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The Teacher and the Soldier
ISBN # 978-1-78184-283-6
©Copyright RJ Scott 2013
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright March 2013
Edited by Tina Burns
Total-E-Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination
and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or
places is purely coincidental.
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Published in 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL,
United Kingdom.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This
story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.
This story contains 87 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book
containing 10 pages.
Book two in the Ellery Mountain Series
Ex-soldier, Daniel Skylar, falls hard and heavy for school teacher Luke Fitzgerald. How can he make
him stay in Ellery?
Luke Fitzgerald left Ellery Mountain for college and vowed never to come back. When his
father is murdered he has no choice but to return. Luke only goes home to sell off his share of
the Ellery Mountain Cabins, but everything changes when he meets the son of the other
owner. Daniel Skylar is an ex-soldier who lives every day to the limit and sees a future in
Luke.
It doesn’t matter what Daniel says, or how much he needs Luke. Luke isn’t staying once
everything is sold off. Surely Daniel can understand that?
Dedication
Always for my family.
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following
wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Diet Coke: Coca-Cola Company
Summer of ‘69: Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance
National Geographic: National Geographic Society
Hallmark Channel: Crown Media Holdings
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
6
Chapter One
Only the darkening sky told Luke Fitzgerald what time it was. His cell was in the car
with a dead battery and he never wore a watch. The evening was drawing in, and with it the
familiar coolness of a fall night in the mountains, and if he wasn’t careful he would get
caught in the regular evening rain he remembered from his childhood. Coming here, to
Ellery, to the place he’d called home for the first eighteen years of his life, was something he
had never thought he would do. Not all the time his dad had been alive anyway.
Leaning against the fence, he stared down at the town nestled in the V of the valley
caused by Ellery Mountain and Mercury Peak. Where he had been able to see things clearly a
few short minutes before, now everything was blurring in the deep grey-blue smudge of
evening light. Luke tracked the car’s progress by its headlights as it left the town and made
its way up into the mountain. There had been a few cars passing by today, but Luke was far
enough away from the road that no one had stopped to ask him what the hell he was doing
rooted to the same spot for hours.
Shifting his stance, Luke pulled away from the fence and stretched tall. His back ached,
his head hurt and he felt like shit. Driving straight through for eight hours was possibly the
worst decision he had made since he’d decided to come back to Ellery. His chiropractor was
going to have a cow when he assessed the damage Luke was doing to the already heavy
tension he carried through his back muscles and up into his neck.
The headlights shot momentarily through spaces in the fir trees on each bend. He
identified it on the last bend as a cop car, the white standing out against the dark of the trees.
When it pulled onto the shoulder next to his car, Luke wasn’t surprised. Cops were far more
attuned to spotting cars parked off the main road. The lights of the car meant he didn’t get a
good look at the cop until he was less than four paces away. The cop stood loose-hipped and
with his hand resting on the weapon in his holster. Peering through the gloom to the cop’s
face, Luke knew that fate was fucking with him. Not only had an Ellery cop found his hiding
place, but that Ellery cop was Corporal Finn Ryan.
Finn Ryan in the flesh. The man who was so closely involved in the death of Luke’s
dad. Christ. Way to slap what Luke had hoped to avoid right up in his face.
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
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“Is there a problem, sir?” Finn asked firmly.
Luke pushed his clenched fists into his pockets and stilled the rising anxiety in him.
“No problem, officer,” he said. “Just visiting town and spending a little time clearing
my head after a long drive.”
Finn took another step closer and a look of recognition passed over his face. Luke
remembered Finn as tall, dark and rangy as hell, although his memories were of a boy of
fifteen, not one of…what would it be now? Twenty-four? He’d been five years younger than
Luke if he remembered correctly. Luke really didn’t want to remember anything about
Ellery.
“Luke?” Finn looked momentarily taken aback before regaining his posture.
“Hi, Finn.”
They’d not been friends in school, just people who knew each other by sight. Luke was
at college whilst Finn was still a freshman. Of course Finn, being a resident, would have
heard all the rumours about him and his dad. Hell, he probably knew everything that had
happened. Familiar resentment built inside Luke. He was bigger than that, bigger than his
dad’s abuse, or his mom’s abandonment, bigger than this town. He would not let this place
drag him down again however hard they tried.
“You missed the funeral,” Finn offered. There was no accusation in his voice. He was
simply making a statement and one that hung in the air with no possible answer Luke could
give. Or at least not one that didn’t involve reiterating the contents of two years of
counselling sessions and eight years of living his life.
“Busy,” was all Luke eventually offered in response. Finn didn’t call him on the excuse.
“You’ve been up here a while, Luke. Widow Jenn called it in. Said a stranger had been
standing here for hours and he was just staring down at town.”
Luke shrugged. He couldn’t deny the hours had passed as he’d gazed down at the town
and the tiny distant shapes of gravestones in the far churchyard of St Jeremiahs. He had
deliberately stayed up here until darkness had begun to creep over the mountain. Call it self-
preservation but there was no way he was driving into Ellery in the daylight. He changed the
subject.
“Widow Jenn is still alive?” he said. Finn took the change of subject in his stride and
nodded.
“Ninety-eight and thriving on ten a day with a glass of whisky,” he said.
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
8
“She still has those binoculars?” Luke snorted a laugh. Widow Jenn was one of the
more colourful characters in the town and when he was younger she’d had her fingers in so
many pies—evidently that hadn’t changed.
“You got somewhere to stay?” Finn asked.
“Is that cop-speak for what the fuck am I doing?” Shit. That was a gut reaction. Luke
regretted the words as soon as they’d left his mouth. It wasn’t Finn’s fault, any of this. He
hadn’t been a cop back when Luke had had to leave town.
“No,” Finn said evenly. “I assume you’re back to deal with the Ellery Resort issue.”
Luke narrowed his eyes and regarded the solid calm presence of Finn Ryan in his
uniform. Finn hadn’t mentioned once about Luke visiting his dad’s grave, which meant
inside the cop’s head he was filing away what he knew about Luke and making assumptions.
Never mind they were the right ones. It pissed Luke off that people assumed he would do
things a certain way because of who he used to be. Not this town, not his dad, not even his
cheating ex had the right to get inside Luke’s head and presume they knew what he was
doing.
“I am,” Luke said. He extended a hand for Finn to shake. The cop didn’t hesitate. He
shook Luke’s hand with a firm grip.
“We probably need to talk,” Finn said gently. “About what happened. About my part in
it.”
“No need for talking. What’s done is done.”
“The man who wanted to kill me—”
“I said no.” Luke couldn’t stop the panic in his voice if he tried, and it scared him to be
showing it to the very first person who crossed his path. Finn held up a hand to indicate
okay.
“I need to make a move. I booked in at the hotel.”
“Nice to see you again.” Finn offered the few words with an awful lot of sincerity. The
whole sentence made Luke shudder inwardly. He didn’t need platitudes.
Luke didn’t answer. Not when his only answer would be, ‘wish I could say the same’.
He climbed into his car and made it to the outskirts of town in a few minutes with Finn not
far behind. The night was really upon Luke by the time he arrived at the reception of the
Mountain View Hotel. Paperwork signed and card scanned as a deposit, he finally got to his
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
9
room when the clock on the bedside cabinet showed eight p.m. He put his phone on the
charger, then on autopilot, he took a shower in the clean and tidy bathroom.
The bed was comfortable and the TV had cable—all the comforts of home. He ate an
energy bar to settle the hunger in his belly and when he’d run out of excuses for himself he
checked his charging cell. He’d been avoiding the damn thing for a week and there was one
hell of a lot of missed calls and texts. Silently he scrolled through the texts, which started off
angry, moved to pleading, then to demanding. The last one was Zach completely losing it,
and hell, Luke couldn’t blame him.
Zach was the one who had been cheating. The one who had outwardly destroyed
everything they’d had over the course of the last two years. But Luke had let him. He knew
that. He’d allowed Zach to control him and his life, fallen into that easy pattern of behaviour
where he’d hid his own wants and needs to keep someone else happy. No wonder Zach had
cheated on him, when Luke had changed his personality so drastically.
Tell me you at least got there safe. A simple text and at last one he could answer.
Here, he replied.
He thought about what else he should say. He and Zach had been together six years
and had a mortgage together. He wanted nothing of the investment in their small condo,
which was scraped and saved for with his teacher salary and Zach’s money as a
veterinarian’s assistant. Luke owed Zach some response. The paperwork for transferring
everything into Zach’s name should have been dealt with weeks ago. But they’d arrived the
same day he’d heard about his dad then they had just sat there. He’d proved his dad right.
He had nothing that would last forever and he’d fucked up big time.
Sighing, he added, signing and sending tomorrow.
As soon as he’d sent it, he then deleted all the voicemails without listening to them—
several from Zach and three from an unknown number. He couldn’t face listening to
anything. He was done.
* * * *
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
10
Daniel Skylar was way beyond angry. Everything had gone from a good start in the
morning to where he was now angry, frustrated and ready to get on his bike and leave the
meeting. Bill Abbot sat there with a concerned but supportive expression and all Daniel
wanted to do was punch him one. Irrational and misplaced anger was something Daniel
didn’t do and he hated that he was focusing his frustrations on the planning officer.
“Zoning will not allow the use, Daniel. I don’t know how many times I have to say
that.”
“It’s a damn house,” Daniel snapped. Energy coursed through him and made him
unable to sit still. In seconds he was up and pacing. He hated being inside at the best of times
but in this stuffy planning office—with one small window and a view of a concrete wall—he
was trapped like a rat.
Bill held up his hand in a plea for calm. “That’s as may be, but it’s a house in a
residential area—”
“Next to a residential area, backing onto the woods, not actually in amongst houses,”
Daniel defended. He felt like he was banging his head against a brick wall. He’d sat in the
residents’ meeting and explained exactly what he wanted to do yet all he’d got was passive
aggressive bullshit thrown at him.
“The meeting could have gone better,” Bill said. “I’m not sure that they thought you
were a serious proposition to run this kind of place.” Bill had added emphasis to the word
place.
What the hell? Bill was supposed to be there in the meeting to support Daniel and now
he thought it was a good idea to make observations like that? “What do you mean serious
proposition?”
“The tattoos don’t help.” Bill shrugged.
Daniel ignored the comment.
“Parents,” Bill continued, “are concerned about their kids—”
“What? These men are heroes who put their lives at risk to protect their country and
suddenly they’re a danger to children?” Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing Bill say
and despite the fact that he had come across as a nice guy, he was still talking shit.
“You know there’s no rationalising with the ‘Not In My Back Yard’ groups, Daniel. I’m
sorry. I tried my hardest.”
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11
Daniel stopped pacing. The house he had found was isolated as much as it could be
near a large city like Knoxville and had enough rooms to help maybe up to eight veterans
back from Afghanistan. It was perfect. What should he do? Fight this? Try to see this from
the side of the residents?
He deflated. Of course I should.
If he had kids then maybe having eight ex-soldiers invalided from war and moving into
his neighbourhood was something he would be fighting. Hell, residents had all probably
seen films featuring ex-forces guys with PTSD and had pre-formed opinions. He’d actually
lived it and had seen it first-hand and he should remember they hadn’t. He wanted the place
to be close to the hospital in the city, that was paramount, but what if he downgraded it?
Maybe if he just looked at minor injuries, psych evaluations and support—thought smaller
maybe…?
“What do you want to do, Daniel?”
Daniel looked at Bill and used the focus to think about what next. Where was
inspiration when he needed it? Ellery had a hospital, but was Ellery ready for a place for
veterans? Could the hospital have any thought of helping? Frustration rolled inside him.
“Give me a couple of days to think on it. I’m not pushing this one. I don’t want a battle
that can’t be won. I want somewhere these guys can go where people welcome them and
give them space, not pull them into a nest of resentment.” God, how many times had he said
this? After his three months in hospital he had come home to Ellery and people had been
pleased to see him, had supported him. His mom was such a big part of the town. Would it
have been different if she hadn’t been? “I have some ideas,” he said.
“I’m sorry, son,” Bill said. His tone was rueful and gentle and the frustration inside
Daniel subsided a little.
“It’s not your fault, Bill.”
After goodbyes, Daniel left and for a few minutes, stood by his bike and considered his
next move. Left would take him out of Nashville and up into the next state. The Carolinas on
his bike seemed like a mighty fine option for a guy with no ties and enough cash behind him
to last a year or two of drifting. Right was back to Ellery—up into the smoky mountains and
to his mom. Home. The only thing that had really kept him alive after it had all gone to shit
under the blazing sun of the Afghan sky.
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12
He started the bike and pulled away, aiming right. He had a list of things to do in his
head. First stop was St Martin’s hospital. Liam Wolf, the chief doctor at the hospital, was a
good guy and maybe he would know if the hospital would have the funding to support some
kind of community outreach programme. Maybe Daniel had been thinking about this the
wrong way. Maybe Ellery was the place to make something that would mean the same
support he’d received was available to others?
Two hours later he pulled up outside the hospital and parked his bike next to Liam’s
BMW. The damn thing was so shiny he could see his face in it and he smiled at the teasing he
would throw at Liam. Liam had once spent so long polishing the ten year old car that Daniel
had suggested Liam should marry the damn thing. They’d become close when Daniel had
needed medical support here in his home town, they’d even kissed, then had fallen apart
laughing at what they had done, vowing to never do it again. Liam was all blond hair, blue
eyes and confident, in your face, stubborn. Too similar to Daniel in one respect, that stubborn
confidence in both men would be bound to clash.
He made his way down two corridors to the staff room and let himself in. People here
were used to Daniel just dropping in on the staff, all of whom he called friends. There was no
one in there, but the coffee machine worked and he threw some dollars in the honesty jar and
made himself a coffee. Liam would make his way here finally. The hospital wasn’t large,
maybe ten beds and three doctors. Most major trauma cases were moved to Knoxville, but
Liam had been talking of expanding—taking on more paramedics assigned to the place and
getting their harassed administrator some support. Daniel had listened to his friend long
enough to know Liam would listen now.
A text alert sounded and Daniel checked the screen, smiling as he read a text from
Kieran Dexter. His friend’s message was characteristically short and to the point. Whilst
Kieran could talk the hind legs off of a donkey, when he texted he managed to keep
everything crisp.
Bring more beer and Diet Coke.
Every Friday he and Kieran met up with Finn Ryan and drank beer. Well, to be fair Finn
only drank beer when he was off duty, which was clearly tonight if Kieran’s text was
anything to go by. Then again, Finn had taken to bringing his fireman lover Max with him,
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
13
and hell, that boy could down Diet Coke like no tomorrow. Nice guy, Max. A man of action
who had saved Finn’s life not once but three times, he had earned his right to sit with them
on a Friday for beers. Being gay in a small town, it was self-preservation to have some time to
meet and shoot the shit. Maybe he should ask Liam to join them? The kiss may not have
worked, but Daniel wanted some of what Finn and Max had—affection and laughter… and
sex. Well, at the very least the sex part. Maybe he and Liam could just skip all the
relationship stuff that made them laugh with the absurdity of it all and move to a friends-
with-benefits arrangement. Liam was pretty—very pretty. And his lips would look very nice
wrapped around Daniel’s dick.
Daniel shifted in the lumpy seat a little as his dick began to fill at the thought.
“Where did you go?” Liam’s voice, filled with laughter, jerked him out of his thoughts.
“You’ve got the heel of your hand pressing your dick and your tongue was poking out.”
“Fuck you,” Daniel replied quickly. Glancing down he realised Liam had been speaking
the truth. It was a good thing that it was Liam who had walked in and not Abby the
administrator, or one of the nurses. “Get out of my head,” he added.
Liam snorted a laugh in response and filled a cup with the bitter black brew. He drank
it with extra cream and sugar—something Daniel shuddered at. Liam may well want the frou
frou, but Daniel liked his coffee black and strong.
“You’re not due in until next week,” Liam said. He always said things like that.
Unspoken was that sometimes Daniel needed to sit somewhere quiet where no one asked
stupid questions and that him sitting in here was perfectly fine.
“Missed your ugly face,” Daniel said. Then he smiled and settled back on the sofa. “Do
you have ten?”
Liam checked his watch. “Ten is all I have. Abby has me on a short leash.” Not an inch
over five feet, the tiny woman was hospital administrator and yes, she knew exactly how to
work her resources, including Liam.
“You asked me what I was going into Knoxville for.” Daniel hesitated.
Liam raised his eyebrows in question. He’d suggested Daniel was disappearing to the
city for tail and Daniel had never said anything different.
“Do I need to sit down?” Liam sat anyway then leant forward expectantly.
“It’s kind of simple really, but I wasn’t ready to share. See, I have this idea. A place for
vets like me to get some down time, space to think, some medical help. Nothing major,” he
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
14
added quickly. “No trauma surgeon stuff…y’know, just mind fuck shit like me.” He circled a
finger at his temple then tapped himself on the forehead.
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that,” Liam said. He sounded like Doctor-grumpy-Liam
and Daniel smiled at his friend’s immediate defence of him.
“Whatever. Just the place I found in Knoxville was a bust. Too much local protesting
against plans and not enough understanding.”
“You mean the whole ‘I’m not having a vet with a gun in my garden’ stuff?”
Daniel frowned. How had Liam hit the nail on the head so quickly? It had taken Daniel
this long to get his head around the constant battle to get people to see there is such a thing
as an acceptable risk.
“Yeah,” he offered. “That.”
“I can see where they’re coming from. Wait—” He held up a hand to stop Daniel from
talking. “Playing devil’s advocate here, reading some of the stuff people put online about
crazy vets wielding guns kinda sits in your head. Not everyone comes back with problems
and has the strength of mind to be able to help themselves like you did.”
“I didn’t have PTSD—”
“A healthy dose of survivors guilt though, Dan. You have to admit that one. So what do
you need to talk to me about?”
“I just want to know, if I got planning approval for something here, would the hospital
support an outreach programme, work with these kids like you did me?” Daniel leant
forward, mimicking Liam’s posture. This was a vital question to be asking. He had given
himself away calling them kids. A lot of these guys would be younger than him, it was the
nature of warfare, but Daniel for some reason—today—he felt older than his years. For a few
seconds Liam looked to be thinking. Then in a flurry of motion he rose and placed his dirty
coffee mug in the small desktop dishwasher. His back to Daniel he carried on the
conversation as if there hadn’t been a pause.
“Where do I sign up?”
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
15
Chapter Two
The beer slid down so smoothly, and after his third, Daniel felt his anger and aggression
from earlier in the day moving to one side, allowing peace to wash over him. Max had just
arrived and given how long Finn had been in the hallway with his lover they were clearly
giving each other a very thorough hello. Kieran was on his third beer as well and grinned at
Daniel. He’d been looking at Daniel in a very odd way since he’d got there and had almost
started a conversation when Max’s arrival interrupted his flow. He kept glancing at the door
behind which Max and Finn were getting some privacy and Daniel wondered how long
Kieran could keep in whatever was bugging him. Finally Kieran appeared to lose the will for
patience.
“Heard you told Liam what you’ve been doing in K-ville,” he said. There was an
expression of utter innocence on his face, but Daniel wasn’t falling for it.
“I only talked to him this morning.”
“Saw him at the diner. Taken you long enough to tell him.”
“Uh huh.”
Silence. Daniel loved that Kieran sat there trying to get more information out of him.
Clearly all Liam had said was that Daniel had spoken to him.
“So spill,” Kieran said. “And no shit about finding sex. We all know you haven’t had
any since you got back on US soil.”
Christ. Kieran had said that like he was commenting on the weather. Of course Daniel
hadn’t got with anyone. Apart from some nebulous idea of going with Liam for mutual
release, the thought of sex with another person was low on his list. A scarred and battle worn
soldier with no career or prospects to talk about was hardly partner material despite what he
wanted. Thing is, hearing his pitiful sex life reduced to a single sentence of dismissal from his
friend, even said in jest, was a sad indictment on his life.
“Had more than you,” he snapped back but with little heat.
“That’s not difficult,” Kieran said with a grimace. “I spend my entire life fixating on
straight guys.”
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
16
Daniel laughed and his laughter heralded the return of Finn and, in tow, a very tall
broad Max, who looked kiss-dazed and a little shell-shocked. Max took the double sofa, Finn
grabbed two beers and curled up next to him. Seeing his friend so happy filled Daniel with a
mix of contradictory feelings. Happiness—after all Finn was a good guy and he should have
the best. Sadness—Finn was one of the ‘Friday’s’ single gay men traversing the tricky world
of being gay in a small town. Jealous—because Daniel really wanted someone like Finn. An
aspiration that one day could be achieved.
“Luke Fitzgerald is back in town.” Finn had said this before Daniel had been able to
open his mouth about the hostel idea. “He was up on Hill drive parked there for hours
looking down at the town, Widow Jenn called it in.”
“He’s actually here?” Daniel asked.
“Got here last night. Holed up in the hotel room. Came out to post a letter and went
back in. Not seen him all day.”
“Should I be worried that you’re stalking this guy?” Max joked. Finn frowned then
smiled.
“Nope,” he said. “Really nice looking guy, but you know I like firemen.” Max leant
down for a kiss and Kieran huffed his disapproval at the stop in talking.
“Get a room or give a proper show,” Kieran grumped. “After you tell us how he is.”
“Changed,” Finn said gently. “Looks tired.”
Daniel sighed. “I’ve been trying to get hold of him for two weeks. Every call goes to
voicemail and the reply to the email I sent was short to the point of rude. Asshole.”
“What is your mom planning to do with the cabins?” Kieran asked this with concern
colouring his words. He worked for Daniel’s mom as a carpenter and general handyman.
