Spencer’s soft laugh died slowly, his expression turning serious as Cole leaned in and brushed their noses together, silently asking for permission to go further. Spencer licked his lips, his warm breath fanning over Cole’s stubble as he clenched his hands tightly around the back of his neck, and Cole took that as the green light.
He didn’t know who groaned the loudest, but Spencer’s kiss was worth the hours Cole had been patiently waiting for. His sweet mouth tasted better than any fruit he would’ve consumed on that crudité platter, and Cole eagerly searched out the savory flavors of the cigar and the rich spices from the rum that lingered on his soft lips.
“Mmmm.” Spencer moaned prettily, and Cole thought he’d forget his manners and try to do something to this man right here and now. “I shouldn’t be out here.”
“My flight home to New York is at six in the morning. Let me pick you up when you get off.” Cole panted, feeling dizzy after only a thirty-second kiss. It wasn’t enough. He palmed Spencer’s reddened cheeks and slanted his head until he was at the angle he wanted him, then crushed his mouth to his. The urgency was there in their frantic touches, but both were holding back. Cole could feel it. “No one should be alone tonight. Especially you.”
Spencer sighed into his mouth. “If only you were real.”
“I am, Spencer.” Cole rubbed the pad of his thumb along Spencer’s top lip. “I’m right here.”
“I know. But…” Spencer inhaled deeply. “Is it too much to want more than one night?”
“Is that why you were upset earlier?”
“No.” Spencer let his hand fall from where he’d been clutching his waist, and Cole wanted the weight of his palm back. He watched Spencer roll his eyes, that brilliant blue even visible in the dark of night, as he exhaustingly dug his knuckles into his sockets. “I was on my way back to the front of the lounge when I heard a couple employees bitching about me not allowing them to have a Christmas party or do the staff Pollyanna gift swap thing, and that maybe if I hadn’t been such a dick about the holidays, then I might’ve been invited to someone’s house for dinner.”
“Shit.” Cole sighed. “That’s messed up. What’d you say to them?”
“I kept walking instead of saying anything. They have a right to their opinions. And I have been a grouch.” Spencer slumped against the wall, and Cole leaned into him, trying to keep the bitter chill from seeping into Spencer’s already cold soul. “I wouldn’t let them do anything that had to do with the holidays. I told them that celebrating occasions should be done on personal time. So, I guess I asked for it, right?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Those stupid gift exchanges are always so impersonal. No one puts any thought into a gift anymore, so I figured why bother. My parents used to give me a handmade graphic novella that they wrote together each year, about me.” Spencer chuckled and gazed longingly at the cloudless night sky. “It was called Spencer’s World of Unimaginable Tales. Sometimes I had superpowers, sometimes I was a villain, hell, one time I was an alien from the planet Kenovia that had possessed their real son. I mean, I never knew what gifts they were going to come up with because it was always handmade and from the heart. It meant something.”
“If I had dinner plans tomorrow, I’d definitely invite you.” Cole kissed the tip of Spencer’s cold nose, unable to resist. His strong features, and dark hair, and sexy stubble around his thick lips called to him.
“Surely your family has a massive catered dinner.” Spencer inconspicuously wiped some moisture that’d built in the corners of his eyes before reaching up and linking his hands together behind Cole’s head and giving him a piece of a smile. When he began to run his long fingers along his nape, Cole’s lower body responded first. “Isn’t that why you’re catching an early flight? To get home in time for dinner?”
“Actually no. There are only two massively catered events I have to attend. The Burbank Jewelry company party—that happened three weeks ago, where I went stag and stayed for all of one hour before Gerald helped me cut out through an emergency exit. And the one my parents throw the week before they leave for their annual Christmas vacation—that doesn’t include me, by the way—where I walk around with my father and smile and nod my head like a robot at his board members like he used to have Coleman do. My parents are in Barcelona, and I’m heading back in the morning to prepare for an important meeting on Monday.”
“Ahhh,” Spencer said sadly, his hands slowly falling to his sides. “The life of a CEO.”
Cole ground his teeth together. “Look. I’ve already deduced that you have reservations about associating with men with money—”
“And exceptional power.”
Cole froze, until Spencer puffed a soft laugh against his jaw. “That’s not funny. Spencer, look, I was born a Burbank. I was born a billionaire, but I’ve never felt like one. My family is my family, and I have responsibilities whether I want them or not. Life is not always about getting and doing what we dream. My big brother is gone. So yes, now I’m the heir of pretty big goddamn empire… and it scares the shit out of me to be one hundred percent truthful. But it’s all just… it’s just me going through the motions until I find someone that might give me a reason to smile every now and then. Like you did tonight. You treated me like I was…”
“Just a regular guy.” Spencer chuckled.
“Exactly. Even after you found out that I wasn’t.” Cole gripped Spencer’s hands and rubbed them back and forth in his trying to warm them. “I just want a chance to show you that I’m nothing like those men in there that you’re sick and tired of. I just need one, Spencer.”
Cole closed his eyes as he heard the smooth purr of the Bentley pull up next to them. Spencer turned his head, his eyes widening at the big-body luxury car, or maybe it was the six-foot-five ex-Marine that got out and opened the back door.
“We better get back to the hotel, Mr. Burbank,” his head of security said in his deep, gritty voice.
Cole wanted to backhand his buddy. What was he doing? Why was he being so formal? “Yeah, I’ll be right there, Axel,” Cole bit out and watched as his security stood there scanning the parking lot as if they were in danger. Did he think this was making Cole look good or important? “For fuck’s sake.”
“God. Why do I have to attract the rich ones?” Spencer sighed as if exasperated, but Cole saw the amusement and joy he had in his eyes, just like earlier. His guard was slowly crumbling, but Cole still had to tread carefully.
“Yeah, tough break, huh.” Cole winked.
“So, let’s say that maybe I wouldn’t mind having dinner with you when you come back to town.” Spencer teasingly brushed his lips against his. “Should I call and have your secretary pencil me in?”
Cole stared in feigned shock. “You’re perfect. Look at the way you talk. You practically already speak the billionaire’s spouse’s lingo.”
Spencer laughed loudly and clamped his hand over his mouth as if the sound had shocked himself. “You’re pretty funny, you know that?”