Brooklyn Bound (3 page)

Tucker smacked the side of his head.
What difference does it make?
If the man was married he must be straight. Not the first time he’d developed a crush on a hetero, but this one felt especially painful. For the first time since Mason had left, he actually felt desire for someone. Damn, if his heart hadn’t make the wrong call this time.

He met with his ten o’clock appointment then found himself down on the eleventh floor where the law library and the paralegals were stashed. Tucker pretended to look for a book while scanning faces in cubicles.

“May I help you?” a woman asked, her tone suspicious.

He turned around guiltily. “I was, uh—”

“Oh, Mr. Gleason! I’m so sorry,” the short, gray-haired woman stammered. “I’m Nancy. May I help you find something?”

“No thanks, Nancy, I found what I needed. But I was going to ask Brooklyn a question. Is she here?” He paused, then added, “Brooklyn Conner?”

She gazed at him strangely. “Brook is at her desk, right over there.” She pointed.

He followed her finger and spotted the woman he’d seen online, typing at her computer. “Okay, thanks again, Nancy. Have a nice day.”

Tucker approached the desk warily. Brooklyn wore some type of headphones. For a moment, he hated to interrupt her. “Excuse me?”

She glanced up and her face registered surprise. Tugging the earpieces out, she asked quickly, “May I help you?”

“Brooklyn Conner?”

“Yes?” She eyed him as suspiciously as her co-worker had. Despite her questioning brown eyes, she was a decidedly attractive woman with a shapely figure and full red lips. He could totally see her with Gabe. They’d be a cute couple.

She continued to stare so he got to the point. “I’m Tucker Gleason.”

“I know.”

His introduction didn’t make her any friendlier. All of a sudden he felt like a complete and utter idiot. A lie tumbled from his mouth before he could stop it. “I was wondering if I could get you to research some precedent setting cases for me? I have a two o’clock with the Bates Barbecue boys, and I could use some data on trademark infringement.”

“Of course,” she said slowly. “Usually you would tell Fiona, and she’d message us down here. We’d get the data sent up to you.”

“I know.” He leaned against the wall, trying to sound nonchalant but knowing he was probably failing miserably. “I just wanted to, you know, stretch my legs.”

“Right.” She blinked. “Well, sure, then. I’ll get it and have it sent up by one thirty if that works for you.”

“One-thirty works great. Thanks. Thanks a lot.” Tucker glanced over the pretty woman’s physique one more time then hurried to the elevator and retreated to the safety of his office.

Stupid, stupid, stupid
. He’d never been good with women, even after he’d decided in high school that he wasn’t interested in them. They intimidated the hell out of him.
Except women lawyers.
He could face them in court all day long and never break a sweat. But in a social setting, he was nothing but a sap.

Fiona ordered him a grilled chicken salad for lunch and he ate in privacy. He never once expected to see Brooklyn that afternoon, fully expecting her to message the documents up with a student runner. But when Fiona knocked on his door at one-twenty-five and stuck her head in, she said, “Brook Conner from the library has some papers for you. Want me to take them?”

Tucker blinked. “Uh, no, I’ll see her. Thanks.” He picked up a pen and pretended to be busy writing when she walked in.

“I’ve got the precedents you requested, Mr. Gleason.” Brooklyn approached his desk and offered him three bound documents.

“Thank you. I really appreciate your quick turnaround. I know it’s not how we usually do things.”

She waved a hand. “No problem. I spoke with my husband at lunch. He told me about the new project, and how you’re going to be overseeing it.”

“Oh, yes.” His last hope—that the couple had separated because Gabe had suddenly realized he was gay—had just been dashed. He offered a goofy smile and a shrug. “Yeah, right. Small world.”

“Gabe’s very excited about it. He enjoyed working with Seth a lot. Winning this bid was a big deal for Martin–Conner.”

“I’m glad. Yeah, Seth seems like a nice guy. Couldn’t talk to him for five minutes without him pulling out the baby pictures, though.”

She grinned. “He’s a very proud papa. Chloe is beautiful, but then why wouldn’t she be with Seth and Carla as her parents?”

“The kid comes from good genes, that’s a fact. He, uh, mentioned he also has a husband. I didn’t quite get that.”

