Texas_Heat- (3 page)

Riley stretched in bed. Last night had been the first night they'd been alone in the house since Donna's wedding in February, and now they were so far into July that February seemed a long time ago. God bless Eden and her shopping trips enabling them to get some time alone. Last night had been so intense and he realized just how much time he was spending at work and away from home. That had to stop.

The early morning sun was bright through the partially drawn drapes and the combination of that and the sound of an alarm was pulling Jack from sleep.

"Your cell," Jack murmured against his arm. Riley leaned over and stole a kiss from his sleepy husband. The screen flashed with a voicemail and he pressed the button to play it on speaker.

"Hi. This is a message for Riley. Uhmmm. I don't know if he'll remember me but I shared a house with him off campus for a while? My name is Elijah Martin. I majored in business, minored in fucking up? I read this article about him… wait… you don't need to know that. Just. Can you maybe give him this message and give me a call back at some point? Thanks. Bye."

"Whozat?" Jack mumbled. Evidently his question was rhetorical as he moved in his sleep and settled again with a low snore. Riley eased himself back on his side of the bed, still as close to Jack as he could get, and clutched his cell to his chest. Elijah Martin, or Eli as Riley had known him. Wow. That was a blast from the past.

Riley remembered he was sassy and fun and short. Although considering his own height that wasn't difficult. Dark-haired and green-eyed with a small and lithe body, pre-Jack Riley may well have wanted to get to know him better if he hadn't been moving from one conquest to another throughout college. Well, pre-Jack Riley had not been done chasing girls so no, he wouldn't have gone near sexy, alluring Eli with a stick.

Eli was the product of a fucked-up family similar to Riley's. Riley recalled a dad who was in prison for some drug dealing shit and a mom who had featured in some kind of guys mag spread at the age of forty entirely nude except for a boa constrictor draped over her ample chest. Yep. Just as fucked-up as the Hayes family. He placed the cell on his bedside cabinet, crossed his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. Sleeping with his husband was usually so easy but college memories flooded back in a rush.

Unsettled, he slowly rolled out of bed, and pulling on shorts, he moved as quietly as he could out of the room, taking his cell. Checking in on Hayley's room was instinctive and he chuckled to himself when he didn't see the familiar lump under the piled quilt. Having time alone with Jack was pretty freaking good but breakfast with Hayley was something special. He would never admit it but even with the hot sweaty sex and alone time he missed her. He couldn't really remember a time when she wasn't part of his life, of their life.

Recently he had been thinking maybe she needed a little sister or brother. What Riley wouldn't give for a miniature Jack running around the house all piss and vinegar and giving them a run for their money.
Something to talk about with Jack later maybe?
His husband had never mentioned a bigger family but then to be fair neither had Riley. Maybe it was time to at least say yes or no to the idea. Riley was about to turn thirty soon, not that he was counting the days or anything, but he didn't want to be too old to be a dad.

After making coffee he took that and the cell out to the new morning. The clock in the kitchen said six-thirty and briefly Riley considered leaving calling until later. The consideration took little more than a few seconds before he was pressing redial on Eli's number. Fucker needed repaying for the number of pranks he'd played on Riley in college.

