Take What You Want (7 page)

Alex watched Chase close up
the ladder and set it on his shoulder and waited until he came back
to the gate. “Phone sex with your girl?”

“
What'd
you say?” Chase asked, stopping in place. He looked at Alex
and felt his face heat with embarrassment. The smile tugging at
Alex's mouth made the flush deepen.

“
You
were sitting on your porch,” Alex said, “Talking to your
girlfriend. It looked pretty intense.”

Chase looked at his feet.
“You saw that?”

“
She
must be good with the dirty talk,” Alex said.

Again, Alex flashed Chase a
grin that made his skin tingle. It wasn't from embarrassment this
time. That much Chase knew for sure. The dark goatee around Alex's
mouth intrigued him. He wanted to touch it.

“
I
had my girl on the phone. What was your excuse?” Chase asked.
He wanted to flip some of that heat back at Alex, then shock
registered in his brain at the boldness of his own words. Was he
outwardly flirting with Alex – a man he knew to be bisexual?
What the hell was he doing? And, what the fuck did he expect to gain
from this little game?

Alex
shifted his position at the gate, tipping his hips forward. The new
stance pressed his expanding cock against the back of the towel and
the front of the towel began to tent. Chase was certain the move was
to purposefully taunt him. He willed himself not to look at Alex's
cock, but couldn't stop himself from glancing, then silently cursed
himself for doing so.

“
Knowing
you were watching made me do it; made it hotter, too,” Alex
said.

Chase's face flamed again.
Alex was a lot better at this game than he was and deriving far too
much pleasure from the teasing. Chase was no match for a man like
Alex.

“
Well,
then, I guess we both got something out of my girlfriend's phone
call,” Chase said.

“
I
don't think it was her call that got you off,” Alex said, “Was
it, Chase?”

Chase tipped his head. He
wondered why Alex was doing this to him, why he was going out of his
way to embarrass him. “I'll talk to you later,” Chase
said.

“
I'm
grilling steaks for dinner,” Alex said. “Join me. We'll
have a few beers.”

Chase carefully considered
the invite. He enjoyed talking to Alex. A lot. But, he was
starting to feel things when he was around Alex that made him
uncomfortable. He felt himself drifting down the path that always
seemed to be safely off in the distance for him, only now it was
looming right in front of him, demanding to be seen and acknowledged.
It was one thing to have a harmless fantasy about Alex, but to have
the main character of your fantasy right in front of you … it
made things more real and that scared the shit out of him.

“
I'm
not sure what my plans are yet,” Chase said.

“
You're
alone and I'm bored,” Alex said. “I think we could both
use the company and besides, I grill a great marinaded steak.”

Chase
smiled. Was there really any harm in having dinner with Alex? He'd
simply take a cold shower when he got home – after he
jerked-off … again. “What time?” Chase asked, and
watched the smile spread across Alex's face. He loved what a smile
did to Alex's lips and the light that danced in the man's eyes, too.
Christ! What the hell was happening to him?

“
How's
seven sound?” Alex asked. “We'll have cocktails first.”

Chase nodded and hiked the
ladder farther up onto his shoulder. “I'll see you then.”

-0-

Chase
returned from checking a few of his other managed properties, making
sure the lawns were mowed, and the new rental clients were checked in
and happy. He glanced at his watch as he walked toward the guest
house. It was nearing six o'clock. He debated if he should shower
for dinner with Alex. It wasn't like it was a date, so was it
necessary for him to shower and shave? He ran a hand over his chin.
He felt a days worth of whisker stubble and decided to leave it
alone. Last thing he wanted was to appear to be too …
groomed; too expectant, and he didn't want to overstate anything,
either. It was a casual dinner with Alex. Nothing more and nothing
less.

He took a quick shower and
put on a pair of clean cargo shorts and a t-shirt, trying to look
relaxed, but feeling awkward. He decided to call Danni before he
left. Maybe she could calm his nerves.

“
Hey,
stud,” she said. “Still basking in your afterglow?”

He smiled at the soft
texture of her voice and the effect it had on him. “I thought
I'd call you now, in case it's late when I get home later.”

“
Hot
date?” she asked, with a lilt to her voice.

Chase
chuckled. “No date,” he said. “Zander – I
mean, Alex, invited me over for steaks and beer.”

“
I
thought you said you hardly see him,” Danni said.

“
I
saw him after I talked to you earlier,” Chase said. “That's
when he invited me.”

Danni was quiet for several
minutes. “Are you okay, Chase?” she asked.

“
Yeah,”
he said. “A little stressed I guess.”

“
Work
okay?”

“
The
usual issues,” he said. “Benson wants me to start fixing
the rotting trim boards around the main house. I measured the boards
today. I'll probably start the repairs on Monday.”

“
All
right, I'll let you go have dinner with Alex,” she said. “Call
me tomorrow and let me know how your date went.”

“
Don't
call it that,” Chase said. “It makes it sound weird.”

“
Love
you,” Danni said.

“
Love
you, too, babe.”

Chase
ended the call and stepped from his cottage. It was still daylight,
and typical for an evening in late June; it was balmy and warm.
Sweat was collecting on his forehead. He wanted to blame that on the
temperature, but he also wondered if it had anything to do with him
spending more time alone with Alex. It was simply dinner, right?
What was there to be nervous about? Maybe the nerves came from the
fact his dinner companion was none other than Zander Metcalf of Ivory
Tower?

