Page 4 of Doubling Down

Ezra’s face burned. He really hated that his pale face never hid his embarrassment. “Uh…”

Leaning against the counter, Eric gave him a blinding white smile. Damn, this guy had to know what he was doing to Ezra. Eric loved flirting with Ezra, which always flustered him.

“Are you in school?” Eric asked with a frown. “Isn’t it hard to attend classes when you work so late here?”

Ezra shook his head. He didn’t owe this man any explanation about his life. Hadn’t he learned early on working there that itwas better to keep his private life, private? “Drink?” Ezra blurted out abruptly.

Eric straightened as his face fell.

Damn! Ezra was always messing up in front of this guy! Not that Ezra was going to take the full blame. Security for the casino made him nervous. Attractive men made him fidgety. Big men in general gave him anxiety.

Eric cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind. I’ll take my usual.”

“I don’t mind. It’s sort of my job,” Ezra mumbled as he picked up a medium cup. Of course, Ezra knew Eric’s usual order. The man came in every single shift that he worked. It wasn’t up to Ezra to point out that it was nearly ten at night and Eric shouldn’t be drinking espresso this late. It wasn’t his job to point that out. Ezra needed to make the coffee shop money, but Ezra really wanted to say something.

Ezra quickly made up the extra hot double Americano with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla. He turned to catch Eric reading the front of Ezra’s textbook.

Well, that was just plain rude. He placed the cup down next to Eric’s hand on the counter harder than he should have.

Eric let the book fall back to the counter with a sheepish expression. “Busted.”

Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t intimidating in any manner, but boundaries were a thing!

Eric grinned at him. “I’m sorry.”

No, Ezra was not going to fall for that charming smile.

“I’m just the nosy sort. And that is a very thick book.”

Hearing the wordthickcome from Eric’s mouth was torture. Ezra had often fantasied about how big and thick Eric might be under those well-tailored suits he wore. All of security for the casino dressed in dark suits except for Eric. Eric tended to favor light gray or tan. He also added small touches like his ties and pocket squares better than the thugs that Ezra was used to. Damn, Ezra had it bad.

The corners of Eric’s lips twitched.

There was no way that Eric knew where Ezra’s thoughts had gone. No way. That was when Ezra realized that his gaze kept dropping down to the crotch of Eric’s very well-fitting slacks before Ezra pulled it back up and Eric had caught him.

“Uh,” Ezra managed.

This man was going to think that Ezra couldn’t form two sentences together.

Eric winked. “I was talking about your book.”

Of course he was.

“But I suspect that’s not what you were thinking about.”

Did Eric move closer? Ezra would swear he could feel Eric’s breath on his face. Ezra shook his head. Nodded. Shook his head. Groaning, he knew he was acting like an idiot.

“What were you thinking about, Ezra?” Eric asked. He picked up his cup to swipe his tongue over the lid.

Ezra’s whimper escaped and wasn’t quite enough.

Eric totally moved closer! Ezra knew it. Eric leaned practically halfway over the counter. Ezra wanted so bad to reach out for the other man. He wanted to touch! It had beenso long since he touched someone that he was attracted to. Hell, Ezra never made the first move but if Eric even hinted, he wanted something from Ezra, it might be worth the risk.

Memories flashed in his mind, jerking Ezra out of the lust fog. He took several steps away.

Eric backed off immediately. He had responsibilities and that didn’t include getting mixed up with someone from work. Ezra needed his job too much. He not only had to support himself, but he was building a new life there in Las Vegas. It was nice to see that Eric had read Ezra’s change in behavior and responded accordingly.

“Are you okay?” Eric asked quietly. “I apologize for…making you uncomfortable.”

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