Page 76 of Beau and the Beast

“This is the best pad Thai I’ve ever had,” James said enthusiastically from the other end of the table.

The others chimed in with their compliments on Beau’s meal.

“Oh, no,” Beau said, as if he’d only just noticed he still had a plate full of untouched food. “I guess I’m just distracted. You know, thinking about the manuscript.”

Maybe that was a good sign, Wolfram thought. If Beau was thinking about the book, it meant he would probably follow Wolfram into his room where they could continue where they’d left off earlier.

Though the timeslot wasn’t strictly accounted for on Beau’s schedule, Wolfram had come to enjoy the times when Beau wanted to talk to him after dinner—as if the day together hadn’t been enough. The late evening sessions felt less structured, and instead of interviewing each other in the pattern they’d so easily fallen into, their conversations meandered.

* * *

Beau knewhe was being taciturn. Wolfram had definitely noticed it. Beau almost regretted establishing such a strict dinner schedule where everyone ate together every night.

For the first time since Beau had arrived at the penthouse, he really just wanted to be alone.

He needed to think through things—and he did that better with a pen, paper, and long list of pros and cons.

What the hell had this daymeant?Wolfram hadn’t done anything differently—it had all been Beau. And so why the shift? Why was it more impossible than ever to keep his eyes off of Wolfram, to stop himself from thinking about him?

He’d only known Wolfram was bisexual for a day, and he’d already allowed everything he thought about the man, apparently, to change. The day before when they’d talked about relationships, Beau had assumed Wolfram was simply joking politely. But whatwouldit have been like if they’d met and Wolfram had never been cursed? Would Beau have given the man a second glance?

The thought that he could’ve met Wolfram and neverknownhim upset Beau.

Yes, he had treated Wolfram like someone extraordinary from the beginning simply because of his unusual appearance. But in the time they’d spent together, in their rambling conversations and shared meals and subtle jokes, Beau had come to learn that Wolfram was an extraordinary person inside, as well.

It would’ve been easy to miss that if they’d met on the street, if Wolfram had looked like the next person.

Beau had assumed that a magic curse made Wolfram special, but he knew now that this wasn’t the entirety of it. And he’d been ready tokissWolfram. He’d been close to him—had wanted to be closer.

When dinner drew to a close, Beau had barely eaten. It was as if his body had decided to shut down until he figured out what was going on with his mind—what he was going to do next.

He let the others clear the table and rinse the dishes, sitting still and forcing himself to stare at a spot on the wall behind Wolfram’s head.

“Do you want to come back to the study and keep going tonight?” Wolfram asked.

The words were innocuous but in the context of what was swirling in his mind, they hit Beau like a punch to the gut.

Beaudid. He wanted to sit in the dim light and sip stupidly expensive brandy and talk to Wolfram about philosophy, gaze into his big warm eyes and forget that there were a million reasons why whatever he was feeling in that moment was completely misguided.

Beau sighed and let his gaze play over the planes of Wolfram’s serious face, his impossibly long eyelashes and the full lips he’d been perfectly ready to kiss as if it was the most natural impulse in the world.

He wanted to pick up right where they’d left off, but in a reality where Wolfram hadn’t just been reaching for his vest.

“Actually, I’m exhausted,” Beau lied. “I think I’ll take a rain check tonight.”

* * *

“Can I talk to you? In private?”

Wolfram was startled at first when Geoffrey was waiting for him in the hallway outside his study after dinner. He thought the man had retired to his own room. Geoffreyneverwanted to talk to Wolfram one on one.

“Certainly,” Wolfram said, opening the door to his study. “Please, come in.”

Geoffrey had only been inside the room a handful of times and he looked around as if stunned when he stepped in. Wolfram went to retrieve a decanter and glasses for them before settling at the table in the center of the room.

Almost ten years together and Wolfram could still smell the fear on Geoffrey.

The dinners had eased it. Geoffrey’s heart rate didn’t shoot up the way it used to at the sight of his boss, but Wolfram could still detect the way that adrenaline jumped into Geoffrey’s system when Wolfram came too close or moved too swiftly.

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