Grace didn’t reply but gazed at him silently before asking him about Atlanta. “I finished the contract two weeks ago,” Jacob admitted. “I’ve actually just accepted a job in England. It’s a five-year project, and it’ll be great to manage it from the start instead of untangling things already in place.”
Grace tilted her head to one side consideringly. “And will Lucas be going with you?”
Jacob shook his head. “No—”
“It’s not like that,” she parroted but not unkindly. “It’s a shame. He seems a nice young man, and he clearly thinks a lot of you.”
Jacob frowned. How could she have possibly worked that out in the minute and a half they had spoken. He stood knowing he was at his limit coming here, and she pulled him in for a quick hug. “I’m sorry. Jed calls me an interfering old bat, but I won’t apologize for wanting to see one of my favorite people being happy.” He squeezed her hands back and promised faithfully to let her know when he moved. Jacob took a deep breath when he was clear of the house. It had been hard, but somehow he thought the next time would be so much easier.
Lucas was upstairs when he let himself in the kitchen. At least that was where he could hear the Christmas music coming from, and he chuckled in amusement as he heard Lucas’s own singing join in the chorus of “Frosty the Snowman.” He didn’t think he had the chance of being a career musician, but he wasn’t as completely tone-deaf as Jacob was himself.
Jacob walked into Lucas’s room where the music was coming from and stopped suddenly as every single bit of oxygen left his lungs. Lucas was dancing. Using a shampoo bottle for a microphone, but more importantly wearing the pink lacy panties…and absolutely nothing else.
Jacob must have made some noise, some sound, because Lucas whipped around, eyes wide open in horror, then blushed a fiery red and reached over to his phone to stop the music. Jacob beat him to it, but instead of shutting it off, tapped the volume down button, then gathered Lucas up in his arms. “You look adorable. I’m so glad you tried them.”
Lucas blushed again and buried his head in Jacob’s sweater. “They’re really soft.”
Jacob reached a hand down and lightly patted over Lucas’s silky bottom. “Mmm.”
Lucas pressed closer, and if Jacob hadn’t already seen his erection peeking out of the top of the panties, he would have felt it now, and groaned. “We’re due at Patrick’s in twenty minutes.” Laughing, Lucas danced out of his arms and into the bathroom.
“Are you being a brat?” Jacob called out. Maybe he was asking for a spanking. Maybe his cute little—
Jacob cut off the thought before it could go any further, spun quickly, and went into his own room to get changed. Heart pounding, he braced himself on the sink and looked in the mirror above at the shocked face that stared back. Spanking. He’d literally been thinking about reddening Lucas’s ass. About doing the one thing he always said he wouldn’t do.
But I’m already doing what I said I’d never do, you idiot. And he was. He had a little, and he’d sworn never to do that ever again, and if he was honest, really honest, it wasn’t that he didn’t imagine someone could never replace Ben. Grace had been wrong in her assumption. He always swore he’d never put himself in that position again because he couldn’t ever stand the heartbreak of losing someone else. So what did that mean? That he was going to keep himself walled off forever? It didn’t matter whether someone he met was from the US or the UK, if things went south, it would still hurt as much.
“Daddy?”
Jacob turned and glanced at Lucas, who stood hesitant in his bathroom doorway. Without thinking, he opened his arms, and Lucas rushed forward. He tightened them around a now dressed but still very sexy Lucas.
“Are you okay?”
He rubbed his chin over the top of Lucas’s head. “Yeah. Seeing Grace was always gonna be hard, but it was actually better than I thought it would be.” He stepped back and kissed the top of Lucas’s head. “You have a fan. She likes you.”
Lucas flushed. “I only met her for a minute.”
Chuckling, Jacob guided Lucas out of the bedroom, deciding his jeans were good enough. “You must have made quite an impression, then.”
Jacob was sorry the delivery hadn’t come in time for Lucas to take some of his new things to Charlie’s, but he did take a small craft set for making your own hair slides, and quite a few coloring books including some very fancy glitter pens that Jacob wasn’t at all sure Patrick would appreciate if they got everywhere.
Patrick chuckled when he opened the door to see them both laden down, and Charlie squealed in excitement when he saw Lucas. Lucas let Jacob divest him of coat and shoes, then laughing followed Charlie into the playroom.
“Coffee?” Patrick said, and Jacob nodded gratefully. He had a feeling he was going to need it. Patrick set the machine off and turned, leaning on the counter. “Lucas looks happy, but you look like shit.”
“It’d been a tough couple of days,” Jacob admitted. “I went to see Erica Singleton yesterday, and I just dropped some presents off at Ben’s mom’s for her new grandkids.”
Patrick’s eyes widened. “So, double whammy, then.”
“Not just that even,” Jacob admitted. “I’m helping Lucas discover some things about himself he never thought he would have a safe space to act on them.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“I’m still going to England.”
“And how does Lucas feel about that?” Patrick’s voice was light and condemnation-free, but Jacob still felt a little defensive.
“He knows. He didn’t want to jump into a Daddy/boy relationship with someone who wanted permanence until he’d found out if it was for him.”
Patrick’s short laugh was full of skepticism. “I can’t decide if you’re both really brave or both incredibly masochistic.” But he smiled to soften the words. “And I’m assuming that was the reason he gave you for turning Gabriel down?”
Jacob nodded, but a little niggling doubt crept into his mind. But what other reason could he possibly have? Accepting a very short relationship with someone who had issues instead of a very put together Daddy who wanted permanence made no sense otherwise.
“I wanted to talk to you about Lucas’s living and work prospects actually,” Jacob said, steering the subject onto easier waters. “He’s applied for a ton of jobs, but none of them either include living accommodation or pay enough to be able to afford something reasonable.”
“Ah,” Patrick said, brightening. “Actually, I may have a suggestion there. I have a patient who will be looking at discharge in about a month and refuses to go into any sort of convalescence home.” He grinned. “Says they’re for old people, but there’s no way he can manage on his own. He’s looking at being in a wheelchair for quite a few weeks, if not months, and he’s going to need some help. Nice big house. With Lucas’s background, I was actually going to suggest it to him. I mean, I wouldn’t if you were staying together because this position is live-in.”
“It sounds perfect,” Jacob grudgingly admitted. “But I was still hoping I can get someone to look at his stories.”