A Kind of Romance (8 page)

“You’re a glutton for punishment. And the name is Ruggieri, not Ruffalo, asshole. I’ll play again, but let’s make it interesting. Let’s make a bet. The winner….”

Benny was still talking, but I was distracted by a familiar figure three lanes away. I squinted, unsure if I was seeing correctly in the dim lighting. No way. It couldn’t be.

Clay Brenner. Also known as the guy Taylor had been screwing around with for months before he finally came clean and broke up with me. I wasn’t kidding when I said I hated to lose, but the most galling part of the entire episode with Taylor was that Clay was a coworker. He’d been with the Baxter McGuiness Group for less than a year, and in that short time he had managed to fuck me over. Royally. It was impressive in a way. I’d never said more than a word or two to the guy in passing. A grunted greeting in the hallway or in the office kitchen was the extent of our interaction. He must have had a good laugh. He’d wave an absent greeting in my direction mere hours after pulling his dick out of my lover’s ass. Fucker.

I couldn’t believe it when Taylor said he had serious “feelings” for the guy. Clay was so… ordinary. Five foot ten, mousy-brown hair, a slight potbelly, and a questionable sense of style. In other words, he looked like a boring thirtysomething whose biggest aspiration was to buy a nice family home in the suburbs and raise a few kids someday. What he didn’t look like was competition. I’d been blown away when I realized I’d read him so incorrectly. Now it seemed I’d been right after all. Or partially so. Evidently Clay was bi, but the two kids hopping around his feet and the pregnant woman sitting on the bench behind him told a bigger story. That fuckhead was a married man.

I was shocked. I couldn’t remember if he’d worn a ring because I had zero interest in him until I’d found out about him and Taylor. And in the past two months since Taylor and I had broken up, I hadn’t bumped into Clay once. His office had been moved to another floor, which frankly was for the best. I was afraid of what I might do if I ran into him. My temper was notoriously volatile. I wanted to destroy him, but I was a staunch advocate of the sentiment that revenge was a dish best served cold. It looked like ol’ Clay had just handed me a shiny silver platter.

“Who are you looking at?” Benny playfully bumped my elbow and pointed toward the ball feed, wordlessly indicating it was my turn. “Don’t tell me… you’re losing interest. I warned you not to mess with me. I’ll take my hundred bucks in a single bill, please.”

“A hundred? Is that what we’re betting?” I had to laugh at his comedic expression, though my gaze immediately shifted back to the action a couple of lanes away.

“Too steep for you or—” Benny looked over at Clay and his family, then back at me. “Who is that? I won’t enjoy this win if you’re distracted. Don’t tell me your biological clock is ticking and you’re having one of those—”

“A guy from my office.”

“Well, go say hi, then.”

I pulled him back by the elbow when he moved away as though he was going to introduce himself to the happy family.

“No. He’s not a friend.”

“Damn. That look in your eye is a little scary. What did he do to you?”

“He’s the guy my ex was cheating on me with.” My tone was matter-of-fact. I picked up my bowling ball and idly wondered if I should just hand over a hundred bucks to Benny. I
was
distracted now. There was little doubt he’d handily beat me again.

“Say what? Was your ex a woman? What are you doing here with me, asshole? Does your dad know you—?”

“Lower your voice! No. I’m one hundred percent gay. And what does my dad have to do with anything?”

Benny shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems like he’d be kinda thrilled if you were straight.” He glanced at Clay again. “So that guy was cheating on his pregnant wife with your ex?”

“I’m pretty sure he still is.” I studied Benny’s profile for a moment.

His offhand comment about my father preferring a straight son took me by surprise. Over the past ten or more years, my dad had managed to convince most people that he felt blessed to have been visited by the gay stork at least once. Clay and his wife faded from view. Benny had my complete attention. He flashed a toothy grin when he caught my stare. I couldn’t tell if it was something new or a leftover sensation of the anomaly I’d experienced at the bar earlier, but my pulse went into overdrive. All I could see was Benny. I gulped and licked my lips.

“Feel like getting outta here?”

“Are you forfeiting? I was kidding about the hundred. We can make it less, cheapskate,” he said with an eye roll. “Or is it them? So the guy’s a creep. Trust me, there’s a million of ’em out there in this city alone. I’ve met more than my share and—”

“No, it’s not him… or maybe it is. I had no idea he was married with kids. As much as I’d love to let him have it, confronting him here would only make me look like a monster. I need to think about this and—are you hungry?”

