Ace blew out a sigh that stirred a few loose hairs over his forehead.“Fine,” he said.“When he does come out, can you tell him that the contracts have been signed for that new deal?It’s all in the bag.”
“The Ridley Angus deal?”I asked.I hoped Ace couldn’t see the stars that were probably shining in my eyes.I’d been so excited when I’d heard them talking about him yesterday, it was no wonder I’d fumbled the coffee – even without knowing how the machine worked.
I didn’t know a lot about sports, but just about every gay man in the world had to know who Ridley Angus was.With a body like that and the face to match, who could see him even once and not want to know more?Especially given that, as a sportsman, most of the shots of him on the internet featured him in some variation of sweaty, working out, shirtless, or all three.He’d been playing for years, and I’d even had a poster of him on my wall at college.It was the kind of poster you could get away with having up without alerting your straight college-assigned roommate that you were interested in the abs, not the ball skills.
Well, maybe the ball skills, but just a different kind.
“That’s the one,” Ace said.He leaned on the wall by the side of my desk, crossing his legs at the ankles.“Don’t let Harvey see that look on your face.He’ll be livid if he knows you’ve got a crush on his star athlete.”
I couldn’t stop my cheeks from flaring up so red I thought I might explode.“Why not?”I heard myself ask and regretted it immediately.He could probably hear us through the door, right?
“I didn’t tell him about you,” Ace said.“None of his business.But if he starts to realize I’m slowly populating the office with queer folks, he’s going to end up thinking that we’re becoming a gay agency, and he won’t like that.”
I frowned.Was I working for a homophobe?“Why not?”
Ace chuckled – probably at the fact that I’d asked the same question twice in a row.“He wants us to be the best sports agency in the world, nothing else,” he said.“No gimmicks.No other things added to the title.Just the best sports agency.”
“Huh.”I tilted my head to the side as I thought.“That’s why there’s not much about his private life online, right?To avoid distracting from the work.”
“Exactly,” Ace said.“And –”
The office doors beside us were wrenched open, causing both of us to swing our heads around.My boss stood framed in the doorway, hands still on both handles, glaring at us.
“If you’re done gossiping about me,” he said, then fixed a glower on Ace.“Message about the contracts received.”
For once, even Ace looked cowed.
He straightened up, seemed to only just hold himself back from making a salute, and nodded sharply.“Right,” he said, and then turned and almost ran down the corridor.
Leaving me alone – facing down the wrath of the boss I’d only been working with for a day.
“So,” he said, and his tone was icy.“You’re gay.”
Olly
Keaton swallowed hard.I hadn’t seen anyone look this nervous since the day of the championship final when Rory Adler was asked to piss in a cup.
“Yes,” he said.He raised his chin.Defiant.As if he thought I was going to have a problem with it.
“Don’t fuck Ace,” I said.
He blinked.“Sorry?”
“Workplace romances are banned.”I paused.“And Ace is a louse.He won’t call you back.”
Keaton looked like he didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.“How do you know that?”
“Several lost secretaries,” I said.I shook my head in memory.I’d stopped letting Ace have hisownsecretary years ago.He was too much of a lawsuit risk.
Keaton laughed.He looked relieved but also something else.A little disappointed?That didn’t make sense to me.
Unless… he wanted to think Ace and I had fucked in the past?
People were strange.
Keaton Dunbar seemed to be even stranger.
“I wasn’t planning on dating Ace,” he said.That wasn’t quite my point.“But, warning taken.I won’t let him charm his way into my affections.That’s a promise.”
