Behind Iron Lace (15 page)

Bailey was waiting when the three of them entered the main office, betrayal and jealousy filled her eyes at Amber’s last remark. She narrowed her eyes, leveling a poisonous glance at him before she walked away.

“What’s her problem?” Amber said taking the camera back from Caleb. “So what did you think?”

Caleb looked a bit pale, sort of startled as she started paging through the digital pictures. “Very good Amber, I might make a photographer out of you yet. Later today, I’ll help you format them to bring out the best of your work.”

“That would be excellent, Caleb; by the way,” she leaned in and whispered for the two of them only to hear. “You two look good together. Happy. And don’t worry, I’ll take it to my grave.” She made a twisting motion over her lips as if she were locking them then she tossed the imaginary key over her shoulder.

Darcy could only stand there. Shock hit him full force in the gut almost as if he’d been sucker punched. “She has a good eye. She will make a good—”

“She knows. How does she know?” Darcy didn’t hear anything Caleb said, his pulse was racing behind his ears almost as if he were drowning in a rushing river of his own shame.

“Because, baby, you look well fucked and because she saw us drive in together. And because she isn’t a prude,” Caleb said softly. “Just breathe, baby, in and out. Slowly, that’s it, baby.”

“Stop calling me baby,” Jesus Christ and every major saint he could think of, this was a fucking nightmare come to life. “Before someone else hears.”

“Yes, Mr Darcy sir,” Caleb smiled playfully his eyes brimming with laughter. He glanced quickly around the office to make sure no one was looking before he said, “I love you, just thought you needed to know.”

“Christ.” Darcy watched him walk away, heading for the small office he’d claimed as his own last week only to disappear inside with Amber hot on his heels.

“Hey, boss man, how was your weekend?” Chester, carrying two large cups of takeout coffee passed him, his customary smirk on his face, but this time there was something else, a look in his eye, a slight tilt of his head, something elusive that set Darcy on edge. He thought back to the day before, when Chester had been on the street outside his apartment. Had he seen Caleb leave? Oh shit, God.

“Pretty good, Chester, how was yours?” he said as lightly as he could, hoping his voice sounded calm, relaxed, anything but tight and bordering on panic.

“It was fabulous, thanks for asking,” Chester did a little half wink thing, his mouth stretched wide in a grin. “Well, better get Bailey her coffee, you know how cranky she can get when she hasn’t had her caffeine fix.”

Yeah, Darcy knew all about Bailey and her coffee. It wasn’t that long ago he was the one bringing her morning fix. Not that long ago he knew what she looked like without clothes and make-up on. Not that long ago he was confident in his sexuality. Now he was about one step away from some sort of mental break.

The day seemed to drag by, Caleb stayed busy with Amber and the rest of the crew, teaching them how to manipulate the photoshopping program he liked. Despite his rock star good looks and world-traveled ego, he seemed to fit in with the kids easily, laughing with them, playing along with them, and making himself at home.

Darcy had to keep his door closed most of the day; Caleb’s laugh made him antsy. It made him want to join the group, made him want to run his fingers through the man’s hair, play with the silver bracelets at his wrist. He touched his chest; Caleb’s cross now lay there near his heart. He’d placed it over Darcy’s head after their shower shrugging when Darcy had asked him why. “Because I want you to have it,” was all he said. Darcy trembled at the memory; somehow it seemed almost ominous.

Bailey seemed to avoid him most of the day, when she did peek inside his office it was to ask a quick question and then she was on her way again. Chester lurked more than usual, casting strange glances his way. Darcy shook it off as his imagination. He couldn’t shake the sensation of impending doom. It hovered over him like a thundercloud in some old cartoon. But who was the villain who would burst the cloud and bring on the deluge, he wondered more than once.

Lunch came and went, Darcy stayed in his office. Caleb went down to O’Doul’s with the office staff. He brought him back a sandwich and a beer but didn’t stay long. Darcy checked in with his other field writers, went through the next months’ worth of leads. He wrote notes and suggestions in the margins of his daily planner. He thought it all through the day as he sat alone in his office, his life, his future. It was time to move on to the life he wanted, not the one Bailey had chosen for him.

