Page 23 of Forbidden Lust

“Is he bi or just gay?”

“You keep your hands to yourself, missy.”

“Thought so.”

“You thought what?”

“Like I said. You’re in love with him.”

“I’ve known him for two days.”

“And? I’ve never seen you like this with anyone before. You came in here yesterday like you were floating on a cloud. And now you look like your pet unicorn just died.”

“Unicorns aren’t real.”

“How dare you!”

He laughed along with her. She was right. He was in love with Daniel, but there was no way they could work. His dad’s best friend. What a fucking cliché he was. But why was life so unfair? Why couldn’t he have found out about Daniel and his dad before the weekend? Now, he’d experiencef the promised land, only to have it ripped away.

Monday morning was the usual hubbub of activity in the office. Oscar was in a long meeting, so Josh had time to catch up on things. His mind kept wandering to Daniel, and the fact he was supposed to meet Gavin for lunch today. He went to send a text and cancel a hundred times, but something kept stopping him. Would Daniel have spoken to him already? What was Josh supposed to say if he knew? And what did he want to see him about anyway?

Sperm donor:Can’t do lunch today. I can do a coffee. Meet me at Mario’s in ten minutes.

What the fuck? Mario’s coffee shop was two doors down from their office. Oscar was still in his meeting, so Josh sent him a Teams message explaining he’d had to pop out on a personal matter and to call if he needed anything. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be gone long. He may as well get this over with. Regardless of what he wanted to talk about, Josh wasn’t expecting this to be a pleasant father and son chat.

Walking into Mario’s, Gavin was already waiting for him. Josh had been half expecting Daniel to be with him. The man just nodded, and lifted his cup to signal he’d already got himself sorted. Not wanting to wait too long, Josh grabbed a bottle of water, paid for it, and joined Gavin.

“When were you going to tell me you worked for Montgomery Equity?” he snapped.

“What?”

“You heard me. Do you know what that man is to me?”

He knew. It’s why Josh had taken the job, but he wasn’t about to admit that.

“How much will it cost for you to quit?”

“What?”

“Do you know how to say anything else? I thought you were supposed to be educated?”

“Excuse me, but I don’t see you for three years and then you contact me out the blue. No, ‘Hello Josh. How’s life?’ You just attack me for working for who I’m working for. Why now? I’ve been for two years.”

“Two years? Are you being serious? And you’re not just working there, but for that man. You’re his paid bitch.”

“Okay, so we’re being homophobic as well, are we? Did I tell you I was gay?”

Josh wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but the guy was pissing him off. He’d barely sat down and he’d started attacking him. This man was nothing to Josh. Why was he getting riled up so easily?

“Don’t be ridiculous. The last thing I am is homophobic. My best friend’s gay, for fuck’s sake.”

Daniel!Josh wondered how long it would be before he came up, or something Gavin said would remind him of the amazing man who he’d walked out on less that twenty-four hours ago. He wasn’t sure how someone like Daniel could be friends with the complete arsehole who was sitting across from him.

“I won’t have my son working for Oscar Montgomery. He’s stolen my business. We were number one in the market before he came along.”

Josh snorted. The guy was being ridiculous.

“You think this is funny? I’m losing investors, and you’re helping him.”

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