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Clay snorted. “Yeah, the shit jobs.”
“Low man on the totem pole,” Dane teased, earning a sexy smirk from Clay.
They dug into their food, and Dane smiled at Clay’s moans of pleasure. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the guy sounded like he hadn’t had many decent meals. The conversation died off as they ate, giving Dane way too much time to think on his own.
Everything about Clay screamed mistake. Even louder than the mistake of taking this job in the first place. The job was complicated by some crazy clients. Clay…fuck…Clay was a flashing red danger sign.
Only two years had passed since he lost Katie and their baby son. Two years since his entire world fell apart. He didn’t want anyone in his life. There was supposed to be only his work. Hard, back-breaking, mind-numbing work to block out all the old emotional pains that were never going away. He didn’t want them to go away. Each night he needed to fall into bed missing his wife and son. Each day, they needed to be the first things he thought about.
Clay threatened all that. The queasiness squirming in his stomach and the fast beat of his heart every time the man smiled made that threat crystal clear.
Women had been easy to ignore. They were all compared to Katie in his mind, and they came up short to the image he’d perfected. And if for a heartbeat he considered looking, guilt swamped him in the next heartbeat.
But Clay was a man, which enabled him to sneak past all Dane’s defenses. Clay with his sexy smile and gorgeous dark eyes watching him so carefully. Even the dark stubble on Clay’s jaw and chin intrigued him, leaving Dane wondering what it would feel like against his own clean-shaven cheeks, against his lips.
Disaster. This was a disaster.
He couldn’t think of Clay this way. He was a nice guy who suffered through some rough shit. The man needed some coffee and a good meal. That was it.
There was zero proof that Clay was even into guys.
Not that Dane was allowing his mind to travel down that road. It didn’t matter who Clay was into, because nothing was going to happen. Ever.
Clay dropped his fork on the now empty plate and groaned loudly as he relaxed in the chair. Dane smiled and shifted to make sure his knee didn’t knock against Clay’s leg yet again.
“That was the best breakfast I’ve eaten in fucking years,” Clay said, patting the brand-new food baby in his flat stomach. “Jo’s shepherd’s pie was good last night, but I’ve got such a weakness for bacon and eggs.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
“I owe you a meal.”
Dane shook his head. “No, seriously. It’s fine. I’ve got a long day ahead of me, and I doubt lunch is going to happen until late in the day. I think I needed this as much as you.”
“Well, thanks…again.”
Dane opened his mouth to brush off his thanks, but they both jumped at the sound of the door at the bottom of the stairs being thrown open. Footsteps clomped up the stairs quickly, and the door the kitchen busted open, revealing a slightly harried-looking Flo.
“There you are! I’ve been searching all over for you, boy.”
Both Dane and Clay’s eyebrows rose at the “boy” comment when it was clear that Clay was far from a boy, but Dane was at least smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“Dane was kind enough to share coffee and his breakfast with me. What’s up?”
“You need to get your ass moving,” Flo said, waving him toward the door as if she could pull him along like an errant child. “Your brother is in trouble. He needs you.”
“My what?” Clay demanded. His large frame froze in the middle of rising to his feet. Dane could no longer see his face to read his expression, but his body was screaming shock at that pronouncement. Dane couldn’t decide it if was shock that his brother was close, that he was in trouble, or if he was simply surprised he had a brother at all.
“Yes, yes.” She grabbed his arm and started to pull him toward the staircase. He moved, but the glimpse Dane got of Clay’s face showed a man in a confused daze. “I’ll explain on the way to the truck, but you need to get moving now.” As soon as she got Clay through the open doorway, she looked at Dane and gave him a stiff smile. “Thanks for feeding the boy, Dane. You’re a good kid.” And then she disappeared, slamming the door shut behind her.
In and out of the apartment like the whirlwind of chaos she was consistently proving to be. Just being around Flo was exhausting. And confusing.
A tinge of sympathy went out to Clay, as he seemed to be struggling to keep up with the old woman, but Dane quickly stomped it out.
