“I’ve actually had a lot of strange dates, so let me think a minute.” He handed another delicate collectible to Everett. “There was this one man who just grunted at me throughout the date, then was surprised when I didn’t want to have sex.”
Everett snorted, while inside he felt a bit giddy over Dax’s admission to dating a man. “I’ve got you beat. Back in college, this guy asked me out, and I met him at what I thought was goingto be a rave. Turned out to be some kind of sex ball. We walked into the building and people were having sex everywhere—lots of them tied up. He led me right up to a table and picked up ropes.”
Dax’s laugh was warm and low. “Interesting first date.”
“Right? I told him off and left. It’s not that I’m against getting tied up, but I didn’t know him and, well, I’m not one for public sex.” He took a unicorn figurine from Dax and set it on the desk. “What about you? Into public sex?”
Dax was silent a moment as he studied Everett. “That’s a rather personal question.”
Heat crept up his neck and he cleared his throat. “It was. Sorry.”
He kept staring, then a slow, sexy smile lifted his lips. “No, Everett, I don’t enjoy public sex. I like sex to be very, very private.”
Everett couldn’t stop a small shiver at those words. He’d kill for some of that private time with this man. He cleared his throat. “That guy I left at the sex party sought me out the next day, completely clueless as to why I’d taken off. When I told him it wasn’t my idea of a first date, he was surprised. Turned out a disgruntled ex had told him I was into that. He was properly embarrassed.”
“Did he ask you out again?”
Nodding, Everett chuckled. “We ended up going out for six months, but hewasinto public sex, so it didn’t work out. He was always trying to get me to do it in the strangest places. Even on a Ferris wheel. Can you imagine? In one of those tiny seats with so many people going around with you? Yeah, no. It was a shame, though, because he was a really nice guy. He just couldn’t enjoy sex unless there was some kind of exhibition involved.”
“I dated someone who was into the same thing, and I indulged a few times. Enough to learn it wasn’t for me.”
Dax switched to books and handed a rather heavy stack to Everett, who needed two hands to Dax’s one just to carry them.
“You know,” Everett said as he set the stack down. “I’m not sure why I started on the higher shelves. We could start with all the things on our level and work our way up.” He waved a hand around the room. “My grandfather actually remodeled this entire room to look like his dream library. When he bought the estate, this room was only one story, and he knocked out a bedroom above so he could have these tall shelves and ladders. In his later years, he couldn’t even use the ladders.” He looked down at one of the Valkyries on the desk. “I think it made him really sad. To have his body shutting down like it was. He was sick a long time, but his arthritis really got bad in his sixties, so I spent a lot of time going up and down these ladders for him. I’d forgotten how much pain it can cause.”
Dax came down the ladder. “Let’s go back to you handing me items because you’ll know how you’d like to organize everything. I promise to wrap everything carefully.”
“You’ve done a wonderful job so far. I can tell you’re being very careful.”
“No choice with these massive paws.”
“I happen to like your hands.” Heat crept up his neck because he actually hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He peeked at Dax to find the man watching him with a contemplative expression. He really did have such an interesting face, with sharp cheekbones that came down to a softly rounded chin. Those cheekbones set off how very large and green his eyes were. And Everett would kill to have his long, black eyelashes. He cleared his throat again. “Okay, so I’ll gather, and you wrap and pack. You can tell me more about all of those strange dates. I’ve got a couple more I can tell you about.”
They shared stories as they cleared shelves, moving around each other in a way that felt like they were more thanmere acquaintances. Everett was truly comfortable around Dax. Comfortable, but there was also this constant hum of attraction. Of excitement. The kind that made his breath catch and sent a stream of anticipation to simmer low in his gut.
And Dax looked at him a lot. It wasn’t his imagination that there was genuine interest in how he studied him. It made Everett want to get to know him. Everything about him.
“Tell me something,” Everett said as he handed a stack of books to Dax. “With all those degrees, why don’t you teach?”
Dax was silent a few moments before he softly chuckled. “With my job, this will be surprising, but I’m really pretty shy, and the thought of getting up in front of a classroom of students makes me break into a sweat.”
“You’re talking to a writer, so I more than understand. There’s nothing I like more than being alone at home, behind my computer. I do attend author conventions now and then, and that seems to be just the amount of socialization I need. Or can handle, really.”
Dax’s head had popped up with the word writer. “You write? I’m surprised that hasn’t come up. How wonderful. Anything I might have read?”
Everett pointed to a shelf behind the desk filled with E.V. Page books. “My grandfather was extremely proud of everything I put out, even the indie titles that never went anywhere. All the books on that shelf are mine.”
Dax walked to the shelf and took one of the books. “I don’t recognize the name, but I do love a good thriller.”
“The series at the end is cozy mysteries. I have a publisher for those and am starting to actually see some success with them. But of course, my interest seems to be splitting lately, and I’m working on something different. Well, I’m working on two separate projects. I do have a deadline on the next in the mystery series.”
“Would you mind if I borrowed some of these to read?”
“Not at all.” Everett grinned. “Just don’t tell me if you hate them. I’m one of those authors who doesn’t read his reviews. I can have twenty fantastic five-stars, and the one bad review will stick in my brain. I’ve actually spent days obsessing about rough reviews before, so I decided they just aren’t for me. They’re for readers, anyway.”
“So which one would you recommend I read first? Which is your favorite?”
Everett walked to the shelf, noting that his head didn’t even reach Dax’s shoulders as he stopped next to him. He grabbed a book and handed it over. “This is my favorite. It’s a standalone thriller about a man who gets pulled into a life-or-death situation against his will. There’s a twist I’m quite proud of. It did absolutely nothing, but I do hope that someday the right reader will give it a chance and start blasting on social media.”
