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Luke stood and as soon as he stepped past the couch, Gray sucked in breath at the sight of the bookshelf that stood against the wall. “Luke, it’s amazing,” he said softly. The white bark stood in heavy contrast to the dark shelves and Gray struggled to his feet so he could get a closer look. A hand closed around his elbow to offer him support as he moved closer.
“Don’t touch the shelves. They’re still wet,” he heard Luke say as Gray ran his fingers over one of the branches. The piece of furniture was so incredibly different than what Gray usually preferred but he found himself unable to take his eyes off of it.
“How did you do this?”
Luke was still holding his arm and Gray was torn between wanting to move away and stay exactly where he was. Since he was afraid he’d fall on his face without Luke’s support, he didn’t move.
“Just did. I found the stain in your shed…I hope you don’t mind that I used it for this but I thought the darker shelves would look nice with the birch.”
Gray glanced up at Luke. “I have a shed?”
Luke chuckled and the delicious sound slid over Gray.
“Out back. I guess you haven’t lived here long?”
Gray shook his head and immediately regretted it because the move made him feel queasy. Luke must have sensed his discomfort because he led him back to the couch. “I bought this cabin a few years ago when I was looking for a place to get away to but this is the first time I’ve actually stayed here.”
“Get away from what?” Luke asked as he draped the blanket back over Gray’s lap.
“Life, I guess.”
“But you never used it till now? How come?”
“Life, I guess,” Gray said with a laugh.
“So you don’t live here full-time?”
“No. L.A. – Malibu actually. What about you? Where are you from?” The questions were reasonable ones but as soon as he saw Luke’s eyes drop, Gray knew they’d been the wrong ones. Of course the guy wasn’t interested in sharing that kind of information about himself. He was clearly running from some serious shit.
“Georgia,” Luke said softly. “Fort Benning.”
Gray was caught off guard by the admission but decided not to press his luck with any more personal questions. And it absolutely wasn’t because he wanted to reach out and run his fingers over Luke’s cheek in the hopes of wiping away the haunted look that had overtaken his features. He was saved from having to say anything at all when he heard his cell phone ringing.
“I’ll get it,” Luke said quickly and then he was striding across the room and pulling Gray’s phone from the desk drawer where he’d left it. He handed it to Gray and said, “I’m going to just go clean up outside.”
Gray watched him leave through the front door before he glanced down at his phone. Dread went through him as he let his finger hover over the answer button but as another wave of exhaustion hit him, he pushed the red button instead and then dropped the phone onto the coffee table. He leaned back against the couch and let his eyes settle on the beautiful piece of furniture as his thoughts drifted to the mysterious man who’d created it.
* * *
Stupid, stupid, stupid.What the hell had possessed him to tell Gray where he was from? All it would take was a Google search of his first name and Fort Benning and Gray would know exactly who he was.
Luke let out another rough curse as he threw the remaining pieces of wood debris onto the pile of firewood. He stalked back to the shed to grab the last few pieces of leftover wood and returned a moment later. His hands full, he came to a stop when he saw Gray watching him with concern.
“I heard something hit the house,” Gray said quietly as he glanced at the pile of wood that had been neatly stacked against the side of the house but now had several pieces strewn all over the ground.
“Sorry,” Luke mumbled as he placed the wood in his arms on the pile and then started reaching for the loose pieces. Gray helped him but Luke could see he was still unsteady on his feet and said, “Leave it. I’ll take care of it.”
Gray ignored him and continued to work but his moves were slow and Luke had nearly all the wood cleaned up by the time Gray reached for his third piece. Luke took it from him and put it on the pile.
“You’re bleeding,” he heard Gray whisper. “Again,” he added and Luke dropped his eyes to his side and saw that blood was seeping through his shirt.
“It’s nothing,” Luke muttered.
“Come inside, let me take a look,” Gray said but he didn’t give Luke a chance to respond – he just turned and headed back into the cabin.
Luke entered the cabin and saw that Gray had pulled a kitchen chair away from the table. Although Gray wasn’t around, Luke understood the message and dropped down into the chair and waited. Gray was back within a couple of minutes, his hands full of bandages and gauze.
Gray pulled out a chair and sat across from Luke. “Show me,” he said as his eyes met Luke’s. Something about the way Gray looked at him had Luke lifting his shirt. He kept his eyes on Gray as the other man began cleaning the injury and was surprised that not only was Gray not peppering him with questions about the wound, he wasn’t flinching in the least as he mopped up the blood.