Brooklyn chuckled. “Most people don’t. Seth and Michael were married about five years ago when it became legal in the state. A couple years later they met Carla and all hit it off. She lives with them now, and she and Seth had Chloe.”

“So the kid has two dads?”

“No, they call him ‘Uncle Michael’, but he loves her like a daughter. It’s very sweet, really. They’re an incredible family. We’ve been to their house for dinner a few times.”

“Dinner? Hmm.” A fleeting thought zipped through his mind.
Had they done anything besides eat dinner?
The idea would have caused a boner had he allowed it to take root.

“Yep, dinner.” She inched toward the door. “I should get back downstairs. I just wanted to make sure you got what you needed, and let you know I talked to Gabe. As I said, he’s very excited about working with you.”

Tucker stood and quickly moved the documents in front of his crotch, just to be safe. “Excited. Yeah, me too. Very excited.”

After watching her walk out, he returned to his chair and stacked the legal decisions she had brought him on top of the same ones he’d collected earlier. Had he gotten what he needed?
Yeah, I think so.

Chapter Two

Gabriel Conner drew his hair back into a ponytail and fastened it with a cloth-covered band. Peering around the bathroom corner, he glanced at his wife who was getting dressed in the bedroom. “He said he was excited?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve asked me that three times. Yes, he said he was excited. I think getting assigned this project was a big deal for him. He’s just a junior partner, you know.”

“But his old man’s the boss.”

“True.” She stepped behind him and glanced over his shoulder, looking in the mirror to insert her earrings. “But Mr. Dryer’s a good man. He’s not the type to promote someone just because he’s family. I’ve heard from lots of people—Tucker’s secretary included—that he’s a good lawyer and he’s working his way up like anyone would have to.”

“That’s what he told us,” Gabe agreed. “He also told us he’s gay. Just spit it out right there in front of us. I thought Evan was going to shit himself.”

“He didn’t say anything, did he?”

Gabe shook his head. “We need this job too much. He knew better than to spout off and take a chance on losing it.”

She looked at his reflection. “Is he really that homophobic?”

He shrugged. “I guess. He’s made a few comments over the years, but we usually don’t talk about it. We have no reason to. I don’t know anyone who’s gay.”

Brook chuckled. “Um, excuse me? Seth?”

He shook his head. “Seth and Carla just had a kid. That doesn’t spell gay to me.”

“Bisexual, maybe. Evan never thought of that?”

“Evan knows where his bread is buttered. Seth’s brought us lots of jobs. It’s probably easier to ignore his sexual preferences now that Carla and Chloe are around.”

“I guess.” She appeared thoughtful. “We knew a gay guy in college, remember? What was his name?”

Drew Smith.
Gabe would never forget it, or the way Drew had made him feel when they’d touched each other.
Touched, hell.
Fucked was more accurate terminology. They’d fucked well and often in the back seat of Drew’s classic 1969 Pontiac LeMans convertible, down by the ocean. It had happened months before he and Brook had taken their relationship as friends to the next level, something that might never had happened if Drew’s father hadn’t found out about his son’s gay relationship. Mr. Smith had gone apeshit crazy and had sent Drew back east to a different school, where the change of scenery would ‘do him good’. The last time Gabe had talked to his old lover, Drew had been seeing his world history professor, and the man had been giving him lessons on plenty of things besides history.

“What was his name?” Brook repeated.

Gabe turned to face her. “I don’t remember. I need to get to work. You’re going to be early.”

“I have a lot to do, and wanted to get an early start. It’s quieter if I can slip in before everyone else.”

He kissed the tip of her nose and scooted from the bathroom. “You work too hard for what they pay you.”

Ignoring the comment, she called after him, “Don’t forget your lunch!”

“Got it,” he hollered back, pocketing his cell phone and grabbing the insulated cooler he used to stash his lunch and some water bottles.

His lime green truck wasn’t a classic like Drew’s car had been, it was just old. Two fenders were rusted out and the passenger side had a hole in the floorboard. It ran like a champ and had dual gas tanks, which meant he spent a fortune when he stopped for fuel, but he didn’t have to stop very often.

