Lillie thought for a moment as if the question was of the utmost importance in her life.
“You should put chocolate in them. Marcus likes chocolate. He kept stealing sips of my big drink yesterday.
He grinned. “I did not, Lillie-bug.” He sauntered into the kitchen and kissed the top of her head. “Good morning.” Over the top of her head he met Tyler’s eyes. “Hi. I woke up, and you weren’t there.”And I fucking hated it, he wanted to add, but refrained for Lillie’s sake.
Tyler licked his lips, and Marcus stood transfixed, wishing he could lean over and kiss him until they both couldn’t breathe. He blinked and looked away.
Jesus. He had it bad, whatever “it” was. His heart beat a little faster, kick-starting as if he knew the answer but wasn’t yet ready to admit it to himself.
“Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have a special breakfast or brunch here in the apartment.” He turned back to the stove and slid the tray of muffins inside. “I hope you don’t mind, but I called Julian and Zach and invited them over.”
Tyler stated that piece of information in such a nonchalant tone, Marcus almost missed what he said as he poured his cup of coffee.
“You called my friends?” He placed the cup on the countertop and sat on the chair. “Why?”
Tyler faced him and took a cup, then poured his own coffee. Lillie wandered away to the sofa and started playing with the doll he’d bought her. She hadn’t let it out of her sight; it sat at the table with them when they ate the Chinese food they’d ordered, and when he and Tyler put her to sleep last night, it was tucked into bed with her, under the covers.
“I know you guys are really close, and I felt bad the way I behaved the last time.” He took a sip of coffee. “I wouldn’t want you to think I was keeping you from seeing them; plus, they most likely think I’m an asshole for running out that time; and then the way we acted at the club that night…”
“Asshole? You? No, that spot’s already reserved, since Julian has made it clear to me that I’m the one who needs to change my way of thinking.”
Tyler leaned his elbows on the bar, bracing his chin in his hands. “And what’s your way of thinking?”
Unsure how much Lillie could hear of their conversation, Marcus leaned forward until he could almost kiss Tyler.
“Self-centered and unwilling to invest in any personal relationships.”
The edges of Tyler’s mouth quirked up in a grin, and his eyes crinkled with humor. He touched Marcus’s face, ghosting those long, sensitive fingers that brought Marcus such pleasure along his jaw until he cupped Marcus’s cheek. “Funny; I don’t know that man. Want to know what I think?”
Mesmerized by their proximity and the unfamiliar emotions swirling around inside him, Marcus could only nod his assent.
“See, I’d heard a lot about you before I even came to live here. About how kind and generous you were to your friends and even your staff. I brushed it off because I thought you were all flash with no substance; that you were only interested in me to get into my pants.”
“I like what’s in your pants.” Marcus kissed Tyler’s palm.
“Don’t joke,” said Tyler, his eyes snapping fire. “You use sarcastic humor to avoid getting close and revealing your feelings.” Tyler brushed the pad of his thumb over Marcus’s cheek. “You’re so much more than the sum of your parts; you don’t need to use sex, or think it’s all about sex for me, because it isn’t.”
His throat constricted, and Marcus couldn’t speak if he tried.
“You left your office without hesitation yesterday to pick up Lillie, and that would’ve been wonderful enough for me. But then you stayed with her and gave her a magical day she won’t ever forget. And don’t think it was about the toys you bought her, because it wasn’t.”
“No?”
“Nope.” Tyler kissed him, and Marcus wished he was that man Tyler and Lillie thought he was. He wanted to be.
“She told me the best part of the day was playing with you in the apartment and how you didn’t care when she put her makeup on you. Other kids at daycare talk about their fathers who are either never home to play, or too tired when they get home.”
“I know that type,” said Marcus grimly. How many days, weeks, years did he spend as a young child, waiting for a father who never came home, or when he did, could care less if his son wanted to see him?
“Yeah?” Tyler came around the counter to stand next to him. “Want to talk about it?” He ran his hand down Marcus’s thigh. “I never even knew who my father was.”
“I did, and I guarantee you might have had it better than me.”
Tyler’s hand halted its caress. “How can you say that? You had a stable, two-parent home where they obviously took care of you. You never had to wonder where your next meal was coming from.”
“True. But sometimes living in an emotional wasteland is as bad as a physical one. I often wished I was an orphan—you want to know why?”
Staring at him with confused, sad eyes, Tyler nodded.