After work he would give Bailey two weeks’ notice. The decision left him feeling oddly lightheaded. To be at loose ends right now scared him, but he had options on the table. Good options.

He toyed with the idea of going back to school for his doctorate. He always meant to, there just never seemed to be time. The associate professor position would give him the opportunity, if he took it. He wanted to take it. The thought of going home to Oregon appealed to him like nothing else.

Nothing except waking up every morning next to Caleb. His chest ached at the thought. His stomach swirled in a strange way making him dizzy and lightheaded.

There were colleges in New Orleans, several to be precise. He might not have a cushy job waiting for him at one but he could definitely apply for graduate school. He had the grades and the test scores and he had the money put away. He could apply for a teaching certificate in Louisiana and teach at one of the many high schools in the parish. There was so much he could do.

But what if Caleb meant what he said that day out at his family estate? When his mother passed, he would not be here anymore. What if he took one of the offers to go to the Middle East or Korea?

The thought of losing Caleb scared him. That he could feel this way about a man terrified him. Hell, that he could feel this way at all terrified him.

At the end of the work day, Darcy finally left his office to do the usual Monday run down on the upcoming release, what he expected the next two days and just a basic pep talk. When he finished he went back into his office, sat heavily on one of the armless visitor chairs, and leaned his head back. The chronic tension ache in his neck had returned sometime after lunch.

“You hurting again,
cher
?” The voice was soft and welcome, the heavy click of the door closing set Darcy’s heart to racing. The touch of Caleb’s hand on his shoulder all but killed his ability to breathe and think at the same time.

“Just tension from holding the phone wrong is all.” Darcy ached with need as Caleb massaged his neck, gripping the muscle tight much like he had the week before. “Your hand on my neck is what got us into this mess.”

“What mess would that be,
cher
?” Caleb threw a long leg over his legs and before Darcy could blink, he sat straddling him. His body hard in all the right places felt so damned good Darcy couldn’t help but wrap his arms around him and hold him close.

“This mess, the one where I can’t stop wanting you. Did you lock the door?” He looked up into Caleb’s eyes, the burning need he saw there made him want to weep.

“Now why would I do something like that? It might give your crew the wrong idea about us.” His lips were tender when he touched Darcy’s mouth.

“And someone walking in after I strip you naked wouldn’t do any such thing?” Darcy swallowed Caleb’s rumbling laugh. “Oh God, you taste so good, Caleb, I love you so much.”

He twined his fingers in Caleb’s hair, holding him gently as the kiss turned primitive. Caleb moved against him, his cock hard and hot as it stroked him through their clothes. “I’ve wanted you all day long,
cher
. I need you now, baby.”

“Caleb…” he didn’t know what he was going to say, he didn’t need to say anything, just kiss and explore, and—

“Hey, Dar?” He heard Bailey gasp. Caleb froze in his arms. Terror like he’d never known seized him. He didn’t need to look at her to know this was not going to go well. “Oh, my God. I am… I don’t… I—oh God.”

He heard the door close again as all the blood in his body seeped to his feet. “I thought you locked the door?”

“I did, at least I thought I did.” Caleb was pale, his eyes filled with panic as he climbed off Darcy’s lap. “What do we do now?”

“How should I know? This is more your department.”

“Hate to burst your bubble, but I haven’t exactly had to deal with a jealous ex before. Or keeping my boyfriend’s gay little secret for that matter.” Caleb had the decency to wince after the words left his mouth. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded. It’s not as if I’m completely out of the closet either. Shit.”

“I should go and try to explain. I don’t know what I’m going to say. What should I say?” Darcy’s brain raced in circles with fear and panic chasing each other in tight twisting turns. “Shit.”

“I wouldn’t say anything. It’s not her business. But I’m not you, what do you want her to know? That I was just too pretty to resist. That I forced myself on you. That you are just experimenting with your sexuality. Anything you say probably will fall on deaf ears anyway.” Caleb turned his back to him. He stood at the window looking out over the street his shoulders slumped. “I’m gay, Darcy, most of the rest of what I told you was bullshit, except that. I sleep with women to hide who I really am. So long as you know two truths about me, I am gay, and I am in love with you. You’re going to have to figure everything else out for yourself. And that includes your relationship with Bailey.”

