Always sweet and good-natured, Brandi giggled. “Hey, can’t blame a girl for trying. You’re not interested, and I already know all these other losers.” She picked up Jake’s empty glass and sauntered away.
The band started their set, launching into some Hank Williams.
They sat for a few minutes, Shea enjoying the music, when Jake leaned close. “Why aren’t you interested in Brandi? She’s gorgeous. Are you married or in a relationship?”
Shea waited a beat and took a drink of his beer. “Neither. I’m single.” He had no idea what this man was about, but he wasn’t the type to reveal his sexuality to strangers. People might be more liberal up North, but that didn’t mean Jake was.
Brandi dropped off Jake’s drink along with the chicken wings. “Here y’all go. Enjoy.”
The wings looked and smelled delicious, and with their arrival Jake seemed to forget about poking into Shea’s personal life. He picked up a wing, bit into it, and moaned. A look of pure bliss settled over his face, and Shea watched in fascination as Jake tore apart that wing, licking his lips after he’d devoured it.
Hot damn, that was a turn-on.
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself.” Jake’s sheepish smile reached his cool green eyes, warming them.
Shea pushed the platter to him. “Go on. I’ve already had my dinner. You can have the whole darn thing if you’re that hungry.”
“You sure?”
“As I’m sittin’ here. Have at it.” He watched for the next five minutes as Jake laid waste to the other five wings on the plate.
Jake wiped his lips and hands, then let out a sigh of contentment. “Damn, that was good.”
“Told ya,” Shea said with satisfaction. “Tell me about New York City. I’m fixin’ to move there one day.”
“Yeah?” Jake’s brows shot up. “Where? Have you been?”
“Nah, but it’s always been my dream. Been savin’ up and have some things in the works.”
Brandi came by with their food, and Jake licked his lips again before picking up his burger, unaware how that simple action sent a powerful surge of lust rocketing through Shea.
Shit.This was ridiculous. He’d never found himself attracted to a straight guy, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to get it on with a married man.
A few bites in, Jake set the burger down and sipped his second drink. A bit slower, but Shea knew the signs. The high color on his cheeks, plus the slightly unfocused look in those pale-green eyes, all signaled a man strung too tight without any release for too long. He watched Jake finish off the second drink and chew on some fries.
“Mmm. Well, New York isn’t like you see on television. It can eat you up if you’re not tough enough.” He stared into his glass.
“Sorta like modeling,” Shea mused.
“Yeah…oh, shit.” Jake slapped the table. “That’s where I’ve seen you before. You—you’re a model, right?”
A bit embarrassed, Shea dipped his head. “Yeah. Been doing it since my teens.”
His food forgotten, Jake stared at him openmouthed, and Shea couldn’t deny, like he’d done with Dusty, the spark of interest in Jake’s eyes. It didn’t last long, and then he gave another one of those surprisingly open smiles that didn’t seem to fit with his somewhat hard and brooding personality. It threw Shea off.
“I kept saying to myself, ‘I recognize the smile,’ but how could that be? I’ve never been here. I guess if I saw you half-naked, it would’ve been easier.”
It was Shea’s turn to stare openmouthed at Jake who, unaware he’d set off an inferno inside Shea, dipped a few more fries in ketchup. Damn, he wasn’t used to people saying things like that to him. His photographer, for sure, but they’d known each other for over ten years. Jake, he’d known for ten minutes, and he was already talking about Shea being half-naked. He should’ve been turned off, but he wasn’t. Just the opposite.
“Here’s a refill for you boys.”
Brandi dropped off another beer for him and another whiskey for Jake.
“We didn’t order these.” Didn’t seem to matter to Jake, who already had his snoot in the glass. Man was gonna be drunk as a skunk if he didn’t slow down.
“Oh, Dusty said it was on the house.”
Shea turned around to see Dusty, arms folded, staring at him with an odd smile teasing his lips. Scowling, Shea deliberately pushed the second beer aside. He hadn’t even finished the first.
