Page 12 of Laken's longing

It is our business.

Not listening.

Back in the suite, Isley stomped off to his bedroom and shut his door with restraint, not wanting to give in and reveal how annoyed he was. He stripped off his work clothes, throwing them on the floor and switched to jeans and a heather colored sweater. He pushed the keycard for the room into his wallet and put that in his back pocket. He slipped on sneakers and, grabbing a lightweight pea coat, he sailed back out into the main suite, noticing Laken sat on the small sofa next to the balcony with a view of the Eiffel tower. His jacket was gone and he had rolled his shirt sleeves up. His gaze, as usual, was on his laptop and not on the view.

Isley got an ache in his chest at how limited Laken’s life was. Work. Work, and more work. When did he ever just have fun? Then he recalled Laken’s plans for this evening with leering Louis and squashed his sympathy, stomping to the door.

“Where are you going?”

Laken’s voice stopped him at the door. He glanced over his shoulder and plastered on his brightest smile. “To have fun! Have a wonderful evening with Louis.”

He offered the fake platitude without a backward glance and then sailed out of the suite. His frustration carried him out of the hotel and toward the Eiffel tower.

“Hope he chokes on his food!”

Chapter Five

Laken

To have fun? What did that mean?

The strange drop in his stomach made him rub at it, trying to dispel the feeling. He stared at the door in despair at Isley leaving him in the clutches of Louis. It was only that and nothing more.

Who are you kidding?

He’d planned to force Isley to come along to dinner to stop whatever Louis had in mind for the evening. Had he not made every effort to keep Isley between him and Louis? Isley hadn’t gotten with the program. He’d worn that sulky scowl all day, though Laken didn’t understand why, which frustrated him and left him feeling uneasy.

He didn’t want to go out for dinner, but it was the polite thing to do with business colleagues. Isley should understand that it was work and nothing more, right?

You seem to be forgetting the octopus hands.

The man did have hands that were more like tentacles. They seemed to be forever reaching to touch him. He’d tried being subtle and moving out of reach, but that had failed on multiple occasions, and his skin was crawling with the need to strip and shower. Except he didn’t want to appear as if he’d gone to any effort for the evening and give the wrong signal. So, he’d sat down and used work to occupy himself like he always did. Work was easy and not complicated, like everything else in his life. The irrepressible urge to go after Isley and say he’d changed his mind about seeing Paris with him caught him off guard. Not a position he often found himself in. He hadn’t expected Isley to be so bold and he’d gone with his usual response when anyone asked him to do anything because it was an ingrained habit to escape awkward situations.

Only now this was more awkward than ever because he had no way out of this evening and no buffer. Couldn’t Isley see he didn’t want that type of attention from Louis? Fuck, he’d given Isley several pointed looks to get him out of the situation.

You smiled at Louis.

What the fuck has that got to do with anything. I was being polite.

You don’t smile at Isley like that.

I’m not getting your point. And I do smile at him.He did?Anyway, he works for me, I’m always polite to him.

Are you that dense? Smiling at Louis is more like flirting when you don’t hold back!

You can’t be serious?

Seriously dense. Why are we going out to dinner tonight with the octopus, which you don’t like to eat, just saying, when we could be strolling through Paris with Isley, having fun. What if he brings his fun back here with him? Did you think about that?

Laken growled low and mean at his animal side for even suggesting such a thing.

We’re here to work.

To Laken’s mind there was a clear definition. When at work, you worked. Once you left the office then that was different. It wasn’t like Isley had ever invited him to do anything after work.

You are too much. Honestly, how did I get lumbered with you? It is after work! You’ve worked twenty plus hours over the last two days.

Laken rubbed at his pounding temples, finding he didn’t have an answer.