Page 43 of The Butler

“Yes, sir! Captain, sir!”

“Wow! That was easier than I thought it would be. Anywhere you want, Dek. My treat,” he said, beaming from ear to ear.

“Casual okay?” I asked. Even though I was currently freezing, it was hot in Cabo and I wanted to relax in shorts and a T-shirt. “You can let go of me now, Captain,” I groaned, still cold but struggling to breathe while in his muscular embrace. Jake let go and began backing out of the freezer. He was grinning and doing a little dance of joy since I agreed to go out.

“It’ll be fun, Dek,” he said, still slowly backing out of the freezer. “Thank you. Like I really mean it and stuff.”

I pointed to the exit and waved him out.

* * *

Jake asked me to wait for him at the end of the pier. “It’ll look better if we don’t meet on board. You know the rules and all,” he said.

I’d agreed and there I was sitting on a stack of boxes containing someone’s frozen lobsters, apparently delegated for another magnificent yacht behind me. Four hours earlier I’d been freezing my ass off near frozen lobster. I laughed at the irony of it.

“What’s so funny, handsome?” I looked up in time to see Jake closing in on me. He had cargo shorts on that revealed muscular legs, and a tank top that would probably violate decency codes in half the world’s countries. A small logo from the British brandTopmanwas stitched on the severely stretched tank top.

I bet you are.

I gestured to the boxes I was sitting on. “Weird right?” I asked.

“Very,” he said, leaning in and kissing my cheek lightly. Not only was Jake a picture-perfect example of a hunk, but he was sweet and polite too. A dangerous combination of excellence. “Burgers and beers?” he asked.

I nodded and stood from the boxes, my ass chilly even though Jake was looking so fine. It seemed impossible that any guy’s ass could be cold after getting a good look at him.

Jake was a fun date. He was engaging, intelligent, and the person that every other human being near us stared at. More mouths drooled as we sat at our table than I had ever witnessed. I’m not modest and had definitely had my share of admirers, but he was the main attraction. It felt good and odd at the same time. Was my ego suffering? I didn’t think so, but I did wonder what being with a guy like him full time would feel like. Even men I assumed were straight were losing their composure when he walked past. One or two obviously because their girlfriends were mesmerized by Jake, and one or two because their girlfriends were probably cover for what they truly desired.

The date was fun, and Jake was a gentleman the entire evening. He was an excellent listener, shared smart stories that I enjoyed listening to, and he focused only on me. He made sure that I knew I was the person he was with and that he only had eyes for me.

“The day we met on the helicopter I knew I wanted to do this,” he admitted. “I’ve been secretly crushing on you for two weeks.” His honesty was refreshing. For some reason I doubted most guys who looked like Jake would be so open with their declarations.

If I’d wanted to make sure that his cock would be mine by the end of the night, I would have flattered him more and paid special attention to him. The feeling wasn’t there for me and I was afraid he could sense it. “You must be excited about your promotion, Jake,” I said, doing my best to participate. “What a terrific goal to achieve,” I added.

“I suppose it would be if I had someone to share it with,” he said, suddenly looking melancholy. “Years of moving from job to job has not helped my love life, Dek.”

“I bet,” I agreed. “But there is light at the end of the tunnel now, right?”

“Can I convince you to stay on board permanently?” His question caught me off guard. “Any job you want is yours within reason. I could even get you into the captain’s training apprenticeship and work you through the hours to assist you with moving up.”

A polite smile appeared on my face, and I placed my hand on his, kindly looking into his dreamy eyes.

“Oh shit,” he whispered, gently shaking his head. “I recognize that look. You don’t see me that way, do you?” His eyes moved to the horizon beyond the edge of the restaurant’s deck. “Damn it, Dek.”

My hand was still on his. “I’m sorry, Jake.”

“Mr. Carrington?” he asked, looking toward the ocean and the setting sun. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Was I that obvious?I choked up, unable to answer. Instead, I joined him as we both surveyed the horizon, realizing neither of us were getting who we wanted.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Lincoln

My entire life had been spent in the lap of luxury, so it would seem that I wasn’t allowed to be miserable. Most people assumed that wealth made up for being sad or defeated when we didn’t get what we wanted. I assumed others felt that I shouldn’t need something more than being rich or shouldn’t complain about life’s disappointments. That wasn’t a fair assessment in my opinion.

The sad reality was that when it came to love, money really has nothing to do with it.Truelove was earned and experienced. No amount of money could ever buy it, and currently, nothing was truer than that fact. Money hadn’t kept Troy. Money hadn’t impressed Dek either. The agreement I’d made with Dek for the final ten days of my trip was a typical move for me. My life has become about agreements, contracts, and business. When in reality, it wasn’t the product I really desired.

True love was the one thing that had eluded me, and I was beginning to think love was the tradeoff for wealth. I assumed that Dek had only seen me as a man of business since my preposterous sex agreement, and to him that probably seemed to be the extent of what I could or would offer. He was mistaken, but because of how we ended things, that would be forever how he saw me.

Here I was two weeks into my self-imposed pity party and feeling just as forlorn. What was it about him? We’d only spent a bit less than two weeks together and yet I missed Dek terribly. Yes, he was new and a total stranger. Yes, we were supposed to be casual and we both knew better, but my heart disagreed with that premise. And here I was even more miserable than when Troy had dumped me. How the fuck was that even possible?A person can’t fall in love after ten days, can they?

---