Page 30 of Takeover
Michael attempted to envision Sam in jeans and failed. Tight jeans, maybe? Something that hugged Sam’s legs? Even then, it was hard to dispel that body wrapped in a well-tailored suit. Or naked. The desire that had never faded pulled tight around Michael’s core. “I’d have to see it to believe it.”
Sam chuckled, then his humor faded. “Are you willing to work with me on this release? It’ll be much easier if I have you on board.”
The coil loosened. “Would you really fire me?”
Sam lowered his shoulders. “If it was the best thing for the company, yes. I have to balance my own desires with what’s best for everyone here.”
His desires.Michael suppressed a tremor. Fuck it all. A relationship—or any more sex—with Sam was out of the question, but the man knew business. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make sure we succeed.” If Sundra bought them, they’d all be set for a while. Acquisition and merger, the ultimate goal. Even when they’d founded Four Rivers, that had been one of the stars they’d reached for.
Sam’s answering smile felt like a caress and had the same effect. Michael’s spine tingled and he shifted in the chair. Sam might be his boss, might be hiding in the closet, but that smile still lit the room—and Michael.
“Let’s get to work then,” Sam said. “Have you had dinner yet?”
“No.”
“Good. We’ll grab a burger and a beer and figure out how to do this.” Sam pushed himself out of his chair.
They didn’t talk much on the trip down the elevator, nor on the short walk over to The Sharp Edge, but everything suddenly felt right in Michael’s world again, except the knot of fear that pulled tighter with each step they made together.
He could deny it all he wanted, but this road felt too damn familiar.
And he hadn’t gotten the answers he’d wanted from Sam.
* * *
More than anything,Sam wanted to reach across the two-seater bistro table and kiss Michael. Hard. Repeatedly. Until the distance between them melted away. Instead, Sam picked up his bowl-shaped glass of Belgian white ale and drank.
He’d not lied about putting the needs of the company ahead of his desires. No more trysts. But it was hard, damn hard, to keep away from Michael. There were so many thingsrightabout the man. If only Michael could stop having such dipshit moments.
If only he could stop wanting Michael so damn much.
“So,” Michael said, studying the paper napkin he’d been writing on, “if we switch over the zones to hubs, we can use those routers for automated testing. Run more scripts concurrently.”
“Eliminate bottlenecks to save time. Good thinking.” Sam took another sip of beer. With Michael engaged again, there wasn’t much doubt they’d meet the deadline. Sundra would sign. Then what? Sam already had a number of inquiries from other companies. He only needed to pick the next place, the next challenge. His throat tightened. The time he most hated was approaching—leaving everyone behind. It would be worse, too, because he could imagine alternatives, if only he had the balls to let go of his career.
Hearing about Michael’s past hadn’t helped. That had twisted Sam’s heart and not only out of sympathy—it also illuminated the dark corners of Sam’s own choices. He didn’t want to dwell on those, or the reasons behind them. Keep moving forward.
Michael put down the pen. “I don’t know why I was so worried. We might even be able to get the draft protocols tested completely.” He reached for his own beer.
“I won’t tell the board you said that. If we manage, it’ll only be icing on the cake. If not, no loss.” Icing. Now that would be interesting to lick off of Michael. That thought left a hollow in Sam’s chest, even as a low burn simmered at the base of his spine and his cock twitched. Michael would probably make him kneel. Maybe tie his hands. Sam tapped a finger against his glass.Oh, stop that.
The server came and removed the detritus from their dinner of burgers and pommes frites. The napkin, Michael folded and tucked into his back pocket. Lucky little thing.
No use mooning over what you can’t have.Even if Michael had promised to do whatever Sam needed him to do. The places that could take Sam, were he a little less ethical.
Less ethical?You’re the one who got him to strap you in the shower.And look at what had happened after that.
“I’m glad we worked things out,” Michael said.
“Me too.” Their job interaction and the plan for the release, they’d fixed those. The other—the desire that stretched between them and threatened to strangle the friendship they had eked out—that was far from mended. Didn’t matter, though. He’d be gone in three months, at the longest. He didn’t buy cars anymore, and he didn’t get into relationships. The beer turned bitter in his stomach and the tightness returned to his chest.Coward. But he’d seen what this level of business did to the careers of gay men. To the lives of gay men.
He’d miss Michael horribly. Already had, every day since the gym.
“You’re very quiet.” Michael wrapped his hands around his lager glass full of the four-buck Mystery Beer—something light and summery, but good. Michael had let him taste.
“I’m just pondering the imponderable,” Sam said. “It’s been a long day. Meeting with the board always takes it out of me.”
“I made it much longer.”