Daniel knew Kieran was worried, as was his mom. To get someone buying up the cabins
who wanted nothing more than to change everything was Daniel and his mom’s worst
nightmare.
“God knows. We need to talk to this Luke guy. The estate from Mike passed to him as
the only son and he’s screwing with me. I can’t get a straight answer from him or his
lawyers. It’s all evasion.” He took another swig of beer to tamp down his anger.
“You think he will sell?”
Daniel shrugged then didn’t say anything else. With the death of Luke’s dad, Luke
actually owned the other half of the Ellery resort. Daniel’s mom owned the remaining fifty
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
17
per cent. Mike Fitzgerald, drunk and all round waster, had pretty much left the running of
the entire cabin complex to Brenda Skylar.
He’d been murdered with a gunshot to the face. Then his body had been left on the
porch of his cabin which had been burned to the ground. The resultant call out of the
volunteer fireman, including Max, had left Finn exposed and vulnerable. It soon had become
obvious that that had been the point. The fire had been set deliberately and a man murdered
just for a distraction. Jeez. He didn’t even want to think of that night with Neil standing over
Finn with a gun, moments away from killing him too.
“Poor Luke,” Kieran said. “I don’t blame him that he left and never came back.”
“Until today,” Finn pointed out.
“What happened? What’s this Luke’s story?” Max asked when the others, Daniel
included, went quiet.
Finn sighed. “He left town to go to college. Never came back. Heard he got his degree
and is a teacher in Richmond. No one knows the real reason why he never came back but
everyone had their theories. Mike, his dad, was an ex-labourer, inherited half of Ellery
Cabins from his own daddy, who, story tells, was as much of a stubborn drunk bastard as
Mike was. Kind of a sad story, Mike really lost it when his dad died. His wife walked out on
him and Luke, who’d been sixteen at the time. The rest is conjecture and local gossip, but
when Luke left, his dad never saw a day without being drunk off his ass.”
“Broken family,” Max said softly.
“Everyone knows Mike was abusive and threw his weight around, backed up with his
fists where Luke was concerned,” Kieran blurted out.
Finn frowned at first. Daniel had heard the same stories, but he guessed Finn might
actually know more family history than either he or Kieran, being a cop and all. Finally Finn
summarised where he stood. “There were a lot of things that happened that we will never
know about.”
Kieran was evidently letting it lie at that. He continued, “I saw Luke once. He was
running this basketball training session and you remember how desperate I was to play
basketball?” Daniel recalled Kieran being short all through school and at five nine he wasn’t
any taller now. He didn’t remember basketball training, but then Kieran and Finn weren’t
exactly in his football themed social circle.
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
18
“I remember you wearing the uniform,” Finn said. “When you were what? Twelve or
so?”
“Yeah, he spent some time with me then. Showed me how being in sports wasn’t all
about height. I liked him. Then he came out and he did it so effortlessly and not one person
thought it was wrong. I kind of looked up to him.”
Daniel tried to recall Luke in school. He seemed to sum up images of a gentle smile and
brown hair but other than that his memory was sketchy. He was too involved in football and
being ‘the man’ to see anything outside his limited peripheral vision.
“Oh God.” Kieran buried his face in his hands and actually blushed. “I remember
something else. We were in the showers,” Kieran continued. “You gotta think though, I was a
teenager who wanted to see it all, and I’d just got my head around being gay, and there is
this guy standing in the shower and when he closed his eyes to wash his hair I could look. At
everything. So there I am busy looking and he turned his back to me. I don’t know, maybe he
forgot I was there or something, but his back was covered in these bruises. Great big
blooming bruises, all kinds of colours. Could have been anything, but I wouldn’t discount his
dad beating on him.”
Kieran sat back in his chair, his story done. Daniel looked immediately at Finn, waiting
for Finn to say something that made everything right. That Kieran was wrong and that Luke
Fitzgerald hadn’t been abused at the hand of his own father. When Finn did nothing except
frown, bile rose in Daniel’s throat. He despised bullies and adding kids into the equation was
the nail in the coffin. Daniel felt anger on Luke’s behalf. He’d never liked Mike or understood
why Finn or his peers at the cop shop had decided it was a good idea to pander to his
alcoholic binges. Finn had told him there was no point in arresting the guy if he was doing
nothing except walking around town in a drunken state.
Daniel privately held the opinion that the man would have benefited from a short sharp
shock. He’d been offensive to Brenda Skylar on many an occasion and Daniel hated the man
for doing that to his mom. Anyway. He wasn’t going to focus on that. This was about finding
out where the hell Luke Fitzgerald was and how the hell he was going to pin the man down.
“I need to go see him. Mom and I need some answers,” he announced. “Him and Mom
need to meet up to sort out the cabins. I can’t afford to buy in, but if he wants to sell I can
maybe influence who buys in. Meanwhile she’s worrying about the whole thing.” He helped
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
19
as much as he could, but he wasn’t the person who could co-sign on decisions. Luke
Fitzgerald was.
“Last thing you need is some asshole buyer fucking up what your mom has worked so
hard to create,” Kieran said.
Kieran had a valid point and one that worried Daniel and his mom. Yes, Kieran had a
stake in the cabins continuing as they were, after all it was his job, but he was also fiercely
loyal to Benda Skylar, for which Daniel loved him like a brother.
“So,” Kieran said, “Daniel has news.”
Daniel inhaled as Finn and Max looked at him expectantly. The change in direction of
conversation was disorientating and he had to take a minute to get his thoughts together.
How did he start explaining this? He hadn’t told his friends half of what he had been fighting
in his head since he’d left the theatre of war. They knew he was different from the confident
jock he had been at school—they knew he had vulnerabilities they had never seen before in
him. But…to know the full story? When he’d phoned Finn and suggested meeting up with
Kieran, six months before, it had been the first the other two had heard about him being gay,
let alone adding in the nightmares and stress that kept him awake some nights. In the end he
felt that, like ripping off a sticking plaster, speed was the only way to get this done.
“I’ve been seeing Liam.”
“Liam?” Max asked.
“At St Martin’s hospital. He’s a doctor there,” Finn explained to Max.
“Cute, blond, blue eyes? Oh yeah, him I’ve met.” Max smirked. Finn narrowed his eyes
when Max shrugged and pulled Finn in for a close hug.
“Keep going,” Kieran prompted Daniel.
“So when I came back here from war six months ago, I had some neurological
problems—nerve damage, scarring.” He rolled his right shoulder at the memories of it all
and winced at the tug of ache as he moved. He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to what
had happened to him. He paused allowing anyone to comment, but when he focused on his
friends they simply looked at him steadily. He had support here. “I also carried back some
emotional weight. Survivor’s guilt, PTSD, the usual shit. When what you’ve seen and done is
put up against how much your mind can actually cope with.”
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20
“Don’t belittle what you went through Dan,” Kieran said softly. He had leant forward
in his chair, his elbows on his knees and the bottle of beer dangling from one hand. His usual
smile filled expression was dead serious and he had compassion in his blue eyes.
Daniel hesitated again. He could at this point dive into a whole essay on what he had
felt, what had made him seek out Finn and Kieran when he came back to town. They hadn’t
been close friends at school. Finn was the quiet studious one. Kieran—Finn’s best friend—
was the class clown. He had been the jock—one with no worries or cares and the whole
world out there for taking. He didn’t say a single thing or explain further—there was no
need. No one, not even Max, who was new here, was looking for validation.
“It was good coming home to this place,” Daniel said. “Getting support from you guys
and talking to the Doc was important. So, I had an idea that this would be a good place for
other ex-soldiers who need somewhere to go. The reason I’ve been going into K-ville is that I
was looking for a place near a hospital that I could get converted to a centre for young
veterans like me.”
“You need us to volunteer,” Kieran said immediately.
“I can get the guys to help,” Max offered.
“Whatever you need,” Finn interrupted.
Daniel held up his hand to stop the words that tripped from his friend’s’ tongues. He
smiled inwardly. They hadn’t heard the rest of it. What would they think of having
something like this in the middle of their own town?
“The K-ville place fell through. I was talking to the Doc about maybe doing something
here in Ellery instead.”
“I’ll talk to my dad,” Kieran said immediately. Kieran’s dad was Mayor of Ellery for at
least another ten months and Kieran could talk him into most things. It would be good to get
the Mayor on his side.
“If we found something on the outskirts of town,” Finn interjected. “Maybe some place
that backed onto the Park and up to the mountain then there would be space. I’m guessing
there would be cases with claustrophobia, anxiety attacks—”
“I have some experience with PTSD in a couple of my friends,” Max added. “I attended
counselling sessions, I’m happy to volunteer.”
Daniel felt every ounce of breath-stealing stress leave him in a second. He wasn’t one
man thinking this was a good thing. He had Doc on his side. A cop on his side in Finn, a
THE TEACHER AND THE SOLDIER RJ Scott
21
fireman with experience of counselling in PTSD in Max, and Kieran with his natural positive
outlook on life. All on his side. Kieran reached down the side of the sofa and pulled out his
netbook. Turning it on, he looked up at Daniel expectantly and all thoughts of beer forgotten
he simply said, “Ideas then…”
* * * *
For the hundredth time in the last hour, Luke reached to open his room door then
stopped mere inches of touching the cold metal handle.
“Fucking stupid,” he cursed loudly. Jeez. If someone was standing outside this door
waiting for him to open it they would think he was losing his mind. But then he was losing it,
wasn’t he? He was freaking losing it big time. He needed to get out. Outside in the cool
mountain air to breathe properly. He had to stop this crap in his head where people from his
childhood accosted him in the street. Even if he did meet someone who had known him
before, and known what had happened, no one would ask him questions. Why would they?
Ellery was a small town, but there were still over two thousand people, and only a small
percentage would even know he was related to Mike Fitzgerald. No one would ask him how
he was or how he felt about his dad being murdered. No one would ask him if he blamed
Finn Ryan for his dad’s death. No one could possibly think to suggest that Luke was
grieving.
Freaking small towns.
Stalking the short distance to his window he angled himself so he could see out without
people seeing him standing there. His view of the town was slightly different here, across
Main and up to the peaks opposite Ellery. He could see the lawyer’s office from here and
imagined the name Bryan Grover on the small silver plaque that was reflecting the sun into
his eyes. He had an appointment there in a few days when Bryan returned from wherever
the hell he had conveniently disappeared to. Paperwork on the cabins signed, he could be on
his way and off to Colorado where the promise of a new job and a new start beckoned. His
mom had worked in that place as a secretary. She’d never wanted the cabins, or her husband,
or so it appeared, her son. She’d left when Luke had just been a few days past sixteen. Had
left then died in a car wreck a few months later. Luke closed his eyes. He wished he missed
her, but she’d gone and she hadn’t cared about him. Why should he care?
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22
Fucking memories.
His cell sounded again. The same number that had been plaguing him the last few days
and yet another message. He made a move to delete. This was stupid, avoiding calls, staying
in his room for the second day. Pressing play he held the phone to his ear.
“I’m hoping this is the right number for Luke Fitzgerald. This is Daniel Skylar. Again. Finn told
me you are in town. I’m at the diner for the next hour and will hang around until you come in or I’ll
come find you at the hotel.”
Luke hadn’t listened to previous messages so he didn’t know if the other ones had been
polite enquiries, but this message was something new entirely. There was an edge to this
Daniel’s tone, and a subtle threat. Seems like if he didn’t go to Skylar then Skylar was coming
to him. He recognised the surname though. Clearly something to do with Brenda Skylar, the
other owner of Ellery Cabins. The same one who had emailed him and who he had passed on
to his lawyers. The inevitability of having to meet up with people in the town hit Luke
between the eyes. He had to do something to get his life back on track and the first thing was
to sort out the money tied to his dead parent. Everything came to him—fifty per cent of the
cabins and probably a few empty bank accounts and debt. Another headache he didn’t need.
He wanted to sell his stake in the cabins and use the money to try to find the peace he
thought he’d had with Zach.
Of course he hadn’t needed to come to town to do that. He could have just called this all
in from home, but something in him told him it was time to face the past. It could have been
splitting from Zach, losing his job, money or his age. Any one of those things was in his head
at any given time demanding that he laid some ghosts to rest.
He moved to the door again. Then stopped. Consciously he searched for a reason that
meant he could just get in his car and go without seeing a single person. He came up empty.
Shoulders back he pushed his way out of the room and into the hallway. He met no one on
his way downstairs and ended up in reception where the only things separating him from
outside were two swinging doors. Anxiety gnawed away inside him and he counted
backwards from ten to still the rising panic. He hadn’t suffered from panic attacks since he
had been nineteen and there was no fucking way he was letting this town push him back to
what he used to be. No. Freaking. Way.
The step out onto the sidewalk would have looked to anyone else like that of a tourist
checking out his locale, but Luke was checking for pedestrians to see if there was anyone he
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23
needed to avoid. He’d had his fill of locale when Finn had found him. The diner was maybe
two minutes’ walk and in those two minutes he only met five people, all who simply walked
past with no comment. The diner itself was much as he remembered. The red sign
proclaiming Ellery Diner remained a gaudy red and there was a chalkboard on the side wall
listing the specials. He opened the door and wasn’t shocked when every single eye turned
his way. That was nothing new. Both city and small town people always wanted up in his
business.
“Luke?” A voice said from his left. Luke swivelled to face the owner of the voice and
blinked into the darker corner. His eyes took a little time to adjust, but when they did Luke
couldn’t help the instant appreciation of a Grade-A male despite the panic that fought his
interest. He stepped forward and shook the guy’s hand.
“Daniel?” he asked carefully.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Daniel said. His voice was low and sexy and… I am so not
going there.
“Sorry. I was busy doing…work…” Luke didn’t know what the hell else to say. He’d
actually been hiding in his room and if Daniel knew Finn then he would probably be fully
aware Luke hadn’t moved from his room. Luke had seen Finn outside the hotel on a few
occasions. Paranoia had him thinking the cop was checking up on him. Or more likely
wanting that chat about Luke’s dad’s death that Luke would only be having over his own
dead body.
“Coffee?” Daniel didn’t call him on the work thing. He was either being polite or Luke
was being paranoid that everyone was talking about his return.
“Please.”
Daniel waved to someone behind Luke then shuffled in his seat and appraised Luke.
Luke did the same. Daniel wore sunglasses that covered his eyes and his buzz cut screamed
authority figure. A cop like Finn? Forces maybe? The way he held himself, all cool, sharp
confidence was what Luke aspired to and for a second jealousy spiked through him. I wish I
was this self-assured and calm and certain. He recalled Daniel from school, four years behind
him. Daniel had been the up and coming jock guy, the one with the girls on his arm and the
top of the heap attitude. And he had admitted in the call he had spoken to Finn. Interesting.
“You’re a hard guy to pin down, Fitzgerald. Been trying a while now. Thinking you
were avoiding my lawyers.”
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24
“I know.” Luke could lie, but what was the point? He had to stop himself from tripping
over himself with excuses and explanations when there were none that made any sense. It
made him look stupid.
“Paperwork arrived for your half of the cabins. Our lawyers have been trying to track
you down for weeks, because the papers need signing and we should sit and talk the future.
Bryan Grover has the master deeds and you need to sign them.”
“I have an appointment to do that.”
“Good to hear. Mom will want to set up some meetings to go over planning, but for the
time being it’s me you’re dealing with.” The coffee arrived and Daniel grinned up at the
barely legal waitress with a wide and sexy smile that changed his features from forbidding to
relaxed in a moment. He was less intimidating with a smile.
“You eating, Danny?”
“Nothing for me. Luke?”
The waitress turned to Luke and whistled low. “You the reason he keeps going to K-
ville?” she asked with a leer.
“Monique,” Daniel muttered.
“Well some pretty boy has him out catting all hours.” She smirked. She sashayed away
and Daniel sighed heavily.
“Small towns,” he said then cursed more to himself than to Luke. “Monique’s family is
new to town, but you wouldn’t know it the way she gets up into people’s business.”
“Uh, huh,” was all Luke could say. So, gorgeous guy liked men, interesting. Impossible,
but interesting. Luke wriggled in his chair when he had a rush of interest shooting south to
his groin. He attempted to get more comfortable and focused on the banded tattoo around
Daniel’s left upper arm and the crest on his right. There was nothing he liked more than
defined tattoos on a man’s muscled arm.
“You didn’t make it back for your dad’s funeral.”
The words pulled Luke out of his musings and he wondered if he had been caught
staring. Then he realised what the statement was and his back straightened.
“No.” Simple answer to a guileless statement really. Daniel didn’t appear to be digging
for information.
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25
“Cabin four is free if you want it. Your dad’s old place is gone. We took photos if you
want to see where it was and where your dad died, but all that is there now is an empty
space and some remaining debris that is roped off.”
Luke shook his head minutely. “No thank you,” he refused politely. The town he could
just about manage, but seeing the place where he had lost everything was not on his to-do
list.
Daniel was still talking. “We’ll need some investment to get a new cabin built there, but
we decided on leaving it a season. So yes, I can get the photos off of mom if you want them.”
“I don’t need verification in pictures of his place,” Luke snapped. Was Daniel being
deliberately deaf to what he was saying here? “I know he’s dead.”
Daniel held up his hands in defence. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean anything by that. Just
sometimes when you’re bereaved there’s a need for closure.”
“I’m not bereaved,” Luke retorted. He began counting down from ten again and
covered the awkwardness after that somewhat final statement by blowing on the steaming
coffee in his mug.
“Okaaay,” Daniel drawled. “So, yeah, cabin four is yours. You want me to take you up
there or do you remember where it is? I assume you have a rental around here?”
“Yes, I have a rental. No, I don’t want to move into four. And hell, why are you
shutting four? This is peak season you should keep it open.” Luke may well have left ten
years ago, but he had been raised in this shithole town and he was well aware when the
smoky mountain souvenirs sold best. Daniel narrowed his expression and his stance
stiffened. Clearly he had an issue with Luke pointing this out to him.
“It’s in need of some work. It’s closed down for maintenance and overhaul,” Daniel
finally said.
“I don’t want it.” Luke had answered so quickly that Daniel was bound to have seen the
flash of fire in his eyes at the cascade of bitterness inside him.
“Seems silly to be paying for a hotel when—”
“For fuck’s sake, back off. I’m not going anywhere near the cabins,” Luke snapped.
Stop. You are being way too emotional here. Daniel is going to start asking questions. Pull this back.
Inhaling deeply then letting the breath out in a steady flow he calmed himself down. “I’m
selling my share as soon as we find a buyer,” he said.
“Selling? We thought you might. But it’s been in your family for three generations—”
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26
“I don’t want it. Why would I want a place in bum fuck Tennessee in a bigoted and
blind dying town doing something I don’t want to do?” So much for calm and determined.
“Sorry, Mr Skylar, but you and your mother can go fuck yourselves. You’ve had your face to
face time with me and I’ve said my piece. Please pass all communication through our
lawyers in future.”
Daniel’s face held shock at his abrupt summing up of the situation. Luke pushed up
and out of his chair and left the diner as quickly as he could. Luke hadn’t entirely meant for
the announcement to come out that way, but his brain was mush and his mouth was on auto-
speak without his brain being involved. He turned right as soon as he left the door then right
again until he followed the alley down the side of the diner.
“Wait! What the fuck?” Daniel caught up way too fast and was there at his side,
grabbing his arm and asking him to stop. Asshole had followed him from the diner. He was
right up in Luke’s space. Luke shrugged off the hold—he had a spike of fear as the grip was
difficult to shake—then turned on his heel and carried on the way he had been walking. He
kept going until he could walk no more and ended up at the bank of River Black that tracked
its way down from Ellery Peak under the town, and beyond. The sound of the water was
soothing and he allowed it to centre him even as he sensed Daniel standing next to him.
Why won’t tall, dark and sexy just fuck off?
They were out of sight and sound of town and an unease spread through Luke.
Consciously he moved a couple of steps away from the physically intimidating and frankly
pissed off alpha male that was demanding a reaction of him, and crossed his arms over his
chest.
“I only asked questions. What is it with you?” Daniel snapped. “Hell, you used the
word ‘fuck’ in the same sentence as my mom. If I had a gun right now…”
Luke wasn’t fazed by that comment or the frustration in Daniel’s voice. He was less
concerned about guns than he was fists and belts.
“What? You’d shoot me I guess,” Luke offered dispassionately. His defence mechanism
was locking down now.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kick you to the ground after that comment about my mom,”
Daniel said evenly. Luke cast a glance to his left and could see tension drawn into every line
of Daniel’s body language which belied his composed question.
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27
“Why don’t you ask her?” Luke said. He wasn’t going to rake over dead coals and
wished he hadn’t even opened his mouth. If Daniel asked his mom what the hell had
happened she would just give the party line that she hadn’t known about anything that was
happening.
Bull shit.
“I remember you at school,” Daniel said. “The part about bigots? You mean you being
gay? Man, I don’t get that. You were out. The town and the school, we all supported and
accepted you. Tell me what you mean by bigoted. Not my mom, I know that for sure.”
Luke shook his head. She’d done something much worse than that. She’d ignored some
of what she’d seen. That was a sin far worse in Luke’s mind.
“Being gay and out was as easy as it could be in a small town,” Luke said. “But try
being the son of the town loser, the son of the man that owed money everywhere. The
offspring of the one that stole money yet sat on a goldmine with his investment in the
Cabins. Then you’ll see intolerance and bigotry.”
“Listen—”
“I’m back to get the place listed for sale, giving your family first chance to buy it
whatever their sins. Then I’m gone.” He couldn’t help the hate that spilled from inside him.