Sure that might have some
significance to his jitters, but honestly, talking to Alex as he had
started to know him, didn't feel like he was talking to a world
famous rock star. He was just Alex, a good looking, long-haired guy
that seemed to enjoy flirting – with him.

A
lot.

Wasn't that kind of behavior
normal for Chase to experience with another man? Didn't it happen
all the time? No, it didn't. Not once. Not ever. Did it freak him
out? Fuck, yeah! But, there was also an adrenaline rush that came
with it, too, and that part was feeling more like an addiction with
each new conversation he had with Alex.

Chase
opened the latch on the gate leading into the pool area and started
walking across the lawn and then the patio stones as he made his way
toward the back of the main house. The sliding glass door was open
into the kitchen. Chase could hear Alex inside preparing something
and climbed the stairs to the door. He knocked on the glass door
panel with his knuckle and saw Alex cutting up a cucumber and tossing
it into a large ceramic salad bowl filled with lettuce and tomatoes.

“
Hey,
right on time,” Alex said, waving him inside. “I just
made a pitcher of margaritas, or if you prefer, I have an assortment
of beer in the refrigerator.”

“
Margarita
sounds good,” Chase said. He watched Alex run a fresh lime
around the rim of the glass and dip the wet edge into a small bowl of
salt. After setting the glass upright on the counter-top he poured
the frozen cocktail mixture into it and handed it to Chase.

“
Here's
to new friends,” Alex said, saluting him with his own drink.

Chase
took a sip and regarded Alex over the rim of his glass. Alex wore an
untucked white linen shirt, partially unbuttoned to show off his
chest, and a pair of navy blue shorts that fell just above his knees.
He looked loose and relaxed; which was more than Chase could say
about himself.

“
How
was your afternoon?” Alex asked. He moved behind Chase to the
stainless steel Sub-Zero refrigerator and pulled out a tray of fresh
cut vegetables with a bowl of dip in the center of it.

Chase
caught a nice whiff of Alex's cologne as he passed. It smelled like
sandalwood or something else similarly exotic. The scent swirled in
Chase's head and started to do funny things to his senses. “I
did a lot of driving around,” Chase said. “But it looks
like you've been stuck working in the kitchen.”

Alex
laughed. “I'm on the road a
lot
,”
he said, “So, when I'm home, I like to cook, but I hate cooking
for myself.”

“
I
hear you,” Chase said. “When Danni's away, I tend to eat
in town or get take-out. Cooking for one sucks.”

“
This
was easy and took very little time,” Alex said. “Except
for the last hour, I was writing most of the day.”

“
Writing?”
Chase asked.

“
I
write the music and lyrics for most of our songs,” Alex said.
“When the band goes on hiatus, I go into lock-down to create
new material.” Alex handed his margarita glass to Chase. “If
you'll take that for me, I'll carry the tray,” he said, and
started walking outside to the dining area beside the pool.

Alex
set the tray onto the glass-topped table and sat down in a chair. He
motioned for Chase to take the chair next to him and loaded up a baby
carrot with the dip before popping it into his mouth.

“
This
last tour was a real ball buster for us – especially me,”
Alex said. “It's hard to focus on your job when your private
life is cut open in the media for everyone to watch bleed.”

Chase
shook his head. “I can't imagine what that must've been like.”

“
I
survived,” Alex said. “Point is, after what we all went
through we seriously needed this break to rejuvenate ourselves. What
Dagger went through was far worse.”

“
Dagger
Drummond?” Chase asked.

“
He's
a friend of mine,” Alex said, dipping a cucumber wedge into the
ranch dressing dip and plopped it into his mouth. “Being
forced out of the closet like that nearly killed him. He broke up
with his boyfriend and went into hiding. I was concerned he might
not bounce back from it.”

“
Did
he?” Chase asked.

“
Yeah,
thankfully he came back stronger than before,” Alex said. “He
got his career back on track and worked things out with his man.
Last I heard, they were talking about getting married.” Alex
said. “I'm hoping to get an invite to their nuptials, but
considering the dude I was hooking up with was responsible for
Dagger's heartache, I'd understand if I didn't.”

“
That
wasn't your fault, was it?” Chase asked.

“
Indirectly,
it was,” Alex said. “I put my man in the path of his and
that enabled the story to be written. I take responsibility for that
part of it and I had a long talk with Dagger afterward. It's cool
between us now. I'm going to have them out here for a visit sometime
this summer.”

“
Dagger
Drummond and his boyfriend, here?”

“
Yeah,
why not? The lease agreement didn't say anything about me not having
guests.”

“
I
didn't mean to make it sound like that. Guests are fine,”
Chase said, and then he smiled. “Zander Metcalf and Dagger
Drummond here is … pretty fucking cool.”

“
I
take it you're a fan?” Alex chuckled. “I'll tell you
what, if Dagger does visit I'll be sure to introduce you.”

Alex
was quiet for a long moment, almost as if he were reliving the media
smearing he'd endured in his head. His face took on a faraway
reflective expression and Chase felt something tighten in his chest.