Except Luc couldn't tell hereverything, not even close to it.
"What's his name?"
"Adam." It wasn't like he'd ever told her anything about his family.
"And what does he look like?"
Luc wasn't sure why he was entertaining his boss, but he couldn't help but reply to her. "He's tall and sexy as fuck. Dark hair, dark eyes, ripped muscles." He realised he was staring into space as he spoke, visualising Adam in his head.
"Do you have a photo?"
Luc opened his mouth and then shut it again. He couldn't show her a photo. What if she'd seen the photos he'd sent Jane? He'd told Jane they were of his stepbrother. Shit. How stupid had he been?
"Don't be coy," Adrianna said, needling him in the arm. "Or are you afraid I'll swoop in and steal him from you?"
Luc tried to laugh, but the sound that came out was more of a sharp bark. "He's into dick and arse, not fanny," he told her, knowing she could talk just as dirty and didn't mind if filth came out of his mouth as long as they weren't in front of anyone important.
"Oh, honey, I have an arse," she said, puckering her lips to blow a kiss in his direction. "And it's a wonderful arse at that."
Luc pushed back from the desk. "Okay, that's way too much information about my boss."
She arched an eyebrow. "I know you like arse."
"That's different. I'm gay."
"It's still not a given," she said, her voice petulant. "I want to meet this guy of yours. Let me know when he comes to visit you, okay?"
Luc avoided making eye contact with her. "Yeah, sure."
She stood and began heading towards the door of Luc's office.
"Actually—" he began, calling her to a halt. "I'll take those tickets, if they're still on offer?"
Adam would love the ballet, if he could make it on time.
"Sure. I'll bring them through next time I come to hassle you about your boyfriend." She winked at him and then left the room.
Luc slumped back in his chair. Would there ever be a time and place where he and Adam could be open about their relationship? He'd thought sneaking around would be exhilarating, but it was just plain tiring. Maybe they needed to go somewhere new together, where no one knew them. Somewhere they could get a fresh start. Except it was way too soon in their relationship for him to suggest something like that. Instead, he'd just have to make sure he was careful not to betray their relationship to anyone.
Chapter Twenty-One
Adam
Adam was glad he had been busy because it helped to dampen down his yearning for Luc, which was made all the worse by the distance between them. He'd loved doing the nursery workshops and had been especially proud to receive a pat on the back from his dad when enough toddlers had shown up on the Saturday to require two teachers to take the class. Luckily, they'd been able to delay one of their senior classes, so Adam's mum could help him. The seniors didn't care. Most of them were there all day, so staying an extra hour was as simple as dropping a text to their parents to ask for a later pick-up, or to tell them they'd be catching a later bus home. A couple of the seniors also helped with the lesson.
Although it was great for the dance school, it meant Adam had had no hope of catching a train to see Luc that evening. Not that he'd mentioned it to his parents, or even bought a ticket. He'd intended on making it look like a spur of the minute thing, even though he'd secretly been checking train times through the week. But his plans were dashed and he realised he was more disappointed that he'd imagined he would be. He'd only be going for the sex, right?
If he got a train on Sunday morning, they'd have half the day together. And the night. God, how desperate was he for a fuck? Except, he also missed seeing Luc's face. Missing being able to talk to him. Hell, he was missing just being in the same room as Luc. Whatever he felt for his brother, he had it bad.
He woke up on Sunday morning, ready to tell his parents he was going to hop on a train and visit Luc. But his dad railroaded him with looking at the dance school timetable before he had a chance to open his mouth. They had to assume that most, but probably not all, of the new pupils would return; some of the parents had already set up direct debits for payments. That meant they needed to look at permanently changing the timetable on a Saturday and that was going to take some juggling, so they weren't all working an extra hour on top of an already long and gruelling day.
Adam was pleased things were looking up for his parents' dance school. The added monthly income would be a big boost. He had no idea if it would be enough, but it was a hell of a start. And it was all because of Luc and his ideas. Despite the distance between them all, Luc had droppedeverythingto come and help and he'd put the business back on track. Adam felt a sense of amazement at that, coupled with pride, which only served to make his heart swell further for his stepbrother.
By the time they'd sorted out the timetable, any hope of catching a train had faded.
"I'm sorry," Adam told Luc over the phone.
He'd gone for a walk and had found a quiet area of the park where he could talk freely. He was sitting on a bench, leaning forward onto his arms.