He’d had ten years to let it build despite thinking he’d put a lid on it in counselling sessions.
“Jesus,” Daniel snapped. “Whatever their sins? What do you mean by that?” He took a
few steps closer and gripped Luke’s upper arms in a firm hold. “Calm the fuck down, man.”
“I can’t,” Luke said. “This fucking town…”
“You’re being irrational.”
“You don’t know what it was like to have people ignore what was happening. No one
helped me.” Luke was aware rational was not on his side. He wasn’t making any sense even
to himself. He was just taking out everything that was going to eventually come out on the
first person he met, someone who he didn’t even really know.
“So your dad was a waste of space—”
“You know about my dad?”
“Small town, Luke. But fuck, you need an intervention if you’ve been carrying this shit
around this long. Whatever their sins? What the fuck are you on? You’ve been watching too
much day time television, Mr Dramatic.”
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28
He probably wasn’t, but it sounded to Luke like Daniel was laughing at him, belittling
what he had gone through, sneering at the pain inside his head. As simple as breathing and
just like he’d known he would as soon as he’d passed into this toxic space, he snapped.
Shaking himself free and with his fist clenched, he threw a punch before he could stop
himself—ten years of hate in the aim and force. Daniel was clearly not expecting it as he
didn’t move and took the full force of Luke’s punch straight on the cheekbone. Time stopped
as Daniel stumbled a step back then regained his balance. Daniel’s eyes widened then just as
quickly his gaze narrowed.
“You want to start this here, Fitzgerald?” he said calmly.
“Shit,” Luke said. He couldn’t say sorry. He didn’t feel sorry. He wanted to be sorry.
The satisfying thud of his fist into flesh was just what he had received in the past and he’d
needed to do it. What did that make him? He’d only been here two days and he was turning
into his old man. Suddenly terrified at the temper inside and the need to hurt he backed
away from Daniel then when every ounce of energy left him in an instant, he collapsed to the
ground in a heap.
Daniel didn’t move, simply looked down at him with that cool assessing gaze.
“You can go,” Luke said. He didn’t want the other man standing there watching him.
“You want to tell me what the hell that was all about?”
“Go. Please.”
Daniel crouched down next to him and Luke flinched at the movement. Any minute
now the rough tough looking big guy was going to retaliate. Luke cursed inwardly. He knew
better than to poke in a hornet’s nest.
‘You’re not living, Luke, you’re frightened of shadows and you keep most of yourself back and
what little I get is enough. We can just be friends. I can be a good friend.’
Zach’s words rang in his head. His ex was a kind guy, a nice guy, despite him ending
up fucking a stranger in their bedroom. Zach was the sort of man who stepped back and
allowed you to work through your issues. Just what Luke needed. Until, actually, it was
exactly what he hadn’t needed. Losing his job because of department cuts and suffering from
the ‘last in, first out’ rule he had gone home to find his ex in bed with another man and what
had he done?
Shaken the lover’s hand. Introduced himself and apologised for interrupting.
Who the hell did that?
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29
“You gonna be okay down here?” Daniel’s voice was low and infuriatingly calm. The
tone of it threw Luke. “Because we do need to set a time when we talk about your plans.”
“Selling.”
“Selling. Right. Who to, is what concerns us. My mom has put her heart and soul into
the resort. We have a staff, loyal local people, and a good trade. We’re not selling to a
corporation or one of these chain places that homogenise everything.”
“I’ll sell to who I want to sell to,” Luke said. “And I’ll be putting it on the market
today.”
“All I’m asking for is that we get some say in who gets the other half—”
“Who I sell to is my business,” Luke said. He was pushing Daniel. Poking and
prodding and forcing a reaction on that otherwise handsome yet impassive face. Luke didn’t
deal well with calm and rational when it came to emotion. He was either flat and closed off
or riled and emotional. No freaking middle ground.
“Then I guess we’ll need to be instructing our lawyers,” Daniel said.
“You do that,” Luke snapped back.
Daniel didn’t go. He wasn’t leaving. Luke shuffled on the hard and slightly damp
ground. This was so not the place to have a mini meltdown. He saw Daniel move in his
peripheral vision and some kind of acceptance washed over him. This was Daniel’s reaction.
He braced himself for a blow. Instead though Daniel placed fingers under Luke’s chin and
tilted his face up. Daniel had pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head revealing the
clearest green eyes that Luke had ever seen. Those eyes were filled with compassion and
questions.
“Why are you pushing me?” Daniel asked gently.
Luke was on emotion overload and he cursed the town and the thoughts he’d had that
coming back here may lay some ghosts to rest. All it was doing was exposing his raw nerves.
“Do you need me to get angry?”
For a minute Luke couldn’t move. This stranger was staring right into his soul and
asking questions he didn’t want to be asked. This town was playing with his head. With a
muttered “fuck you” he scrambled to his feet then, at a jog, he climbed the slope to the
buildings of town then on to the hotel. Only when he was back in his room did he realise
what he had done and how badly he had fucked it all up. He needed to phone someone. Talk
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30
to a friend. Talk to Zach, his lover. Only… He’d driven everyone away. He didn’t have
friends. Or a lover. Or family. And soon he wouldn’t even have his birth-right.
He was happy that way.
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31
Chapter Three
“Mom?”
“In here, Daniel.” Her voice came from the kitchen at the back of the reception and
Daniel found his mom up to her elbows in soapy water. She had the radio blaring and was
shimmying along to Bryan Adams and his Summer of Sixty-nine. She didn’t stop even when
Daniel tried to hug her from behind. Instead she turned, pulled him into a wet soapy hug
and encouraged him to dance with her until finally, blessedly, the song segued into the
flavour of the year boy band and she stopped to turn it down. She looked up at him and
frowned.
“What did you do?” she asked with a sigh. Tracing what Daniel knew would be a
growing bruise she looked half worried and half indulgent. He’d been getting into scraps
since he was little. He’d known when to quit though, which made him ideal soldier material
in fact. A little hardness, a lot of edge, all ringed by iron control.
“I got hit.”
“I can see that.”
“Long story.”
“It always is with you, sweetheart.” She returned to washing up whatever was hidden
under the mountain of bubbles in the sink.
“Mom, can we talk?”
She smiled over at him then took a second look. Whatever was on his face was enough
to have her pulling down a towel and drying of her hands.
“One cookie or two?”
“Definitely two.” They had this system. One cookie for minor problems. Two for
serious debate. She made coffee then pulled over the cookie jar. Rummaging inside, Daniel
pulled out two and placed them in front of him. Idly he picked at the chocolate chunks and
wondered where the hell to start. Best he started at the beginning probably.
“I met Luke Fitzgerald today.”
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32
“I heard he was here,” his mom said carefully. “Staying at the hotel, pretty much in his
room. Widow Jenn said he stood for hours on the top road. Did you talk to him about not
being able to get in touch with him?”
“I did. He’s selling.”
Brenda shrugged. “It was unlikely he would decide to stay here and manage the other
fifty per cent, he has a life in Richmond. Do we know who he’s selling too?”
“From what he said it isn’t on the market yet.”
“Well that at least gives us a chance to meet prospective owners.”
“He nixed that one. Said, and I quote, ‘who he sells to is his business’.”
Brenda nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure he doesn’t have a lot of love for the business or
the town.”
“Or his dad?”
“Or his dad.” Brenda sipped her coffee but immediately placed the cup back down.
“Poor Luke didn’t have the best start.”
“Kieran and Finn said his mom left and that his dad was a bit heavy on the discipline.”
“Luke’s dad…Mike…used to be a good guy, worked up here with his daddy. When he
inherited the cabins, his fifty per cent, I think it changed him. Add in his wife leaving and he
found more and more of his life at the bottom of a bottle of JD. Luke was sixteen I think when
his mom left and when Mike started drinking like it was an Olympic sport.” Brenda paused
and looked past Daniel at some distant point behind him as she thought of what to say next.
“He handled his dad well. Proud boy. Never once did he complain or moan or act like the
teenager he was. To me and the others who were in his life, he was the most well-adjusted
kid despite what he was going through.”
“What he was going through?”
“Do you remember him from school? He would have been a senior when you were a
freshman?”
“I remember him.”
Brenda’s green eyes were bright with unshed tears and Daniel gripped her hand tight.
“He spent as much time as he could at the school, worked with the youth sport’s teams,
worked hard here but didn’t matter how much he smiled or laughed the emotion of
happiness never reached his eyes.”
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33
Daniel didn’t want to say that even ten years on there was very little happiness in Luke.
Although he’d seen the closed down defensive act before—not just in himself, but also in
other guys who he’d talked to who had seen war. PTSD wasn’t just something that people in
war suffered from, although that was where the most emphasis was put. Victims of any
crime, personal or not personal, every single human had the ability to lose themselves in the
pit of emotions.
“Kieran said Luke was abused. By his dad.”
“Yes,” his mom said gently. “He was. We didn’t know. Not until too late, then he left
for college and he didn’t come back till now. There isn’t a day when I don’t think about the
serious boy from the cabin up the road. Maybe if I hadn’t been grieving for your father,
maybe if I hadn’t been so busy protecting the cabins even when Mike drank the profits, then
I could have done more. We all should have done more.”
“I think he hates you. And the town.”
“He has every right to hate us all for not seeing. We should look after all our children.”
“I don’t get it, though. Luke isn’t a small guy, he’s only an inch shorter than me and I
remember him being tall even at school.”
“He was still a child, Danny, even at sixteen, and he adored his dad. I don’t know what
happened. I think Mike used him as a punching bag, but he was never hit where you could
see, not until that last time anyway.”
“Tell me.”
“I found him unconscious on my doorstep. He’d somehow managed to get over to my
place, despite cracked ribs, a concussion, cuts and bruises. I called Thomas Dexter and he
came over and between us we got him to the hospital. Mike had disappeared. The next
morning I went to the hospital and Luke had left in the night against medical advice. I think
the doctor dealing with him had something to do with that although I could never pin it
down. Never saw him again although I checked in at his college and he had started there.
Sherriff said he wasn’t pressing charges and wouldn’t say who hurt him. I knew, and
Thomas knew, exactly who had hurt him. Mike holed himself up for weeks, then… Well you
saw what he was like ten years in a bottle and no son.”
“So Mayor Dexter knew, and you knew, but it was too late.”
“I wish I could tell you otherwise, Danny.”
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34
Daniel looked into his mom’s eyes and saw absolute truth in them—exactly what he
had expected to see. Luke should know this. If Luke knew people were taken in by his act of
nothing being wrong then maybe he wouldn’t judge everyone, or the town, so harshly.
Maybe Daniel could get Luke to understand this then he and his mom could have input into
whom he sold the cabins too.
Maybe if he talked to Luke he could get him to smile.
* * * *
Luke owed Daniel an apology. More than that really. An apology and a thank you for
not beating him the hell up. Apparently football hadn’t figured in Daniel Skylar’s adult life
and according to back issues of the Ellery Herald he was an ex-soldier. No one gets to be a
soldier by pussyfooting around idiots like Luke. You got to be a soldier because you took
charge and was, brave and, God, everything Luke wasn’t.
From sixteen until the day he’d woken up in hospital a little after his eighteenth
birthday he had taken every blow his dad had meted out. He’d heard every single thing his
dad had to say about his son, about the faults that lay with his son. He’d believed them all.
Only some intense support at college and new groups of friends who knew nothing of what
he used to be had given him hope. He’d met Zach and fucked that up as well even though
he’d found a good teaching role at a new school. The same school that had reluctantly let him
go three weeks before. On top of that he’d come back to Ellery and was confronted with all
the shit he had tried to run from. No wonder he’d freaking lost it.
Lost it in front of the most gorgeous man he’d ever laid eyes on. Just this side of
dangerous, Daniel Skylar was everything Luke fantasised about but never allowed himself to
have. From the dark hair and the stubble on his face to the gleam of heat and understanding
in his glorious green eyes, Daniel ticked every box. Add in full lips, broad shoulders and
chest and legs that seemed to go on for miles. Luke was banging his head on the proverbial
wall with sexual frustration.
He pulled out a small leather bound box from the bottom of his nearest bag and sat
back on his bed. He opened the box, then looked in at the smashed watch inside. Nothing
expensive, it was still a solid capable watch that had stopped the very second his dad had hit
him so hard that he’d broken one of Luke’s ribs. Most of the time the alcohol that Mike near
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35
on inhaled was enough to make him think he was strong but at the same time uncoordinated
and sloppy. Luke could avoid most of it but that night—the last night—Mike had been using
as well as drinking. He had to have been on some kind of narcotic that had given him that
extra strength, and fuck, had Luke paid for it. Idly he rubbed a hand on his chest right over
where the rib had cracked.
He’d booked it from Ellery’s small hospital aided and abetted by old Doctor Campion.
Then he’d hitchhiked out and away, past Knoxville and east into North Carolina, all the time
with the cracked rib and feeling like he was dying. God knows how he’d managed it, or had
avoided being picked up by cops, but he had. A week in a hospital and he had been at
college and Ellery had been transferred to his past.
Then he’d proceeded to spend the ten years after that moving on. And as for Zach—six
years he’d stuck with Zach playing house and pretending he was secure.
All bullshit.
He hadn’t even cared that Zach had been seeing someone behind his back. He couldn’t
blame Zach. Who the hell would want to bother with Luke’s shit? Then he’d seen exactly
what he was using as a barrier. This place and what had happened to him.
He’d had to go back to Ellery. If nothing else it was vital to shake off the past before he
could even think of the future. Then he’d find a school, a good one where he could make a
difference, and he would settle down and maybe even get his toes dipping back in the dating
pool. Twenty-nine wasn’t old. He still had youth on his side and he wasn’t bad looking. Zach
used to call him gorgeous. But then he called good coffee and cake gorgeous as well.
Without thinking he picked up his cell and redialled the top number. Zach.
“Hi, Luke,” Zach answered immediately.
“Hey. Do you have a minute?”
“Anything for you, gorgeous,” Zach said.
Luke stifled a laugh. “So I had this meltdown.” May as well jump straight into it, no point
in hanging around and waiting for Zach to ask.
“Shit. Are you okay?”
“Why do you care about me so much, Zach?” Luke hadn’t asked the question with any
hint of malice. He desperately wanted to know the answer.
“You’re my friend, Luke. I think you can stand to have a few of those. So how is the fair
town of Ellery? Still small?”
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36
“Small. Showing signs of wear, couple of the places I remember shut down now, no
cinema.”
“Tell me about the meltdown.”
“I met Daniel Skylar, remember, he’s the son of the woman who owns the other half of
the mountain resort?”
“I remember. One of those who didn’t do shit about helping you.” Anger tinged Zach’s
voice.
“You know altogether too many of my secrets, Zachary Sweeton. So, this Daniel, he’s
this crazy assed ex-soldier with green eyes, dark hair and two day stubble and he wears
sunglasses indoors. I hit him.”
Zach didn’t immediately reply and Luke wasn’t surprised. According to Zach the most
emotion Luke ever managed to gather together was during sex. Luke often said it was
because it was the only time he could connect to himself. Zach agreed. Hitting someone was
so not on Luke’s to-do list usually.
“Did the hot ex-soldier with the dark hair and green eyes hit you back?” Zach asked
thoughtfully.
“I never said he was hot,” Luke defended quickly.
“You didn’t have to. Your voice went all weird on me. Anyway, this hot soldier, did he
hit you back?”
“No. He didn’t touch me. Well, he touched me, but it wasn’t violent, or him defending
himself. He tipped back my chin and looked me right in the eyes.”
“Hang on,” Zach said quickly. “I need to sit down. Then I need you to tell me
everything. Start with hot and end up with touching and eyes.”
So Luke did.
When he hung up he felt lighter. Zach hadn’t just been his lover the past six years he
had been an emotional crutch and what the hell kind of job must that have been? Zach
agreed that Luke should find Daniel. Thereafter they disagreed. Luke just wanted to
apologise and put things behind him to sell the cabins. Zach wanted him to jump Daniel the
first opportunity he had for what Zach termed ‘hot-sweaty-balls-deep-ass-up sex’.
Luke had pointed out that he didn’t even think Daniel was gay because of what the
waitress had said. Zach had simply said, “‘the man didn’t hit you. Then he tipped your chin
up, stared into your eyes and connected to show compassion. Of course he’s gay’.”
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37
Lying back on his bed and staring up at the smoke alarm’s rhythmic flashing red light
he realised what he was feeling coursing through him was attraction. His dick even filled
halfway to fully erect when he the thought about the type of sex Zach had described. He
closed the curtains then grabbed lube from his wash bag. When he unbuttoned his jeans and
slid a hand under his cotton boxers to wrap around his dick he coaxed an erection at the
thoughts flying through his mind. When the gentle hold wasn’t enough, he pushed his jeans
down to his hips then in frustration pulled them off and his boxers too. After ensuring the
door was locked, he lay back on the bed and this time he spread his legs and bent his knees
to keep himself stable. The anticipation of orgasm spiked in him and he reached for the bottle
of lube and slicked his fingers. He hadn’t seen Daniel as something to incite this feeling in
him. What he had connected to was the compassion, but Zach talking and encouraging was
enough to have Luke closing his eyes and imagining.
Daniel was a strong guy, capable of holding Luke still, pushing him to feel. Luke could
imagine Daniel biting, sucking, and licking kisses over his entire body, from his sensitive
throat across his chest focusing on nipples then finally following his treasure trail and
sucking him down whole. His phantom lover with Daniel’s face would focus entirely on
Luke’s needs, setting a rhythm that had Luke edging before grasping the base of his dick and
licking his way lower taking first one then the other of his balls in his mouth. All the time his
hands would be busy loosening Luke, one, two, then more, nearly a whole hand.
Not listening to Luke’s whimpered pleas, he would screw into Luke’s ass with his
fingers then take the very tip of Luke’s dick into his mouth. Luke, in his fantasy, didn’t know
whether to push up into Daniel’s mouth or push down on his hand. Daniel was turning him,
forcing him onto all fours, then in him without stopping. Luke had no choice but to feel. To
actually think he was wanted. The thought of Daniel cursing and demanding and losing it
inside him had Luke coming over his hand and arching off the bed.
He should clean away the evidence. He should move. He could do neither. With the
cum cooling on his stomach he refused to let himself open his eyes until only wisps of the
memory of the fantasy remained. Hell, he needed to apologise to Daniel and he’d just
masturbated over a fantasy featuring him front and centre.
Awkward.
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Chapter Four
Luke pushed through the door of the building housing the mayor’s office. He was
looking for Finn, but where the police station had been was little more than a cleared and
charred area. Apparently the cops were sharing half of the mayor’s building.
“Can I help you, sir?” A short woman with a pixie haircut looked up at him
expectantly.
“I was looking for Finn Ryan,” Luke said.
“He’s due back in at three. She glanced at the clock that showed two then indicated the
seat against the wall. “You can wait if you like. Or is there something I can help you with?”
Sitting opposite her desk for an hour? That was not going to be happening. Also he
didn’t know her from Adam and there was no reason she would give him details of where
Daniel Skylar lived. He wasn’t asking anyone else. Just Finn.
“I’ll call back later,” he said. “Thank you.” Walking back to the exit he was in a world of
his own and missed someone opening the door for him until they spoke his name.
“Luke, hey,” the voice said.
Luke stopped and looked up, then frowned. A short man stood in front of him with
hand extended and a ready grin on his face. Luke shook it, all the time trying to place the
person. He was a cute guy with a smile that reached his eyes and hair which was a study in
effortlessly fluffy.
“You won’t remember me,” short and fluffy started. “I’m Kieran Dexter. You were in a
basketball training course back at school and told me my height shouldn’t be a barrier to me
playing. Do you remember that? God, that was so many years ago now. I never did make it
on the team, but then I discovered I was good with my hands. Not in a sexual way, although
people have said I am, but that’s not important. I design furniture now, but I also work up at
the cabins.”
The words simply flowed from Kieran’s mouth in a stream of thought that Luke had
difficulty in following until he’d had a couple of seconds to process. He remembered Kieran
now.
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39
“You didn’t grow much then,” he said. He added a smile and wondered if that had
been the right thing to say. It didn’t appear Kieran was that fazed by the fact his growth had
stopped at five nine. He was cute. All energy and fun bundled up in a lithe body. He could
even be called pretty. Luke would call him pretty.
Kieran looked down at himself ruefully. “Not so much, no. Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Luke was suddenly on the defensive.
“Well, given this is the place where the cops are, or the mayor is, I am assuming you
wanted either of them?”
Stupid. He could smack his stupid defensive self sometimes.
“Daniel,” he blurted out. “Daniel Skylar.”
“What about him?” Kieran asked. He tilted his head and regarded Luke with a
thoughtful gaze.
“I need to see him. To apologise.”
“Oh cool. I can give you a ride. No worries.”
Kieran turned on his heel. He hadn’t questioned why Luke felt he needed to apologise
to Daniel. Kind of sideswiped by the effervescent man, he followed him to an old plate 4x4
and climbed in. Kieran drove out of town talking about things that must have changed since
Luke’s last visit, and asking how long was it since he had been there, and if he know that
Mace’s mercantile had shut down only two weeks before, and wasn’t it awful about the
economy. Luke, somewhat bemused, answered each question or acknowledged every
comment then grew quieter and quieter as he realised where Kieran was heading.
“Tell me Daniel isn’t living in Ellery cabins,” he managed to force out.
