She bared her teeth. “Just keep it in your pants, Carrot-top. Eli has an interview with ET in three hours. The car will be here in thirty. Make sure he’s ready.”
He could still hear her heels clicking on the travertine tiles when he left in search of his prickly new charge, assessing the property as he went. The house was a nightmare by security standards with a back made almost entirely of floor to ceiling windows on both floors. If anybody was to breach the perimeter, they would have unfettered access to every room in the house. Even the front of the home held two large windows, spanning either side of the entry and another bank of windows along the second floor. The only thing working in Shep’s favor was that it sat in a gated community that boasted of their fortress-like protection and round-the-clock security presence.
The inside of the house was equally problematic. In true Mid-Century modern style, the bottom floor was one cavernous room filled with sleek, modern oversized furniture, which seemed like a sad attempt to create a cozy space in what was a small warehouse. Other than the kitchen and guest bathroom, there was only one other room off the first floor—the master bedroom. Shep didn’t like Elijah’s ground floor bedroom, but he’d deal with that later.
He wandered back toward the bedroom in question. The door sat ajar. He was lifting his arm to knock when the boy emerged, brushing against Shep as he passed despite the vastness of the hallway.
“Were you spying on me?” he asked, tone casual, like he was asking about the weather.
Shep smirked. This kid… He ignored the strange taunt. “Time to go, rabbit. The scary woman says the car is on its way.”
“I wouldn’t mind, you know,” Elijah told him, throwing a smoldering look over his shoulder. “You watching me, that is.”
Nowthatwas flirting. Shep trailed after the younger man almost without thought. He was getting whiplash. Was this not the kid who’d hissed and spit at him like a wet cat ten minutes ago? “I thought you didn’t like me?” he heard himself say.
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Elijah countered, crossing the living room into the blinding white kitchen with its natural wood counters and gleaming appliances. He hopped gracefully onto the island, before snagging an apple and taking a huge bite. Shep stared as the juice ran down the boy’s chin, his cock hardening as he contemplated catching the drops with his tongue. Was Elijah’s skin as salty as his attitude? He shook his head. Where the fuck had that thought come from? He blamed Lucifer.
The kid smirked then like he could read Shep’s mind. There was something intriguing about that prospect. What would Elijah think of Shep’s poorly wired circuits? He turned the notion over while they studied each other, neither willing to speak. Shep couldn’t get a bead on this kid. Was the boy being provocative? Flirting? Some strange hybrid of the two? Was this behavior the reason for his manager’s poolside warning? Elijah was a jumbled knot of contradictions and Shep wanted to pick at him until he unraveled.
With Elijah perched on the counter, Shep couldn’t help but notice his clothes. Fitted jeans, a baby-blue zip-neck cardigan the same color as his eyes, and gleaming brown leather boots. The outfit looked like they’d pulled it straight from a Nordstrom’s mannequin. It was trendy, boring, and completely unsuited for somebody as shiny and fascinating as Elijah. There wasn’t a trace of the fussy boy he’d found floating naked in his pool. “Is this what approachable gay looks like?” he mused out loud.
The sparkle in those bright blue eyes dulled as he glanced down at his clothes. “I see you’ve talked to Lucifer.”
“She may have mentioned something, yeah.”
He waved a hand. “It’s not a big deal. It’s only clothes. At least I don’t have to hide who I am anymore.”
Lie.“So, this is who you really are, huh? A mopey day trader in sensible shoes?”
“Well, we can’t all shop from the Paul Bunyan catalog, can we?” he murmured, letting his gaze rake over Shep with interest.
Shep couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all to make him nervous, like the boy hoped this flirty banter would make Shep uncomfortable enough to leave. This kid did not understand how futile his campaign was. If Shep could have felt bad, he might have. Instead, he grinned. “Does studio-approved Robby share your love of cashmere sweaters? You must be so happy together.”
Elijah’s eyes widened, his jaw tightening until the muscle there ticked, but he didn’t take the bait.Interesting.Was that the real Elijah peeking his head out or just another personality the boy was trying on for size?
He sulked as he finished half of his apple before jumping from the counter and dropping the remains into the garbage. His gaze flicked towards the front of the house. “Car’s here,” he muttered before stalking off in the direction of the front door. Shep stared after him, a strange sensation washing over him. The boy was a tornado, destructive even when still, and every time he disappeared Shep couldn’t help but mourn the loss.
He hadn’t had many expectations going into this job. He hadn’t really needed the money, but his parents had driven home the point that people like him needed to maintain appearances. Forty-two-year-old men had day jobs. His previous line of work left his resume… sparse and his previous employer wasn’t likely to recommend himgiven how they’d parted ways. He’d called Jackson hoping the man would know of somebody looking to hire someone like Shep. He hadn’t expected Jackson himself would make an offer. He hadn’t expected to find something so intriguing in his new charge.
Shep liked to tinker, liked to take things apart and see how they worked, regardless of the damage it caused. He only realized something was wrong with him the day he’d told his mother he wanted to be a surgeon. She’d looked so hopeful for a whole minute. When he’d told her it was the only way he could cut people open and see what was inside, she made him his first doctor’s appointment. He was five.
He’d enjoyed being an interrogator. He’d enjoyed analyzing his mark, learning their triggers, their weaknesses, their breaking points. It wasn’t about the information… it was about cracking them open and seeing what was inside.
He hadn’t expected to find anything nearly as interesting in the civilian world. But now there was this boy—Elijah—and he was a bright, shiny puzzle, something new and different. All Shep wanted was to open him up and slip inside. The thought brought a smile to his face. The first real smile he’d had in a very long time.
“Now you played football yourself, didn’t you?” Glenda Gannon asked. “Did you find it helped lend some authenticity to the role?”
Elijah gave a low chuckle. “Yeah, I played up to my junior year of high school back in Montana. My grandpa was big on team sports. Said they built character. Probably would have kept playing if I hadn’t torn my ACL.” It was only a little white lie. He tried to lead her away from talking about his life outside of Hollywood. That was his and his alone. “Most of the actors on the team had played football at some point. It made it easier with blocking and filming, even though we all had doubles, we still had to memorize and run the plays for the close-up shots.”
There was a gleam in the girl’s eye as she leaned in. It was all the warning Elijah needed to know she was about to go off-script. “Yeah, but you being a gay football player in high school must have given you a bit of inside knowledge into how your character felt about having to hide who he was? Any secret high school boyfriends you want to come clean about?”
Bitch.He forced a laugh. “I never thought of myself as closeted or hiding. Sure, I didn’t date boys in high school, but I wasn’t dating girls either. My grandpa was very strict and there was always work to be done on the ranch, which left me not much time for a social life. Most people knew that. Nobody ever asked about my sexuality, and I never felt the need to tell them. It never hindered my ability to play ball.”
The reporter’s lids fluttered like a robot resetting itself before she seemed to move on. “Speaking of dating, you certainly seem to have a social life now. How’s Robby? We had him on the show a week ago and he was just raving about you. He’s clearly quite smitten. How about you?”
Elijah sighed internally. Robby. He was the hardest thing to fake. He forced a fond expression onto his face, false enthusiasm for a boy who deserved far better than Elijah. “Robby is… he’s perfect. Handsome, funny, charming. Exactly who he seems. I’m… very lucky.” It wasn’t a lie, exactly.
He fought the urge to look towards Shepherd. What was he thinking? Did he believe Elijah? Did he think he and Robby were a real couple? The thought added another knot in his stomach. Why did one stranger’s opinion hold so much weight? Was he out there watching or had he escaped for another smoke break?
