“Night,” Tanner calls back and then Bowen steps out of the shadows.
He smiles at me. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I walk over to him. I have my lips pressed tightly together to avoid the urge to kiss him. “My place for a nightcap?”
“Sure,” he replies, and we start down the sidewalk. We walk half a block in silence and then he says. “You have a good night?”
“Mostly,” I reply. “I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off you. I felt like Murph was maybe catching on.”
“He knows you know I’m a klutz at work. Probably just thought you were keeping me in your sights so you could avoid any kind of disaster I might cause,” Bowen jokes and tilts his head to shoot me this cheeky smile. It makes it hard to breathe for a second. I’ve never had breathing troubles with a guy unless he was giving me a hand job or a blow job. This is new. “Besides, even if Murph figured it out, he’s not going to say anything to anyone. Not even me.”
I nod. The wind is light and much warmer than it has been. Spring is definitely kicking into high gear and I’m loving it. Bowen isn’t even wearing a jacket tonight and I probably don’t need mine. The air smells faintly of flowers from the city planters and this musky, bergamot type scent I’ve inhaled while nuzzling his neck, so I know it’s coming off Bowen. That scent warms me from the inside, and I’ve never been happier that my loft is smack dab in the middle of downtown as I am now, because it means it’s not long until I can bury my face in his neck again.
When we reach the front door to my building, I punch the code into the pad and hold the door open for him. We walk to the elevator and I hit the button, a little shocked we have to wait for it. Usually it’s sitting at the bottom, but maybe Grant has someone over and it’s stopped on his floor.
“So,” Bowen says, pulling my attention with his raspy voice. I watch him turn so his back is facing the wall to the right of the elevator and his body is facing me. “Is this private enough to touch you? Because it’s all I’ve thought about all night and I’m fucking dying to get my mouth on you.”
I glance at the front door to the building, which is basically all glass but I had the renovation team put an opaque film over it so with the lights off in the hall, like they are now, and the film, no one is likely to see us from the street. I contemplate explaining this to Bowen for about half a second but decide to just kiss him instead. I walk right up to him, place the flat palm of my hand on the top of his chest, at the base of his throat, and push him flush against the wall before I lean in. It’s so similar to our first kiss, and I see the recognition in his eyes, only this time as I move in slowly, I don’t hesitate one bit. “You looked so hot all night I could barely stand it,” I confess, our lips brushing. “I contemplated going into the bathroom and jerking off.”
“I hope you didn’t,” Bowen whispers back. “I have bigger plans for this.”
He palms my erection through my pants, and I smash my mouth to his in a blinding, consuming kiss. It’s equal parts satisfying and annoyingly inadequate. I want more. I want all of him. And then, through the noise of my thumping pulse and throbbing cock I somehow manage to hear the hum of the elevator stop and the swoosh of the doors opening. Light slices through our darkness and Bowen turns to stone under my touch. Iknowsomeone else is here. I jerk back and turn to see Bennie standing in the elevator staring at us through the open doors.
I’d like to think he didn’t see anything but the expression of anger and pain on his face confirms the opposite. He saw everything. I step away from Bowen, who pulls himself off the wall, his backbone straight, shoulders back. “Hey,” I clear my throat. “Bennie.”
His wide brown eyes are moving between Bowen and me like a tennis fan watching a match. “Hey. Who’s this?”
“Right. I forgot you two haven’t met.” I clear my throat again. I don’t know why my voice sounds so off. “Bennie Johnson. This is Bowen Whitlock.”
Bennie finally steps out of the elevator just before the doors slide shut. He turns his head to Bowen, jutting his chin out instead of taking the hand Bowen is casually offering. “You’re the guy who took my job.”
“Oh, you’re that Bennie,” Bowen replies. “I didn’t steal your job. I just happened to be there when you weren’t.”
“Is that how you see it?” Bennie asks, but I’m not sure who the question is directed at because he’s turned to glare at me again.
“I guess you were hanging out with Grant?” I say, changing the topic. Sort of. Jesus tonight has taken a turn.
“Yeah,” Bennie’s voice is hard and colder than Vermont in January. He takes a couple steps, pausing only when he’s face-to-face with me. “He told me you’d found someone to replace me. He clearly wasn’t just talking about the band.”
Bennie turns and walks straight for the door, shoving it open and disappearing into the darkness beyond. I stare after him for a second. I hear Bowen let out a long breath. “So, that’s the drummer who flaked?”
“Yeah.”
“Looks like he’s not thrilled about me taking over.”
“Yeah.” I turn from the door and punch the elevator button again. “It’s been weeks since that gig and he’s just now contacting one of us, so I don’t give a fuck how he feels about it.”
I step into the elevator and watch Bowen hesitate before stepping inside with me. He stands directly beside me, facing forward as we both watch the doors close in front of us. “Sounds like he was more than a drummer.”
“He wasn’t,” I reply, clenching my jaw as I figure out how to address this. Fucking Bennie, always making a bad situation worse. “I mean he was. For one night. And I was very clear about the one night thing. He said he got it. He was cool with it.”
“He ain’t cool with it,” Bowen replies.
“Yeah. I guess he’s not.” I inhale and then can’t seem to exhale as I say, “Do you care?”
There’s a heartbeat of silence and then Bowen speaks but doesn’t answer the question. “That guy in the bar who you were talking to, he also one of your one night stands?”
It takes my brain a second to figure out who he’s talking about. “Riley? No. Not at all. I helped him out with a Chamber of Commerce thing.”