“Yep. One of the older ones that need work. He has been since he was discharged from
the hospital. Keeps him close to his mom.” Kieran clearly didn’t notice Luke’s discomfort. He
signalled his turn, checked mirrors then turned onto the long sweeping slope to the main
reception area. As soon as they passed the high gates Luke began to panic. Ten years since he
had driven in here. Ten years since the night everything had changed. Kieran took a turn up
the private road to where the family cabins were. His father’s and Brenda Skylar’s.
“Stop the car,” Luke said softly. I can’t see this.
“Daniel’s farther up. We’ll go the back way, easier to park.”
“Stop the car.” This time he was pleading and his chest felt tight.
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40
“Okay, dude, you okay? Luke?” The car stopped and Luke was out before it had finally
finished rolling, bent at the waist and tense. As soon as his feet hit terra firma he felt more
settled and consciously he slowed his breathing rate. Standing straight he looked ahead and
when he realised what he was looking at bile climbed in his throat.
Standing in front of him, or not standing, was what was left of the place he had called
home. His dad’s cabin. Mostly gone like the cop station had been, all that was left was a
charred area and some wood, partitioned off with wire and roped fencing. Gone.
“Okay, Luke, can you breathe for me?”
Someone moved in between him and the view. Tall. Dark. A solid, immoveable wall of
man. Daniel. Luke searched out green eyes and focused there.
“Shit, I didn’t think,” Kieran said panicked. “I thought he’d seen it. You said you’d met
up with him.”
“Not here. He’s just not seen this before,” Daniel said gently. “It’s okay, Luke. Let’s get
you away from here. We’ll come back later.”
“Uh huh,” Luke managed. He allowed himself to be led away, at all times Daniel was
between him and the remains of his old life. He knew his dad had been shot but had he
burned up in the fire as well? Luke had never asked—he didn’t want to know—he didn’t
care. When he was told to climb steps he did, told to sit, he sat immediately. When told to
drink he didn’t argue, just spluttered when water went down the wrong way and he was
coughing.
Strong hands stroked his back and held him still and a woman’s voice was asking if he
was okay.
“I’m fine,” he said. He was lying, but those were the only words he could get out.
“This is good for him, mom.” Daniel’s voice.
“He looks really pale. Does he need anything?” Daniel’s mom. Brenda. One of those who
must have known what his dad was doing to him…
“Just give him a few minutes.” Daniel.
“I’ll be outside.” Brenda.
As panic subsided, embarrassment took its place. Twice he’d lost it in front of the
walking wet dream. Typical. When everything cleared, he realised he was sitting in a kitchen
and that the only other person there was Daniel.
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41
“I sent mom and Kieran out. Kieran feels guilty and wasn’t really helping and I didn’t
want you losing it with my mom.” Daniel’s voice held censure and he looked damn serious.
“I didn’t mean it to be rude about your mom. I don’t know where the hate comes from,”
Luke said. “I wouldn’t say anything to her.”
“Not unless you were mid panic attack,” suggested Daniel.
Fuck. “I guess. Look, I came over to say sorry. Sorry for this morning and what
happened. I didn’t mean what I said about not consulting you on a buyer. If I can I would
always consult you.” Luke focused on the dark bruise forming high on Daniel’s cheek and up
by his left eye. “I’ve never hit anyone before.”
Daniel smirked and placed the fingers of his hand onto the swollen area. “Well for
someone who doesn’t hit much, you were deadly accurate.”
“You didn’t hit me back.” Luke had to know why. Daniel was a man of action and he
hadn’t even moved a muscle in defence. Daniel shrugged. Luke assumed this was his way of
saying he wasn’t talking about it, so he didn’t push.
Instead Daniel looked at him thoughtfully. “Have you seen a counsellor for the panic
attacks?”
Luke debated pretending to not know what the hell Daniel was talking about but at the
end of it all he was leaving town in a few days. What was the point in denying how fucked
up he’d been and the steps he’d taken to get where he was today?
“Yes. Believe me, I’ve done it all. What you’ve seen is just something triggered by
coming back here. Unresolved shit in my head.” There. That summed up how he was feeling
at the moment. No point in dragging up the past. He was a son who had just seen his dad’s
home burned to the ground—of course he was going to be stressed. The door opened and
Brenda Skylar entered the kitchen. She crossed to Daniel immediately.
“Is everything okay? Kieran is so sorry. He didn’t realise you hadn’t been up here as
yet.”
“Tell Kieran it’s fine.” Luke didn’t want to make any excuses, or offer reasons why he
felt the way he did so he stopped himself saying any more.
“I wonder if you would be okay to talk?” Brenda looked anxious herself and Luke
couldn’t stop the resentment rising inside him. He wasn’t sure he was ready to listen to
excuses, but then Daniel grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Startled, Luke swivelled to
face Daniel head on and looked down at their joined hands. Was this just some kind of
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42
support from him? He tugged his hand, but Daniel wasn’t letting go. Jeez. If Daniel felt they
had to hold hands then Brenda was going to say something bad. Either that or Daniel was
worried Luke was going to punch out Brenda as well.
“I don’t know where to start. I guess everything ended when we went back to the
hospital the next day you had gone.”
“Went back?” Luke frowned. “You went to the hospital? I don’t remember seeing you.”
That wasn’t entirely true, he had dreams sometimes when a soft voice told him he
would be okay and hands held him tight and supported, then moved to wipe away blood.
He’d thought he had dreamt it. She could have been there.
“You were sleeping for much of it. But it was Thomas Dexter and I who took you to
hospital.”
“It was?”
“You didn’t know it was me?” she asked curiously. Luke shook his head. He hadn’t
hung around long enough to decipher any of that night properly. Yes, he’d wondered how
he’d ended up in the hospital, but he’d put it down to somehow getting there himself like he
always had.
“Daniel wasn’t here,” Brenda continued. “He’d been at his friend’s house for the
weekend. Everything was quiet and I thought I heard noises from the cabin. I called Thomas
and said I was worried. It didn’t matter how little I saw you, I just knew something was
wrong over there. I heard something outside my door and Thomas was still on the other end
of the phone driving, he told me to stay indoors, but I couldn’t.”
Her voice hitched and Daniel gripped tighter to Luke’s hand.
“When I opened it I saw you on the steps and your dad nowhere in sight. Thomas and I
got you to St Martins. When we sat there…” Her voice choked and Luke thought maybe
Daniel should be holding his mom’s hand instead of Luke’s. “Doc Campion told us that he
was going to talk to you, that we should go home and I didn’t argue. We didn’t know what
your dad was doing.”
“That’s complete shit!” Luke snapped. He couldn’t be polite. “You must have all known
what was happening.” Luke caught Brenda looking directly at Daniel with anguish in her
eyes. Doubt stole over him.
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43
“I swear to you, Luke. Then the next morning when we got there they said you had left,
against medical advice, and refused to admit anything had happened. I suspect Doctor
Campion had something to do with it.”
Luke nodded. “He said I didn’t have a head injury, or concussion. ’Wouldn’t have
mattered if he had, I was out of Ellery. He didn’t argue. Just referred me to another hospital,
got me on a bus and gave me some money.” The doctor had died a few years back and as far
as Luke had been concerned the secret had died with him. He’d taken the scholarship for
English to the college that had offered it and the rest was history.
“You left then and when I tracked down where you had gone to college you were
settled. You had a new life. And Mike? He was just Mike.”
Luke couldn’t get his head around what Brenda was saying. There was only one part he
could focus on, the thing that he struggled with even though the rational side of him knew
there must have been so many reasons why no one else knew.
“How could you not see what he was doing to me after mom left?” Gone was the
confident twenty-nine year old man and in his place was a scared sixteen-year-old.
“You hid it so well,” Brenda offered simply.
Temper spiked in Luke. “You’re saying it was my fault?” He stood and tugged his hand
free of Daniel’s. The loss of the strong grip was like they were ripped apart and his fingers
clenched into a fist. Daniel immediately stood between Luke and Brenda and placed a hand
flat on Luke’s chest.
“She didn’t say that. She said you coped, you lived through it and you hid it as a way of
keeping yourself safe. You know that is what she meant.”
Luke’s shaky legs let him down and he slumped to the chair. Counsellors had said that
was how he had dealt with the beatings and the verbal abuse. He had channelled everything
he had into pretending everything was okay—it was the only way he had been able to
survive with his emotions intact. Or at least as intact as was able.
Daniel looked him directly in the eye. “You okay?”
“Can I have a couple of minutes alone with your mom?” He indicated to Brenda. Daniel
hesitated, then he must have seen the control in Luke’s eyes because he nodded. Luke
wanted to know more about the night he’d been taken to the small town hospital. There was
no way though that he could share everything with someone he felt attraction for. Luke was
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44
going soon, Daniel wasn’t giving off signals and they’d only just met. Luke wanted to at least
keep some of his pride in front of another man.
“I’ll be outside,” Daniel said.
Brenda sat down opposite Luke. “I think you probably have questions.”
* * * *
Daniel paced the porch area. There had been a plea in Luke’s eyes that he couldn’t say
no to, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about his mom. From the sound of it, through
the slightly open door, they were just talking. Daniel didn’t want to hear what they were
discussing—he wanted to give Luke privacy.
“What did he say?” Kieran asked as he joined Daniel on the porch.
“It was a shock, seeing his dad’s place.”
“I didn’t think.”
Kieran was impulsive and talked way too much for a normal human being, but he
didn’t have a cruel bone in his body. Daniel knew that Kieran would be worrying about what
had happened.
“He said it was fine. I think he has some other things going on that muddy the waters.”
“I’m going back to town. You think I should wait and see if he wants a ride down?”
Daniel remembered the iron grip Luke had kept on his hand once he’d realised Daniel
wasn’t letting go. There was something in those blue eyes mixed in with the pain. What was
it about Luke that brought out his softer side? The damn man had punched him and for that
one thing alone Luke should be flat on his back in the Tennessee dirt staring up at blue sky.
Instead Daniel wanted to understand and protect.
Let’s face it. I’m being sucked in by the puppy dog gaze.
The door opened wider and Luke stepped out into the shade of the porch overhang.
“All right?” Daniel asked. Luke was shell shocked and pale. He deliberately turned his
back on Daniel, but it was just to stare over in the direction where the fire destroyed cabin
was. Straightening his back and lifting his chin, he took the steps two at a time to the path
then walked in that direction with a determined stride.
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45
“Shit,” Daniel muttered and jogged to catch up with him. Together they broke through
the shrubs that marked a line between properties and finally they stood in front of the place
that held so many memories for them both.
“How did it happen?” Luke gestured to the space.
“Did you not see a report?”
“I’ve seen enough, but you were here. You know.”
“Neil Harris was stalking Finn. He created a diversion to get Finn’s boyfriend away so
he could kill Finn. Your dad was in the way. If it’s any consolation he was shot and died
immediately. He was outside of the fire.”
“But the cabin burned entirely? Nothing could be saved. No photos. Nothing?”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. He wished he had better news. “The department had to stop
the fire spreading and it had taken too much of a hold. Max, Finn’s partner will be able to tell
you more.”
Luke took a few steps forward and pulled away the barrier to slip through. Daniel
hesitated for a few minutes. Luke may well need some alone time in the ruins of his old
home. Then his need to protect came to the forefront and he followed Luke in. It was still
possible to see the footprint of the cabin in the charred ground. In fact some of the stone
walls that levelled the building remained intact. That was his and Kieran’s next job on the
list. They had spent the last week clearing away the wood and the ruined interior and the last
truckload had only left yesterday. Luke circled the low walls and peered into the ruined hole
inside. He stopped where the porch would have been. With a thoughtful expression on his
face he turned to face the mountain as it climbed behind them.
“Shot on the porch,” Luke said softly.
“Yeah.”
“I could stand here now and tell you a story of me remembering him out on this porch.
Some soft toned rose tinted memory of father and son standing against the world. I’d be
lying though. I have more memories of me avoiding my dad towards the end than actually
choosing to be with him.”
“You don’t have to talk about this,” Daniel said.
“You don’t want to hear?” Luke looked back at him and he appeared puzzled. “Seems
to me you’ve been angling for more ever since you didn’t punch me back.”
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46
“I’ll hear if you want me to.” Daniel gave his safest reply. The overwhelming
protectiveness that he felt towards this man was making it hard to think. What the hell was
this? He’d only known the guy for a little while and the only memories he had of him were
padded out by what Kieran and Finn had told him.
It must be something to do with the fact that they both had their ghosts. Who better to
understand someone with Luke’s problems than a man with problems of his own?
Counselling had helped him. Doctor Liam Wolf had been the single most important
focus to Daniel for a long time and in a mostly non sexual way. Daniel recalled that he
’hadn’t even talked in the first two. He’d simply listened to Liam rambling on about the
hospital and his expansion ideas and the stories about the paramedic who he had an eye on.
Two sessions where Daniel had left feeling unsettled that he had to talk to someone who had
no idea of what it was like to lose half your team, or to have friends die next to you.
On the third session the entire sum of these thoughts tumbled out with no order as soon
as he’d sat down. Liam listened and nodded. He hadn’t seen what Daniel had seen, but hey,
he’d thought why not tell him anyway. The direction had worked. Talking was good. Daniel
had been one of the lucky ones—apart from the injuries that had got him discharged he was
alive and he had a purpose in life.
Luke sighed and turned his back to the building.
“Maybe another time,” he said. “Can I get a lift back to town?”
He looked tired and Daniel fought the instinct to give comfort with a hug. He wasn’t
convinced that Luke could handle any more emotion.
“Sure. Get in.”
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47
Chapter Five
Luke spent another day in his hotel room and after four hours of watching daytime TV
he was losing his mind. He couldn’t sit in the damn room for the whole time up to getting
the paperwork signed. He’d go mad. He did the best thing he could at that moment. Called
Zach.
“Hey, Luke,” Zach answered on the fourth ring. He sounded odd.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked.
“I should be asking you that,” Zach replied on a laugh. Luke frowned when he heard
laughter in the background and someone calling Zach’s name. That explains Zach sounding out
of breath.
“I’ll call you later, sorry,” he said.
“Don’t go, Luke, I’m here to talk.”
“Is that Simon with you?” Luke heard the chuckle from Zach and that answered his
question. “Then go get him. Honestly don’t fuck that up just to listen to me whine. Go back
to him. And have fun. I’ll call you later.”
“Luke—”
“I have a date anyway,” Luke lied.
“You do? Who with. In the same town you hate? What is he like?” Zach sounded so
interested and Luke hated the lie, but seriously he needed to wean himself off of Zach’s
support and conversely wean Zach off of worrying about him.
“Six foot, green eyes, dark hair, tattoos, fit.” Luke realised he was describing Daniel
Skylar to the very inch. He only needed to add ex-soldier to the mix and that would be the
man who had grabbed hold of him and not let him go. He could fool himself into thinking
Daniel was just a convenient body type, but something in the man’s eyes spoke of someone
who could see inside Luke’s soul. That scared him so much.
“Then why are you phoning me? Go get your man.”
They said their goodbyes and after Luke had hung up he knew that unless he wanted to
sit in this damn room for the next however long it was, then he needed to pull himself
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48
together and get himself outside. Coffee was a good start. Maybe he could go up to the
cabins. Visit with Brenda. Daniel may even be up there.
He left his room, locked it behind him and made it downstairs and out into the fresh air
before his head told him he wasn’t up to handling this.
“Luke!” The voice made Luke turn and behind him coming down the path was the
short guy he’d spoken to the other day, Kieran. He caught up and immediately launched into
talking.
“I wanted to say sorry for the other day, it was stupid of me not to realise that you
hadn’t been up there already.”
“Honestly, it’s cool. I needed to get myself up there at some point.” Luke was surprised
to realise he wasn’t just trying to make Kieran feel better. He actually meant it. Seeing the
cabins had brought back memories good and bad, but at the end of the day it was another
thing that he had confronted and he’d made it out in one piece.
“Want to get a coffee?” Kieran asked with a smile.
“I was just heading over there.” Having Kieran there would maybe stop anyone from
talking to him and asking him questions.
“I’m meeting Daniel and Finn, and the doc is coming over later. He’s a nice guy, you’ll
like him.”
Dread flooded Luke, followed swiftly by that flash of lust for the impossibly gorgeous
soldier. “Oh, I don’t have to join you, I’m happy to get takeout.”
By this time they were already at the door and Kieran cast him a quick smile before
opening and holding it open. Daniel channelled Zach and pasted his happy smiley face on
then walked the few steps to his doom.
They’d taken over the back corner table and when Daniel looked up and his gaze
connected with Luke’s he didn’t look happy. If anything the scowl probably indicated he was
pissed off. He closed the notebook in front of him and leant back in his chair. Crossing his
arms over his broad chest, he narrowed his eyes and just stared. There was a third man that
Luke assumed was the doc. The man stood and extended his hand.
“Liam Wolfe,” he said.
“Luke Fitzgerald.” The doc had a strong grip and he appeared to be assessing Luke.
Unsettled, Luke released the grip and slid into the booth opposite Finn who was out of
uniform and in a bright yellow T-shirt.
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49
“Hey,” Finn said in greeting.
Daniel nodded. “Hi.”
He waited for the cop to start asking awkward questions, but it seemed all Finn was
interested in was what coffee he was going to be ordering and debating loudly between a
muffin and toast with eggs.
“What can I get you boys?” Monique interrupted. They ordered coffees and Finn settled
on the muffin.
“We’re meeting up to talk about a project that Danny is working on. Tell him, Danny.”
Evidently Kieran had appointed himself king of breaking awkward silences.
“Stop calling me, Danny,” Daniel said with no heat. “Luke doesn’t want to hear about
it, he’s leaving town soon.”
“I’d like to know,” Luke said. He latched onto the idea of hearing all about a project as a
way of having attention deflected from him and directed onto someone else. Daniel looked at
him pointedly and Luke pasted his best and most innocent smile on his face.
“I’m working with Liam to create a centre for veterans returning from Afghanistan, or
any theatre of war, to help them with a place to stay to get their heads straight. Help them
with medical support, someone to talk to about PTSD that kind of thing.” Daniel shrugged to
punctuate what he was saying. Like he hadn’t just announced he was absolutely focused on
what he wanted to do with his life.
“Really?” Luke said. “That’s a fantastic idea.” He turned to look at Liam. “Is PTSD an
area you want to work in?”
“It was actually Daniel’s idea,” Liam said. The coffees arrived and the interruption gave
Luke a few moments to consider what Liam had said. Did Daniel have personal experience
with PTSD? He imagined the young soldier probably did after what he’d read about Daniel
being discharged. No wonder he knew how to stop the spiral of what happened to Luke by
the river. That explained why he hadn’t hit back. Luke glanced at Daniel but immediately
looked away when he realised Daniel was staring right at him, but he could see him still
looking out of the corner of his eye. The scrutiny was only broken when Liam and Finn
began to discuss the project and the size of the property they needed.
Luke had been out of the game a long time. Well, to be fair he’d never actually been
much in the game. One foot in and one foot out, he had met Zach and slid into a relationship.
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50
Not much playing at all. Except, Liam evidently had an accurately working gaydar if his
comments were much to go by.
You have very sexy eyes, Luke.
Do you work out, Luke?
Do you have a boyfriend, Luke?
“So, Luke, I know why you’re in town,” Liam started on a different tact. “How about
we meet up for dinner or something.” That was direct. Luke could feel the burn of Daniel’s
stare at that point and he flustered over the words.
“That would be nice,” he said.
“You’re only here a week,” Daniel interrupted.
“I have to eat,” he replied just as quickly. So sue him, it would be nice. Uncomplicated
short-term sex was something he could see happening with Liam as opposed to the intense
heavy emotion filled sex he imagined with Daniel. And there laid the problem. Liam was
simple, Daniel was complicated.
“How about this evening? We could drive out somewhere?”
“Sounds good,” Luke found himself answering. Finn and Liam left and Kieran not long
after. Finally it was Daniel, Luke and a hovering Monique who were left. Daniel scooped up
papers and pushed them back in the folder then stood abruptly.
“I need to get up to the cabins. Nice to meet you again, Luke.”
Luke followed him out of the door. “Wait.”
Daniel turned to face him and words failed Luke in an instant. Daniel looked half
pissed off and his mouth was set into a thin line. Luke missed the ready smile and the
understanding look that had seemed permanently resident in Daniel’s eyes. For a moment he
wondered if chatting to Liam and arranging a meet up was what had caused the irritation in
Daniel. Then he dismissed that as pure fantasy.
“What you’re doing, the project, that’s a really good idea.”
“Thank you,” Daniel said. He made to leave. Great. That conversation was going
nowhere.
“I’m sorry,” Luke said a little desperately.
“What for?”
“For making plans to meet up with Liam.”
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51
Daniel frowned. He stepped closer to Luke and looked down at him. There was
intensity in his green gaze. Gone was the understanding guy and here was the soldier that
Luke had known was in there. He swallowed at the challenge in Daniel’s eyes. “I don’t care if
you meet up with him. Just don’t hurt him by getting too involved then leaving. He’s a good
man.”
“It’s dinner,” Luke protested.
“You don’t believe that any more than I do. It’s sex plain and simple.”
“Okay, so what if it is? Maybe it’s just what I need, have you thought about that?”
With his free hand Daniel twisted his fingers into Luke’s shirt and tugged him closer
until there were inches between them and all Luke needed to do to kiss this infuriating man
was to close that short distance.
“If you need that then you don’t use Liam to get me worked up so I do something
stupid.” Daniel ground out the words.
“Wait, what?”
Daniel released his hold then stalked away. Luke didn’t have the presence of mind to
do anything except watch Daniel leave and will away the lust that swam through his system.
Jeez. He was standing on Main, in full view of everyone, with a hard-on and more likely than
not a slack-jawed expression of need.
