Working It Out (7 page)

"Tell me this is the beginning of our happy ending, Affton."

"This is the beginning of our happily ever after, baby. I promise."

"Works for me."

The weird thing was, it did.

Affton arrived at the office just before eight thirty on Monday morning, and it hadn't been easy to do, either. He usually was raring to go on a Monday morning, coming in much earlier, eager to move through his list and keep working his way up the corporate ladder. Having Luke back in his life gave him something else to live for.

The weekend had been amazing, baring Nathan Banner's appearance on Friday evening.

He was more in love with Luke than ever, and fairly certain the feeling was mutual. They had plans together for the holidays, as well as dinner tonight. Whistling, he settled at his desk and made himself concentrate on working.

His phone buzzed, a text coming in.
"Affie. Please. He's here."

He frowned. Luke had come in with him, working from the office today. He texted back,
"Who?"

"Nathan."

Oh, fuck no. He called security as he headed to graphics on a run, taking the stairs because they had to be faster than the elevator. He hit the graphics office, pushing through the door, eyes searching for Nathan, for his Luke.

Some woman... Louise, that was it, was standing in the center of the office, hands on her hips. "...care what you say. You don't get to come in here and threaten people."

"Security is on its way, Nathan. You're better off leaving on your own because the company will press charges." Affton scanned the room for his baby.

"I'm going to sue him for libel. Does he think he can besmirch my name and get away with it?"

"I haven't said a word about you, publicly. Go away." Luke was at his desk, pale as snow.

Affton went over to Luke, putting himself between his lover and the biggest asshole he knew. "You can still be arrested for what you did, so I'd tread very carefully if I were you."

"I didn't do anything. He's a liar," snarled Nathan.

"I am not." Luke held his head high.

"I'll believe Luke over you any day of the week." Affton glanced at his watch. "You've got about another thirty seconds before security comes in here and throws you out on your ass."

"I'm going above your head." Nathan was shaking, clearly furious.

"I didn't cancel the contract. The boss did. So he already knows."

Thank fucking God, there was security, the two big men coming in, moving to Nathan when Affton nodded in the scumbag's direction.

"You'll be sorry for this." God, Nathan sounded like a crazy man. If he hadn't believed Luke over the man before--and he had--this would have made him.

Luke stood, shook his head. "I spent years being sorry. I'm over it."

Affton was so proud of Luke for standing up to the animal who'd hurt him.

"Do what you want, Nathan. You've already done your worst and he's survived it. You can't touch him anymore." Affton nodded to the security guards. "Get him the fuck out of here."

"Yes, sir." Then the man turned to Nathan. "Sir, if you'll come with us, please?"

Nathan screamed and lunged toward him and Luke. The guards didn't let him get two feet. The best part was that Luke never stepped back. Affton was so fucking proud of his baby. So fucking proud.

"Luke, honey? You okay?" Louise came over to Luke. "You're pale."

"I'm fine. I am." Those pretty eyes met Affton's. "You got my text."

He nodded. "I did. And I came."

Turning to the room in general, he called out. "Okay, people, show's over, it's time to get back to work--you're not getting paid to gawk. Luke, I'd like to see you in my office, please."

"I... Sure. Yeah." Luke nodded, grabbing his laptop bag.

Affton strode out, confident Luke was following him. He didn't want to put Luke through any more of a scene. They headed up, again taking the stairs, neither one of them saying a world.

The minute he closed the door to his office behind them, he turned to Luke and folded his baby in his arms.

"Affie." Luke looked at him, eyes wide. "I'm so tired of having to apologize, over and over."

"You don't have to apologize to anyone."

"Okay. Thank you for coming."

He tilted Luke's face up, looking down into his lover's eyes. "I will always come when you call, baby."

"And I promise to call, when I need help."

Something inside him eased. He hadn't even realized he'd been worried that Luke would do the same thing again. He slowly lowered his mouth to Luke's, the kiss slow, intense. Luke tasted like coffee and banana bread and like love.

"Oh fuck, baby. Thank God you guys screwed up the Chalmers job."

Luke laughed, the sound soft, tickled. "Thank goodness you followed me to the coffee shop. I need to get back to work. You want to go have supper later, spend a couple hours boxing my stuff?"

He beamed, so pleased Luke was serious about moving in with him, eager to get started. "I do. I was here at eight thirty. I can leave at four thirty."

"Just call. I'm flexible. I'm working on a commercial for Virgil's."

"Okay, baby." He took another kiss. "Love you."

"I know. See you tonight. Don't work too hard."

"I won't." He didn't think he could. His mind was full of Luke.

"Cool." Luke kissed him again, then headed out, whistling.

It made him smile, confident that if this could be Luke's reaction to Nathan showing up and threatening the man, they could weather anything.

All they had to do was work at it.

Often referred to as "Space Cowboy" and "Gangsta of Love" while still striving for the moniker of "Maurice," Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and pursuing the
Kama Sutra
by channeling the long-lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to
Chicago.

A long-time writer of complicated haiku, Sean is currently attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate-spinning and soap-carving sex toys.

Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.

To learn more about Sean, please visit: seanmichaelwrites.com.

Ryan Coulter is a sports science graduate, who's deep in the closet. Returning to his college town to be in a frat buddy's wedding, he discovers he still has feelings for his old college lover, Daniel James Delout. Too bad he's still in the closet and DJ most definitely is not, the main reason why they broke up in the first place. To complicate matters further, DJ is now blind, and is, somehow, almost maddeningly Zen about the blindness, Ryan, everything.

Can Ryan ignore his stronger-than-ever attraction to DJ and just get through the wedding rehearsal, ceremony, and reception? Does he even want to? And what happens if he and DJ do reconnect? After all, he's still in the closet...right?