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He took a cab to the address on the note, and it brought him to the back gate of a botanical garden that was closed for the night. He paid the driver and then he was alone with his nerves and the smell of flowers.

Jasper’s brow furrowed, but he checked the gate, and it swung open. Who the fuck knows how he pulled this off, he thought as he locked the gate behind him. He let his hand rest on the black iron for a long moment before turning to face the gardens, an ocean of color bathed in golden lights affixed every few feet along the cobblestone path he now stood on. That path felt as symbolic as it was literal.

No going back now.

ten

Jasper’s platform boots were too loud on the stone path, but the idyllic array of flowers on all sides offered a temporary distraction from his nerves. Strong smells usually overwhelmed him but the floral scent flooding his senses was pleasant, and he couldn’t even begin to count the colors surrounding him, so bright that even his shadows wouldn’t dare to tread there.

The path ended at a stone fountain, illuminated by the same golden lights as the rest of the gardens, and Konrad stood in front of it.

He was wearing a burgundy suit, his black tie and black pocket square patterned with outlines of roses in the same shade of red. Jasper’s breath was arrested in his lungs. Fuck, he was stunning. Jasper’s feet felt less steady than they had a moment ago as they carried him closer to Konrad and the quiet trickle of water pouring into the base of the fountain. Jasper gave an uncertain smile as he stopped in front of him.

“You came,” Konrad said.

The awed surprise in those two words made it clear that Konrad really hadn’t known if he would show up. Jasper knew he’d created more than enough cause for uncertainty, and it made a pang of guilt throb in his chest.

But he could alleviate that doubt, even if only by a small increment.

Jasper stepped closer. “Nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said, his drawl slipping through. “The gardens are beautiful.”

“You said you liked flowers as long as they stayed outside. That created something of a challenge to giving you flowers on our first date, but not an insurmountable one.”

Jasper’s lips pulled up into something crooked and warm. “You’re something else, you know that?”

Konrad’s eyes lowered, then returned to meet his, and for once he seemed to be at a loss for all his fanciful words.

Jasper took his face in both hands and kissed him.

All his loud thoughts went quiet. He was laying claim to this night for himself, fear and doubt be goddamned. Konrad was frozen for a long moment, but then his hands settled on Jasper’s waist. Tentatively, at first, before holding him in earnest as he returned the kiss. His lips moved slowly, deliberately. Jasper was used to kisses feeling like a demand, but Konrad kissed like poetry.

They parted and Jasper ran his tongue over the inside of one of his snakebites. He looked down with a breathless laugh, staring at the toes of his boots against those of Konrad’s polished leather Oxfords. He let go of Konrad’s face and Konrad released his waist, taking one of his now empty hands and guiding him away from the fountain. Jasper couldn’t be more thankful for him taking the lead, because flustered wasn’t even close to a strong enough word for the fluttering in his stomach.

Konrad led him up the short set of stairs into a spacious gazebo, probably meant to hold a dozen or more people during business hours, but now it only held a single table in the center with two chairs. Jasper laughed and shook his head as Konrad pulled one of those chairs out. “Wow,” he said, sitting and letting Konrad push it in behind him. Maybe it was for the best if this was their only date, because there was no way Jasper could match this if he had to plan one himself.

A cluster of cream-colored votive candles burned in the middle of the table, surrounded by various flower petals. There were two covered plates, which Konrad lifted the covers from before sitting across from him. Konrad hadn’t been sure if he would show up, and he’d still gone to all this trouble, even with the possibility it could all go to waste. It was so much more than Jasper deserved.

“When did you get into cooking?” Jasper asked. He’d wondered before but never asked.

“I spent much of my childhood in the kitchen with our chef or my governess, when my parents would allow it. I always admired the way our meals were plated, like art that could nourish the body, and I believe I was seven when the chef first started to teach me.”

Governess. Personal chef. Jasper nodded slowly. “How rich is your family?” Maybe it was uncouth to ask outright, but he couldn’t even wrap his mind around an upbringing like that.

“My father owned a rather large company, and my mother was a countess. Money was never something we lacked.”

There was a touch of something in Konrad’s voice… disappointment? Sadness?

Whatever it was, it made Jasper think his family had lacked something, even if money had been no object. Konrad had mentioned spending time with the family’s staff but not his parents, so if Jasper were to hazard a guess, he would say Konrad’s parents hadn’t been especially warm.

Jasper was still processing that Konrad’s mother was a fucking countess.

Never mind being from different worlds, they didn’t even come from the same universe.

Konrad presented a question of his own. “When did you discover your love for art?”

“I kind of always liked to draw, even when I was a kid. But I was in my mid-twenties when I started tattooing. The guy I was dating at the time suggested it.” Jasper finally tried his food, giving a quiet hum and a nod of appreciation. He swallowed before asking, “So, are you gay? Where are you on that spectrum?”

Konrad looked thoughtful as he cut a piece of his filet mignon. “I’ve never subscribed to any particular label. I have felt romantic attraction to both sexes, but I’ve only experienced sexual attraction to masculine people. What about you?”