Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) (5 page)

“Yeah,
get your ass in there,” Beau muttered petulantly. He damn sure wasn’t about to
allow Ricky to steal his tools. He’d spent his own hard earned money on those
tools, and even if he had to wait for Zane’s help, he wouldn’t be leaving
without them.

“That
ain’t yours,” Ricky babbled in that high pitched whine that grated on Beau’s
nerves, reaching for the case that Beau had just closed.

“The
hell it’s not.”

Stashing
the scanner case on the top of his toolbox, Beau stood between Ricky and his own
tools as he grabbed his cell phone from his hip. He couldn’t move the tools
himself. The toolbox probably weighed close to four thousand pounds at this
point, loaded full, and it, along with its contents, cost more than Ricky’s
fucking truck. No way was he leaving it behind because sure enough, when he
came back to get it, Ricky would’ve pilfered every damn thing he had.

“Zane,”
Beau said into the phone when his friend answered. “Could you do me a favor?”

“What’s
up?” Zane greeted, sounding half asleep. It was only nine o’clock, but usually
Zane was up and around by now.

“Ralph
just let me go. I need a way to move these tools. Think you could come by with
the flatbed wrecker?”

“Will
do,” Zane answered easily. “Give me twenty minutes.”

“Thanks,
man.” Beau disconnected the call and began collecting the stray tools he’d been
using that morning.

Wasn’t
quite the way he envisioned his Monday morning going, but at this point, there
wasn’t much he could do about it. He was a firm believer that things happened
for a reason, but right at that moment, Beau wished like hell he knew what that
reason was.

♂♂

Ethan
forged his way into the building, heading straight to his office. He needed
more coffee. Lots more.

After
grabbing the coffee carafe, he filled it with water from the small sink just
outside the office door. Tossing coffee grounds into the paper filter, he got
it all set up and then hit the brew button.

Staring
out into the shop, just the idea of all of the work waiting for him made Ethan
cringe. As much as he detested Jared’s high-handed attitude, Ethan knew the man
had a point. He really did need to hire someone to help him.

Ethan
thought back to Blake and the last time he’d come to the shop. The guy truly had
done him a favor by quitting. The fact that their business relationship had
been mixed with personal problems, Ethan knew it wasn’t going to last forever.
Their relationship had run its course weeks before, and Ethan had actually felt
a little more relaxed ever since Blake walked out. Not counting being left high
and dry at work anyway. The jobs were piling up, and Ethan was tired, but that
was due to the fact he had been working nonstop just to keep Jared off his
back.

Hadn’t
helped, he realized.

The
phone on his desk rang, startling Ethan. The business phone never rang. Most
people knew they could reach him on his cell phone. Day or night. Grabbing his
cell phone from his pocket, he glanced down and realized the damn thing was
dead.

So
that’s what he forgot to do last night. Charge his phone.

“Walker
Demo,” Ethan answered.

“Hey,
E. I need a favor.”

Ethan
recognized Zane’s voice right off. “What’s that?”

“Beau
needs a flatbed to come get his toolbox at Dillinger’s. They let him go, and he
needs to get it out of there. I’ve got a meeting with Travis, which I’m late
for, by the way. You think you could take the wrecker over there?”

Just
the mention of Beau’s name made Ethan’s heart slam against his ribs. Turning
slowly, he took a deep breath. Wanting to avoid an argument, Ethan decided to
make this easy on Zane. And himself. The lesser of two evils and all that.
“Yeah. Let him know I’m on my way.”

Ethan
hung up the phone, grabbed a coffee mug and filled it before walking out to the
shop to retrieve the wrecker keys from the locked box on the wall. He tried to
hurry, not wanting to give himself too much time to think this through. What
was the saying?
No good deed goes unpunished?
Yeah, that was it. Ethan
got the feeling he was about to learn exactly what that meant.

Once
he was outside, the icy February wind sent a chill right through the
lightweight shirt Ethan had on. Damn, he’d forgotten his jacket again too.
Looking forward to the heater in the truck, he made quick work of locking the
main door and then went around the side of the building to the wrecker.

