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“Of course not. But I respect his boundaries still. I guess him not respecting mine has caused some of our problems of late.”
“I’m sure once you’re better…”
Simon paused and Dorian waited, not wanting to overstep. “It’s not just that. I want more permanence in my life, having your mortality questioned focuses you somewhat. And while we are house-hunting, it feels forced. Can I ask what he was like with you? Did it take long to move in together? What was your home life like?”
“We moved in together, him pretending to be my PA, within a matter of months. But you have to remember it was only when we were at home could we be a couple, so I guess we did throw ourselves into it.”
Simon made a humming noise. “Maybe that’s it. He didn’t want to rush things, but I did think…”
“What did you think?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Look, you don’t have to talk to me, but if you want to, then I’m all ears. Robin has changed a hell of a lot since we split but he’s not malicious or duplicitous—he wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
“I know, none of it is meant. It’s just, well, my ex-husband wasn’t good for me. He managed to convince me that I wasn’t worth very much, and in my darkest moments it’s easy to believe he was right, especially when Robin’s away and we’re no closer to making a commitment.”
“Robin will be back in the UK full-time soon.”
Dorian had never met Simon’s ex, Robin had alluded to him being someone he’d like to ruin if he thought Simon would never find out, and seeing Simon like this made Dorian want to help Robin run the bastard into the ground.
Simon puffed out his cheeks. “I’m knackered. But hey I managed most of the lawn—woo-hoo!”
He held out his arm. “Lean on me and we’ll get you back inside. No arguing or I’ll tell Robin.”
“Bastard,” Simon said, but took Dorian’s arm.
Dorian wouldn’t tell Robin about Simon running out of steam, but he would mention the other part of their conversation. Robin, the stupid fucker, needed to sort this out, because men of Simon’s calibre did not grow on trees. The worst thing was Robin was probably angsting over Simon leaving him, when all Simon wanted was for Robin to prove once and for all that he was part of his forever plan. At least while he was concentrating on someone else’s love life, he didn’t have to think about his own, or that Simon seemed to have read him like an open book over Alex. His was just a little crush, it’d pass, there would be no great love affair, and in good time he’d move on and find his own Prince Charming.
CHAPTER26
“So I’ve gone through the list of names Nathan sent and have done as much research as I can on the internet. I’ve tabulated all the information and created a scoring system based on what I’ve found and their suitability for what you said you’d want.”
Alex slid the list across the table, Dorian appeared to like paper copies of things as much as Ben did, and he wondered if it was because they were both public schoolboys and therefore a small part of their psyche was trapped in the 1950s.
Dorian picked it up and scanned it. “Wow, you’ve done a lot of research.”
He’d had the names for over a week, it really hadn’t been a challenge. “I’ve also emailed you the file so for ease of keeping everything together perhaps you could make comments in the electronic version and send it back.”
“I’m probably better scribbling over the paper copy. I’m bound to have questions, so we could just go through it together now.”
“I’m afraid I’m busy for the rest of the afternoon. Ben has got himself invited to a few things he needs to untangle himself from.”
Dorian looked as if someone had kicked his puppy. “Oh, I can’t monopolise all your time. Maybe later or tomorrow? I’d also want to talk about booking our weekend away. And about hiring a private detective.”
“What?” Good lord, what was Dorian thinking about now?
“I want to do some digging into Zak, and see if I can prove he’s been spreading rumours.”
“Right, I’ll add it to the list.” Alex checked his watch, he needed to get going. “If you want we can have a working dinner? Say seven o’clock?”
“Shall I come to you? Where will you be?”
He hesitated, having not thought this through, but he didn’t have time now to worry about it. “Yes, my flat is next to Karl’s. Take the stairs off the kitchen to the top. It’s the one at the end of the corridor.”
Alex grabbed a folder off his desk and herded Dorian out, before heading to Ben’s office. He found Ben staring at his computer screen in disbelief. “Ah, Alex, there you are. I seem to have got myself into a situation where I’m meant to be in three places at the same time, not to mention a bachelor auction.”
He pulled up Ben’s calendar that he had synced to his phone. This wasn’t the first time Ben appeared to have agreed to something only to be otherwise engaged. At least this was in a couple of weeks so he had time to sort it. “I see. Well, you could probably arrange a different date to visit the local scout group—somehow I don’t see you as a scout.”
