“But you’re working as a security guard now? I can see why your family would want you to do something safer.”
“My uncle and my ma, sure. But it’s not that easy. My guys Raiden and Horatio are my family, too, and they don’t have anyone else looking after them.”
“They’re the guys with a submarine?”
Gray laughed. “They better not have one. But yeah, that’s them.”
Jameson stepped forward, and Gray’s breath caught. “You’re a very good security guard,” he said. “I’m sure you can figure out how to keep yourself safe and your friends safe, too.”
Gray grunted and tried to ignore how painfully his erection was throbbing in his jeans. Jameson made it so easy to believe he was good at his job, and Gray was desperate for that to be true. “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate that.”
Jameson stood there, and Gray felt dizzy. All of his instincts told him to wrap his arms around the guy and pull him in close. He might be torn between his friends and family, but here, inches away from Jameson, it seemed like there was only one right answer. Jameson threatened to eclipse everything else in Gray’s life, and a part of Gray wanted it to happen.
Jameson finally stepped back. “Want to come by and watch a movie tomorrow night?” he asked, turning his eyes away, and Gray let out the breath he had been holding.
“Sure,” Gray answered, his heart and dick throbbing. “That sounds nice.”
Jameson bit down on his lip, then nodded. “I should prepare for my publicist. Thanks for the breakfast company, Gray.”
“Anytime,” Gray answered. “You know where to find me.”
Jameson
It was about halfwaythroughWidowsthat Jameson finally got the nerve to pull himself across the couch, until he and Gray were sharing a cushion. The temperature had dipped, and he was getting a nice cozy feeling from the evening.
“Here,” Gray said, casually lifting his arm in the air. “Come closer.”
Jameson happily obliged, curling himself up against Gray’s side. He pressed his hand against his bodyguard’s broad chest and felt the firm muscles under the soft flannel of his shirt. A rumbling noise went through Gray’s chest, sparking a thrill at the back of Jameson’s neck.
He’d done everything he could to prepare himself for the evening. He’d called Dee to boost his confidence, treated himself to a cocktail after dinner to calm his nerves, and hurried around the house to shut all the curtains, just to make sure they had complete privacy. All day, Jameson wasn’t sure exactly what he would allow himself to do that evening. But he did know that he was on the edge of a cliff and ready to leap.
And right before Gray had arrived, he had even gone one extra step, dabbing a little gloss on his lips, enough to make sure they were pink and shiny.
But now that he was there, touching Gray, all the fear disappeared. He was compelled to stay right where he was, to keep inhaling Gray’s scent, like mint soap and wood fire. For the first time in his life, he could taste another man on the tip of his tongue, like a truth he was forced to speak, and he didn’t have to run from it.
Gray opened his body to Jameson, and Jameson trembled with anticipation. Their legs pressed together, and his cock felt warm and fat in his jeans. He was going to give himself over to Gray, to throw it all to the fucking wind and just go for it, and nothing would stop him.
“Wait,” Gray said, his voice raspy under his breath. He placed one hand over Jameson’s hand, both flat on his chest, then grabbed the remote to stop the movie.
Jameson almost pulled his hand back, but the steady pressure from Gray helped keep him there. “Is something wrong?” he asked softly.
Gray lifted Jameson’s hand. For a second, Jameson thought he was going to brush his lip across the back of his fingers, but then he paused. “You know, I’m not supposed to do this with clients.”
Jameson sucked in a breath.This. That word held so much inside of it. “I write the paycheck,” he said softly. They’d already come so far; he couldn’t handle it if Gray pulled away now. “And I’m not going to complain.” He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, then held Gray’s eye. “It’s against my rules to do this, too.”
“Oh fuck,” Gray groaned. He shook his head back and forth quickly, and when he finished, his eyebrows shot up with a grin.
“What?” Jameson asked with a rolling laugh that made his cheeks warm. “What’s that look in your eyes?”
“You’re going to think I’m greedy,” Gray answered.
Jameson pursed his lips. “Oh?”
He finally pulled Jameson’s hand up for a kiss. His lips brushed softly over the back of the fingers, and his beard scrapped along behind. “But if we’re both going to break our rules, do you want to put on a little makeup first?”
Jameson’s ears turned pink. He pressed his hand up until he was palm to palm with Gray, then laced their fingers together. The world was waiting outside, but inside, the two of them could break a couple rules. He’d trained himself like a monk for years, learning to deny it. But Gray’s lips on his hand were soft, and his beard was scratchy, and when they touched, none of the rest of it seemed to matter anymore.
“Fuck it,” Jameson whispered, then snapped his eyes up to Gray’s. “Come see my room.”
