“I’m glad you decided to join me,” Franklin offered, in his best business voice.
Not a single word.
Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the fact he was already tenting his nicely tailored trousers, Franklin politely opened the door for his date and let Cameron lead the way to the car.
“The men we’re meeting are selling their business.I’m buying it from them,” he said, as he started the car and pulled out of the drive.
Cameron stared out of the car window and made no comment.
“It’s a blue chip company—they make computer software,” he added.
Not a single, bloody syllable.
The appropriate thing to do at that point would be to shut the hell up.If Cameron was going to sulk and pout like a spoilt child, it was obvious that Franklin should call him to heel rather than pander to him.But something inside Franklin screamed that all he wanted was for Cameron to be happy, to be pleased with him, and he still couldn’t quite convince his mouth and his lips to obey his orders.
He literally bit his tongue, but even that didn’t do any good.
“The older man’s name is Charles Hansford.The younger man we’ll meet will be Bill Edwards.”Franklin tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel.“Bill and I are old friends.We went to school together.”
Five minutes later, Franklin had never been more grateful to see a restaurant come into view.He rushed out of the car before the valet had a chance to open the door for him, incredibly glad to be out of the stifling silence within the vehicle.He was easily in time to see Cameron rise out of the opposite side of the low-slung space with perfect feline grace.
As the most fashionable new restaurant in the best part of the city, there was the inevitable genteel scrum around the doorway as everyone who’d managed to get a reservation there lingered in an effort to either be seen arriving or departing.
Just as he was about to look over his shoulder and check on Cameron’s progress through the melee, sure that he would find the crowds unsettling, Franklin felt Cameron’s hand to come to rest on the small of his back.A moment later, Cameron stepped closer and seemed to try to subtly shelter Franklin from the worst of the crowd with his slightly taller frame.
Franklin hesitated as he found his usual role snatched away from him.Cameron took a step forward.Their bodies rubbed together.
As Franklin eventually convinced himself to walk on and break physical contact with Cameron, he silently shook his head at himself.Anyone would swear he was a teenager at his first school dance rather than a grown man.Worse than that, he had the horrible feeling that he was playing the follower rather than the leader, the submissive rather than the dominant party.
That couldn’t be allowed to happen.A successful businessman had to have the whole world by the balls if he wanted to stay on the top of the heap.He’d learned that damn near his first day on the job.
Franklin marched forward until the crowd thinned out.When they made it past the entrance to the bar, there was finally room to breathe.Somehow, Cameron still remained close to his side, as if he was still watching over him in a way that really wasn’t necessary.
As much as he tried to hate it, to loathe the weakness it implied the lion saw in him, and detest the idea that he wasn’t the one in complete control of the whole world, the only emotion that actually rose up inside Franklin was a warm, content little feeling.
That sort of silly response had no place in a businessman’s world.The last thing he needed was far—
“Franklin!”
Turning at the sound of his name, Franklin spotted his friend standing at the bar and smiled with every scrap of confidence he could muster.“Bill, Charles, so great to see you.”
The silent treatment Cameron had been bestowing on the world ended the moment Franklin introduced him to Bill and Charles.
All Cameron actually did then was say all the appropriate things a man should say when shaking hands with a stranger, but it still grated on every one of Franklin’s nerves.
It was stupid for him to feel jealous that strangers managed to get two words out of his date when he’d failed to get one sodding syllable from the man ever since he’d changed into his new suit.But logic was no match for the emotions that seemed determined to take over Franklin’s world ever since he’d finally tracked Cameron down.
His smile was starting to feel like a rictus grin by the time they were shown to their table.It wasn’t as easy as it should have been to push everything out of his mind and concentrate on charming the guys he wanted to do business with.Even when he slipped back into silent mode, Cameron was still there, right by his side.He was still as gorgeous and as distracting as hell.
As they ate their starters and Franklin drew the other men out and encouraged them to show off their most successful deals, Cameron merely leaned back in his chair and observed each of the men opposite them in turn, but he didn’t need to do anything more than that for the other men to lap up his attention.And Cameron never once turned his gaze to Franklin himself.
Shifting slightly uncomfortably in his seat, Franklin tried, and completely failed, not to resent that.It was stupid to imagine that either of his dinner guests were looking at Cameron as anything other than someone they could impress and show off to.They were both married to completely stunning women.They were not trying to steal Franklin’s bloody boyfriend.
Franklin still found his hand curling into a fist below the table.By the time they’d worked their way through the main course and Cameron politely excused himself to the gents, Franklin wasn’t just regretting inviting the lion to dine with them, he was lamenting being there himself and wishing he hadn’t even bothered to eat that day.
As Charles left the table with a wave of his cigarette packet, Franklin could barely convince himself to stay in his seat rather than rush off after Cameron.Minutes ticked by, and the long, convoluted story Bill was telling him failed to hold Franklin’s attention for a single second.
He began to wonder if there was a way to check his watch without Bill noticing.No.Franklin forced himself to think logically, at least for a few seconds.