Managing
to block the brunt of the wind by closing himself inside the wrecker, Ethan
twisted the key over and flipped the heater on full blast. After scrubbing his
hands together to warm them, he twisted to glance behind him as he backed the
giant flatbed truck down the short gravel driveway.

It
wasn’t until Ethan hit the main road, about ten minutes from his destination,
that he noticed a familiar truck in his rearview mirror.
Fucking hell.
What the hell was Blake doing following him? Ethan didn’t even ponder the
answer to that question. Shit, half the time he didn’t know why Blake did
anything he did. But, considering how possessive Blake had been lately, Ethan
shouldn’t have been surprised.

As
he drove, Ethan recalled the last conversation he’d had with Blake two weeks
ago, the morning Blake had quit:

 “You’re
late,” Ethan muttered when Blake walked through the open bay door at seven. Just
the day before, they had agreed on six being the starting time so they could
cut out early in the afternoon. Apparently, Blake didn’t intend to work a full
day. Not that he ever did.

“Yup,”
Blake offered enthusiastically. “Don’t deny it, you just missed me.”

Ethan
held his tongue, not wanting to let the nasty response slip out of his mouth.
He wasn’t in the mood to argue. There was too much to do, not enough time, and
the last thing he intended to do was spend the morning fighting with Blake.

“What
do you want me to work on this morning, boss man?” Blake called out as he
headed into the office, probably looking for coffee. Too bad Ethan hadn’t made
any yet that morning. The guy deserved it, considering Blake knew just how much
Ethan hated being called that.

Wait
for it… wait for it…

“Where’s
the coffee, E?”

There
it was.

Ethan
didn’t respond. Wiping his hands on one of the shop towels he kept close by, he
returned to what he was doing and went in search of the file for the truck that
he was working on. The one Blake had taken on a little over a week ago and
should’ve been long gone by now.

“Why’re
you working on that one? Thought you wanted me to do it?” Blake asked, moving
in to stand close. Too close.

“You’ve
gotta show up to work for that to happen,” he mumbled, angry with himself for
saying anything at all.

“Cut
me some slack, E,” Blake retorted, snatching the file out of Ethan’s hand.

Ethan
rounded on the man, coming face to face as Ethan looked down at Blake. “I’ve
cut you enough slack. I’ve covered for you when you don’t show up, I’ve handled
your responsibilities when you disappear for days. You don’t give a shit, do
you?  You’re just taking advantage of me because you know I can’t sit back and
let it go,” Ethan disputed.

“Me?
Taking advantage of you? That’s rich, Ethan. If I recall correctly, you’re the
one who keeps saying this thing between us isn’t a real relationship.”

“Fuck,
what the hell does that even have to do with it?” Ethan bit out, taking a step
back. “This is work, Blake, not a fucking reunion. I don’t show up here to
spend time with you in case you haven’t noticed.” Ethan turned away, took a
deep breath. He wasn’t interested in having this conversation and he knew
exactly where it was headed.

“How
about this?” Blake began, his laid-back tone laced with anger. “You admit what
we’ve got here, and I’ll work when I come in.”

“So
nice of you to offer,” Ethan said, his temperature spiking from the anger
erupting inside of him. “You fucking get paid to
work
here, Blake. You don’t own the goddamn place, so you’re expected to show up on
time and do what you’re being paid to do.”

“Oh,
but you own this place, huh? Yet you’re the fucking saint who shows up every
day and works. Never taking time for yourself. Oh, unless you’re fucking me, is
that it? Perfect little angel, lets his brothers control it all and walk all
over you.”

“That’s
not the way it works, and you fucking know it,” Ethan yelled.

“You’re
right, it’s not. Not anymore.” Blake turned and stalked off, but before Ethan
could breathe a sigh of relief, he was back.

“I
want to take this to the next level,” Blake said firmly.

Before
this was over, Ethan was going to have whiplash. Was he talking about work
again? Probably not.

“And
what’s that?” Ethan dared to ask.