“I didn’t recognise you straight away.” The voice belonged to Monique. Luke forced
back his instinctive need to run. “Sorry about your dad.” Groaning inwardly he turned to
face her with his best patented smile.
“Thank you,” he said. “I can’t stop.” He walked away directly to the retreating Daniel
just as he got in his truck. Knocking on the window he waited until Daniel rolled it down.
“What? I’ve said my piece.”
“Give me a ride up to the cabins?” Luke glanced back at Monique who was watching
the exchange from outside the diner. “Please?” he added. Daniel followed his gaze then with
a curt nod indicated Luke could climb in. Luke scrambled round and sketched a wave at
Monique. Door shut, he exhaled noisily.
“Don’t want to talk to Monique?” Daniel asked and started the engine.
“Don’t want to talk at all,” Luke replied honestly. “Not about dad, or what happened,
or any of it.”
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52
Daniel considered him thoughtfully for a short while then put the truck in gear to leave
the town in the mirror. He didn’t call Luke on his avoidance tactic, but he also didn’t say
much of anything until they were nearly at the cabins.
“I know you’re a teacher,” Daniel said. “Back in Richmond right?”
And there went the can of worms with the lid well and truly prised off. Best stick to
answering the question in a very general way and not go into specifics. “I teach mainly
Senior English and some art history.”
“Is it a big school you teach at?”
Luke sighed. “It was a big school.”
“Was?” Daniel glanced at him with raised eyebrows then returned his attention to the
three way junction, pausing to check for approaching traffic.
“It was a big school with budget issues. They had to cut funding for several
departments and they were a business academy, so they decided the art history side of my
teaching wasn’t a priority against things like computer studies. This left my position
vulnerable and because I was last into the school I was first out. “
“Oh. So you lost your job? Then you came here to confront ghosts? No wonder you had
a panic attack.”
Luke leaned his head back on the headrest. Daniel had in many ways summed up
exactly what was going through his head at the moment. Not being able to work at what he
loved doing was one hell of a trigger in any person—add in coming home, and a meltdown
was inevitable. It was just shit that it had to happen when someone was near him.
“This is where you tell me that I’ll find another job just like that and everything will be
fine.”
Daniel shrugged. “The economy is stretched and even teaching jobs are sparse and hard
to come by. I’m not going to lie to you, Luke. I know Weston High School always has
vacancies, but you know it’s a small high school and the area it covers is spread out all over.”
Daniel didn’t need to go into details about Weston. They had, after all, both gone there. It
was one of those schools that captured children from miles around, from the mountains to
the valleys and most of the teachers had been there for years. The school certainly wouldn’t
attract go-getting young teaching staff any time soon.
Luke huffed a laugh. “I don’t think much of your technique. Don’t you know you need
to cover the shit you deliver in silver and call it precious metal?”
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53
The car rolled to a stop in a wide parking area by the tired looking reception area. With
a critical eye Luke assessed the place. They’d kept up on maintenance and the front was laid
to beds for shrubs, but the sign needed repainting. He had a few days, maybe he could
volunteer to do that, touches like that would help sell the place.
“You maybe want to go and get a drink tonight?” Daniel asked quickly.
“I’m out with Liam,” Luke reminded him.
Daniel quirked an eyebrow. “No you’re not. You can cancel that.”
Irritation spiralled through Luke and he climbed out of the truck intent on telling
Daniel exactly what he thought of the guy trying to organise his social life. When Daniel
rounded the cab and pushed him up against the closed door it was all Luke could do to
remember to breathe let alone shout at the guy. Daniel moved his feet until he had Luke
plastered to the truck and he was very definitely interested in Luke if his cock, hard and
pushed against Luke’s own, was anything to go by. Luke placed his hands on Daniel’s biceps
and glanced down at the broad chest that was holding him in place then back up into green
eyes. There was defiance in them, like he was daring Luke to challenge this wholly hot act of
dominance. Given that his cock had in some part taken over control of his thought processes,
Luke wasn’t going to argue.
“So,” Daniel said softly with his lips a breath away from Luke’s ear. “That drink
tonight?”
Luke made a small movement and the press of his cock against Daniel was enough for
him to moan low in his throat. “Just a drink?” he asked.
“What else do you want?”
“Was it difficult when you came out, soldier?” Luke asked. Hell if he knew where that
question came from or why he’d felt like he needed to ask it.
“Who says I’m gay?” Daniel laughed and moved his hands from Luke’s hips to his
waist, resting them on his belt. This teasing was nice. Luke hadn’t been teased in a long time.
Hell he hadn’t done anything in a long time.
Luke smiled. “A big all-action alpha male in touch with his feelings and being all
understanding and shit pushing me up against a car and grinding his cock against mine?
You have to be gay.”
Daniel moved back a little and Luke stopped himself from whining at the loss. He
poked Daniel’s chest with a single finger. “I call gay.”
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54
* * * *
Luke Fitzgerald grinned the widest grin, where the smile even reached his stunning
blue eyes and Daniel fell like a stone. There was no way Liam was going anywhere near this
man. For however long he was here in Ellery, Luke was his. Liam would have to deal.
“You want this drink or not?” he asked. “We could go into town.” Attraction to
someone he had just met who was vulnerable and needy was probably a bad idea but
somehow it was happening.
“Let’s just stay here,” Luke answered.
Daniel knew he should take Luke in the truck down into Ellery and take up a booth in
the bar and order two ice-cold beers then talk sensibly about anything and everything.
Instead he found himself stalking towards his own small cabin with Luke behind him.
Dangerous ground. Too much tension, too much need in both of them.
The door of the cabin closed behind them and suddenly there was a barrier between
them and the world. It was just two men in different places in their life coming together to
celebrate life. That was all.
Luke moved first. He used his full body weight to barrel into Daniel and pushed him
back to the wall and unerringly located his lips until they were kissing. The impact of Luke’s
body against him drove all the air from his chest and made getting into the kiss a little
difficult at first. Only when he shoved Luke away and reversed their positions could he
deepen the kiss and take what he needed. A whimper came from Luke’s throat at the move
and blood heated so fast inside Daniel that he couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. Grabbing
Luke’s hands with his, he pressed them together. Then he pushed them above Luke’s head.
This is how he wanted Luke, under his control, pressed down, held still, so he could taste
and take and never stop feeling.
Pressing fully, he could feel Luke was so into this—hard against his own groin and
moving as much as he was able, searching for contact. Daniel could spend all day kissing and
touching and he pressed harder one last time then released Luke entirely. He tasted copper
in his mouth and brought up a finger to touch blood on his lip. Luke’s hands fell from their
position to his sides and he clenched them into fists. Daniel waited. He wanted Luke to have
time to think about what he was doing. Anonymous sex was one thing, but getting fucked by
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55
someone from the town he wanted to stay away from? Surely that was a million kinds of
wrong? Luke was temptation personified. In his brand new jeans and his white shirt with
blue eyes flashing fire, and lips swollen from harsh kissing, he was everything Daniel wanted
at that moment.
But Luke had to make the decision. Now they had kissed and the initial temper of the
first push to the wall had passed, Luke needed to make sure he knew what he was doing.
Self-preservation had Daniel taking another step back even as Luke moved forward.
“Why did you stop?” Luke asked. He pressed his hand to his crotch where the outline
of his erection was clear against the material. “I need this.”
There. That was why Daniel had stopped. Luke needed some kind of connection and
for the first time since Daniel had hit puberty and discovered dick was where it was at, he
wanted more than a quick fuck.
What the hell?
“What do you need?” Daniel’s voice echoed in his head. His mouth was moving, but he
wasn’t sure whether his brain was in charge, or his sex drive. His voice sounded husky even
to his own ears. There was no doubt about how turned on he was.
Luke took another step and was close enough for Daniel to see the flecks of dark navy
in the otherwise perfect sapphire eyes. Fuck. Since when was he lyrical over freaking eyes?
That was twice today already.
“Quick. Fast. Hard. You,” Luke said frankly. Each word was punctuated with a touch.
A kiss to Daniel’s throat, to his shoulder, his lips, then Luke placing a hand right over the
bulge in Daniel’s pants. “Where is the bedroom here?” He was already unbuttoning his fly
and Daniel could no more take his eyes off of the flesh being revealed than he could stop
what he wanted to do. When Luke toed off his boots and began to shrug his jeans down
Daniel’s brain finally made sense of what was happening. Grabbing Luke’s hand he pulled
him through the door opposite the kitchen then pushed the door shut behind them.
The bed was regimentally neat—old habits died hard. Daniel closed the blinds. The
only light came through the small skylight in the ceiling, which was darkened with moss. He
could see enough to be able to watch Luke push his jeans fully off then shrug out of his T-
Shirt. Socks joined the jeans then his shorts, until finally he was naked. His cock curved
towards his belly.
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56
“Cliché, but one of us is overdressed,” Luke said. He was starting a slow rhythm along
the length of his cock and his lips fell open. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and
watched Daniel through half lidded eyes.
“Your last chance to say no,” Daniel forced out. Fuck. His cock was near breaking his
zipper and his balls were already tight and ready. This was ridiculous. One man stood there
pleasuring himself and Daniel was losing it like a teenager in his bedroom with porn under a
quilt.
Luke raised his eyebrows and very deliberately looked down at himself. A single pearl
of liquid was in his slit and he smudged it with a determined press of his finger before
moving that hand to the base of his cock and into dark curls.
Daniel toed off his own boots and socks then removed his T-shirt over his head. He was
fit—he still worked out and he was proud of the body he was revealing. He pushed down his
jeans and watched Luke’s eyes as it became obvious he went commando. His own dick was
heavy and he copied Luke’s action all the while staring into Luke’s eyes.
“Get on the bed,” he said. There was no command, but someone had to say something
just to get them to move. Luke knelt on the edge of the bed with his back to Daniel. Daniel
moved quickly before Luke could lie down or move. Captured this way, Luke was the
perfect height for Daniel to slot his cock between hard thighs and to circle his fingers around
Luke’s length. With his other hand he turned Luke’s face and swallowed any words or
sounds into an open mouthed, wet kiss.
Luke reached behind and rested his open palm on Daniel’s butt cheek. He pressed and
pushed, demanding a rhythm.
Daniel spread his legs a little to get a better angle, then with every pass, his dick was
pushing against Luke’s balls and each time Luke’s breathing hitched. The sensation of Luke’s
flesh against him was intoxicating and he wanted more.
“You need to fuck me like this,” Luke said. His voice was husky and his kiss swollen
lips formed each word perfectly against his own.
“Next time,” Daniel replied. There would be a next time. This man fit perfectly against
him. The expanse of smooth flesh was firm and warm and the light furring of hair on his
chest was exquisite to the touch. With deft movements he encouraged Luke to lie back on the
bed and with no hesitation Daniel had his mouth exactly where his hands had been tracking.
From stomach up the muscled plains of his chest, Daniel concentrated on the two cinnamon
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57
discs that were apparently hardwired to Luke’s cock. He sucked one into his mouth and
teased the other with fingers before switching sides until Luke was writhing beneath him
wordlessly begging for more sensation.
Filing away the fact for later, he stole some sweet, hot kisses before travelling back
south and sucking Luke’s cock into his mouth. Luke’s hand moved to rest on Daniel’s head
and restless fingers curled and uncurled in his short hair. Luke didn’t guide or push, but as
he arched up into Daniel’s mouth his grip tightened. He was strung tighter than a bow and
Daniel contemplated briefly whether he should pull Luke to orgasm before they went any
further. The man was begging him to go further, do more, take him higher. With a final tug
at the cock in his mouth and an appreciative lick across the head, he again moved up Luke’s
body to kiss him.
“Fuck,” Luke said succinctly. “You’re good at that.”
“I try,” Daniel said. He reached past Luke to rummage in the drawer. He remembered
there had been condoms in there—there had to be something in there. He wasn’t a saint,
although he’d never had anyone back here, but he could swear he had condoms. Finally he
tore his lips away from the taste of Luke and actually peered into the drawer. Fuck it, this
was so not smooth. Finally he found the box at the back and pulled out a handful and
grabbed the lube. Back and resting on Luke, he hoped to hell Luke wasn’t off the boil,
because if Luke backed out now then Daniel was literally going to finish himself off and
come all over his waiting lover whether Luke liked it or not.
Luke hadn’t moved. He wasn’t smiling, or pulling away, no, he was absolutely focused
and intent on every single one of Daniel’s actions. On Daniel’s lips hovered the ‘are you
sure’, but he pushed it back. He coated his fingers with lube then pressed them against
Luke’s hole gently until one finger pushed inside. Luke squirmed under him, but they didn’t
break the intense exchange of gazes. Daniel wondered what Luke was thinking behind those
blue eyes. Was he scared of what he was feeling? Did he feel in control? Because, hell, Daniel
was far from in control of this. He managed another and massaged far enough in to crook
and find the place that made Luke arch up off the bed with a sigh. He even closed his eyes
and Daniel missed the immediate connection between them. Gently he loosened Luke with
three fingers inside and his fourth pressing at the outer edges and moving to press the skin
around. He was desperate to get inside.
“Now,” Luke pleaded.
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58
“Not ready yet,” Daniel replied quickly. Luke mumbled something and reached down
between them grabbing at Daniel’s wrist and holding it still as he screwed himself down on
the hand forcing the fourth finger in. The wince of pain was obvious, but when it left Luke’s
expression he opened his eyes and stared directly into Daniel’s.
“Now.”
Daniel wasn’t arguing. He liked to spend time on prepping, on stretching and feeling
the heat of inside his lover, but the thought of being inside Luke’s tight ass was too much to
hold back. Scrambling to roll on a condom with slippery slick fingers was a feat in itself but
finally with condom on he was pressing against Luke’s hole and in one push he was past the
ring of muscle. Connected, he shifted his position a little, placing hands flat on the bed and
pressing at Luke’s thighs until he spread his legs and tilted his ass. They’d never negotiated
position, never thought of how this could be best for either of them. But looking down into
Luke’s blue eyes, at his face flushed with need and passion, this was absolutely the best way.
“Move,” Luke ordered. Daniel smiled down at Luke and did as he had been told. It was
an easy thing to agree to and finally, when he was as deep as he could be, he sighed his
pleasure and inhaled Luke’s breaths as they kissed. His movement was slow and subtle, a
smooth rolling motion of his hips as he pulled nearly out then plunged in. He tilted a little to
angle the press and Luke moaned his pleasure as Daniel passed over his prostate. With that
and Luke’s cock trapped between them it was very quick for them both to lose it.
“Daniel,” Luke breathed as he arched for a final time and writhed in orgasm beneath
him. The tightening of his muscles milked Daniel’s orgasm from him and Daniel finally lost it
inside his responsive lover. They stayed connected and kissing until Daniel softened enough
to make it easy to pull out then they lay next to each other staring up at the high-beamed
ceiling and breathing heavily.
“Wow,” Luke said.
“Wow is right,” Daniel answered.
“You’re good at that, soldier,” Luke laughed.
“You’re not bad yourself.” Daniel could go along with the light-hearted post coital
banter as well as the next man.
“We need to do this again before I leave.” Luke moved onto his side then reached out
and traced a circle around Daniel’s left nipple. He followed his fingers with a tracing path of
his tongue and want spiralled through Daniel as fast as fire.
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59
“Yeah,” Daniel finally said. He was already itching to get back inside Luke, or asking
Luke to get inside him. He wanted some of what he had just given to Luke. Was Luke even
that way inclined? He’d never met someone entirely like him who wanted to switch it up all
the time so he doubted it. All his hook-ups bought into the whole tough marine who gave
orders shit. That was probably Hell, it didn’t matter, he could get his fill and he would be
happy with what he had. Not everyone met their freaking soulmate like Finn and Max.
“Wanna go now?” Luke asked. He shuffled again and climbed on Daniel, all soft silky
skin and heat to touch. Luke concentrated his kisses, biting a trail of heat from Daniel’s ear to
his throat. They could fit in at least one more go around before Luke left. Uncomplicated easy
sex, hot desperate need-it-now sex, was perfect.
So why, even as he placed his hands on Luke’s butt and pulled him closer between the
‘V’ of his legs, did the thought of Luke leaving fill Daniel with a bizarre sense of
disappointment?
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60
Chapter Six
The papers spread out in orderly piles looked like a white sheet had been laid across the
lawyer’s desk.
“None of this is too complicated,” the lawyer said. He pushed one pile towards Luke
then looked up expectantly. Luke glanced at the sheet then returned the lawyer’s gaze
steadily. He hated people thinking he knew what the hell was going on when clearly he
didn’t.
“What am I looking at?”
“A schedule of your father’s assets including a copy of his will.”
“He had a will?” Luke said. He couldn’t help the disbelief that his drunken fucker of a
father had had enough foresight to prepare anything as legal as a will. He looked down
again at the sheet and noted the date was a few days after his sixteenth birthday. The day
after his mom had left. The day Luke’s life had begun to change.
“Hence why this is easy. Your mother’s death and this will leave everything black and
white. Everything is yours. The stake in the cabins and any cash deposits.”
“Take your fees out of it then you can arrange for any remaining cash to go to a local
charity.”
“There would be just short of two thousand dollars.”
“All of it. I don’t want the money.”
The lawyer made a note on some paper then continued. “As to the cabins. All I need is
your signature on these.” He paused and passed over three copies of an official looking
document. “Then we can get everything in your name.”
Daniel held the stiff paper in his hands and ran a thumb down the edge of one. There
were an awful lot of heretos and hereafters that made little sense, but this guy sitting in front
of him with snow white hair had been a friend of his granddad so he trusted him. Bryan
Grover was the keeper of the town’s secrets and the man who had signed off on thousands of
births, deaths, marriages and divorces. He recalled the last time he had been in here at the
reading of his mother’s will. The damn thing had been written when she had first married
his dad and everything had been left to her husband. Luke often wondered if she hadn’t died
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61
so soon after leaving his dad—would she have ever changed the will, or hell, even visited
him again?
“Then I can sell it all?” Luke asked. He needed to focus and get this done. He didn’t
begin to think how much his fifty per cent would fetch. Hell, he doubted that in this climate
it would ever sell. Never mind, when it did, for whatever it sold for, would be a good deposit
in Luke’s new-place, new-start mission.
The lawyer nodded. “Once it is in your name then you can sell.” Nothing in the older
man’s expression gave any hint as to his feelings regarding the selling of the fifty per cent in
Ellery Resort Cabins. It didn’t really matter to him, as long as he got paid, Luke assumed.
“How long will it take?”
“I will file papers today. Two weeks at the latest.”
Luke calculated his savings in his head. He had enough for the hotel for another two
weeks, and every last stubborn bone in his body was not getting him to take up Daniel’s offer
of a cabin in need of work for his stay here.
Daniel. Heat flushed him as he remembered what he and Daniel had done. He couldn’t
think of Daniel. Daniel walking and standing next to him in the ruins of his dad’s home.
Daniel holding his hand. Daniel understanding. Daniel naked.
Shit. No thinking about Daniel naked for fuck’s sake.
“Are you okay, Luke?” Bryan asked. “Is there a problem?”
Luke blinked at Bryan who was staring at him with concern on his face. He squirmed in
his seat and the memory of Daniel inside him, filling him, making him come harder than
he’d ever come made him blush.
“I’m fine,” he blurted. Then he coughed to cover up the quick and heated reply. Finding
the right place on the papers, he signed his name then on the second and third copies. He
could go home. Back to his small condo—that hadn’t sold yet. He could go home then get
Bryan to call him when the papers were back. Then he remembered his original reason for
being here. Sell the cabins, close down anything his dad had been linked to—debts,
whatever—then look for a new job. Zach called him dramatic, but he’d decided when he’d
left Richmond that he would drive to Tennessee, get what he needed to do done, then drive
on to wherever the car broke down. Then he would find another job and start again.
Colorado sounded good.
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Luke pushed the signed papers back against the desk. Bryan gathered them together
and filed them in a folder.
“Is there anything else I need to do?”
“Not at this time. I will call you with a final figure for your charitable donation. Perhaps
you could consider which charity you want it to go to.”
“Dogs,” Luke said instantly. “I like dogs.”
Bryan nodded and Luke stood and extended his hand.
“It’s good to see you home,” Bryan offered gently. He had this whole kindly old man
thing going on and Luke stiffened at the cautious but obvious glimmer of sympathy in the
man’s eyes. He released his shake then forced his hands in his pockets.
“This isn’t home, Bryan. It hasn’t been home since Dad inherited the cabins.” Luke felt
immediately chagrined that he had spoken in such a harsh way, but Bryan didn’t seem to
mind.
“I know, son,” he said.
Luke left before Bryan could add any more honey to the sugary pile of ‘understanding’.
Out on the street he stood opposite the diner and his stomach reminded him it was
mid-morning and he hadn’t had breakfast. Even he couldn’t call three cups of black coffee
chasing headache pills breakfast. He wasn’t exactly avoiding people, but if he recalled
correctly mid-morning was a quiet time in the diner. Too late for the early breakfasts, too
early for lunch and the preserve of moms with small kids who took advantage of the corner
filled with toys, games and a small plastic climbing frame. The owner Eddie had installed the
corner back when Luke had been not much past ten, and people had scoffed at the idea, but a
place for moms and kids to congregate had turned out to be a damned awesome idea.
He crossed the street to the cafe and as soon as he opened the door the scents of bacon
and coffee hit him like he’d walked into a wall. He chose the table in the far corner, opposite
to the moms and kids, and ordered breakfast and coffee from the waitress who mercifully
was too young to have known him.
His cell vibrated and he checked the caller ID. Zach with his daily phone call of worry.
