Page 3 of Unicorn Unashamed

Chapter Two

Raymond might have been a little too upbeat as he bopped to his music while getting things in his studio ready for his next client, but no one was around to see him, so what the hell.

He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t the type to play favorites and as a rule didn’t take on clients he didn’t mesh well with, but his next regular was a special case.

Josh was special in general.

Raymond had known Josh Parker was going to be a problem the moment he walked in for his first consultation. Raymond had a thing for smart and snarky, and Josh was both, and cute besides. Plus he was driven and worked hard, and those were always qualities Raymond admired. Josh was an entrepreneur, like Raymond was, though he was an artist and exercised creativity instead of his body. They’d bonded over that to start with, as they’d first started getting to know each other.

A year later and Raymond knew much more about Josh, which only made him like Josh more too. Snarky? Fuck yes. Josh had a deliciously wry sense of humor. He was all sarcasm and pointed expressions, but he also knew when to be more gentle with his words. He might have been quick with a quip, but he was also quick to pull back and apologize too, if he crossed a line.

Smart? Hell yeah, and Josh not only didn’t mind Raymond’s weird thirst for knowledge, but he actively encouraged conversations about whatever it was Raymond was currently interested in. Like the time when Raymond had mentioned he’d wanted to learn more about digital art and what Josh did. Josh hadn’t brushed it off; he’d recommended a few things to watch.

Josh also didn’t act surprised or look at him with disbelief when Raymond rattled off a random fact about something. Josh seemed to think Raymond was plenty smart himself. That was… it was nice.

Over the years, Raymond had dealt with a lot of people expecting him to be dumb since he enjoyed and made a living out of exercise. He was proud of what he did and the business he had built, but if it ever came up in small talk, he could sometimes visibly see judgement set in.

It could be hard, looking the way he did. First world problems and everything, but people saw this fit guy who worked out for a living and they didn’t think or care about whether or not he had brains in his head. It really sucked, because, if nothing else, Raymond loved conversation partners. He enjoyed being with someone he could talk to. Someone who would listen, at least patiently for a little while. There was so much stuff in the world to learn about and discuss and—

Josh listened to him.

Bottom line, Raymond liked Josh a lot. Honestly, if Josh hadn’t been a client, Raymond probably would have asked him out a long time ago.

No, that wasn’t true. Raymond liked Josh too much to have let that stop him. What really kept Raymond from asking Josh out was the fact that Josh was thoroughly uninterested.

The benefit of having a werewolf nose also sometimes dashed hopes. Raymond had never gotten even a whiff of arousal from Josh when they were together. There was simply nothing there. Josh’s natural scent wasn’t very strong to begin with for some reason, but arousal wasn’t exactly a hard scent to miss.

Which was fine. Josh was a good client and a good friend, and at least since Raymond already knew he had no chance, it kept him from making the mistake of trying for something more. Aside from how awkward it would be, Raymond wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he went and made Josh uncomfortable. He’d kept his feelings to himself for this long. He could do it indefinitely.

It was no wonder that Josh wouldn’t look at him twice, anyway. While Josh’s own scent wasn’t very strong, he came in with the remnants of other peoples’ scents not quite washed away often enough for Raymond to know that Josh wasn’t exactly strapped for partners. And that certainly wasn’t a surprise, because fuck if Josh wasn’t one of the hottest people Raymond had ever met. Just around Raymond’s height but slimmer, predisposed to lean lines of muscle instead of bulk like Raymond tended to. On the pale side (“I work from home, how often do you think I’m outside?”), but it suited him, especially against his dark hair. It also made his eyes and freckles stand out.

And with Raymond getting to see Josh three times a week, that was three times a week he also saw Josh sweaty and breathing hard, hair mussed and face flushed and…

Raymond sighed. It was a good thing Josh couldn’t smell arousal.

He went to check his phone for messages as a distraction. He kept it on silent while he was with clients, so he often came back to at least a few missed notifications.

It was a surprise when his phone lit up with an incoming call. Even more of a surprise to see Curtis Daniels as the name flashing on the screen. Raymond quickly checked the time. Five minutes until Josh was supposed to show up.

“Hey Curtis,” Raymond said as he turned off his music. “You’ve got perfect timing. Five more minutes and I would have missed your call.”

“Cool,” Curtis said. “Go me, then.”

“Yeah, but it also means you’ve gotta be quick. My next client is due soon.”

“Easy enough. Wanna have dinner with me tonight?”

“Oh!” Raymond grinned. “You’re in town?”

“Yeah. And before you ask why it didn’t make the news, it’s because it’s kinda hush-hush. With filming starting up in a few weeks, I bullied Simon into taking a mini vacation. We’re gonna do Disney World for a few days. Simon’s never been, and since they’re really good about being nonchalant about celebrities, I thought it’d be perfect. Especially with the crowds, no one’ll look at us twice.”

“That’s a nice idea.” Curtis and Raymond went way back. In fact, Curtis had been a huge help in Raymond working to set up his own business. He had a head for numbers and organization, and that was probably how he’d ended up as the personal assistant to Simon Walsh, a rapidly rising star in the film industry.

Raymond thought it was kind of cool to be one degree of separation away from a celebrity, though he knew more about Simon from the media than he did from Curtis. Curtis had only been working for Simon for about five months, and was very professional about not giving out details about him. Mostly when the topic came up, Curtis just seethed about the latest media nonsense going on about Simon’s shifter status. Simon was also a unicorn shifter, and there were altogether too many people who gleefully leapt at the chance to rake him over the coals about it.

“Yeah,” Curtis said. “I hope it’ll get him to relax a little bit. He’s been really antsy these last couple of months. I’m worried about it.”

“Well hey, bring him along to dinner if you want. I can entertain him by giving him a bunch of dirt on you.”

---