“You.
Me. A couple. I want more, Ethan. I want you to pull your head out of your ass
and admit that you’re fucking gay. No matter how much you hide, it won’t change
it. And I’m tired of being your plaything.”

So
it would seem they had entirely different views of the situation and as much as
Ethan wanted to stand back and take Blake’s bullshit, he couldn’t. Not today.

“You
think you know me?” Ethan barked. “You think I keep my head down because I
don’t accept the fact that I’m gay? Well, you’re about as perceptive as a
fucking rock, Blake. I keep my head down because I don’t want people in my
business.”

“Well,
I’m tired of you hiding me.”

Ethan
laughed without mirth. “Hiding you? Is that what you think I’m doing? Care to
explain what people see when you fucking follow me everywhere? Do you think
they don’t know? Do you think they can’t figure it out? I’m not naïve enough to
believe that, Blake. But I can tell you this, we aren’t together. I thought you
understood that going in. I’m not looking for anything more. And I don’t want
to share my private life with anyone. At. All.”

“Well,
I want more,” Blake stated, his eyes narrowed to slits. “I fucking want more.
And if you’re not gonna give it to me, I’ll just find it elsewhere.”

“Fantastic
idea,” Ethan said calmly, all of the anger draining out of him.

For
the months that he’d been seeing Blake, they’d had sex, but not once had Blake
ever attempted to get to know him. He didn’t ask him questions, didn’t try to
understand him. And despite Blake’s accusations, Ethan wasn’t interested in him
for anything more because the connection wasn’t there.

“I
should,” Blake yelled, his temper igniting worse than Ethan had ever seen it.
“You’re right. I’m done. Done playing with you. I’m done spending time in your
fucking closet. You want me, prove it. Come out, Ethan. Admit to the world that
you’re gay. That you’re proud of who you are.”

Ethan
couldn’t even come up with a response.

“Stop
being a fucking pussy, Ethan. Admit it to everyone, or we’re done.”

“Looks
like we’re done,” Ethan said softly, his hands balled into fists at his side.
“Thanks for the good time,” Ethan added for good measure, immediately
regretting the statement.

“Good
time? Is that what you thought it was? It was pathetic, Ethan. Fucking pathetic.”

Ethan
nodded, moving away from Blake. He knew what Blake was trying to do. He was
pushing him, and Ethan’s thread on his anger was frayed. If he let him keep on,
he’d snap, and that was the last thing either of them needed.

“I’m
done,” Blake repeated, sounding defeated. “I quit. As soon as you realize that
I’m the best you’ll ever have, the only man who will tolerate your bullshit,
you’ll be back.”

Ethan
sucked in a breath. He’d heard it all before. Blake was verbally abusive when
he didn’t get his way, but Ethan had never considered them a couple, so he’d
always been able to ignore it. Now… This… this was beyond anything he could’ve
predicted.

Ethan
took a deep breath, forced himself to focus on the road. He was grateful he
didn’t have to deal with that anymore.

For
the last two weeks, he had enjoyed not having someone up his ass about every
move he made. That was only one of the things about Blake that irritated him.
The man was possessive. Always wanting to know where he was going, who he was
with, who he might run into. It had been suffocating.

And
now Blake was showing his true colors, following him like some creepy stalker. Ethan
had no doubt that Blake was going to follow him all the way to Dillinger’s.
There wasn’t anything he could do about it either. It wasn’t like Coyote Ridge
was big enough that he could hide and since Dillinger Automotive was just off
of Main Street, the flatbed would be a little noticeable.

Turning
on the radio, Ethan tried to ignore the black Ford now just a couple of car
lengths behind him. When he braked at the four way stop just before downtown,
he considered getting out of his truck and telling Blake to go home. He didn’t.

If
nothing else, he figured Blake was about to learn a lesson. He knew it wasn’t
going to go well once Blake realized Ethan was going to help Beau out, but he couldn’t
very well leave Beau stranded. After all, Ethan was doing Zane a favor. Not
Beau.

Maybe
he’d be lucky and Blake would get pissed off and leave. He doubted it, but it
was the only thing he could hope for at that point.