“Hey,” Luke answered. The waitress placed a cup and filled it with coffee, leaving
creamer and sugar as well. Blessed coffee…
“Hey you,” Zach said. “Did you have sex and how did the lawyer’s go?”
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Luke chose the easiest question. “As well as can be expected. It won’t be a long drawn
out thing because he left a will naming me. I signed it all and the deed will be in my name in
two weeks.”
“Then you’re still selling?”
“Yes, Zach,” Luke said patiently. “I’m still selling.” Zach had this half brained notion
that Luke should make an effort to run Ellery Resort with Brenda Skylar. Well, he wasn’t
going to, especially with the added complication of Daniel Skylar in the mix.
“I still think you should look at your options, including how long you want to stay with
soldier boy.”
“It was a one night stand Zach, and I’m a teacher, not a manager of a holiday home
place. What do I know about any of it? No, it’s not right for me. I’m selling and moving on.
Too many memories here. I’m staying for the two weeks and I’m researching teaching
positions over in Colorado.”
Zach sighed noisily as his opinion on the matter, but Luke simply ignored his friend.
“What does Daniel say about you going?”
“He knows.”
“Is that all you’re giving me?”
“Yep.”
“Fucker.” Zach sighed. “So tell me something about the lawyer guy? You said he was a
friend of your granddad? Is he hot? Should I be moving to small town Tennessee?”
“He must be nearly eighty,” Luke said. His breakfast arrived and he switched the
phone to his other ear and organised his plate and cup to where he wanted them. “Thank
you,” he said to the waitress.
“For what?” Zach asked.
“Not you. I’m in the diner eating breakfast.”
“Two eggs, three pieces of bacon, one hash brown? Am I right?” Luke glanced down at
his plate. He hated that he was so predictable that his ex-lover knew exactly what would be
on his plate.
“I have a tomato as well.” God, even that sounded sad to his ears.
“Living dangerously then.”
“Fuck you.”
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“Fuck you back, Fitzgerald.” Zach chuckled and there was no heat in the exchange of
words.
“Tell me more about this Daniel,” Zach ordered.
Luke sighed inwardly. Part of him wondered why he and Zach had stayed friends, as
all his ex did was ferret out information on Luke’s somewhat sparse sex life. Then he smiled.
They’d stayed friends because they were friends—they should never have been lovers.
Glancing around to see if he had anyone near him, which he didn’t, Luke dropped his voice
and described Daniel in terms Zach would really love.
“Handsy, strong, insistent…and big.”
“I’m drooling.”
“Chiselled abs, broad chest, strong arms and these awesome tattoos that circle them.”
“This is turning into a phone sex line script. I don’t know whether to ask for a photo or
book a flight. So you and this ex-marine, who I am assuming is gorgeous, of course he’s
gorgeous, goes without saying? You had wild, hot monkey sex?”
“Should I really be talking about this to my ex?” Luke teased. He forked some egg and
bacon into his mouth and savoured the flavours for a moment.
“On the ten scale?” Zach asked.
“A definite ten. What that man could do with his tongue, and his hands, and gah, his
cock.” Luke may well be teasing Zach with this kind of detail, but for the first time in a while
he wasn’t actually lying. There had been something in what had happened between them. A
fire that sparked and connected. Everything felt so easy and even when he’d rolled out of
bed as the dawn had lit the sky with rose pink everything had been natural. Daniel hadn’t
asked for more, hadn’t questioned why Luke was leaving. Had just told him to flick the latch
on his way out. He’d then rolled over into the space Luke had vacated and grabbed at the
pillow and curled into it. No drama. No demands. Just easy, no ties sex.
“A ten? The last time I had a ten was…jeez…I’m not sure I ever had a real live ten
before.”
“What was I? Dead meat? Should I be hurt?” Luke smirked. The bell over the door
jangled a warning of an incoming or outgoing customer and Luke glanced up. The bacon he
had just chewed stuck in his throat. Daniel. In the diner. “Okay I need to go.”
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“Talk to you tomorrow,” Zach said as his goodbye. Daniel was scanning the interior of
the diner and a smile crossed his face when he spotted Luke. Shit. Recognition smiles were
not a good thing. To Luke’s mind they implied a friendship outside the hot casual sex.
“You don’t need to call me every day to check up on me,” Luke said.
Zach huffed a laugh in response. “Yes I do. I want to. Stay safe and go get some more of
that sex. You have two weeks, make the most of it.” He ended the call and Luke ended up
with a dead phone connection against his ear. Daniel was walking his way, calling for coffee
to go from the waitress and hell, he’d stopped by the table.
“This seat taken?” he asked as he slid into the seat opposite Luke and leaned with his
elbows on the table. Luke placed his cell on the table next to him and picked up his coffee
mug. A drink in his hand was always a good barrier.
“Help yourself,” he said. A hint of sarcasm coloured the tone and Daniel winked. He
winked. For fuck’s sake.
“So. Bryan called my mom, said you’d been in and signed the paperwork to take on
your fifty per cent.”
“Christ, is nothing a secret in this town?” Luke snapped.
Daniel raised his eyebrows at the reaction. “She’s the other party on the deed. He needs
her to go in to countersign.”
Luke could feel the humiliation of jumping in with both feet climb inside him and knew
damn well he was going to go red.
Daniel continued, “I just drove her in and came in for coffee. Imagine my surprise to see
you in the corner.”
“Imagine,” Luke said. He aimed for a level toned reply and just came off as pissy. Great.
A quick frown marred Daniel’s forehead, but it soon passed.
“So I have this thing on Fridays,” Daniel started. He was looking at Luke with a
determined expression in his green eyes. Luke couldn’t help but notice the slight smile on the
other man’s face. “I meet up with some friends. Wondered if you wanted to come too?”
“No. Thank you for asking, but no.”
“Quick response there, slick,” Daniel drawled. Luke narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t
going to fall for the good ole Southern boy thing. After all, under the polish of Virginia was a
Tennessee boy waiting to be let loose and he’d heard all the drawl he could handle in his
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66
lifetime. “It’s not a date. Just some guys playing cards, talking, drinking beer. Finn and
Kieran will be there. And you can meet Max who could maybe tell you more about the fire.”
“I never said it was a date,” Luke defended. Why he felt he had to pick up on that
particular part of Daniel’s whole sentence he didn’t know.
“You’d got that rabbit-scared-stare look to you,” Daniel commented.
“I did not,” Luke said. Daniel shrugged.
“It’s Finn’s turn to have us to his place which is up in the mountains above the resort.
I’ll come pick you up at the hotel at six.”
“Tonight.”
“Six tonight.” Daniel stood and seemingly as an afterthought he leaned over and
whispered into Luke’s ear. “Up to you if we stop off at mine on the way back down the
mountain.”
With that he picked up the coffee-to-go and left. Luke took a hasty swallow of coffee
and coughed as it went down the wrong way. Thank god it was after the door had shut
behind the most infuriatingly sexy hot scorching man he had ever met. Just seeing the smile
and the eyes and the whispered words in his ear made him hard. Not for the first time, as he
observed Daniel’s ass when he walked away, he considered whether the man would be up
for Luke topping him. He was probably some tight-assed uber-top who would find Luke’s
request to fuck him into the mattress an affront to his masculinity.
Still, a switch could dream.
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Chapter Seven
Daniel pulled up outside the hotel and wondered if he should be honking the horn in a
purely buddy type way or going in and knocking on the door in a purely ‘I hope you want to
go back to my house and fuck kind of way’. Luckily his choice was moot when Luke strolled
out of the hotel and crossed to Daniel’s truck. God, he really was gorgeous. Jeans clung to
him like a second skin and his slim body was shown off to perfection with the red T-shirt and
short jacket. He was carrying beer and he deposited it on the floor of the truck bed then
climbed in to the cab with a ready smile.
“I’m looking forward to meeting up with Finn properly,” Luke said. Clearly he was
playing the ‘I’m talking first so I can guide the conversation’ game. Daniel wasn’t going to
argue. He still didn’t know what had possessed him to lean over and issue that invitation to
Luke and he was half embarrassed and half hard with want now. There was something more
than just sex going on there. There had to be because he’d never slept with a lover as giving
and forgiving as Luke. He wanted to lock him in the cabin and never let him leave. Scary
thought.
“He’s a good guy.”
“And he saved Finn’s life when the cop station burned down?”
“Dragged his ass out of there.”
“Finn’s not small, is Max a big guy?”
“Built solid and strong.”
“Cool.” Luke stopped talking and Daniel thought on what they should talk about next.
Finn’s place was at least a ten minute drive and that was a lot of dead space to fill. He flicked
on the radio and it auto tuned to some soft rock station and for a few seconds the dead space
was filled with noise.
“So I gave some thought to your proposition,” Luke began. Daniel turned the volume
down immediately.
“You did?” He wasn’t going to play dumb. They were alone in the car and both of them
knew exactly what Luke was talking about.
“Just sex right?” Luke demanded clarification.
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68
“Just sex.”
“I can go for that.”
“Good.” Daniel wasn’t entirely sure what else to add to the negotiations. He could add
in that he was happy to…no… He’d probably scare the guy away if he was anything less
than the hardened ex-marine who topped. Jeez. Anyone would think that the sex they had
enjoyed wasn’t enough on its own. Why complicate matters in his head? They’d almost
reached Finn’s and just as Daniel had got his thoughts in the right place, Luke tossed the
proverbial spanner in the works.
“Do you switch?” Luke asked conversationally. He said it so matter of fact that it threw
Daniel for a moment. He pulled onto Finn’s drive and turned off the ignition.
“Sorry?”
“Simple question. Do you switch? Y’know, would you be up for me fucking you into
the mattress instead of the other way around.” Luke drawled the request and had pasted an
expression of not-really-worrying-about-the-answer on his face. His eyes betrayed the
bravery in the question and they showed nerves.
“Jesus,” Daniel breathed as he exhaled a held in breath. His cock was immediately
filling and he wanted to put the truck in reverse and head back to his place. Now. Really.
Now. “I can totally get with that plan. But I now have to go in there with a freaking hard-
on.”
Luke took Daniel’s hand and placed it on the buttons of his jeans. He was as hard as
Daniel. “Think we should sit out here for a while?”
Daniel looked up at the window and couldn’t see anyone looking out for him. They
wouldn’t. Normally he turned up on his bike—he hardly ever used his mom’s truck for
anything other than ferrying stuff to and from the cabins. When another truck pulled in next
to them and Max and Kieran piled out there was no avoiding getting out. Daniel willed away
the erection, took a single look at Luke smirking and was instantly bone hard again. He’d
had a taste of Luke blowing him last night and now looking at that smirk he had an idea of
what could be in the man’s mouth to stop him looking so smug. Fucker.
“You comin’ in?” Kieran smacked the window and waved some beers in a welcome. He
went inside with Max following and finally Daniel climbed out with Luke not far behind. He
locked the truck then went in through the half open door and hoped to hell no one noticed—
a) his hard-on, b) Luke’s hard-on and c) the fact Daniel couldn’t stop looking at Luke.
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This was so going to be one of those nights.
* * * *
“Max seems like a nice guy,” Luke commented on the way back down the hill. “Him
and Finn are happy. Don’t often see that…y’know, long relationships.”
“What’s the longest relationship you’ve been in?” Daniel didn’t really want to know but
it was the polite thing to say. He’d only had a night with the promise of one more.
“Zach. I was with him six years.”
“Six years? Hell, that’s almost a marriage,” Daniel commented. The thought of a
relationship lasting that long, or even at all, was something he saw as impossible.
“We were friends with benefits really, at the end of it, just sharing a bed. We stayed
friends though. He’s a good guy.”
“And no chance of getting back together?”
“Why? You want a threesome?” Luke joked. Daniel pushed down the overwhelming
feeling of jealousy and chalked it up to the fact he was this close to getting what he wanted
tonight and he didn’t want anyone else even in Luke’s head, let alone their bed. Evidently his
face said it all as Luke just chuckled and held up his hands in a gesture of peace. They pulled
up outside Daniel’s cabin and neither man hung around to discuss a single thing. Both
focused so utterly on getting inside, getting naked and getting it on.
Tumbling back on the bed Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off of Luke as he reached into
the side drawer and located condoms a lot quicker than Daniel had for their last encounter.
“On your front,” Luke said. He wasn’t asking, he was telling and Daniel didn’t argue.
He moved directly onto all fours, but Luke pushed at him until he was flat on the bed, his
hard cock trapped between his own weight and the sheets below. When he felt the first touch
of Luke’s mouth at the top of his spine he couldn’t help but wriggle but a gentle push from
Luke had him stopping. He wanted to touch, but he wasn’t being allowed to. Luke continued
kissing then his hands followed the path, kneading at the muscles in his back.
“You’re way too tense, soldier,” Luke whispered against his skin.
“Just get on and fuck me,” Daniel replied. He didn’t want delays—he wanted Luke.
Now.
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The trickle of something cold slid from his crack to his balls and he turned his head
from left to right in anticipation. When Luke pushed his fingers inside, loosening him, he
pushed back against the intrusion, but Luke simply took the fingers away and pushed him
down. Luke chuckled then laid his weight across one side of Daniel so his mouth was near
Daniel’s ear.
“You have to trust me to get you there,” he whispered. He started with his fingers again
and all the time he whispered in Daniel’s ear. “It’s not all about getting there…it’s about me
stretching you…pressing there…” Daniel screwed his eyes shut. The soft words and Luke’s
touch had him so close he could feel his balls drawing up as an orgasm built. He didn’t want
to lose it this way. He wanted Luke inside him.
“Inside…” he managed to force out.
Luke moved until he was laid flat on top of Daniel. The weight of the man was
intoxicating and when Luke slid home, balls deep, Daniel pressed hard into the sheets to stop
himself from coming at first touch. Supporting the weight of his torso on his hands, Luke
pushed with his knees to open Daniel’s legs wider then moved—subtle, slow and still
whispering all kinds of things, praise, curses and endearments.
Daniel couldn’t hear anything but Luke, or feel anything but Luke. His scent and his
warmth surrounded Daniel and when the angle changed slightly and Luke was touching
him in all the right places it was game over for Daniel. With a gasp stifled by the sheets, he
was coming into the bed and Luke wasn’t far behind. With a few more thrusts he called
Daniel’s name and one last push and he was coming and shouting his completion. Daniel
had never felt the sensations—the completeness of how Luke had possessed every sense in
him. Luke pulled out and disposed of the condom before climbing back into the bed and
lying close to Daniel who still hadn’t moved. He wasn’t capable of moving. He was boneless.
“You’re in the wet patch,” Luke said gently.
“Don’t care,” Daniel murmured. He was beyond any kind of caring at all. He was here.
All orgasmed out. He was sleepy, and he had Luke curled up against him. The wet patch was
not an important consideration. “Don’t go this time,” he murmured as sleep started to pull
him under.
“I can’t promise,” Luke replied. “But I’ll try.”
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Chapter Eight
Luke knew Daniel would be disappointed when he woke up to find him gone, but there
was only so long he could stay in one place without feeling claustrophobic. He hadn’t gone
far. Just to the porch with a coffee to look at the sunrise. They’d woken and made love again
in the darkest hour. Not had sex, but honest to goodness, all singing all dancing made love.
Luke had affection inside him that was bursting to get out and that was scary in itself. He
was here the sum total of another two weeks and he wasn’t staying so what was the point of
learning more about Daniel?
“Hey,” Daniel’s voice echoed in the wide wooden porch. He sat down on the swing
hanging from the rafters and Luke settled it with one foot as it rocked with Daniel’s weight.
“Hey,” Luke replied. He sipped at his coffee and looked out to the trees and the tip of
the mountains beyond. “This is new isn’t it? This cabin. I don’t remember it from when I was
here.”
“Yeah, built it with the guys just before I left on my first tour. Kind of needed a place to
aim to come back to.”
Luke winced. That sounded so damn final. He’d been up close and personal with
Daniel and he’d noticed the slight limp and the expression of discomfort when Daniel moved
his shoulder sometimes. He’d seen more detail when he’d trailed kisses down his spine last
night. A wicked looking scar curved from shoulder to near the spine itself.
“How were you injured?” he asked.
“IED.”
“I’m sorry.” That is what you said right? When you asked stupid questions and got one
word answers.
“Don’t be.” Daniel sighed. “I made it home fairly much in one piece from that tour.”
“Must be hard though not to be part of the family out there. You know, the marines…”
Daniel looked directly at him and frowned. Luke waited to be shouted down. He didn’t
know what it was like being in the forces, especially something as close knit as the US
Marines and he fully expected to get the punch that Daniel had previously held back.
“No one has ever said that to me.”
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72
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be. My friends, colleagues, they were my family. You watched the back of the
next guy because you knew he was watching yours. We were like brothers I guess and yeah,
coming back here to normality in small town USA was quite a bit of a culture shock. I don’t
think a single other person has ever summed up what I had in the Marines as family before
though.”
“Did anyone else come back? From your team.”
“Two are still out there. I don’t know anything, but I kept in contact with their families
here so I would know. What made you leave this morning?”
“I didn’t exactly leave. I’m on your porch.”
“You know what I mean. I woke up and we were twisted together as close as you can
get without sex then when I next woke up the bed was empty and it wasn’t much past
dawn.”
“I wish I could put it into words,” Luke said. How to sum up panicking and dreams,
and being here at the cabins, not getting too involved with a gorgeous soldier, and the whole
heap of shit going on in his head. “I try not to think about it.”
“So, tell me about Colorado,” Daniel changed the subject.
“Work. I’ve been looking at positions for English teaching at schools in Aurora and
Denver.”
“That’s a long way from Richmond?” Daniel looked at him with questions in his
expression. How was Luke going to explain this one? In the end he decided to go with what
he had convinced himself was a good reason.
“Somewhere new. Wanderlust. You were a marine, you know what it’s like.” Luke
shrugged. Daniel had to know what it was like to not want to settle in one place. The very
nature of his job was to move from country to country.
“Not me,” Daniel replied. He sipped his coffee then leaned his head on the back of the
swing. “Home is here. Doesn’t matter where I’d get taken, home will always be here in the
mountains.”
“I like the Smokey’s but there are mountains in Colorado.” Luke wasn’t lying. He loved
the peace he could find just sitting here and recalled it from ten years before when he would
sit and listen to the sounds of the mountain and breathe the fresh air.
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73
“There are mountains in Afghanistan,” Daniel pointed it. “Doesn’t mean I want to live
there.”
They subsided into silence. Luke sipped his cooling coffee and used his toes to rock the
swing slightly. He felt relaxed for the first time in a long time.
“So, what are you going to do for two weeks?” Daniel asked. There was no hidden
message in the question, no suggestion that Luke spend it with him and Luke hesitated a
moment before answering. He had a whole lot of plans in his head, top most was sleeping
and chilling and calming the fuck down. Sex was therapeutic right? Sex released endorphins
that were good for insomnia. He’d certainly not had trouble sleeping curled up with Daniel.
“I’ll need to call in some real estate agents to get the investment listed. That’s number
one on the list. Then nothing really, job hunting, seeing if I could factor in lowering the price
of my condo in Richmond so the freaking thing sells.”
“You really are uprooting from your life there.” Daniel closed his eyes and the frown
had disappeared from his face, leaving smooth sun toned skin apart from his laughter lines
that bracketed his mouth. Luke ached to touch and to get another smile from Daniel as he
traced each of those small marks.
“I was hoping the offer of your spare room was still open,” he said. Daniel opened one
eye then shut it again.
“Nope. I have stuff stored in the second bedroom. You’re going to have to share with
me.”
Disappointment at the start of Daniel’s sentence gave way to happiness that sparked
inside him at the rest. He could do that. Share Daniel’s bed for the next fourteen days, and
maybe it would level him so he could catch up on the sleep that had eluded him since
finding out his dad had been murdered. If he was more awake and less stressed then surely
he would be able to handle the ghosts of his past and the hatred he harboured for his father.
Get it all out of his system instead of pretending that counselling had made everything better
and that he was all okay. He didn’t share any of that with Daniel. Instead he leaned over and
pressed his hand against Daniel’s hard sex.
“Wanna start sharing now?”
* * * *
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Two things happened to Luke simultaneously. He’d dropped the price by ten thousand
on the condo he’d bought into with Zach and it sold fairly quickly. Then, the end of the week
the cabins were listed for sale. He’d thought long and hard about price and taken advice
from everyone. And now he was with Brenda in her kitchen. He’d helped her move a ton of
wood to where they were boarding over the remains of the burnt cabin. They talked about
painting her kitchen. He wasn’t extraordinarily good at painting. His last painting job had
ended in disaster. He was good at drawing and using watercolours—not so much a twenty
foot long wall and a tub of cream paint. It took ages to fully get the paint out of his clothes
and the splatters off of his face. Never mind. He had warned Brenda he was rubbish, but she
seemed intent on keeping him busy. Daniel was off somewhere with the truck, bringing back
supplies, and Luke wasn’t ashamed to admit he quite liked having Brenda to himself.
“I put the proviso in that any sale needs approval from you as percentage holder,” Luke
explained.
“That’s good of you,” Brenda said. She pushed the cookie jar towards him and he
helped himself. “You didn’t need to do that, but we sure appreciate that you have done.”
“I always meant to. Stupid really. I didn’t have much to do with you and Daniel when I
was younger, but I feel like I owe you that much now.”
“You were older than Daniel,” Brenda began. “And you didn’t live in the owner’s cabin
until your granddaddy died. There wasn’t a lot of crossover in our lives.”
“But you knew my mom.”
