Wicked Hearts (5 page)

able to deliver.

“Let"s go to my place.”

Reese appraised Hank, thinking how to get out of it. It was an underlying rule of

the relationship—when Hank sprang for a really good meal or took Reese out to an

exclusive dance club, afterward Reese paid him back with a night of hot sex at Hank"s

place.

The arrangement had suited Reese well enough in the past. Hank was handsome in

his own, dark, brooding way. He wasn"t as tall as Reese"s six feet, but he was sturdy

and strong, with a thick cock that was always hard for Reese. They would have sex on

fine sheets, champagne chilling beside the bed. And in the morning, they would be

served breakfast on the deck by Julio, Hank"s handsome houseboy.

But Reese just wasn"t in the mood. Maybe he really
was
coming down with

something. Whatever it was, he needed to shake it, and fast. He was letting Jeff get

under his skin. That just wouldn"t fly. No way was a single kiss going to throw him off

his game.

With a jauntiness he didn"t feel, Reese quipped, “Not tonight, dear. I have a

headache.”

~*~

“Hello?”

“Jeff? It"s Reese. I hope I didn"t call too early?”

“No, no,” Jeff lied. He"d been up late, unable to sleep, as usual.

The day before he"d been so happy when he woke up, excited at the thought of

seeing Reese. They could go to lunch. They could sort out whatever bright beginnings

awaited them. But Reese hadn"t been at the office when he arrived, and as the minutes

turned to hours, Jeff could no longer concentrate, glancing constantly around to see if

Reese was in his space.

Reese never showed, and a casual inquiry to his secretary late in the day revealed

Reese was with clients all day and wouldn"t be in.

Whatever happiness had risen in him as a result of their confusing, intriguing time

together the night before evaporated under Jeff"s obsessive speculation about just what

had happened, and what was happening now. Was Reese purposely avoiding him?

Had the heat Jeff had thought he"d felt from Reese just been his own desire reflected

back at him?

“I did call too early, I can tell. You were sleeping, weren"t you?”

“What time is it?” Jeff stifled a yawn.

“Eight-thirty. It"s a beautiful day. I was wondering, I mean, if you weren"t busy. We

could go for a hike or something. I"ve packed a picnic breakfast.”

“Wait. What? Where are you?”

There was a pause and then, “Actually I"m in the parking lot of your apartment

building. I"m on my motorcycle.”

Jeff couldn"t help the broad grin that burst over his face, and was glad Reese

couldn"t see him. Maybe Reese misinterpreted his silence as disapproval, because he

added in a somewhat defensive tone, “Hey, I was out anyway. You know. I like to get

outside on the weekends. If you"re busy, that"s totally cool.”

“No, no.” Jeff leaped from the bed, an energy he hadn"t felt in some time shooting

through his limbs like caffeine and cocaine combined. “I just need to jump in the

shower. You want to come in? I won"t be long.”

“Sure. I can make you some coffee or something.”

“It"s a deal.”

While Jeff showered, he realized he hadn"t stuttered, not once, during the entire

phone conversation or when he"d let Reese into the apartment and gotten him set up in

the kitchen.

A sense of disbelief washed over him. Was he still in a dream, or was Reese

Armstrong actually in his kitchen at that moment making him coffee? That"s what

friends did for each other. Friends or even…lovers.

Jeff snorted to himself. One closed-lipped kiss did not lovers make. Besides, did he

even
want
Reese for a lover? As nice as he was turning out to be, Jeff was no fool. For

whatever strange reason, this guy, who had completely ignored him since first

splashing onto the Strata scene, was suddenly into him. That did
not
mean he"d be into

him next week, or even tomorrow. Like Tom, he probably had plenty of other guys

waiting in the wings.

Well, forewarned was forearmed. He would go into this thing with eyes wide open.

What was the worst that could happen? They"d spend a day hiking. Maybe something

would come of it—maybe it wouldn"t.

Jeff rinsed the soap from his body, eager to return to Reese. He grabbed a towel and

dried and dressed as fast as he could, shaking back his wet hair and tucking it behind

his ears. When he returned to the kitchen, Reese was sitting at the table, a mug of coffee

in front of him, a second mug set across from him.

Jeff sat. He stirred cream and sugar into his coffee and took a sip. Reese was

watching him, a small, enigmatic smile on his face. “So what do you say? Do you like to

hike. I have a second helmet if you want to take the motorcycle.”

“I do like to hike. I haven"t done much of it since I"ve been here. Motorcycle, huh?”

“We could take your car if you"re more comfortable with that.” Jeff thought of his

twelve-year-old Corolla with one mismatched door and shook his head.

“No, I"d like to go on the motorcycle, if that"s okay.”

Reese smiled and nodded, showing the dimples in his cheeks, and Jeff"s heart did a

flip-flop. Would he wake up in a minute, alone as always?

At the park, they took a fairly easy trail. To Jeff"s relief, the erection he"d gotten

from riding behind Reese with his arms around his waist subsided as they climbed the

gently sloping path. The air was still cool and crisp at that hour of the morning, though

the July sun would make them plenty warm as it rose in the summer sky. They walked

in silence, listening to the bird twitter and the rustle of chipmunks and marmots

hurrying out of their way.

Toward the end of the trail, Reese stopped suddenly, whispering, “Look.”

He pointed toward a small copse of quivering aspens. Standing still as statues were

two deer, a doe and a buck, powerfully graceful and elegant. Only the slightest

movement of their white, uplifted tails gave evidence they were in fact animate

creatures. Jeff"s foot caused a twig to snap and all at once the pair came alive, dashing

away into the woods.

