retire. His older

brother, Vincenzo, was also a cop. It was almost a family tradition.

There was just something about Seth that made Frank want to take

his time and get to know the man. Yes, Seth was drop-dead gorgeous.

Yes, Frank wanted to fuck Seth into a wall. But he also wanted to

know him as a person outside of bed.

“Seriously,” Frank said. “There’s something special about this

one.”

Nick chuckled as he started the car then drove out of the parking

lot. “Yeah, he’s breathing.”

16

Stormy Glenn

Seth’s nerves were shaking the next evening, as were his hands as

he dialed Frank’s phone number. He couldn’t remember ever being

this nervous when calling a guy about a date. He’d been on a lot of

dates. There was no reason for him to be this anxious.

Really
.

“De Luca,” a rough voice barked out.

“Frank? It’s Seth. You wanted me to call?” Yeah, that sounded

good. Seth was probably coming across like a needy loser. All he

needed to do was whimper to complete the effect.

“Hey, Seth, I did want you to call,” Frank replied. Seth shivered

when Frank’s voice softened and went all sexy and deep. “Are we still

on for dinner tonight?”

Seth chuckled, feeling a little bit more at ease. “Are you still

making me spaghetti?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Then we’re still on for dinner. We never did decide if we were

going to have dinner at your place or mine.”

“Well, since I’m cooking, why don’t we plan for my house?”

Seth heaved a small sigh of relief. He wasn’t terribly comfortable

having a stranger over to his house on the first date. He wanted to get

to know someone before he brought them home, just in case the guy

was a nutcase. That way he wouldn’t know where Seth lived.

“Your place sounds great,” Seth replied. “Where, when, and what

should I bring?”

Frank chuckled, the deep rumbling sound going straight to Seth’s

cock. He gave his address, which Seth quickly wrote down. “Eight

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

17

o’clock and you don’t have to bring anything except that sexy ass of

yours and an appetite.”

Seth bit his lip to keep from asking if Frank really thought he was

sexy. That would sound just a little too desperate. “Are you sure I

can’t bring a bottle of wine or something? Some beer?”

“A bottle of red wine would be great, thanks.”

“Red wine it is then.” Seth grinned because he just couldn’t help

himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had enjoyed a simple

conversation so much. He didn’t want to hang up, but he couldn’t

think of a single thing to say either.

What a fucking goober.

“You’re not allergic to anything are you?”

Seth chuckled nervously. “Only my own cooking.”

Frank’s deep laughter came through the phone loud and clear and

sent a tingle of pleasure straight to Seth’s balls. He bit his bottom lip

to keep from groaning. Oh man, if this guy turned out to be as good as

he sounded, Seth was in so much trouble. He was ready to sign up for

phone sex on the spot.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you, Seth.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Seth gulped. Oh man, was he looking forward to

it. He’d been almost useless at work today and hardly slept a wink the

previous night. Frank had been all Seth could think about since they

met in the supermarket. “So, uh…”

“Hold on just a second, Seth.”

“Sure.”

Seth heard muffled talking for a moment, too faint for him to

actually make out any words, and then Frank came back on the line.

“Hey, I’m real sorry about this, Seth, but I need to go. Something

has come up at work. Can we pick this conversation back up at

dinner?”