“I did. I liked her and your dad. She never wanted the cabins. She wanted to sell like
you are, but Mike never accepted that. I guess the fact that he inherited it was a new and
exciting project for him. Your mom and dad were having issues before she left. You know
that right? She didn’t just up and leave for no reason. And I believe she had every intention
of coming back.”
Daniel recalled arguments, fights, loud and intense, and him hiding in his room or
spending time at the school with the younger kids and playing for teams of every sport he
could manage. Yes, his parents weren’t the calmest of people. The man his dad had been had
diminished through drink, and his mom had never had the chance to come home.
“I know.”
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“So let’s hope she sells then,” Brenda said. She crossed to the sink and rinsed out her
mug. Daniel loved the way she looked on the resort as a ‘she’. Brenda was a part of this
place, the same as Daniel was.
“Fingers crossed,” Luke added. Just for something to say.
When they had finished working and as dark drew in, Luke stretched tall and loved the
ache in his muscles. He felt fit and alive and, for the first time in a while, positive. As he was
saying his goodbyes, Brenda stopped him and handed him a box.
“I know it’s Danny’s turn to host the boys tonight, he’ll want food.”
True. Daniel’s idea of cooking was heating prepared meals. Luke loved cooking but
there was no need to point that out. Cooking in Daniel’s kitchen was altogether too much like
settling in for the duration and he only had another seven nights. He thanked Brenda, then
walked the short distance to Daniel’s cabin. The interior light was on and he imagined Daniel
inside, getting the place tidy. He let himself in and smiled. Daniel took these Friday beers
very seriously as evidenced by the fact that he had filled the dishwasher this morning and
actually tidied the kitchen surfaces. Not that he lived in dirt, but the interior was kind of
chaotic. Just another facet of Daniel’s personality that was at odds with the way he kept his
clothes and his bedroom. Everything was in order, the bed always made, clothes hung,
drawers organised. Luke put that down to his time as a marine, and blamed the kitchen on
the fact that Daniel hated cooking.
Glancing at the clock on the microwave he saw they had at least an hour before Kieran
and Finn arrived.
They could get one hell of an orgasm in before that.
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Chapter Nine
Kieran sat opposite Daniel and had that infuriating know it all look on his smug face.
Daniel tried to ignore it, but it was difficult when he knew that it was probably his own
smiling that was causing the smugness. He couldn’t help it. Luke was good for him. Funny,
sweet, sexy, hot—he was everything Daniel wanted in a partner. There. He’d said it. Partner.
Kieran may well sit there with his ‘I told you so’s, but at the end of the day he wasn’t wrong.
He said there was something in Luke that matched Daniel. He was right.
If only Luke wasn’t leaving in seven days. If only he thought working at Weston High
School was a good idea. If only he didn’t continue to think uprooting himself again was a
solution to his problems.
What would he do if Daniel asked him to stay longer? Just a month maybe? They could
find out in that month that they irritated the hell out of each other. Finn walked in with soft
drinks and beers, so evidently he was on duty later, and Max followed close after. They took
the other sofa and leaned in on each other. Max looked tired, but then he’d been out at a
garden shed fire the previous night so that was to be expected. Finn supported his lover and
they looked so damn good together.
Daniel wanted some of that. With Luke.
Luke came out of the kitchen with more beers and plates of snacks on a tray then took
the only seat remaining. Next to Daniel. Gah. All Daniel wanted to do was put his arm
around Luke, or hold hands, or touch, or anything but sit with a good few inches separating
them. Without making it too obvious Daniel shifted in his seat and pulled up a leg under
him. This meant he was touching knee to Luke’s thigh and that settled his thoughts for a
while. Luke looked across at him with a smirk. There was a teasing light in his eyes. What
was it with teasing and smugness tonight?
“Where did you get to with selling?” Kieran asked.
Luke explained and Daniel listened. They’d put the fifty stake up for a good price but
the economy was slow. It would probably take someone local who could see the potential
and who had more money than sense to invest in it. Certainly not anyone who wasn’t used to
the Tennessee way of life.
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The night was easy and fun and a little more of the ice that encased Luke’s emotions
where Ellery was concerned was chipped away.
* * * *
Luke finished the call and wondered how he was going to break the news that he was
leaving to Daniel. Of course he had known as soon as the deeds were in Luke’s name that he
would be moving on. They hadn’t talked about it though. It was one of those non-subjects
that was never really brought up.
“You okay?” Daniel stopped in the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb.
“That was Bryan Grove. He said everything is on the deeds and I just need to sign.”
“Okay.” Daniel nodded. “Good,” he added. “I’m making coffee? Want one?” He turned
and left. Just like that, without any further discussion. And he said it was good? What was?
The deed or Luke leaving? Luke pushed himself up and off the bed where he had sat to take
the call. His own worries and irritation made him snappy inside and that wasn’t probably
the best mood to be in to follow Daniel, but hell, given the amount of frankly awesome sex
and talking they’d done these last two weeks he’d expected more than a ‘good’.
“What do you mean good?” Luke snapped.
Daniel turned from the coffee maker and quirked an eyebrow.
“Good that the deeds will be sorted,” he said. “I’ll bet you’re pleased to be getting this
all sorted. Kieran said there were rumours that the Askett family might be interested. Their
son Mitchell is some kind of investor.”
“What? Don’t start changing subjects. I don’t give a shit what Kieran said and who
wants to buy my half,” Luke said. It hit him that he meant it. That he didn’t care at all.
Shaking off the unsettling feeling, he focused on his anger. He was good at that. The end of
things had come and Daniel wanted to talk about investors?
“You should care. If you sell then the money you get will mean you can start a good life
in Colorado,” Daniel said. Then he crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless of course you
want to stay?”
“Stay? In Ellery? Teaching at a second rate school for peanuts, and living with all the
memories of what my dad did to me?” Luke could have bitten off his own tongue. They’d
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78
avoided talking about his dad so far and there he had gone and given an opening that he
knew damn well Daniel was going to take.
“What did he do Luke?”
Daniel had never asked that. Not once in two weeks had he mentioned anything about
what had happened to Luke and all of a sudden, wrapped up in asking if he wanted to leave,
he was suddenly keen to know? Temper snapped inside Luke at having to even explain the
two years of hell he’d been through.
“Took his frustrations out on a kid who should have known better and who should
have ducked one hell of a lot faster,” Luke snapped. Daniel dropped his arms to his sides and
pushed his hands into his jean’s pockets. He looked momentarily sad then just as quickly
there was a flash of pity in his eyes.
Hell no. Pity? Fuck that.
Luke turned on his heel and pulled his bag out from where he had stowed it in the
bottom of the closet. Most of his gear was in the car, but he had actually moved some of the
essentials into this room with Daniel. Underwear, socks, pants, tees and the book he was half
way through reading.
“Is this you going then?” Daniel asked.
“I need to sign the deed then I can move on.” He couldn’t help the twist of anxiety
inside him and turned his back on Daniel to stop the other man from seeing anything in his
expression that would give him away. Straightening his back to avoid giving away any body
language clues either he counted back from five then grabbed the bag.
“We found a place for the retreat,” Daniel said conversationally. As if they weren’t
standing here in a weird faceoff with Daniel between Luke and the main door. Glancing to
the left Luke checked to see if the window was big enough for him to climb out of if he
needed to. Evidently his trapped animal reflex showed in the action and Daniel stood to one
side. “A big old twenties house up behind the park, kind of derelict, but we can get grants
and fix what we need. Kieran has already said he’ll volunteer as much time as he can, and
give us a good price on the carpentry side.”
“Uh huh.” Luke walked past Daniel and their arms brushed in the narrow space. Daniel
placed a hand on Luke’s arm and stopped his movement. Luke didn’t shake him off. There
was no point. He may as well get this over and done with so he could go get the truck and
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get into town. Daniel placed his other hand on Luke’s face and Luke couldn’t stop the
instinctive movement to press his face against the warm palm.
“I fell in love with you on Monday,” Daniel whispered.
Shock knifed through Luke. “What?”
“You were sitting on the porch and we watched the sun come up, same as every day,
but that time I took you by surprise and you were startled.”
Luke remembered it. He still wasn’t very good at handling people coming up to him
without him realising. Jumpy, Zach called it, stupid is what he called it. “But the minute you
saw it was me you relaxed and smiled. This huge grin that dimpled your cheeks and made
your blue eyes spark with pleasure. It’s the same expression I see when I am inside you,
around you, looking at you. When you come and you open your eyes and you look at me I
am lost.”
“Daniel—”
“I’ve lost friends and seen so much more than I could ever explain to you. Maybe that
makes me desperate to connect, I don’t know. All I do know is that I don’t want you to leave
yet. Stay in Ellery, help me with the house, take up a teaching role at the school, work with
Finn and the DARE programme he’s using in the school.”
Hope bloomed in Luke’s chest, but fear and uncertainty pushed it down ruthlessly. He
was a shit boyfriend—look at what he had been like with Zach. And love? Who fell in love in
two weeks? Apart from Finn and Max who seemed in the honeymoon stage, no one did. His
mom had loved his dad and where had that ended? Years lost in a bottle and his mom dead
and out of his life. He’d kept the secret of his dad beating him for two years out of love. Love
was just an excuse to hurt people and to fail.
Deliberately unpeeling Daniel’s fingers from his arm he stepped away and to the door.
Daniel didn’t move.
“I can’t,” Luke said. “Need to keep moving and find a new place.”
And with that he left. Climbed into his truck and started on the road down to town. He
didn’t know what was worst—the fact that Daniel didn’t come out onto the porch to watch
him leave, or the fact that he wanted him to.
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Chapter Ten
Daniel looked at his watch and sighed. Everything he wanted had just gone. Left.
Should he have done more? It was only ten in the morning. Maybe he could persuade Luke
to stay and give it one more day. Perhaps he shouldn’t be a coward and actually talk to Luke
about what had happened to him when he was younger. He’d been avoiding it for two
weeks simply because he was falling head over heels for the guy and he didn’t want to rock
the boat.
“Stupid,” he muttered. Leaning on the rail and looking up at the mountains he inhaled
deeply. “Fucking stupid.”
“Who is?” Kieran asked. He was pushing a wheelbarrow full of weeds and looked red
in the face. The heat was thick today and any kind of physical work would surely be the
worst kind of thing to do at the moment.
“Why don’t you work on the cabin in the shade?” Daniel asked concerned.
“It needs two of us, big boy.” Kieran smirked. He thumbed at the cabin. “Wanted to
give you and teacher-boy some alone time and waited for you to come up for air.” Instant
guilt flooded Daniel. They had been around and he had worked, but let’s face it mostly had
been mooning over Luke.
“Sorry. We can start today,” he said. Resting his elbows on the rail he bowed his head
and tried not to concentrate on the fact that Luke had gone and that he’d likely never see the
guy again. So much for his first time falling in love. He’d clearly only fallen for half of a man.
He was being stupid. Hell, maybe he didn’t love Luke. This could just be the sex talking. It
was very good sex.
“Where’s Luke?” Kieran asked.
Suddenly, with that simple question, sadness washed over Daniel.
“He’s gone,” he said simply.
“Gone?”
“Signing the deeds then he’s leaving, gone.”
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“Shit. That’s it? Just gone.” Kieran sounded shocked. He settled the barrow on the
ground and climbed the steps on the cabin in a rush. In seconds he was by Daniel and resting
the same against the rail. “But he seemed happy enough here? And you love him.”
Daniel cast a glance at his friend who looked as devastated for him as he felt. “Was it
that obvious?”
“You couldn’t take your gaze off of him and your eyes were all…” Kieran’s voice tailed
off. Instead of finishing with words he waved his hand to indicate ‘the rest of it’.
“Jeez, how did I let myself get so involved? I didn’t mean to, I knew he was going but it
sneaked up one me, I didn’t realise it myself until he said he was going.” Daniel sighed
noisily then buried his face in his hands. “I can’t believe I asked him to stay, like a desperate
ass, no wonder he took one look and ran.”
“So he said no to staying. Did he tell you why?”
Daniel indicated the direction of the burned cabin with a nod of his head. “Too many
ghosts,” he finally said.
Kieran pressed against his arm and sighed. “I’m really sorry, man. Is there nothing you
can do?”
“Short of driving like a maniac into town and demanding he stays? No. I’m not forcing
him into anything and if he doesn’t feel the same way as me then I need to chalk it all up to
experience. It was two weeks of the very hottest sex I have ever had with a man I fell in love
with. I’ll learn not to do that again.”
“Well, shit,” Kieran cursed.
“Shit is about right.”
* * * *
Luke parked on the side of the road outside the diner and stayed inside the truck for a
good ten minutes staring at the steering wheel and thinking. His chest felt tight and he was
still in shock—clearly that was why he couldn’t move. Who did Daniel think he was? Telling
Luke he was in love with him? The sex was good. Phenomenally good. They’d connected in a
way Luke had never done with a lover before. They laughed a lot, talked even more, and
yeah, the sex… But that didn’t mean love. He was so deep in thought that the knock on the
window caused him to jump up and bang his head on the roof.
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“Sorry,” Finn mouthed through the glass with an accompanying apologetic smile.
“It’s okay,” Luke called back. He removed his keys from the ignition then climbed
down out of the truck. Finn moved back out of the way and he was smiling. Luke couldn’t
help being suspicious of a cop in uniform that was smiling.
“Daniel called, said you were leaving, and I wanted to catch you and say goodbye.”
Finn held out his hand which Luke shook. Jeez, Daniel didn’t mess around—Luke had only
left him thirty minutes ago or thereabouts. “Think you’ll be coming back around sometime to
visit?”
“Not sure,” Luke said. No freaking way.
“Shame you couldn’t hang around for Friday night at Max’s.” Finn had shrugged as
he’d said it, but there was challenge in his eyes. “He lives two minutes down past the
Mayor’s office, small blue house with the realtor sign, number six-five-two.”
“I’m leaving as soon as I sign the deed so need to get going,” Luke said quickly. The last
thing he wanted to think about was the whole Friday gatherings, which led him straight back
to thinking about Daniel. He walked away before Finn could say anything else and quickly
entered the lawyer’s office to stop having to talk. The secretary looked up at him with a
smile. Hell, what was it with everyone smiling around him this morning?
“Mr Fitzgerald, have a seat. Mr Grover said he would fit you in, but he is running a
little late.”
Luke picked up a copy of National Geographic and thumbed through articles on
Stonehenge and African Wildebeast. There was nowhere near enough excitement within the
cover to keep him enthralled. All he kept thinking about was what Daniel had said. ‘I fell in
love with you on Monday’. Who did that? Who knew what day or time they fell in love? Pain
in his chest had him leaning forward and placing the flat of his hand over his heart. Physical
grief tore through him. He didn’t want Daniel’s love all wrapped up in a pity bow. That was
just stupid. He was a strong man now.
“Luke?” Bryan’s voice broke through his pity-fest and Luke shook his head to clear the
thoughts. He signed the paperwork and handed them back. He was out of the office in less
than five minutes and only had to listen to a few people catching him and telling him he
would be missed in Ellery. Adding insult to injury, Max was waiting outside the door. The
big volunteer fireman dressed in shirt and tie for his day job leant back against the wall
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without a care in the world. It was a sight for sore eyes. No one said Luke couldn’t look at
Finn’s partner. Didn’t make what he felt for Daniel any less than love.
What? Love. No.
“Heard you were leaving,” Max said. His voice pushed aside the instant panic Luke felt
at the L word even appearing in his head. Max offered his hand and Luke was instantly
shaking it before pulling away. “Was really nice meeting you,” Max continued. “Miss having
someone on my team on the Fridays. Where you going to again?”
“Colorado.”
“Oh yeah, you said. You’ve got a teaching job there or something.”
“Not yet, but I will have soon.”
“Good luck with that then.”
Luke climbed back into his car and pulled away from the kerb taking care to keep to the
speed limit until Ellery had disappeared behind him. He was five hours away before his
stubborn determination left him and he pulled over at the first motel he could find. The room
was clean, his cell was charged and finally he had a peaceful place to get his head together.
Turning his cell over and over in his hand he felt restless and angsty. Staring down at the
screen he thumbed his pitifully few contacts and selected Zach who answered on the first
ring.
“Luke, how’s it going with tall, dark and dangerously sexy?”
Uncertainty spiked inside him. Zach wouldn’t call him on what he was doing, or
planning, Zach was always on his side and without fail supported Luke.
“Badly.”
“What did you do?” Zach snapped straight back.
“What do you mean what did I do?”
“We spoke two days ago and I could hear the change in your voice. You were happy.
What have you done now? Don’t tell me. You talked yourself into not needing Daniel?”
Speechless, Luke held the phone away from him and wondered how the hell Zach
could come up with that from just the one word ‘badly’.
“He was just a two week fling,” Luke defended himself.
“I call bullshit on that one, Luke Fitzgerald. When we talked it was like you had stars in
your eyes, you sounded properly happy and enthusiastic for the first time in years.”
“That’s harsh Zach—”
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“But true. What did he say to you that scared you?”
“That he understood me and loved me–that he wanted me to stay.”
Zach sighed and Luke could feel his friend’s understanding through the phone line.
Zach would know what to do and what to say now.
“Which part of what he said scared you the most?”
Luke considered the question. “All of it,” he said finally. “I love him Zach, and I don’t
know what to do.”
* * * *
The small blue house had the blinds drawn against the night, but slivers of light peeked
around the edges. The realtors sign hung where Finn had said it would be and Luke could
make out Daniel’s truck parked in front. Daniel could have decided that Luke wasn’t worth
the trouble and that the last thing he needed was an emotional wreck for a lover…boyfriend,
partner, whatever. He’d probably blown this, despite the fact that Zach said he hadn’t. He
knocked on the door and waited. Kieran answered and stood blocking the entrance with his
arms folded across his chest.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Is Daniel here?”
“Who is it?” Max’s voice called from somewhere inside the house.
“Luke for Daniel,” Kieran called back. No one replied, but an interior door opened to
show the kitchen beyond and suddenly Daniel was there in person. He walked to door and
Kieran moved to one side.
“Luke? Is everything okay?”
Luke shrugged. “I didn’t make it to Colorado.”
“That’s obvious,” Kieran snapped. Great, so scrappy little Kieran was placing himself
front and centre as Daniel’s bodyguard or something. Luke would laugh if he didn’t think
Kieran could probably take him in an instant given Luke wouldn’t fight back.
“Daniel, can we go for a walk?” Luke asked the question just as Zach had said he
should. ‘Get him away from his friends, make him see what a fucking idiot you are and ask him if he
really meant he loved you and really wanted you to stay, which of course he did but you just didn’t get
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85
it’. Of course Zach had added way more to the instructions, but Luke couldn’t for the life of
him remember a single thing other than the first instruction to get away and talk privately.
Daniel leaned over Kieran and grabbed a jacket from the rack then stepped out into the
cool air. “Let’s walk then.” His tone didn’t give anything away, but at least he moved away
from Kieran. Before his nerves got the better of him Luke walked away from the house and
Daniel hurried his step to catch up with him. Neither man spoke until they passed through
the gates to Broadfield Park then it was only Luke asking if it was okay to sit.
Daniel sat on the bench that had a view of the church and beyond that the space where
the police station used to be. Luke made to sit down then stopped himself. Sitting meant too
much nervous energy coiled inside him. Sitting meant being too close to Daniel. He would
lose his resolve if Daniel touched him.
“So I went to talk to the Principal at Weston High, Derek Wallace, nice guy, nearly
retired,” Luke added the description.
“I know Derek,” Daniel said.
“Of course you do,” Luke muttered. He coughed and began to pace the narrow path in
front of the bench. Daniel relaxed on the bench and spread his arms across the back of it—
every inch the epitome of cool and laid back. Diametrically opposite to Luke actually. That
only heightened Luke’s anxiety. “Finn mentioned the DARE program and I talked to Derek
about the kind of support that is in school for programmes like that for drug awareness and
also a GLBT group. That was what I was interested in at my old school. There’s a vacancy for
a teacher at Weston, English, Pupil Support, some science coverage for first years. It’s a
different school to what I am used to. Departments cross over and make the subjects work
together.”
“So there’s a job,” Daniel summarised. “Did you take the job?”
“That depends on you.” Luke ran out of words and stopped the pacing to stand in front
of Daniel, Luke’s heart on his sleeve. Daniel got up off the bench.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked. There was hope in his expression and for the
life of him Luke could not recall one real reason why he had run two days before.
“I stopped at a motel and I was sitting on this hideous orange quilt and talking to Zach
and he brought up the one thing that I should have asked myself. I was telling him all the
reasons why I couldn’t stay, he asked me to consider all the things that made a list of why I
could stay. I still have issues you know…” Luke stopped. He was beginning to ramble and
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not make sense. Daniel moved closer and rested his hands on Luke’s hips. He began a gentle
soothing motion with his thumbs and Luke swayed closer.
“Nothing we can’t handle together,” Daniel whispered in the dark.
“Are you sure? I want to believe I can live in Ellery with you but…”
“But what?”
“Do you know why I don’t wear a watch?” Luke blurted. Daniel frowned and glanced
down at Luke’s arm. He wouldn’t be able to see a lack of watch under the heavy jacket Luke
wore, but that didn’t matter. “Because when he hit me. I let him do it. I was a scared pathetic
sixteen-year-old who respected my dad and didn’t know how to tell him to stop. He wore a
watch, nothing special, but I remember it would catch me sometimes. Those were the
punches that did the most damage.”
Daniel made a noise halfway between a moan and a sigh and slipped his hands to the
small of Luke’s back to pull him close. With his cheek resting in the juncture of Daniel’s
throat and shoulder, Luke let Daniel hold him upright.