“Do you think she will out me, us, if I don’t go talk to her?” Who was he kidding? This was Bailey after all. The term drama queen was invented for her.

“Probably, she seems the type to use something like that against you. At least go and test the waters. Tell her whatever you want. I’ll wait here for you. We’ll go somewhere after and talk.”

“What about your mother?”

“As horrible as it is to say, she doesn’t even know the world exists anymore, she won’t miss me for a couple of hours longer. At any rate, we said our goodbyes a long time ago, last rites have been performed, there’s nothing left but a shell waiting to die. It’s killing me watching her suffer, I need to feel alive or I’m afraid I’ll follow her to the grave.” He turned to face him, his long lean arms crossed over his chest as if he were cold. The silver bracelets made the slightest sound. “You made me feel alive again, baby. Just go talk to Bailey. It’s been coming since before we met, afterward we’ll figure this thing between us out.”

“All right.” Darcy still had no idea what he could say to save his ass. Deep inside he didn’t know if it mattered. He was thinking about making a life with Caleb, yet here he was unable to face the idea he might actually be gay. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He glanced at Caleb one last time before he left the safety of his office. There were only a few people still lingering in the office, Amber met his gaze over her computer, she looked puzzled, no one else even noticed him. He took that as a good sign Bailey hadn’t already spread what she’d seen around the office.

He knocked once at her door and, without waiting for her to answer, he walked inside and came face to face with a pair of dangerous eyes filled with malicious intent. “Hey Bailey, your faggot boyfriend is here.”

Shit. So much for this being between the two of them.

Too many minutes had passed. Caleb paced Darcy’s small office, going to the window to peer out as he tried to be patient and give him time. But how much time did he really need to talk to Bailey? Either she would keep quiet or she wouldn’t. Caleb leaned toward the
wouldn’t
side.

After fifteen minutes, his patience gave out and he stepped out into the main office. Amber sat at her desk staring off toward the back, her face pale. She held her phone limply in her hand, her eyes looked frightened. That’s when he heard the shouts. Darcy’s voice and another, a deeper voice than Bailey could possibly have.

“What’s going on?” Amber half stood but Caleb motioned for her to sit still. “Why is Darcy shouting? Caleb…?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” He eased down the hall to Bailey’s office, shaking his head when Amber rose to follow him. The door was slightly ajar. He could see Bailey standing against the wall, shock on her face, and her hand over her mouth.

“Damn it, Bailey, call your bitch off,” he heard Darcy say. His voice was low, almost a growl filled with anger and frustration. He couldn’t stand hearing him like that so he pushed the door open and just stood there for a moment trying to take in what he saw.

Darcy lay on the floor. His glasses, broken in two, were near the door, a trickle of blood oozed from his nose. But that wasn’t what set his heart to racing.

Chester sat on his chest, his knees on Darcy’s arms, holding him pinned. Darcy tried to throw him off, his stomach heaved with each attempt.

“All this time I’ve been trying to get your attention, all this time you played straight, and in the end some pretty fuck was all it took to make you show your true colors. I fucked your damn girlfriend, hoping you’d notice me. I took her completely away from you and you let me.”

“Chester, stop this.” This from Bailey, her face contorted with sorrow. “Get off him.”

“He won’t take you back. You’re not his type Bai, now that he’s tasted man meat. Does he have a big dick, your boyfriend? Bigger than mine?” Chester eased up on his knees and undid his jeans.

Caleb couldn’t see past the red haze filling his brain. He launched himself into the office with a roar and in seconds, he was staring into the much smaller man’s terrified eyes. “Keep your Goddamned hands off him, you little fuck, or I will—”

Chester quickly lost his fear, his lips curled into a sneer, there was a demon in his eyes, one with knowledge he shouldn’t have. “Or what, you’ll kill me just like you did your lover in Baton Rouge?”

Caleb lifted him off the floor with one hand, his neck muscles tightened under his grip. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know all about you, Remy Caleb Lasseigne Mitchell. I looked you up.” His voice was strained, but he didn’t struggle, he just smiled an oily smile and laughed in his face. “Darcy, your boyfriend here spent two years in prison. Did you know that before you let him fuck you?”