“Turn it on,” Lucas suggested.“I’ll prop thehallway door open for some cross-ventilation.Is there a window inthe bedroom?”
Mark nodded.
“Maybe you could open that.Might want to getdressed while you’re in there.Unless wearing only a towel is partof your master plan.”
Mark finally found his voice.“I can’t tellyou about the plan.It’s a secret.”
“Okay,” Lucas agreed easily.
“I’ll be right back,” Mark said, and he hitthe switch for the bathroom fan on the way to the bedroom.The fanwas obnoxiously loud, the reason he didn’t use it when he showered,but it was a whole lot less offensive than the fire alarm hadbeen.
He opened the window and then pulled on hiskhakis and a dark blue button-down.He ran his hands through hisshort hair and peered at himself in the utilitarian mirror abovehis dresser.He took a deep breath and coughed a little.Possiblyhe’d inhaled more burnt alfredo fumes than was healthy.But therewas a sweet, beautiful, completely magnetic man waiting for him inthe main room, so he’d worry about his lungs some other time.
Lucas was in the kitchen poking doubtfully atthe blackened pan.Mark made a face.“I guess it’s notsalvageable?”
“The food?No prayer.The pot?Honestly, Ithink the pot is done too.But I guess you could pry the food outand soak the pot overnight.You might get lucky.”
“I’m not completely helpless,” Mark saidquickly.“In general.I mean, I know nothing about cars.And I’mjust learning about farm stuff.And I messed up a pretty simplemeal, here.But…” He trailed off.Did he have any evidence ofpractical skills whatsoever?
“Can you dial a phone?”Lucas asked casually.“I like pizza, and Chinese, and Indian.And I think that new Thaiplace delivers.Or The Garage does takeout on weeknights, if youwant pub food.”He shrugged and leaned against the counter.“Idon’t like seafood much.Other than that, I’m easy to please.”
Mark nodded.He was starting to feel better.He’d gotten too focused on the date part, and forgotten theLucasaspect of the evening.The man was the furthest thingfrom demanding, and Mark needed to just relax and enjoy himself.“Pizza’s easy,” he suggested.“Favorite toppings?”
“Anything but anchovies.But…usually I’m notas crazy about the new toppings.You know, artichokes and couscousor whatever.Usually I like the old school stuff.Pepperoni,bacon…” He stopped.“But the new ones are fine too.”It was as ifhe’d just fallen into the same trap as Mark, suddenly rememberingthat he was on a date.Or maybe it was just typical Lucas, willingto go along.
Mark grinned.“No couscous.I think I canmanage that.”He swung the fridge door open and looked at the arrayof soft drinks he’d picked up in honor of his non-drinking guest.At least he hadn’t burned those.“Root beer?Cola?Ginger ale?Or Igot these fancy ones…” He was suddenly, acutely aware of Lucas’sbody as the other man swung around to peer into the fridge withhim.They were close, their hips almost touching, and then Lucascrouched down to see the bottles and his hair brushed againstMark’s forearm.It was nothing special.They’d probably been incloser contact fifty times on the farm, working together on sometask.And they’d certainly been more sexual over the last coupledays, more overtly intimate.But somehow it was this casual,comfortable domestic touching that made Mark’s breath catch in hischest.Lucas reached for one of the bottles and half-turned tosmile up at him.
“I like pomegranate stuff,” he admitted as hestraightened.“It’s kind of trendy, I guess, but it tastesgood.”
Mark nodded and tried to get his composureback.“Okay,” he managed, but his act wasn’t good enough; Lucas wassquinting at him, looking almost concerned.
“Something wrong?”Lucas looked around theapartment for a cause and, seeing nothing amiss, looked down athimself.“You wanted to save the pomegranate one?”he finallyguessed, but even he seemed to realize that it was an unlikelycause of Mark’s agitation.
“I like having you here.”Mark grinnedsheepishly.“That’s all.This is nice.”
“You looked like you swallowed a bug.That’swhat you look like when things are nice?”
“Oh, and also I just swallowed a bug.That’swhat you saw.The ‘you being here’ thing is just a side-topic.”
“I like being here,” Lucas responded shyly.“Even if it is smoky and full of bugs.”He wasn’t moving, but therewas something in his eyes that made it feel like the two of themwere getting closer together.
“No more bugs.”Mark shuffled carefullytoward the other man.“I just took care of the last one.”Anothershuffle, then they both watched as Lucas carefully set the unopenedbottle of pomegranate juice on the counter.
“Greedy.You could have shared.”Lucas turnedso his back was to the counter, his legs spread just enough tocreate an inviting space for Mark’s body.Then he reached out andhooked his index fingers into Mark’s waist band, tugging him gentlyforward.
It didn’t take much persuasion.Mark easedin, both of them looking down as their feet aligned and thendisappeared as Mark leaned forward and his body blocked the view.Mark wanted to kiss Lucas, but he wanted to do so many other thingstoo.He ran his fingertips in tiny, exploratory circles along thestrong muscles of Lucas’s forearms, up past the sensitive skininside his elbows, over and around the taut biceps and then justinside the sleeves of his snug black T-shirt.
“You want it off?”Lucas asked, his voicebarely more than a whisper.
Mark took a deep breath.He wanted it alloff.He wanted Lucas naked, wanted the chance to explore his bodyinside and out, wanted to know every part of the man.But he alsowanted to maintain some level of control over it all.“If it comesoff, I think I might lose those phone-dialing skills we weretalking about.”
Lucas just shrugged.“It’s not like the pizzaplace closes early.”
“What doyouwant?”It was animportant question, Mark realized, one he should have asked muchearlier.Lucas had said he was willing to go pretty far, but thatdidn’t mean it was his first choice.
“I wantyou,” Lucas said simply.
Well, that was reassuring, but maybe notquite enough.“What do you normally do?I mean…” Mark took a deepbreath and forced himself to step back a little.He was the onewho’d said he didn’t want casual sex, so maybe he was the one whoneeded to put some effort into making things more than casual.“Let’s sit down,” he said reluctantly.“Do you want a glass foryour drink?”
