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“I know. I was watching and saw what was going to happen. It’s how I was there to catch you. And you weren’t clumsy—you were graceful and beautiful.” David leaned forward in the chair, his voice rough. “I couldn’t take my gaze off you. The guys were teasing me about it, but I didn’t care.” He swallowed hard.
“Maybe I do. Maybe you shouldn’t have to take teasing from your friends because of me. Did you ever think that I’m not really worth it?”
David took his hand. “Why do you think that? If it’s because of what you do, that’s bullshit. Everyone has to make a living, and there’s no shame in performing.”
Noel scoffed slightly. “Really? Is that what your family would think? I saw you on television yesterday, there on stage, with your father running for the state senate. By the way, he doesn’t stand a chance in hell to win, but he’s still up there. Do you think his family values platform is going to allow him to accept me or someone like me?” He looked toward the floor. “And that stepmother of yours would probably want to perform an exorcism if she found me here.”
David snickered. “My stepmother would try to hustle you out of this house on a stretcher if she could get away with it.”
“And that’s funny?” Noel asked.
“It is because I don’t like her. I find her too self-centered and out for one thing—herself. She also isn’t particularly welcome here, and she knows it. As for guests in my house, that is my choice, not my father’s or stepmother’s… who are at a big campaign schmoozefest that they wanted me to go to as well.”
“Why?” Noel asked. “What do you have to do with it?”
David made a sour face. “I’m their tolerance poster child, and I’m tired of it. It’s like putting lipstick on a pig. No one is going to buy it, but they insist that I can help.” He squeezed Noel’s hand a little tighter. “I don’t want to have anything to do with them. That’s why we went out this evening. I needed to be away so I could say that I already had plans, and the guys were more than happy to oblige.” He sighed, and Noel found himself watching David closely.
“Don’t you work for your father? Won’t he fire you?” Noel asked. “What happens if he does?”
David leaned closer. “Not to put too fine a point on it, if my dad fired me, that would be awkward for board meetings, as I sit across from him, and I own enough of the company, thanks to my grandmother, to stay there. My parents like to think they can get me to do what they want me to, but I guess I’m the quiet one who keeps to himself and thinks for himself.”
“So you’re stronger than they think you are?” Noel asked. He liked that David could take care of himself. “I know what it can be like to be around a bunch of sharks. Dance is something that came easy to me. I know how to move, and when I started taking ballet, my teacher realized I was talented. I rose quickly through the ranks and got some really good parts. You should have heard the mothers and dancers when they thought I couldn’t hear. They could be vicious. And I was twelve then.”
“What did you do?” David asked. “I mean… as a kid, that must have been hard. Hearing people you thought were your friends talking like that.”
“I kept to myself, practiced, and threw myself into everything I was asked to do. If they wanted me to jump, I did, farther and higher than the others. If they wanted a pirouette, I leaned to turn faster and higher than anyone else. I walked through the hallways at school like I was on the stage, each move as poised as I was in class. There was no way that anyone was going to get the best of me.” Noel rested back on the pillow. “And then my ankle gave out. Not the one I hurt today, thank God. I was able to strengthen it again, but it was never the same.” He shrugged.
“I’m sorry.” David said, leaning a little closer, and Noel could tell he was sincere. It was the warmth in his eyes and the way his brows knitted together slightly.
“Don’t be. I learned so much about people and about what it takes to overcome the bad stuff. Mom was disappointed, but I think that was for me and how I lost what I really wanted. But she was there supporting me… until the cancer took her. After that, I was on my own. I’ve worked and supported myself since, and I’m putting myself through school.” Noel was determined to control his own life and make his own decisions.
“And you don’t take any crap from anyone,” David added with a cheeky grin.
“I suppose I don’t take help either. I guess I don’t trust that someone isn’t going to want something in return.”
David lightly touched his chin. “And what if they do… want something… but it’s what you’re willing to give?” he asked, his gaze locking onto Noel’s.
Noel’s breath came more quickly, but David held still, watching him, the heat between the two of them rising. Yet he didn’t come closer. It took Noel a few seconds to realize that if anything was going to happen, he had to be the one to make the first move. After all, it had been he who had set the boundaries, and if they were to be breached, then he had to be the one to do it. Noel drew closer, still holding David’s hand. Their lips touched, and Noel sighed softly as electricity shot between them.
To David, it was like Noel had given permission, and he took over. He leaned closer, pressing Noel down against the cushions, his lips succulent and forceful. Noel gasped as David slipped his hand around the back of his head, taking what he wanted, making Noel fly. David was intense, and Noel loved every second of it. There was no tentativeness, no hesitation. This was a full-on kiss that seemed to burst a dam between them.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for quite a while,” David whispered once Noel pulled away in order to take a breath. “That first night, you kissed me before hurrying out of the car.”
“Of course I did. You were my knight in shining armor.” Noel cupped David’s cheeks, gazing deeply into his intense eyes. “I was freezing, and some jerk had just made lewd comments to me. Hell, I pretty much felt like crap, and then there you were, offering me a ride. I thought you wanted something, too, that it was a come-on, but you just took me home. Like a gentleman….” Noel swallowed hard, his throat rough. “Like I was worth something.”
David gasped. “Of course you’re worth something.” He actually seemed surprised.
Noel rolled his eyes. “Really? Tell that to the guy who tried to climb on the stage that night to cop a feel and see if I was interested in taking a beer-soaked old coot back to my dressing room. Mostly I dance, but it’s burlesque, so there’s lots of humor and stuff too… but guys still try to get on stage or make lewd comments and stuff.” Noel smiled. “Frankie and the security guys are really good about trying to protect us, and they act fast when people get out of line. But it makes you….” He let his thought die away. There was no need to go into the dark feelings that came up sometimes, not at a moment like this.
“Hey. Most of us had to do things we aren’t… I don’t know… I don’t want to say ‘proud of,’ because I don’t mean that. But there were times in college when I did things that I wish I hadn’t, or times when I thought something was a good idea, and it turned out to be stupid. There’s always the good with the bad, and it’s what we make of things that counts.” David seemed to hold his breath. “I hope you know what I mean….” He kissed him again, taking Noel’s breath away.
“Wait…,” Noel said, then paused. “Do you think what I do is wrong?”
“No,” David answered. “See, I knew I didn’t express myself very well.” He huffed and looked upward, like the words were going to come to him.
“Are you ashamed of what I do?” Noel asked nervously.
David shook his head. “I’m not.” He leaned closer. “But I didn’t want my friends to come to the show. I tried to stop them. Not because I was embarrassed, but because I didn’t want them to see you.” He blinked quickly. “I didn’t want my friends to look at you without your clothes on. It seemed too intimate and too personal… and at the same time, I couldn’t look away because….” He paused. “God, I know I’m being really stupid. Just forget everything I’ve said.”