Benny studied me closely before answering. “Yeah, let’s go.”

I watched the sway of his hips as he moved toward the rental desk. This time I wasn’t entirely surprised when my dick swelled in my jeans. There was no point in lying to myself. I was inexplicably attracted to Benny. His confident sense of self and his sharp wit appealed to me. It didn’t seem to matter that he was shorter, less muscular, and simply not my usual type. I liked him. More than I should.

I tore my gaze from Benny’s ass and turned to take one last look at my coworker and his family. Clay must have sensed my scrutiny because he looked up at the same time and flinched. Hmm.
That’s more like it
, I thought with a feral grin. Gone was my initial restraint. The trace of fear in Clay’s eyes was too delicious to walk away from. My sense of balance returned as I adjusted my course to say hello to the happy family man.

“Clay. What a surprise.” My tone was even and friendly as I offered my right hand in greeting.

His eyes widened slightly. Maybe it was a silent plea or maybe it was good old-fashioned panic. Either way, I took perverse pleasure in his obvious discomfort made evident by his sweaty palm and the convulsive bobbing of his Adam’s apple. Pathetic bastard.

“Um yeah… hi.”

I held eye contact meaningfully before turning my attention to the pregnant woman watching us with interest. When she pushed away from the chair as though she was going to stand, I stopped her with a short wave.

“Don’t get up. Please. I’m Zeke. Clay and I work together. I just wanted to say a quick hello,” I said politely, offering her a genuine smile. It wasn’t her fault she was married to a grade A piece of shit.

“Oh, hi! I’m Lauren. This is our son Dallas and that’s Austin climbing up that bench there. They’re seven and five. And this one is due in a couple months!” Lauren’s thick accent and twinkling blue eyes were endearing. She was pretty in a country-girl fashion with long, blonde hair and a sunny grin.

“Congratulations. I’m going to take a wild guess you’re from Texas,” I said with a half chuckle.

“I am indeed. We just moved our family to the city to be here with Clay. It’s gonna take some gettin’ used to, but—”

“There you are!” Benny nudged my elbow hard and gave me a look that seemed to ask if I knew what I was doing. The answer, of course, was “I’m wingin’ this,” but I faked it with a short nod and turned to extend introductions.

“I was just following you, babe, but I stopped when I saw a familiar face. Benny, this is Clay Brenner and his wife, Lauren.”

Okay, so calling him “babe” was a weirdass shift, but my brain worked fast and furiously at times. As I pondered how to deal with the jackass who’d yet to formulate a complete sentence, I had one of those brilliant ideas that seemed to hit me out of the blue. If Benny would stop gaping at me like I’d lost my mind, this might actually be a stroke of genius. He shook hands with the harried-looking hubby and his friendly wife, then turned to me with a blank expression I hoped meant he’d caught on to the act. He must have, because he didn’t so much as blink when I introduced him.

“This is my boyfriend, Ben.”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so pleased to meet you,” Lauren gushed.

The irony of her obvious pleasure at meeting a gay “couple” should have been amusing given the circumstances. However, in light of her husband’s deception, it wasn’t particularly satisfying.

Benny beamed at the young woman. “Can I say, I love your accent? I’m crazy about a Southern drawl.”

Lauren twittered in response and blushed. She was very… likeable, I mused as I listened to her tell my “boyfriend” a shortened version of her life story, which centered around her recent move from Dallas to join Clay, who’d been pining in the big bad city without his family. Yeah right. Benny was a gifted conversationalist. He asked about the children and her due date and probably would have invited them to join us for dinner if I hadn’t interrupted. I placed my hand on his lower back before stepping aside.

“We should get going. Nice to meet you, Lauren. See you at the office, Clay,” I said with a short wave as I laced my fingers in Benny’s left hand and tugged.

He squeezed my hand so hard it hurt but kept a bright grin on his mug as he said a final good-bye to each member of the happy family, including the kids. I watched the exchange with wry amusement. He was obviously good with children as well as adapting to impromptu situations. Perfect boyfriend attributes if I was in fact in the market, I thought as we made our way toward the rental section. I returned my borrowed bowling shoes, making sure to saturate my hands with Purell before calling Hector to meet us downstairs.

