Page 55 of Takeover-
Sam lifted Michael’s hand from his cheek, his face a mix of fear, hope, and sorrow. Sunlight filtered in around the edges of the curtains, gilding lines across the bed. “They’re going to make you site manager.”
Those were the last words Michael had expected to hear. He spat out two of his own. “What?Why?”
Sam shrugged. “Pittsburgh will become an R&D lab for the next generation of Sundra’s routing products. They won’t need a CEO, maybe not even a VP, but the office will need someone to oversee and manage the team there. You’re the obvious choice for that role.”
What did it have to do with them? How didthatchase Sam away? “How the hell did I become the obvious choice?” Michael reeled. Too many pieces and not enoughsense.
Sam coughed a laugh. “By doing your job well. You’re the person everyone at the office respects.” He paused and added, “Plus you impressed Greta quite a bit with your knowledge.”
Well, shit. “I hate management.”
Sam waved those words away. “You were a fucking Founder. You’ve been management the entire time, despite what you or anyone else says. You hired most of the office. You should be a VP. This corrects all that.” Sam lips twisted into a grin, the one Michael loved to nip and pinch and beat away. “Technically, you’ll be a suit, and I know how much you abhor suits.”
“I like them. On other people.” On Sam, especially, right before he stripped it off. He exhaled. A suit. A promotion. It was a good thing. Suddenly, the reasoning behind Sam’s earlier statements made sense. “If you stayed in Pittsburgh, dated me—”
“Everyone will know we’re lovers.” Sam finished the thought. “I doubt you’d be willing to hide a relationship again.”
“Fuck no. I got enough of that with Rasheed. I’m not going to hide who I am and who I love ever again.” He had been doing too much of that these past few months, anyway.
Sam nodded. “Except everyone at the office, and probably quite a few people at Sundra, will think you got the job because I’m screwing you.”
“Other way around.” Something else occurred to Michael. He watched Sam carefully when he spoke his suspicion. “If you were to stay, everyone in your executive social circle would know the real reason you don’t like titty bars.”
There it was. Sam colored and looked down. “That’s not the reason.” But his manner belied his words.
Silence for a good, long minute. Michael broke it. “Damn it, Sam. You shouldn’t care what they think.”
“I don’t!” Sam sighed and scrubbed his face. “Okay, maybe I do. A bit. It’ll be a change and I don’t know how they’ll react. But that’s not why I can’t stay.”
Michael didn’t say anything. He stroked Sam’s arm, then took his hand.
“I don’t want to ruin your career. Your future,” Sam said.
“I can’t see any way in which being with you would ruin my future.” He squeezed Sam’s hand. “I mean, what more could you do to my career than what’s already been done?”
“But—”
“Sam, Pittsburgh high-tech is close-knit. Everyone knows I’m gay. Hell, I’m sure there are folks who remember me from my days in the Scene. It’s not an issue. No one’s going to think I slept my way to the top. They know how I work.”
“Sundra isn’t Pittsburgh.”
Now that was true. Michael twisted his mouth and looked down at their hands. Chances were there would be folks in Sundra who would think he got his position by bending over and taking it, even if the reverse were true. He looked up.
Sam’s smile held nothing but pain. “This is why I have a rule not to get involved with people at the office.”
“Except we were already involved.” One intense night in Curaçao. A single cuff link. Michael let Sam go.
“Yeah, I never expected that. Hadn’t planned for it.” He traced his fingers over Michael’s thigh. “I’m so sorry.”
Michael shook his head. There were other options. “I’ll quit. Go with you to Boston.”
Sam pulled back, shock loosening his features for a moment before they hardened again. “No. You can’t. Don’t do that for me.”
Michael gripped Sam’s ankle. “And why not?” More and more, Sam’s actions, his statements pointed to a truth that wasn’t one Michael liked—he was good enough for Sam to play with, but not to stay with in the long term.
Sam stilled.
Michael’s heart hurt. “Is it all a lie? I’d rather you just tell me you don’t want me—at least not as a partner. This fucking around with my head—”