The new job site was a ten minute drive from the small house he and Brook owned. They’d been proud to sign the papers the day they’d bought it, feeling like they’d finally achieved something. They’d both graduated from college and she’d been accepted into law school, but after nearly two years they’d found they couldn’t afford it. She professed to be happy working as a paralegal, but Gabe knew her job was nothing more than a glorified legal secretary. It made his heart hurt, thinking that he couldn’t give her the kind of life she’d always wanted, but Brook didn’t complain.

That was why this job was so important to him. The Dryer and Stokes office building was the biggest undertaking his company had done to date. If they pulled it off, the law firm would be a great reference for them and they’d potentially have more work than they could handle.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
He pulled onto the freeway, keeping to the right with the slower traffic. The job was important, vitally important to his company and his finances. But there was another reason he was so anxious to get to work, and his name was Tucker Gleason.

Gabe hadn’t met a man who made him feel the way Tucker did since Drew had left. He’d chalked the fling up to college experimentation and hadn’t looked back. But now, seeing Tucker in that suit jacket and tight white shirt, he couldn’t think about anything except seeing Tucker
out
of the suit jacket and tight white shirt. When he’d heard the man say he was gay, Gabe had had to cover himself so that no one would notice the bulge in the front of his slacks.

He’d never cheated on Brook and didn’t plan to start now. But a little harmless flirtation wouldn’t be considered cheating, would it? Deep down Gabe knew he was deceiving himself, but he didn’t want to think about that yet. He wanted to see Tucker again, talk to him, and maybe get to know him better. What happened after that remained to be seen.

It was already hot outside at six a.m. He worked on the site until his phone buzzed in his pocket, and Gabe pulled it out to read the text.

He’s here.

A tingle ran down his sweat-slicked spine. Gabe pocketed his cell and told his crew, “I need to run up to the office. Be back shortly.” He headed for the trailer they used as the job site office, noticing the dark blue SUV parked out front. He chuckled, comparing it to his truck for a quick second. Tucker’s car probably cost as much as their house.

Wiping his hands on his jeans, he entered the trailer. Tucker and Evan were looking over blueprints, and they both glanced up at him.

“Good morning.” The lawyer’s smile was captivating.

Gabe felt as giddy as a schoolgirl, and tried to keep himself together. “Hey,” was all he could manage.

Evan picked up the conversation. “I was just explaining to Tucker what’s been done as far as pouring the fittings, and where we’re at now.”

“Fine.” Gabe winced. He sounded like an idiot, but couldn’t seem to put two words together to form a coherent sentence.

Still smiling, Tucker pulled out his cell phone. “I thought we should exchange numbers, so if we needed to text or phone we’d all be in the loop.”

“Great, sure.” Evan grabbed his phone.

Gabe did the same and they all entered the new contacts. His heart thudded so loudly, he hoped the others wouldn’t notice.

“You look wiped already,” Tucker commented. “It’s going to be brutal out there today. Can I get you something to drink?”

Gabe waved him off. “I’ve got my cooler, I’m good.” He reached for a bottle of water and chugged half of it.

Evan smacked his head. “I meant to bring up the window catalogs. You’ll have some decisions to make. I thought you could take them with you and make sure your choices were okay with everyone.”

“Sure.” Tucker shrugged.

“Let me go get them. Take me ten minutes, tops. I’ll be right back.” Evan hurried out.

“Take your time,” Tucker called after him, then turned to Gabe. “He seems a little high-strung.”

“He’s a good man. Don’t worry about Evan.”

“You, on the other hand, seem totally laid-back and easy-going. You two complement each other nicely.”

He inhaled. The man had given him an opening. Should he use it, or ignore and focus on the job at hand? As much as he knew he needed to ignore the feelings in his gut, that was the last thing Gabe wanted to do. He looked at Tucker. “I’m not feeling that laid-back right now. I’m, uh, feeling something else. I get the sense you’re feeling it, too.”

The lawyer’s eyes widened. “Are you freaking kidding me? I felt it the first time I set eyes on you. I’ve been trying to convince myself
not
to act on it, what with you being married and all. Not that I could tell by looking at your left ring finger.”

Gabe glanced down. He had a wedding ring, but didn’t wear it to work. “Yeah, that’s an issue for sure. How about you, Tucker? Is there anyone special in your life?”