Benny waited until we stepped outside into the crisp spring night to round on me with a look of utter disbelief. “
Boyfriend
? What the hell are you thinking?”

“Relax. You’ll never see that asshole again. It was harmless.”

“Maybe, but was it necessary? She’s innocent.”

“I know, which is why I was cordial. And nice. Nicer than he deserves.”

“You’re up to something. What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about it. You feel like Italian?” I asked as Hector pulled up to the curb in the black Mercedes.

“I
am
Italian. I always feel like Italian.” When I countered his smartass remark with a stern look, Benny inclined his head with a lopsided half smile. “It sounds great. But if we’re eating Italian, it better be amazing. Is this your ride?”

“Yeah. Hop in. And don’t worry, I don’t go to crappy restaurants. You eat with me, you’ll eat well.”

“You sound like a guido. My cousin Vinny says things like that. ‘You in my house, you play by my rules.’” Benny pitched his voice low, mimicking a
Jersey Shore
Italian affectation to perfection.

“You have a cousin Vinny?” I asked, gesturing for him to quit stalling and get in the backseat.

“Of course.”

He introduced himself to Hector and didn’t move until I nudged his side. Actually he didn’t move then either. I climbed in and closed the car door. We were so close now I could smell his cologne and a hint of spearmint as our arms and knees brushed. Very nice, and yet it paled in comparison to the rush of being practically glued to his side in a confined space. His heat was like an instant aphrodisiac. I’d figured the contact would be bothersome enough to urge him to shift over, but I misjudged my own reaction.

“Could you please?” My tone sounded strangled and hoarse.

Benny glanced at me and smirked. “Sure thing. Nice to meet you, Hector,” he said before finally scooting to his side.

“You too, Benny. Would you like privacy, sir?” Hector turned slightly to catch my signal.

Did I want privacy? I wasn’t sure. I gave Hector the name of the restaurant I had in mind, then nodded. A moment later, a screen of thick, tinted glass rose between the specially designed seating area in the backseat. This particular model resembled a luxury mini limousine with leather seats facing each other. It was well appointed and allowed room to spread out, work, and not miss any minor market fluctuation while in transit.

I settled into the seat next to Benny, who was looking at me with a goofy grin.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. This is very… executive chic. It beats riding the subway any day,” he commented with a chuckle. “A private driver, a privacy screen, and probably just enough space to get some business done. If you know what I mean.”

“No. What do you mean?” I asked blankly, somehow curbing the urge to laugh at his waggling eyebrows. He was pretty fucking cute.

Benny scoffed but didn’t bother responding as he ran his hands over the supple, black leather. “Where are we going?”

“This great place I know on Waverly. It’s owned by a celebrity chef.”

“Damn. Are you trying to impress me with a fancy car and pasta at thirty dollars a plate?”

I could have come up with a few other ideas that were less exclusive and expensive, but Bandini was the first restaurant that popped in my head. And on a night where I was being thrown off my game by one unexpected surprise after another, I decided to go with my gut.

“Tonight only the finest will do,” I said in the thick Brooklyn accent I’d shed when I left home for college.

Benny snickered appreciatively. “Okay, boyfriend. We
are
boyfriends now, right? That’s what you told Mr. Family Man and his pretty preggo wife. I figured I should ask because it’s been a while since I’ve had the title and never presex—” He stopped and threw his hand over his mouth as he widened his eyes theatrically. “Oh shoot. That sounded a little slutty, didn’t it?”

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Immensely.” Benny guffawed, then instantly sobered and gave me a pointed look. “Now explain yourself.”

I heaved a sigh and turned toward him, noting the way the neon lights painted his profile in splashes of color as the car sped down Ninth Avenue toward the Village. He looked so… interesting. And real. I had a hard time adjusting my thoughts back to the bowling alley, but once I did, I heard the steel edge in my tone.

“He fucked with the wrong guy, Ben.”

“Keep talking.”

“I want to make him sweat. I would have liked nothing more than to nail that fucker to the wall right then and there, but—” I chuckled humorlessly and shook my head in disbelief. “—I had no idea he was married with kids. He’s a bigger asshole than I imagined.”