Scout raised an eyebrow at Rico who gestured toward the front door of the bar. “Your boy ordered them.”
While he doubted his friend meant anything by “your boy,” other than a way of referring to Alex as his PA, Scout still liked how the phrase made him feel. He wanted Alex to be his but didn’t want to screw up the status quo.
“And I can practically see those wheels spinning in your mind,” Rico said with a smirk. He leaned on his forearms, closing the distance between them, so he could lower his voice. His dark-brown hair was in a fade style, a little longer than a crewcut on top, diminishing down to being fully shaved on the sides. With his hazel eyes, a shadow of stubble over his firm jawline, a deep baritone voice, and a lean, solid body, the man garnered a lot of interest from both men and women. Unfortunately for the women, Rico didn’t swing their way. “I take it he doesn’t know his boss wants to jump his bones.”
His eyes widened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Seriously, Scout? This is me you’re trying to bullshit. You never got that jealous look on your face whenever some guy was hitting on Evan, no matter how hard he tried pushing your buttons. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this jealous over anyone you’ve dated either.”
Scout ran a hand down his face, his five-o’clock shadow rasping against his palm. “Shit. Is it that fucking obvious?”
“Only to someone who’s known you as long as I have.” The two had met back in junior high and had hit it off almost immediately. However, there’d never been any sexual attraction between them. Even though they were both gay, they’d developed more of a sibling relationship than anything else. While Rico was very handsome now, they’d been gawky teenagers, still unsure of their individual sexual orientation back then. By the time they’d outgrown their awkward stages, and realized they were both into guys, they’d become best friends and neither had wanted to risk that by experimenting. And that’s all it would’ve been—an experiment—so they’d never crossed that line with each other. “So, the way I see it, there are three possibilities here. One, you keep things on a professional level and go to sleep sexually frustrated every night and wake up the same way in the morning. Two, you have a brief fling, and, in the aftermath, there’s too much uncomfortable tension between you two, so you either fire him or he quits.”
“Aren’t you just the optimistic unicorn jumping over a rainbow tonight?”
Rico snorted. “I’ve been shitting glitter all day, buddy. And you didn’t let me get to the third option yet before you got on your high horse.”
“Do tell.”
“Three, you discover he’s the guy you’ve been waiting for all your life. The one you fall in love with and live happily ever after with.”
Scout gaped at him. “You’re not helping, dude. Even if I thought number three was possible, do I want to risk number two being the winner, or loser, in this mess?”
“If you really care for him, isn’t having him yours, in every way possible, for the rest of your life worth that risk?”
And that was the question that plagued Scout for the next two hours as he and Alex enjoyed dinner and each other’s company.
Feeling buzzed, embarrassed, and nervous as all hell, Alex followed Scout through the lobby of the Paradox, toward the elevators. While having a great time at the Cock & Bull, he hadn’t realized how much he’d drank until he’d started to sway on his feet and Scout had grabbed his arm to steady him.
Great, just great.
He’d done the one thing he’d sworn he would never do—he’d had too much to drink in the presence of his boss and a few coworkers who’d joined them during the evening. Scout had demanded his car keys and, instead of calling an Uber or cab for him, had quietly told Alex he could crash in his penthouse. Alex didn’t have to work in the morning, and since he’d parked in the private lot, there was a good chance he could sneak out, after getting a few hours of sleep, without doing a walk of shame. At least, he could save face in that respect. Not that it would be a true walk of shame, since he wouldn’t be sleeping with Scout. Instead, he’d be spending a few hours in one of the man’s spare bedrooms. Still, he’d feel awkward leaving in the morning.
Scout hadn’t appeared mad or upset with him—in fact, he seemed quite amused at the turn of events. So, why was Alex nervous? Because he was afraid he was going to do something stupid in his inebriated state—like confess his non-professional feelings for his boss.
They ended up alone in the elevator, and Scout flashed his fob over the sensor before hitting the button for the penthouse level. Alex’s stomach dropped as the car lifted, carrying them up to the forty-first floor. His gaze was on his feet, but, through his eyelashes, he watched as Scout leaned against the wall and crossed his arms and ankles. Alex’s heart raced as he fought the urge to drag his gaze up the other man’s body, in an obvious ogling.
He had no idea how many floors they’d passed, or how many they still had to go, when Scout cleared his throat. The soft sound had Alex lifting his head. His gaze slammed into Scout’s, and he could swear he saw heat and interest in it. But, then again, he was one drink shy of being totally drunk, so he could be mistaken.
Unless his mind had been playing tricks on him, like he thought it was doing now, Alex could swear his boss had drunk just as much as he had, but the man didn’t come across as being wasted. In fact, he looked sober.
“Can I ask you something?”
Alex shivered at the rumbling voice which seemed an octave lower than usual. “Um, yeah, sure.”
A ding sounded, and the elevator stopped. As the doors slid open, Scout said, “Hold on . . . let’s take this inside.”
Alex followed him to the door and then into the penthouse. But, instead of continuing past the foyer, Scout spun around and stepped forward, forcing Alex to reverse his direction until his back hit the door. The other man closed the distance between them until it was mere inches. Alex swallowed a sudden lump in his throat as he felt the heat of Scout’s body and smelled the aroma of his woodsy cologne.
For a minute or two, they just stood there, staring at the other. Alex’s heart rate spiked even higher than it’d been in the elevator. His breathing had also increased. Scout’s gaze roamed Alex’s face, lingering for long moments on his mouth. They were in each other’s personal space, and neither was backing down. Not that Alex had an escape route. There was a solid door behind him and a very enticing male in front of him. That knowledge had his blood heating up and going south to his cock. Oh, shit, he was getting a hard-on for his boss, in front of his boss!
“Don’t you want to know what my question was?”
Huh? Alex’s somewhat mushy brain scrambled to make sense of the murmured question about a question. “Um . . .”
“In the elevator, I wanted to ask you something.” God, the man’s deep, raspy voice was sexier than ever tonight. When had it changed and what had made the difference?
He thought back to the elevator ride. Right before they’d reached the top floor, Scout had said something about a question. “Um, yeah, right. What—” He gulped, trying to force the lump that was still in his throat down. “What did you want to know?”