Riley wasn't entirely sure this was Eli but whoever it was didn't sound sleepy.
"Eli? It's Riley. Riley Campbell-Hayes."
"Riley! Hey. Hang on a minute." Eli was clearly moving out of wherever he was and into an open area as the quality of the call changed from echoing to clear. "Still there?" he inquired.
"Still here."
"Sorry. Staying with Mom and she's entertaining." Eli imbued the word 'entertaining' with what Riley imagined was a raise of his eyebrows and a shake of his head. Eli had long ago given up on his exhibitionist mom who put the F in MILF.
"Sorry to call you back so early in the day," Riley started.
"No problems. I'm still on UK time. Only flew
back
in to the US a few days ago and my clock is all over the place. Sleep is not my friend. How are you?"
"Doing good."
"I read all the stuff that happened in the last few years."
"Yeah?" "Sorry about your loss."
Riley wasn't sure which loss Eli was referring to. His brother? His dad? HayesOil? Instead he gave a standard, and very safe, answer.
"Thank you."
"And sorry I didn't… you know… contact you to give support and shit but I had some stuff of my own going on."
Typical Eli.
Flighty, incorrigible, but at least freaking honest. Riley decided he wasn't ready to face that particular elephant in the room and instead changed the subject.
"How are you?" Riley asked. He wasn't sure what else to say so he guessed it was best to stick with the usual pleasantries until he could see if the old friendship was still alive.
"Usual shit. Got asked to leave London for a slight indecent exposure misunderstanding," Eli said.
Riley snorted a laugh. At that point, despite the eight-year gap since they had talked, they dropped the formalities and were once again back as pledges and causing shit together. The last time they had spoken, or rather argued, was the discussion that had driven the wedge. Neither mentioned it. Riley wasn't sure he ever wanted it brought up again. Especially considering the focus of it.
"They threw you out?"
"More encouraged me to leave. Said, and I quote, 'the UK will not accept behavior on Palace grounds such as what they had witnessed'."
"
Palace
grounds?"
"In my defense I didn't know. I mean, where was the security if I managed to get over the wall? I was coming home anyway. London I love, but Texas is home."
They talked about college, and Hayley, and Jack. Riley ended up inviting Eli over for dinner that night and as easy as that the old friends had healed a rift far too childish to even consider as anything important now. Riley couldn't even remember exactly what it was that had been said the day Eli left college. Something about a boyfriend who was giving Eli grief and it was somehow connected to Lexie and Riley. Maybe they could cover that when they talked.
"I have a favor to ask of you though. But that isn't why I reconnected. I was going to get in touch with you as soon as I got settled." Eli was rambling. "Only something happened that upped the timescale a bit. I just think this could be good for you and your husband and for the ranch and—"
"Spit it out. Jeez, you haven't changed a bit, have you?" Riley smiled. This was the Eli he remembered, all big explanations and plans and in-your-face demands. The whole package wrapped up in Eli's lithe figure had always been so much fun.
"I kind of found my niche in London. You remember my camera?"
Remember it? Riley hated the damn thing. God help him if any of the photos Eli took at college were leaked to the press. He recalled Eli had been good at photography though.
"I do," he answered.
"Well, it's a career now." The normally boisterous guy sounded simply proud of himself. That was a change. Half of Eli's issues at college were because he felt he had something to prove to anyone and everyone. That he was faster, better, or bolder. And every time he ended up just being the one in the most trouble; hence his early exit from the college. "I've been asked to create a marketing suite of photos for an underwear company."
"Okay?" Riley posed a whole raft of questions in that simple word.
"How would your husband feel about using the Double D as a backdrop? Nothing identifiable to him or you," he hastened to add. "But barns, horses, y'know, cowboy stuff."
"Cowboy stuff," Riley said. He couldn't help the snort of laughter. Luckily Eli didn't take offense and was laughing alongside him.
"Why us then?"
Eli sighed. "There is still so much shit flying around about gay cowboys and getting spreads to agree to have me and twenty near-naked men on their property plus all the extra stuff is nigh on impossible."
"But you think because of the fact Jack is my husband that I will be able to influence a decision?" Riley considered the evidence in the proposal. Jack wasn't hidden in any sense of the word but he was very much a man's man and liked his privacy.
"Also I would get to catch up with you. Couple weeks is all, in mid-September."
"I'll ask him. We'll have an answer for you at dinner."

Dinner was boisterous and noisy and that was just Eli and Hayley. They hit it off immediately, especially when Eli admitted he knew Hayley's mom.

"So your dad was standing up and giving this huge speech about boom and bust, it was part of an end of course assessment, and he was using all these cool words." Eli used air quotes around the word cool and Hayley laughed. This was despite the fact she probably didn't understand half of what Eli was talking about. Riley simply groaned and sank lower in his seat. He cast a quick look at Jack who was sipping coffee and alternating between loud guffaws of laughter and wicked grins he was sending Riley's way. "Then he uses this one explanation and it's something like… hell, I can't
re
call."

"Equilibrium price," Riley supplied. He
remember
ed the day as if it was yesterday. On the chart of embarrassing moments it was pretty much up there.

"Oh my—yes." Eli threw back his head with a loud laugh. "So your mom is in the front row and your dad here has been liking her from afar for months and she won't give him the time of day. So I don't know what happened but he couldn't get the word equilibrium right. And your mom corrected him. She told him loudly and firmly how to pronounce it."

