Chapter Four
If someone had asked George if he had a type thirty seconds ago, he would have said no. Now, he knew he did, and that type was a six-foot-one inch sexy tattooed biker bad-ass who smelled of elderberries.
The lip piercing was a nice touch.
George drew in a shaky breath then clasped Leon's hand. "Hi, boyfriend."
Leon's deep chuckle sent shivers of arousal spiraling down George's body, cascading down his body to the hardest dick he'd ever had in his life. He smiled nervously when Ford shot him an alarmed look. He had no doubt his cousin could smell his arousal. He was just glad Leon was human and couldn't.
"You're the man my dad's friend sent?" Ford asked.
"I am," Leon replied. "I work for Gareth Bradshaw. He said George here might need a little protection for the next few days. Sorry for my mysterious arrival. It's best if people don't know who I really am or why I'm here."
"And announcing you were his boyfriend was the direction you went with?"
George sucked in a breath when dimples appeared on each side of his mouth as Leon chuckled again. He now officially loved dimples.
"We decided, in my role as his boyfriend, I could go anywhere George goes and stick to him like glue." Leon glanced at George, one dark eyebrow raising. "Is that going to be a problem for you? Having a boyfriend, I mean."
George swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth as he shook his head. "No. That works."
"It doesn't work," Ford insisted. "George doesn't have a boyfriend. Everybody knows that."
George's eyebrows snapped together as he glared at his cousin. "I could have a boyfriend."
Ford's eyes rolled. "I'm not saying you can't have a boyfriend, George. I'm saying you don't currently have one, and everyone knows it."
"Well, yeah, but I could."
"It's going to look a little weird if you suddenly show up with a boyfriend, George."
George's shoulders slumped as the little fantasy that had been forming in his mind went up in a puff of smoke. For just a moment, he had dreamed of what it would be like to have someone as sexy as Leon to call his own, even if it was just for pretend.
"No, I know."
"You could tell people we met on the internet," Leon suggested. "Not many people would want to admit they started a romantic relationship with someone over the internet, which would explain why you never told anyone about me until now."
"The internet?" George winced. As sad as it was to say, he had actually joined a couple of dating websites in the hopes of meeting someone. He had never gotten up the courage to actually go out on a date, but it was nice to dream.
Leon crossed his arms and leveled a hard look at George. "If you can think of a better reason for my presence, I'm all ears."
"Can't you just be his bodyguard?" Ford asked.
Leon continued to look at George as he replied. "I can, but it would be easier for everyone if I was simply his boyfriend. People don't tend to pay attention to boyfriends, but a bodyguard would raise red flags all over the place."
"He's right, Ford," George said quickly, more because he wanted to be able to say Leon was his boyfriend than because he believed it would be easier. "We're trying to keep my life low-key, remember."
"Yeah, I guess."
George tried to keep the smile off his face as he glanced at Leon, but it wasn't easy. "Hi, I'm George Carver, but I guess you already know that"—George shrugged—"since we met on the internet and all."
He lost all ability to keep himself from smiling when Leon chuckled and those dimples appeared again.
"We'll need to sit down and go over a few things so when people ask us about each other, we have something to tell them."
George frowned. "What would you need to know? I'm not very interesting."
Ford snorted.