“I’m sorry no one helped you,” Daniel said. He buried his face into Luke’s hair and
kissed his nape. “I wish I had known you then or that my mom had seen for real what you
were going through.” Luke burrowed deeper momentarily then pulled back, stepping out of
Daniel’s close hug.
“So, you said some things, back at your cabin, how you wanted me to stay…”
“And that I loved you,” Daniel said.
“Yeah, that.”
Luke held out his hands and Daniel grasped them and used the hold to pull him close
again. “Zach made me see how with you it was different. When I wasn’t with you I missed
you, whenever I saw you I couldn’t stop smiling, when we made love I saw into your eyes
and I wanted you so much. Zach made me see that I am in love with you.”
“You are?” Daniel sounded disbelieving. “You don’t have to say that now.” The
hesitation and question in his tone sent panic skittering down Luke’s spine.
“You do still love me? Right? You want me to stay?” Luke pulled every ounce of self-
confidence he could muster from deep inside to push into those words.
“You don’t fall out of love overnight, Luke. I hated that you left but I let you go because
you needed to leave. I was only giving you a week’s head start then tracking you through the
lawyers. I’d already decided to go with you away from Ellery if that is what you need to do.”
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Luke shook his head. “Your mom, friends, you can’t leave that.”
Daniel sighed. “This is going to sound like every cliché line in every romance on the
Hallmark channel, but none of that means anything if I don’t have you here with me.”
“I love you. But I understand if you want to take it slow because I’ve blown it—”
“Move in with me,” Daniel interrupted. Cradling Luke’s face with his hands he pressed
a gentle barely there kiss to Luke’s cold lips. He pulled back, but Luke wanted more than
that. He chased for the kiss and they stood under the Tennessee sky in the shadow of Ellery
Peak and sealed the deal in the best way they could without making love there then on the
cold ground. When they broke apart they were both grinning.
“You realise what you’re taking on, Daniel?” Luke asked gently.
“Yeah, Luke, I know. I’m taking on the man I love and want to make a life with.”
Luke melted there then and they hugged for a long time talking plans and ideas and
forever. Then mischief rose inside Luke.
“You so know I am going back to your friends and telling them you said that.”
“I know at least ten ways to kill a man with my bare hands,” Daniel deadpanned.
“Come on,” Luke said. He gripped Daniel’s hand. “Let’s go and tell them it’s the two of
us now.”
They walked back to Max’s house and opened the door to find Max, Finn and Kieran
gathered in the kitchen with expectation on every face. Luke wasn’t sure what to say but then
Daniel broke the exchange of stupid grins by simply lifting their joined hands.
“Your turn now, Kieran.”
Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:
Moments
RJ Scott
Excerpt
Chapter One
“Shit, Sam. March? That’s four frigging months.”
Jacob Riley, all six-three of pissed-off male, slammed the door to the small conference
room behind him and stamped to the window to stare moodily at the bright sunshine-filled
day outside. He twisted both hands tight into his hair in frustration, wondering how the fuck
this day had just all gone to hell. His lawyers—his fucking well-paid lawyers—had said
they’d get him off, not land him with some lame-ass probation community service crap. Jeez,
like he was gonna be taught anything by cleaning streets or dealing with people’s trash. Shit.
The TV in the corner was showing some trashy entertainment show, where a very smug
presenter was reporting the latest news. Jacob tried to tune it out but it was nigh on
impossible—it must have been the tenth time the show had been played in rotation.
The news of the arrest of actor Jacob Riley boosted the audience figures for the half season’s finale
of End Game to their highest point for eight months. He’s been offered a lifeline in a county
programme of rehab and his spokesperson said he’s concentrating on work and on himself. Well, folks,
here’s hoping this is one recovering addict who actually makes it out alive.
“It’s on hiatus,” Samantha replied carefully from just inside the door. “I’ve just got off
the phone with HBO and they’ll delay your return to ‘Game until you’re free to come back.
Remember, with Christmas on the way, we have some room to manoeuvre.”
Jacob spun on his heel. His quiet, calm assistant stood holding a clipboard, a cellphone
balanced on top of it.
“Fuck,” he summarised. HBO would be stupid to lose him, he was convinced of it.
‘Game was his show. Jacob’s character was pivotal, the star of the whole goddamned show.
“You’re lucky you play Zach,” Sam snapped. “And that Zach is a drug-taking manic
depressive. Otherwise I swear they would have canned you today, no hesitation.”
Was she trying to make him feel better? “Sam, do I look like I give a shit?”
“You need—”
“No! I don’t need anything or anyone. They push me off the show and they’ll see their
ratings drop overnight. No one loses Jacob Riley and sees their show survive.”
Sam stared at him in bewilderment.
Resentment bubbled up inside him. He was fully aware he was coming across as
petulant and childish. But how could Sam or anyone understand what was going through his
head? Sam, with her to-do lists and her anal outlook on life, sure as hell couldn’t. Who the
hell did she think she was? HBO wouldn’t tell his assistant anything of any importance.
“We have four months to get you into a programme and complete your work through
the community service,” she continued. Her patient tone, measuring every word, talking to
him as if he were a small child—he hated every syllable.
“No,” Jacob snapped, balling his temper and his dismissal of her into that one word.
She stepped away from him to stand against the door. “Jacob—”
“No. I’m not cleaning streets, I’m not searching for rubbish or any of the usual crap they
put celebrities through to humiliate us!”
“Jacob, it’s not meant to be a humiliation. But it is a punishment,” Sam said, raising her
free hand in an attempt to placate him. Her cell phone slid off the clipboard and tumbled to
the floor.
Jacob listened, but what she’d said only served to increase his temper. He could feel the
itch of addiction under his skin, and it terrified him. Although he would never admit it, he
was out of control and it was eating at the edges of him.
In over a year, he hadn’t wanted a hit as badly as he did at this moment. Frustration
and anger burst out of him with uncontrolled force. He reared up and crowded her against
the door, his hand circling her wrist and gripping tightly. “Don’t get all sanctimonious on
me, Sam, it’s not your style,” he snarled.
“Jacob, you’re hurting me,” Sam whimpered, visibly pushing as close to the wood as
she could. Her words didn’t register, and his grip tightened. “Jacob. Please…” she said, tears
in her eyes, pain and real fear in her voice. Something in the simple please reached through
his anger. He threw Samantha’s hand back towards her body, but he didn’t move away.
“I’m sorry, but don’t push me, okay?” he said tiredly. Half closing his eyes, he took a
deep breath. It was the first time in their relationship he could see fear in Sam’s eyes, and it
scared the hell out of him. Was she actually afraid of him? What do I say? How the hell do I…?
“Your father,” Sam said. “Your father is waiting for you in the next room.”
Jacob flipped from menacing back to petulant instantly.
“Great, another thing to make my day.” Jacob stepped back, watching as Samantha
rubbed her wrist and blinked back tears.
“Jacob, he wants to help. He knows of this place you can go for the next—”
“He’s the one who got me into this mess, Sam! He freaking turned me in!”
“He’s waiting.”
* * * *
“I’ve pulled strings, son, and arranged to get you into a new type of programme,
something different. It has an original approach, and it’s very exclusive.” Joe Riley stood stiff
and straight in front of Jacob. He’d lost all his energy on the walk across the conference room.
Jacob slouched, unwilling to show even the slightest interest. “I’ve made a hefty donation to
get you accepted. The only stipulation was that you are clean.”
Jacob looked into his father’s grey-blue eyes then shrugged. He’d heard all too clearly
the question under Joe Riley’s statement, and hated him for it. A year—a damn year.
Joe closed his eyes and sighed. “Isn’t there something dramatic you feel you just have to
say at this point, Jacob?”
“If I thought you would actually listen to me—just once—maybe I would have
something to say,” Jacob said sarcastically.
“Are you clean?” Joe asked.
“Fuck,” Jacob snapped, “I’ve been clean for a year, and you damn well know it.”
His dad crossed his arms and shook his head. “No, Jacob, I don’t know that. I know
what you told me, then I find you mixing with the same lowlifes you knew six years ago.
What was I supposed to think? What was I supposed to do? Tell me, son.”
“Turn me into the cops, obviously.” Jacob clenched his hands into tight fists at his sides.
“Do you think it was easy for me to do this, Jacob? Call the police on my own son?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do, actually.” He’d long ago convinced himself that his dad had
perversely enjoyed turning him in, and he chose to ignore the pained expression that crossed
his dad’s face. “It kinda solves all those issues around having to maybe—I don’t know—talk
to me instead?”
Joe inhaled sharply as if he had been physically hit, and Jacob wondered how his dad
was going to defend his parenting skills this time.
“Do you think your mother and I want to be visiting a morgue, identifying your body,
and seeing track marks on your arms? We had to do something, had to stop you from self-
destructing.”
Jacob tugged self-consciously at his sleeves, anger building inside him. He had been
clean for well over a year. Why didn’t anyone trust him? Jacob rolled his eyes. “Now who’s
being dramatic? Just because I had the stuff didn’t mean I was using. You could have tried
asking me why I had it on me.”
“And you wouldn’t have lied to us?” Joe asked simply, his voice calm. Jacob didn’t
answer. He wasn’t going to rise to the bait. “This is your last chance, Jacob. Take it. You
could actually make something of yourself.”
“So what the hell do you call two movies and a successful TV series? Nothing?” His
parents had never liked that he had decided to pursue acting. They’d always made it very
clear that they expected him to join the family accountancy firm. He’d endured several
wearying years of forcing and badgering.
“I swear, Jacob, if you ruin this, I will hold back every penny of your inheritance.”
Where the hell have I heard that before? “I make three million a movie, and eighty thou for every
episode of ‘Game. Seriously—you really think your money matters to me?”
“I swear every penny of mine will go to your brother,” Joe continued, but Jacob had
heard that threat before too, and it had the same impact as always—no impact at all.
“That loser?”
“Tell me, Jacob, why is Micah the loser? He has a career, a wife, a great kid—your
nephew. He has a life.”
“I’ve got a freaking career, Dad, and let’s face it—kids? That isn’t gonna happen. I’m
gay!” Frustrated, Jacob pushed his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes.
“I’m not arguing, Jacob. This isn’t about some petty brotherly feud, or who is happy
and who isn’t. You had every advantage—everything money could buy, every ounce of love
your mother and I had in us. Son, please. This is your life, and your mom and I are desperate
for you to see that! But somehow you don’t give a damn about it.”
“Well, maybe I don’t.”
“For God’s sake, Jacob, stop being so damn melodramatic. As far as I’m concerned,
we’re done talking. Go home and get some clothing together. Ben is outside. He’ll take you
home, then he’ll drive you down tomorrow.”
“And if I say no?”
“You can’t. I’ve pulled strings, but at the end of the day, it’s either this programme or
you’re back in prison. This programme is the only reason you’re not back there now.”
Shit.
* * * *
Ethan Myers was tired—exhaustingly, mind-numbingly tired. He’d been up all night
with Isabella and the baby. Today he was faced with an inspection from the county and the
new arrival of…whoever the man was.
Coffee. Black coffee. He’d drunk so much of the stuff through the night he was wired and
on the shaky side. He groaned softly as he lowered himself into his office chair. He couldn’t
allow himself to collapse onto the sofa because sleep would immediately chase him down.
Dawn had long since passed. In fact, Ethan had watched it paint the sky with delicately
muted pinks and mauves before the morning daylight had begun to break the fragile peace
of the pre-dawn hour. He had watched the sky out of the window in Beth and Isabella’s
room as he’d paced, rocking Beth in his arms and singing softly. Her fever had finally broken
overnight. Just before six a.m. she’d actually allowed herself to be settled in the arms of her
mother.
He glanced up at the clock, which showed eight a.m. The quarterly building code
compliance inspection was scheduled to start in half an hour. Wearily, he ran a hand over his
face, rough with stubble. He hoped against hope he would pass for casually cool as opposed
to casually scruffy. Scruffy was not a good look for a man in charge of two hundred
thousand dollars of the county’s budget.
His head was drooping ever closer to his desktop when Isabella popped her head round
his permanently open door. He shot upright in his chair in surprise, his hand flat on his
chest.
“Sorry, Mr Myers,” she said with a wry smile. “I just wanna say thank you for your
help with Beth in the night.”
“It’s really not a problem. That’s what I’m here for.” Her smiled turned to a frown and
he knew exactly what she was going to say.
“She’s my responsibility.”
“Considering you spent all of yesterday dealing with a fractious baby, I think sleep was
just what you needed,” he said reassuringly. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. “How is
Beth now?” It was always so difficult to get a real conversation out of the quiet teen, and he
usually carried the bulk of any discussion they had.
“The doctor says she’ll be fine.”
Ethan waited for the inevitable discomfort that emanated from Isabella whenever
medical bills were discussed, and the embarrassment that came with Ethan covering those
bills.
“That’s good news.” He waited patiently, experienced enough to give her time.
“Mr Myers,” she began timidly, casting a quick glance up to his eyes. Ethan nodded
encouragingly, and she looked down at the floor. “I’m thinking now is the time for me to
sign up for some classes here,” she said in a rush. Ethan smiled in genuine happiness at the
momentous decision.
“I’m glad you want to start classes.” He sat back in his chair. “I’ll let Maria know so she
can sort out a schedule and figure out some day care for Beth.”
“I can read, you know…” Isabella said. “Well, I can kinda read, and I would try really
hard.”
“You’re going to do well, Isabella. I promise you,” Ethan replied.
“Thank you, Mr Myers.” Isabella shot him a quick grin then left what the staff
affectionately called Ethan’s Cave.
Isabella’s news had made his day. Ethan felt more connected to the world when he was
able to care for others. Taking in Isabella and Beth, giving them a home when they’d had
none, gave him the opportunity to feel like he was making a difference in someone’s life. By
just being themselves and letting him do things like walk the floor with Beth until her fever
broke, those things filled him with hope and confidence that he was doing the right thing.
He looked around the room, at the posters on the wall, the books on the shelves, at the
paperwork in its neat and ordered stacks on his cabinet. The Cave was peaceful. He mentally
allotted himself ten minutes to shut his eyes, and sank into the quiet. But his thoughts
immediately centred on today’s meeting. Ethan hated having to deal with overbearing and
condescending officials to his very core and he was dreading it. Mac had always dealt with
bureaucracy, with red tape.
Ethan had watched his partner in life, and in love, Edward MacIntyre, succumb to
cancer. It had destroyed the strong, vital and vibrant young man he had been in the space of
a few months. The word ‘terminal’ had thundered in his ears as he’d struggled from one day
to the next. He’d been convinced that when Mac went, there would be nothing left for him
but Mac had been right. He had known Ethan far better than Ethan knew himself. Every time
Ethan had given in to his despair, Mac would gather his strength, and his humour, and
encourage Ethan to keep going.
As Mac had faded, Ethan had grown to recognise strengths he had never dreamed he
possessed. He’d resigned from his teaching post at the school where he’d taught for four
years and had stayed at home, caring for Mac. He’d watched devotion and love warring with
grief, as his lover’s life had ebbed. He’d been there for Mac every day, every waking moment
and sleeping hour. On the inside, Ethan had grieved, but he’d never let on, never let Mac see
the despair as he’d loved him and held him and stored every moment in his heart. His heart
had grown stronger and warmer and braver with every day, and he’d found himself
becoming more of a person than he’d thought he could ever be. For his Mac. Mac had died
on a bright Thursday, quietly and without a fuss, and Ethan had experienced his defining
moment.
Ethan had chosen not to die with his lover. Instead, he’d learnt from Mac’s bravery and
strength and had become a better man. He’d used his expensive education and searched for
ways to make his time on Earth worthwhile and fulfilling. He’d cajoled, begged and raised
funds from thin air. He’d sold their empty and echoing condo and buried the whole profit
into a crumbling, sprawling, turn of the century brick-fronted house in a run-down
neighbourhood. He took as much extra training as he could and investigated funding for
adult learning. Ethan was determined that, somehow, Mac’s memory would be honoured in
a way he would have approved of. From a grief-born determination, he’d created Mac’s
Education Centre.
It had been a long three years, but the centre for adult education was thriving, in an
area of L.A. that was fighting its way back from decades of decline. It was one of the areas
where things hadn’t been completely lost to drugs and prostitution. The residents wanted to
improve living conditions. Gang warfare hadn’t strangled all hope for the future there. Yet.
Without fuss, Ethan and his staff went about helping people get jobs by providing basic
literacy skills and serving as a liaison between the neighbourhood and potential employers.
His maxim—not that he called it that aloud—was that people can never have too many skills
or too much knowledge. He realised that, while he couldn’t deal with gangs directly, he
could certainly deal with the fallout—from widows who needed skills, to children out on the
streets because of domestic violence.
He dealt with budgets and people from diverse backgrounds. He was even known to
attend fund-raising parties in, horror of horrors, a suit. But there was one thing guaranteed to
put the fear of God into Ethan. He hated everything about the officials and the paperwork
that policed his funding. The language they seemed to make up as they went along, the
contradictory and inane rules that sprouted like dandelions in grass. Ten minutes of shut-eye
did not fortify him against any of the officious rubbish being thrown at him, and, not for the
first time, he wished he had Mac here to help.
* * * *
“Fire and safety codes need to be adhered to, Mr Myers. I thought I made that perfectly
clear on my last visit.” The little grey man in a grey suit with grey hair and, comically, a grey
clipboard stood glaring up at Ethan. It seemed to Ethan that he bristled—in a very grey
way—with self-importance.
“Fire codes?” Ethan repeated weakly.
“And the myriad of unaddressed items on my list,” Little Grey Man continued, his eyes
narrowing as he checked his file.
“The list of items?” Ethan knew he sounded like a helpless idiot. Shit, what list of items? I
need sleep, I need coffee!
“I’ve marked those that need urgent attention. They will be items four, five, six, seven,
eleven, subsections b and c, fifteen, nineteen and thirty-two. In addition to that, Mr Myers, I
find you sailing very close to the wind with thirteen, twenty-two and forty-one. I’m
extremely concerned that you appear to have wilfully disregarded the need for a ‘No
Smoking’ sign on the back entrance to the property.” He tapped his pen on the clipboard and
shot Ethan a withering look. “Is there some reason you feel it’s not appropriate to do as the
masses do?”
“No, I would never—”
“Mr Myers, I do not have all day to stand here while you quite clearly are not in the
land of the living. I will not have a fire code hazard on my books, and unless these
outstanding items are attended to, then I will have no choice but to shut you down.”
What? Shut him down?
“Why?” sputtered Ethan.
The inspector smirked arrogantly at Ethan. “Perhaps now that I’ve your attention, Mr
Myers,” he said, then paused for what Ethan assumed was emphasis. “You have until
January thirty-first to rectify the major violations of code—noted in the follow-up letter from
my last inspection—as well as the points I’ve just enumerated for you as a result of today’s
inspection. Further, I expect to see a plan to remedy the lesser violations no later than my
next quarterly inspection.”
“I—” Ethan was lost for words.
Little Grey Man wrinkled his nose in distaste as he gazed disdainfully from what Ethan
knew was his bed-head hair and stubble-rough face to his battered sneakers. “I will see
myself out, Mr Myers. Thank you for your time,” he said in clipped tones.
Ethan wasn’t capable of rational thought, but his ingrained professionalism kicked in.
“And thank you for yours.” Unfailingly polite until the end—that was Ethan ‘Idiot’ Myers.
He swore at himself inwardly for his southern upbringing. He watched as the official left, the
front door closing behind him. Ethan froze where he was for what seemed like an eternity,
words like ‘fire code’, ‘hazard’, and ‘closing down’ all fighting for prominence in his thought
processes. Shut us down? All the breath left Ethan’s body in one big panicked gasp, and he
started to feel faint.
“Ethan? Ethan, honey? Are you okay?” A small sweet voice and a firm grip grounded
Ethan. Weakly he turned to Maria Romera, his exceptionally spirited, loyal and level-headed
right-hand woman.
“They want to shut us down, Maria.”
“Ethan, honey, you need to calm down and think this through logically. Sit down.”
Gently, she pushed him back to his chair, and he collapsed obediently. “That ratto didn’t
actually say that now, did he?” Ethan stared up at her. “What he actually said was that you
have until the end of January to fix the problems he highlighted.”
“He did?” Did he? He did!
“You need to listen more closely, honey, and stop reacting to words like ‘close’ and
‘down’.”
“Okay, okay… I’m fine. It’s fine.” He paused then smiled up at the Italian powerhouse
he was glad to call his friend. “We’ll be fine. It’s a list—you like lists. You can tell me what to
do, can’t you?”
Maria laughed, a small musical sound that never failed to make Ethan smile. “No
worries there. I’ll make a list, you fix the stuff, and we’ll be good. Now take a few hours,
have a shower, and take a nap.”
“I’ve that Jason Ryan guy arriving at two.”
“His name isn’t Ryan. It’s Riley, Jacob Riley. Seriously, Ethan, I give up on you.”
About the Author
RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for
an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper
about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.
She can mostly be found reading—anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However,
her first real love will always be the world of romance. When writing her goal is to
write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more
than a hint of happily ever after.
RJ loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and
author biography at
Also by RJ Scott
Ellery Mountain: The Fireman and the Cop
With Amber Kell
End Street Detective Agency: The Case of the Cupid Curse
Total-E-Bound Publishing
www.total-e-bound.com
Take a look at our exciting range of literagasmic™
erotic romance titles and discover pure quality
at Total-E-Bound.
Document Outline
- Email: rj@rjscott.co.uk
- Also by RJ Scott
- With Amber Kell
- End Street Detective Agency: The Case of the Cupid Curse
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