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“You’re my friend and despite, or maybe even because, of our history, I’m not going to let you make another great, cocking mistake.”
He sighed and laid back on the bed thinking he might as well get comfortable if he was going to be talked at by Robin. “I’m not sure you’re in any position to lecture me.”
“I think I’m in the perfect position being the ex-boyfriend who left you for not taking action.”
“Simon’s already had a go at me over Alex. I don’t need to hear it again from you.”
“I nearly lost Simon, not over Marco because Simon is too good a man to leave me over something that wasn’t really my fault, but I was inattentive before then which, had it been left to fester, would have been a death knell for us.”
He thought Robin was being a tad melodramatic. “Come off it, you two were solid. It was just a wibble.”
“I’ve done a lot of thinking, Dorian. I was careless with someone very precious to me. Simon nearly dying brought everything into sharp focus and then I went too far almost suffocating him.”
He had no idea where Robin was going with this. “All right, but you’ve fixed it so what’s the issue?”
“There have been so many incidences when it could have gone wrong and I wanted to stop you from making a mistake over Alex. Simon cares enough to pull me into this intervention—that’s all you need to know. If Alex wasn’t worth it, or he didn’t care, Simon wouldn’t have bothered.”
“So you’re telling me to take a chance on Alex?”
“Yes, what’s the best that could happen?”
“Shouldn’t that be the worst?”
Robin huffed. “No, now’s not the time for fatalism. Go and bag yourself a bossy blond secretary. He’s just your type.”
CHAPTER37
Alex had managed to avoid Dorian and had texted him Saturday morning to let him know he’d meet him at the restaurant. He’d needed the space and time to think. Karl had been right that he had to put his happiness first, and while he didn’t know he had a future with Dorian, he’d never know if he didn’t try.
He’d arrived early at the restaurant, it had been one of the ones he’d researched for Ben and Ashley’s date but as it wasn’t part of a hotel, it hadn’t made the cut. It was owned by a celebrity chef who still did the cooking and was in a little mews in Fitzrovia. Alex had decided to take up the offer of a seat in the bar rather than head straight to the table. A little bit of Dutch courage in the form of a cocktail would take the edge off and he sipped at his drink, letting the mix of champagne and brown sugar do its magic. He was nervous, going over in his head what he was going to say to Dorian, not wanting to sound desperate, but not wanting to lose his chance.
His seat was tucked away in the corner, so he could see who was coming and going and every time the door opened his heart jumped into his throat only to crash again when it wasn’t Dorian. At this rate, he’d give himself indigestion before he had the chance to eat.
There was a couple seated at the bar, she was beautiful and he was handsome, they were holding hands and Alex had never felt so jealous of someone he knew nothing about. Dorian wasn’t due for another fifteen minutes, and he should have texted him to check his eta. Maybe he changed his mind and had stayed at the hall, or was heading off somewhere else in London.
This time when the door opened it was him. Alex stared hopelessly at Dorian, who was amazing in his made-to-measure suit. He would never look that good, would never be attractive enough to be Dorian’s plus one on a red carpet. Alex knew that he needed to make as many memories as he could tonight, as there wasn’t going to be a them tomorrow.
Dorian’s smile lit up his face as he spotted Alex, and for one night Alex would make believe Dorian was his.
“I’m glad to see you—I thought you might have changed your mind,” Dorian said, sitting next to him.
“Me? Why would I stand you up?”
“Are you saying you haven’t been hiding from me for the last couple of days?”
They were interrupted by a waiter. Dorian ordered a Kir Royale and Alex decided to join him. “For the record, I wasn’t exactly hiding. I just had a lot to do, and I strategically did so in areas where you wouldn’t have expected me to be.”
“Sounds like hiding to me.”
Their drinks came, which was a relief and he hoped Dorian wouldn’t press him further. “I’m not the one who went out mid-week on a date.”
Dorian reached out and took his hand, he wasn’t expecting it. “I’m sorry about that. I should have at least put it off for a while. I did text you to say it was shit though. Jez is a bit of a wanker.”
“Well, he is in show business, so what did you expect?”
Dorian nudged him with his shoulder. “I deserved that. But I didn’t expect him to be such a cockwomble.”
He didn’t want to talk about Dorian’s shit date, instead he wanted to bask in the happiness the bubbles of his champagne could give and get what he wanted to say out of the way. “Actually, Dorian, I was hoping to have a word before we start this evening in earnest.”