Riley looked across at his daughter who was leaning against Jack. She didn't appear sad to be talking about her mom. Maybe he should tell her more things that only he could know.

"So clever," Eli agreed. "So, your dad here, he was steaming. Bright red as well—"
"Like when he gets all angry about football and shouts at the TV?" Hayley was all innocence but Riley could see the spark of mischief in his daughter's beautiful eyes.
"Don't get me started on football," Eli said with a laugh. "You would not believe the stories I have about your dad from college."
"Did my mom fall in love with my dad over saying that word?" Hayley asked.
To give him his due Eli didn't falter in his answer which was immediate and firm.
"Your mom fell in love with your dad the first day she saw him. Your dad did the same, he just didn't know it."

"What did I agree to?" Jack asked. He looked a little stunned but Riley wouldn't have expected anything else. Eli was very definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"Twenty half-naked male models draped over your fences and scaring the horses." Riley shook his head as he said this. "You've been Eli-ed."

"He seems like a nice guy though. Hayley liked him. I liked him." Jack sounded thoughtful. Riley was still in shock that his husband had agreed to the shoot in the small space between steaks and dessert.

"It didn't worry you him telling stories about Lexie?"
I don't want him to tell you anything that will make you doubt what we have.

The taillights of Eli's rental finally disappeared and Jack simply wriggled free of Riley's hold and turned to face him. His expression was serious and Riley suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, but nothing could make Riley break the gaze.

"Lexie is Hayley's mom," Jack began. His tone was soft but firm. "I want Hayley to know as much as she can about her, and I want to know more about you. I'm not insecure, het-boy. I know you love me and I love you. The history of you is always a good place to learn how you got to be so damn perfect for me."

Riley sighed and buried his face against Jack's shoulder.
"How come you always know what to say?"
"Practice." Jack laughed. "I had a thought that maybe Eli could stay when he's here for the shoot."
"In the house?"
"May as well. We can stand to have a friend of yours stay a while."
"No naked monkey-sex in the barn? For two whole weeks? Can you manage that?" Riley was joking but Jack's answer was deadly serious.
"You don't have many friends here to visit, Riley. It would be good for us all to get to know Eli. Anyway"— Jack smirked—"we can just be very quiet and make love when he's asleep."
"Not before we check for cameras," Riley deadpanned.
"He didn't?"
"My room. Time-lapse images of quite a few things you don't want the rest of the world knowing about."
"I'm assuming he deleted them?"
"Yeah. I made him."
Jack leaned close. His breath held the lulling, gentle scent of fine whiskey. Riley was pulled to him like a magnet with a desperate and sudden need to touch. "Shame. Could have been good to watch."
In seconds Riley was hard and ready. Christ, what this man did to him. It should be illegal.

Today had been one of the longest days on record. Meetings ran into conference calls and Riley hadn't managed to grab much more than a cookie with his endless cups of coffee. The group of five men still hadn't managed to get to a final agreement on the bids. Twelve tracts of undersea exploration rights were up for grabs and Riley had a gut feeling about two of them. His new company promoted ethical exploration and alternative energies; every member of staff from accountant to diver shared in successes and failures, and that invariably meant Riley dealing with much more than just his first love.

His map room at his new office sat silent and he wanted nothing more than to be in the cool room, crosslegged on the floor, studying maps and charting core samples. He really did not want to be sitting in this room with a bunch of old men who wouldn't know ethical exploration if it was lubed and stuck up their asses.

Not one of them had what Riley had. That frisson of excitement when he followed a seam in the seabed and his instincts, checked deposits, and then found oil reserves was a natural high. Something his dad and his brother had never really understood and evidently something these idiots failed to grasp. Riley couldn't understand it. He loved the research and the knowledge you needed to do well. The office and the negotiation and the endless back and forth of the discussion between the men sitting here with him was driving him insane. He looked over at Jim thoughtfully. Having his dad here provided more support than Riley could have ever thought. Jim was so involved in CH and really, they were making up for lost time. For so long he'd thought Gerald Hayes was his father—he was never happier than when he found out that Jim was his real dad. Jim sat calmly and quietly to one side and was making notes on paper in front of him. Ostensibly he was there on Riley's behalf, as counsel and secretary to this deal.