Page 74 of Booked for Summer

‘You mean ruder than implying the place is small?’ Leroy interrupted with a smirk.

While Liam cringed, Jeremy laughed. ‘Good point. Before you make any further rude remarks about our humble home, we like it.’

‘We like that it takes us two minutes to walk to work,’ Leroy added dryly. ‘Want a drink?’

‘Coffee, thanks.’ Liam edged onto the sofa, Jeremy sitting opposite him on the only other chair. ‘I pay you both decent wages. Don’t you want somewhere with more space?’ The place was smaller than his freaking boat.

‘Boss, have you seen the price of houses on this island? Only multi-millionaires can afford them. Sure, we could get somewhere slightly bigger further out, but we want to be in town.’ Jeremy shook his head. ‘And you’ve not come here to discuss the Nantucket housing situation.’

‘No.’ Liam parked the tumbling thoughts, though they provided a neat diversion to what he needed to say, but didn’t know how to start. Thankfully he was given a reprieve when Leroy, bare chest now covered by a faded T-shirt, shoved a mug in his hand.

‘Black, no sugar.’

‘Thanks.’ He eyed the man curiously. ‘How’d you know?’

Leroy shrugged his wide shoulders. ‘You pay me to pay attention.’ His gaze fell on Jeremy and some silent communication ensued because Leroy nodded. ‘I’ll catch you later.’

A few seconds later, the door banged closed.

‘That’s Leroy’s subtle way of giving you privacy to say… whatever it is you came to talk about.’

Liam half smiled. ‘You know why I’m here.’

Jeremy leant back on the chair. ‘Wondered how many days you could avoid me.’

‘Turns out five is my max.’ He took a sip of the coffee, set it down on the small glass table in front of him, and looked the man straight in the eye. ‘Yes. If you still need me, I’d be honoured to.’

Jeremy’s eyes widened comically. ‘Are you saying what I think you are? You really want to be my best man?’

He had a sudden flashback to his second term at boarding school. The day he thought he’d turned the corner because he’d been asked to join some new society. He’d walked proudly into the venue only to find he was the only one still there, half an hour later. He hadn’t freaked out, just thought he’d got the wrong room, wrong time. It was only when he was greeted with laughter as he stepped back in the dorm room that he finally realised.You really thought we’d want you in our group, Haven?

You really thought I wanted you to be my best man?

Bile rose up his throat and he lurched to his feet.

‘Whoa, are you okay?’ Jeremy looked utterly confused.

‘Why did you ask me to be your best man?’ he gritted out, heart pounding.

‘What do you mean?’

He knew from the concern on Jeremy’s face that he was making a fool of himself but he had to be sure. ‘You must have friends? People you’re closer to than you are me.’

Jeremy nodded. ‘Sure, I have friends. Those from before I came out, who navigate carefully around my sexuality for fear of offending me. Those from after, who look at me and wonder how I managed to snag the hottest gay guy on the island. Then there are those who see me as a part of a mis-matched couple, the weird white, ginger guy and the sexy Black guy.’ He shrugged. ‘You’ve only ever treated me as me.’

Christ. He dropped back to the sofa, so many emotions flooding him he couldn’t think straight. ‘You deserve more out of a friend than someone who spends most of his day barking at you.’

‘Maybe.’ Jeremy gave him one of his wide, guileless smiles. ‘And maybe I think one day you’ll forget to push me away and just accept our relationship for what it is.’

‘And what’s that?’

‘Work colleagues, sure. Boss and employee, sometimes.’ He paused. ‘But beneath all that, I trust you to have my back. Many times you could have fired me, you haven’t. I’d like to think it was because you didn’t want to be without my winning personality, though I suspect it’s more that you can’t be bothered to find a replacement. One day, though, I hope you’ll realise I have your back, too. And in my book, that makes us friends.’

Was it really that easy? He’d tried to make friends, and been shunned. Now he was supposed to accept this man’s offer? Yet in the five years since he’d first recruited him, Jeremy had never let him down. They’d worked together directly for the first few, until Liam had gone on to open two more hotels in Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, recruiting Ashley to do the day-to-day management of the Nantucket resort. ‘Friends.’ He swallowed. ‘And do friends talk about… issues?’

Jeremy’s mouth curved upwards. ‘You want to talk through a problem, I’m your man. Especially if it’s to do with Jade Taylor. I kind of have a brotherly soft spot for her.’ He leant forward and clasped his hands on his knees. ‘If I had to guess, I’d say you pissed her off on Tuesday. Seems it was quite the day for you pissing people off,’ he added with a snigger. ‘Anyway, now you realise what you’ve thrown away and you want to know how to win her back.’ His brow scrunched, eyebrows coming together like a fury ginger caterpillar. ‘As her self-appointed brother, I need to know how honourable your attentions are towards her.’

‘Dishonourable. Very.’ When Jeremy kept looking at him, Liam waved his hands in defeat. ‘Fine. I like her. I want to… date her.’

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