Lips pressed tightly together, Spencer crossed his arms. It was the first time in memory the devil-may-care man showed a different side of himself.
“You know I go over several times a year to Paris and Milan for the fashion shows. I met Kyle at one of them. I don’t remember where.”
“It wasn’t anything big.”
Spencer’s smile grew broad. “That’s for sure. It was a little fling.Littlebeing the operative word.”
The implication was obvious, and while Kyle’s face tightened with anger, André’s lips twitched and Chess ducked his head.
“I see your tongue is still as sharp as ever.”
“All the better to cut you with, my dear.” Spencer hooked his arm through Chess’s. “Let’s go change and get those cocktails. I’m parched.” They took off and disappeared around the corner, leaving him alone with Kyle.
“Let’s get back to work.” André pointed to the library. “We can talk in there and finish those contracts. They should be in by close of business.”
“I wasn’t the one who left the work hanging to have sex with my boyfriend and then go for a two-hour lunch.”
Ignoring the dig, André poured himself some water. He sat on the couch and pulled his laptop to him. He couldn’t help being curious about Spencer’s connection to Kyle.
“How long ago did you and Spencer have an affair?”
“We’d see each other whenever he came for the fashion shows. No grand love affair.” Kyle tapped his cheek and shrugged. “I think it started six, maybe seven years ago? I haven’t seen him in years. Not since I started working for Margery. But who remembers?”
“There’ve been so many since then, eh?” André scanned the document to see if the changes he’d suggested had been implemented.
“None like you.”
André whipped around. “The fuck? You did not just say that to me while my fiancé is down the hall.”
“You know it’s true. I made a mistake, one that I regret. We were good together. I’ve never forgotten you.”
“I made a mistake as well. The biggest one of my life. Getting involved with you in the first place. It nearly cost me everything. It cost Dawson his life.” The words tasted bitter.
“All these years and you still have such feelings? You know what they say, don’t you? The other side of hate is love.”
“If by feelings, you mean sick to my stomach, you’re correct.” He slammed the laptop closed. “I knew this was a bad idea from the start. I can’t work with you. I can’t even look at you.”
“Why? Because you remember what it was like? I never had someone want me the way you did. And I made one mistake, and you let it ruin everything.”
“Get out. Right now. We’re done. I can finish this myself. Your presence isn’t needed any longer.”
“I had you practically begging me for it all the time.” Laughing, Kyle rose from his chair and picked up his computer. “You heard Margery. She wants me here.” He stuck his face in André’s with a smirk. “I’ve made myself indispensable to her.”
André’s stomach turned. “Leave.” He faced the wall.
Kyle’s laughter lingered in the room after he’d gone. André picked up his glass of water, set it down again, and started pacing the expanse of the library. “To hell with it,” he growled, and despite the one glass of champagne he’d allowed himself during lunch, he poured two fingers of Scotch in a tumbler, added ice, and drained the glass. Longingly, he gazed at the bottle. Was he willing to forget the promise he’d made to himself and to Dawson? But numbing the pain by drowning himself in Scotch seemed preferable to the memories crashing through his brain. God, he was so stupid, and he felt like that nineteen-year-old virgin all over again.
They lay together in the pool house, bodies covered in sweat. André ached all over, his body open and sore, but the pain had been worth it. Feeling Kyle move inside him, hearing his groan of pleasure as he came, was everything. He thought back to how naïve he’d been at sixteen when he’d kissed Parker Skipton in the locker room after lacrosse practice. He’d believed that was love, but they were kids. Kyle was in his blood forever—his first lover.
His first love.
“That was fun, right?” Awake again, Kyle drifted a hand over him, smoothing over his body. André hadn’t come while they’d made love, too distracted by the pain and trying to make Kyle happy. “You really love a dick in your ass, don’t you?”
Cheeks hot, André sat up, trying to find a comfortable position. “It felt good, but I wouldn’t mind switching.” He moved to kiss Kyle’s neck but met only air.
“No way.” Kyle took his hand and put it on his erection. “But I want you again. Does it still hurt?”
André didn’t feel he could do it, but he didn’t want to upset Kyle. “Yeah. Kinda.”
