Page 56
He felt eyes on him, almost scanning him. He hunched his shoulders in and curled toward the table, nursing a mug of tea and convincing himself he was just paranoid.
They absolutely couldn’t tell.
Right?
How the hell would they be able to tell what he’d gotten up to the night before?
“So you’re having sex trouble.”
Rowan jumped out of his skin, wide-eyed and shocked as Ruben rounded the table and sat down unceremoniously. “Ruben, what the fuck!?”
The whole diner had turned his way at the loud declaration.
Ruben reclined in his seat casually, one arm over the back in shameless confidence. He had a leather jacket on and a blousy shirt that exposed his chest more than it should for nine a.m. His hair was cut stylishly short and perfectly arranged, and his smattering of freckles only accented his dragon features, instead of overwhelming them like Rowan’s did. Ruben was a heartbreaker and he took full advantage of that fact.
No one was safe from his wiles, and Rowan watched in real time as he threw a wink at a nearby mother and then one at her husband for good measure. They hurriedly turned away, both blushing.
“I regret this already,” Rowan mumbled into his hand.
“You called me for advice.”
Rowan looked up with a glare. “Which was poor judgment on my part.”
Ruben rolled his eyes. “Stop being such a prude. Order me breakfast and I’ll help you with your performance issues.”
“I don’t have performance issues,” Rowan said through gritted teeth.
Ruben eyed him up and down. “You sure? Big guy like you. Emotionally constipated. Lives to work. I figured you’d need help.” He made a crude jerking gesture with his hand.
Rowan reached across and slapped it. “Please stop.”
“If that’s what you do in the bedroom then I can help you find a specific crowd.”
“I don’t slap my dick!”
The whole diner was staring again, and Rowan cringed and hid behind his hair while Ruben laughed carelessly.
“I hate you,” Rowan whispered.
Ruben reached across and stole his tea, taking a huge gulp. “You say that to everyone.”
Rowan snatched the tea back. “Yeah, well, I really mean it with you.”
“But you haven’t left yet, so you must really need my help.”
That was unfortunately true.
“Order something first,” Rowan said, wanting to buy time so he could work up to it.
Ruben rolled his eyes before glancing over at the counter. He hummed contemplatively. “Is the waiter on the menu?”
“Ruben, I like this place. I don’t want a spurned conquest of yours spitting in my food because I remind him of you too much. Please stop making it impossible for me to go anywhere.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Tell that to the barista who kept giving me upside-down macchiatos.”
“You don’t like coffee, so that’s not the end of the world.”