They continued their climb, stopping after a while to rest on a wide, flat rock near

the top. It looked out over the plains and more mountains beyond. Reese took off the

backpack he"d been carrying and busied himself with setting out a blanket. Jeff stared at

the breathtaking panoramic view, while stealing glances at the handsome man who"d

actually planned all this just for him.

What game is he playing?

He pushed aside the question. Damn it, he was done being so fucking careful and

reserved. Couldn"t it just be possible that Reese liked him? That Reese wanted to get to

know him better? Was it so hard to believe he might actually think Jeff was good

looking and interesting enough to want to spend a morning with? Did there always

have to be some dark ulterior motive?

Reese was the first guy since Tom that Jeff found himself actually considering for

something more than a casual fling. He was the first man to get past the carefully

constructed fences of reserve and caution that were designed to keep Jeff safe from

pain.

Okay, so accept that he’s in the door
, Jeff told himself,
and just go with it. See where this

leads. Don’t analyze it into fucking oblivion. Your problem is you think too much. This is not a

string of code or a programming puzzle to solve.

Reese opened his backpack and pulled out a slightly squashed white paper bag.

“Food for the gods,” he announced, pulling two huge chocolate cupcakes from the bag.

“That"s breakfast?” Jeff laughed. “I thought you were supposed to pack trail mix

and complex carbs when you went hiking.”

“These aren"t just any cupcakes. They"re from Angelo"s Bakery and you"ve never

had anything more delicious in your life. Trust me on this.” He held out a cupcake, top

heavy with thick, dark frosting.

Jeff bit into moist, delicious chocolate cake with the best butter cream icing he"d

ever tasted. Reese was watching him intently, clearly waiting for his reaction. “This

really is great,” Jeff managed between bites.

Only when he"d pronounced his approval did Reese take a bite of his cupcake. “I

told you. Wait"ll you get to the whipped cream center. Food of the gods, I tell you.”

When they"d eaten every bit of the huge confections and licked their fingers clean,

they sat in companionable silence a while, drinking bottles of water and admiring the

view. Reese shifted, moving closer and all at once the atmosphere between them

became charged with something more electric. Reese"s shoulder touched Jeff"s and he

leaned close.

Jeff"s heart began to beat high in his throat.

Reese turned to face him. “I have a confession to make. When we kissed the other

night. It was…amazing. I felt something I"ve never felt before. I don"t know how to

describe it. A connection, a
knowing
. Like we knew each other in another life or

something crazy like that. Like we were meant to be together.”

Jeff was stunned by this revelation, so similar to what he had felt. He"d tried to tell

himself he"d only felt that way because he was lonely. He had been flattered at Reese"s

unexpected attentions. He was feeling vulnerable because of memories of Tom.

Now he admitted, “I felt it too. I felt the same way.”

Longing radiated like an aura between them, creating a shimmering heat of desire.

Leaning closer, Jeff closed his eyes, his lips tingling in anticipation of Reese"s kiss.

“Melissa, get back on the path! Jordan, that"s tundra you"re trampling on!” A loud

male voice jerked them apart, shattering the mood. Jeff twisted around to see a man and

a woman and two plump, squealing children scrabbling up the path.

Reese shook his head, his expression rueful. They grinned at one another. Reese

began to pack up and Jeff moved to help him. Their fingers brushed as they both

reached for something and their eyes met. Jeff started to stand, but Reese gripped his

arm, keeping him down on the blanket.

The noisy family receded along the path. “They"re gone,” Reese said in a throaty

voice.

He leaned toward Jeff. “Where were we?”

Their lips touched. Reese moaned softly against Jeff"s mouth as their lips parted and

tongues entwined. Inflamed, Jeff reached for him, pulling him closer with a hand on the

back of Reese"s neck.

Reese responded in kind, gripping both sides of Jeff"s face, his kiss more insistent.

They fell back together against the blanket, stretching their bodies against one another.

Jeff could feel the hard press of Reese"s erection against his stomach, and his own

against Reese"s thigh.

Reese slipped his hands beneath Jeff"s T-shirt, sending spirals of electricity through

his body as he rubbed and stroked Jeff"s bare back. Jeff took the same liberty, touching

the supple skin of Reese"s back, feeling the strong muscle bunching beneath it.

He gasped when one of Reese"s hands slipped past the loose waistband at the front

of his jeans, stroking his rigid cock over the cotton underwear. Jeff groaned and shifted,

afraid he was going to come like a teenager from the friction.

When Jeff shifted away, Reese withdrew his hand and rolled onto his back. He was

breathing hard, his eyes glittering in the sunlight. “You"re right,” he gasped. “You"re

right to pull away. I want you so fucking much, Jeff. But not here. Not like this.”

He waved vaguely toward the trail, and Jeff realized with a sudden jolt of horror

that someone might have seen them. That family could have come back down the path

while they were rolling around on the blanket like animals in heat.

He pushed at the hair that had fallen into his face and took a deep breath. “Man.

You"re right. I don"t know what the hell got into me. I never do p-p-public displays of

affection.”
Shit. Deep breaths. Smooth, slow speech…

“Hey, it was totally mutual, I assure you.” Reese grinned down at his own very

obvious erection and looked back at Jeff. “It"s getting hot. Want to walk back down?”

“Yeah.” Jeff got to his feet, at once relieved and hugely disappointed. He"d wanted

that kiss to go on and on and on…

As they walked down the trail, Reese"s words came back to him and he stole a

glance at him. Had he really meant what he"d said, or was it just a way to get Jeff off

him?

I want you so fucking much, Jeff.

Jeff had made a hard and fast rule for himself since he"d scraped his heart against

Tom"s casual betrayal. He would take his time. He would not fall into bed with a guy

the first night. Period.

But this wasn"t their first time together. They"d been to lunch. Then Reese had come

over for a while on Thursday night. So this was really their
third
time together. Jeff