Page 111 of A Hard Sell

The laugh vibrated through Thomas’ chest. “Did you know there was an empty chair right by the door when you came bursting in?”

Luka’s jaw dropped. “What? There was?”

“Yup. An empty seat right next to you, and you climbed across the whole entire room with everyone staring at you in complete silence, and you just looked so vulnerable and embarrassed—”

“That’s because I was,” Luka interjected, covering his eyes at the memory, now even more excruciating.

“—and cute. So fucking cute, your shirt all crooked, hair sticking up. The toothpaste…” They laughed together. “I wanted to protect you, wrap my arms around you. And I just…that was it for me. I knew.”

“Right.” Luka rolled over and reached for his phone.

“What are you doing?”

Luka frowned as he started typing. “Emailing HR.”

“I don’t think that’s the best way to go about getting my position back—”

“Aaaaand…send.” He mashed a button and tossed his phone aside. “Oh, no, just getting ahead of things. I requested a meeting first thing Monday morning to disclose our relationship. Just in case.”

Thomas’ reply was a deep, languid kiss. Luka rolled Thomas onto his back, hands smoothing down his chest and along rippled abs. “Well, now that that job’s taken care of, there’s another one I’ve been wanting to cross off my list…” Luka murmured as he traced his lips along the dip of Thomas’ hip.

“Mmm…” Thomas groaned, threading his fingers into Luka’s hair. “I’ve always admired the way you tackle your…jobs.”

Luka rolled his eyes and chuckled, but his mouth was too busy to reply.

An hour or so later, when they could no longer ignore their growling stomachs, they dragged themselves out of bed. Luka put his robe on—rescued from the floor of the closet with a whispered apology—while Thomas went to dig through his suitcases. He put on a pot of coffee, popped some bagels in the toaster and began to scramble some eggs when Thomas appeared in the kitchen…wearing the same robe.

“What…” Luka shook his head, the smile spreading so widely across his face it hurt his cheeks. “You bought one for yourself.”

“I bought one for myself.” Thomas shrugged sheepishly. He walked up to Luka and took hold of the robe’s belt, planting a kiss on his forehead. “I liked the idea of being curled up in my robe at the same time as you, even if we were in different places.”

“You’re actually a massive sap, aren’t you?” Luka found his lips. The kiss went on until he realized the eggs were browning.

They sat on the couch, eating and laughing in their matching robes, knees touching. The storm had not let up outside, and the patter of the rain added to the coziness of their little cocoon.

“Will you play me something?” Thomas asked, eyeing Luka’s guitar when they were finished eating.

“I’d love to.” He knew just the song.

“I saw you across the way

Looking so good today

And I wanted to say

Now please don’t be shy

Come over and say hi

I saw you smiling down the hall

So cute with your brown eyes and all

I wanted to say

So please don’t be shy

Come on over and say hi

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