“The chance?” Joe repeated.
Scott squirmed, as if he intended to make a run for it before he’d even zipped up his fly. “There’s no w-way it could work out, s-so—”
“What makes you so damn sure of that?” Joe demanded.
Scott dropped his gaze.
“Well?”
“You’re you, s-sir,” Scott said.
“And I’m what—incapable of giving a damn about anyone because I’m a dom?” Joe’s head ached with trying to change mental tracks and flip the problem he’d thought he was dealing with onto its end.
“No, I d-didn’t mean that,” Scott rushed to explain. “But you’re g-g-gorgeous, and you’re always g-going to have a million d-d-different guys throwing themselves at you.”
“So, I’m incapable of keeping my fly zipped?” Joe shook his head. “Is that what you think?” He tightened his grip on Scott’s torso as his frustration with his inability to track down the true source of Scott’s fear threatened to get the better of him.
“I didn’t m-mean—” this time Scott cut himself short. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “This isn’t anything to d-do with me th-thinking that you’re n-not good enough. I know you’re the best m-m-man I’ll ever lay eyes on, let alone get to spend so m-much time alone with.”
He was so rarely that fluent. Joe found that he didn’t have the heart to break Scott’s flow.
“But, me—I’m not one of those g-guys, sir. I don’t know why you’ve let me play with you so many times, but I know that I’m not really in your l-league.” He looked down. “If I let myself fall any f-further than I already have, then I might get my heart broken so b-badly I won’t ever be able to put the pieces back together again. And,” Scott’s voice trembled. “And I c-c-can’t risk that, sir. I’m not s-s-strong enough.”
He fell silent.
“Done?” Joe checked.
Scott nodded.
“I don’t suppose it’s ever occurred to you that I might be falling in love with you in return?” Joe asked, with forced calm. A few hours ago, he’d have laughed at the idea of making that confession tonight. Now, it was obvious that keeping it to himself would have been the ultimate cruelty.
Scott frowned. The possibility obviously hadn’t even entered his head.
“If you were a dom, you’d get what’s so bloody brilliant about you,” Joe informed him. “You’d see why I keep coming back for more—why I intend to keep doing that for a hell of a long time to come.”
Catching hold of Scott’s arm, Joe dragged him around so Scott sat facing him.
“Do you believe me?”
Scott blinked at him. He obviously didn’t know what to believe. Joe wasn’t the only one who found it hard to turn his perceptions on their heads at a moment’s notice. For a few seconds, Joe kept staring at him, as if that would somehow convince Scott to not only say he understood, but to really mean it.
It didn’t work.
Joe dropped his hands back to his sides. “I’m not going to insist that you change your mind about anything right now.” He paused and considered that statement. He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m not going to insist that you change your mind about anythingat any point.” Yes, that sounded better.
Scott didn’t speak up to fill in the silence that followed. Joe couldn’t bring himself to be surprised.
“All I’m going to say,” Joe eventually went on. “Is that it’s my turn to send a note to you, and I fully intend to do that. Understand?”
Very slowly, Scott nodded.
“Good,” Joe said. “That’s good.” He wasn’t sure which of them he was trying to convince. It didn’t feel good to him. It just felt very slightly less awful than it had before. At least there seemed to be a chance that this wasn’t the absolute end.
Joe took a deep breath. Scott sat on the floor in front of him, apparently waiting for Joe to make the next move, as if he fully expected Joe to know what that should be.
Shifting his position, Joe straightened his spine. It wasn’t in him to let Scott down by admitting just how lost and clueless he felt.
“Get dressed,” he ordered.
