Page 2 of Leo

“That’s because I do a lot of travelling and I am not enamored with cooking the way you are.” He glanced at her as he searched for his special Japanese tea. She needed calm and the tea he had decided on would contribute to that. Hopefully. “No one is. You live in the kitchen.”

“I do.” She was feeling restless again, a constant condition as far as she was concerned. She had someone in mind. He was a friend, and she could be brazen enough to ask him to go with her in this scheme she was planning.

He could say no, but she had a feeling it would be mutually beneficial to both of them. And she was desperate enough to try. If he said no, then- God! She had no idea what she would do if he did. She really, really needed the money.

“Thanks.” She took the cup he handed to her and inhaled the citrus scent.

“Let’s talk about something else, something not designed to drive me crazy.” She sipped tea and stared at him over the rim of her cup. Michael Charles Montgomery was a highly successful and prestigious actor who came from a wealthy family.

He was the only son of Ellie Montgomery; the famous actress who had taken Broadway by storm several decades ago and who was now retired and living in Italy with her latest lover. A lover who was twenty years her junior. “How’s mommy, dearest?”

A smile touched her lips as he grimaced and sat down across from her. “Her lover made a pass at me the last time I went for a visit.”

Her eyebrows lifted, “So, you did what?”

“Made a pass right back.” He grinned at her, green eyes twinkling. She was the only one in his large circle of friends, he ever felt comfortable with and considered her his best friend. She was unsophisticated and honest to the point of being rude and he adored her.

She did not pretend to be anything other than who she was, and he admired that. She did not give a flying fig about society and was not ruled by their ridiculous standards. “He is a gorgeous man who is only with mother because of what she can give him. The poor thing is completely under her thumb.”

“Greed makes strange bedfellows.”

“And you, my darling one are completely and utterly cynical.”

“They are both using each other, obviously, so there is no need for sympathy. How is Jason?” She asked casually.

“We’re on a break.”

“For how long, this time?”

“It might be for good.” He placed the cup carefully into the delicate saucer and folded manicured hands in front of him. “Aren’t you going to say, ‘I told you so’?”

“That’s not my style,” she gave him a blank stare as she sipped her tea, which was beginning to warm her stomach. “But I did tell you, he is only after you for what you can do for him. Dump his opportunistic ass and move on.”

“Easy for you to say,” his expression was mournful, “I fancied myself in love with him.”

“He is an empty shell of a man and I saw that the minute you introduced him to me. All flash and no substance and very pretentious,” she shrugged. “You do not need that. If you wait patiently and stop picking up these losers, you are going to find someone worthy of you.”

“What if he’s exactly what I deserve?”

“That’s utter nonsense and you know it.”

“I don’t like living alone.” He looked around the luxurious place in which he had invested. He was wealthy and well set. But still, he was a thirty-year-old gay man with no one to call his own.

He traveled the world and could buy anything he wanted and did not hesitate to indulge himself. But he was lonely and was secretly happy that Sherrian had decided to spend the night.

“Living alone is fun and uncomplicated. I can walk around naked, cook with just an apron covering my nude body. I never have to pick up after anyone or put the damn toilet seat down. It is fricking liberating.”

He gave her a considering look.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re picturing me naked with just an apron on?”

He laughed softly and shook his head. “Precisely what I was imagining. Darling, you only came to this…,” he waved a hand vaguely. “This mind frame when that bastard did you wrong. We all need that special someone who is going to tune our pipes and settle in for the long haul. I want that and am not going to apologize for wanting it.”

She finished her tea and went to put her cup in the oversized sink. “I am over relationships. All I want to do is concentrate on building my pastry shop.”

“I could loan you the money, hell, I could give it to you.”

“No!” She shook her head firmly. “I already owe you quite a bit.

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