Page 23 of Catching a Con Man

“I tried to scam Addison Crane,” said Tyler cheerily. OK. Perhaps the champagne had loosened him up just a little too much. “Snuck into a charity gala, pretended I was Holden’s grandson, did my very best to con this man…” he slowed and gestured to me with a wave of his hand, “…out of millions of pounds. Unfortunately, my grand plan was not all that grand, and he had the measure of me in seconds. Didn’t know that ‘til I got here though, I thought I was stringing him along quite nicely until then.”

The room went silent, and I could swear I could hear a single snowflake falling on Holden’s steel roof. I tried my best to gauge everyone’s expressions. Tyler looked skittish and nervous, like he knew he’d revealed too much. Holden and Michael had frozen almost identically, with food halfway from plate to mouth. And then Holden giggled, the chicken falling right off his fork and back onto his plate. The giggle became a laugh, and soon he was clutching his belly and laughing so hard it was virtually silent and he was struggling to breathe through it. Michael looked at him like he’d gone off.

“That…is the best thing I’ve ever heard!” Holden finally managed. “Ade here knows I’m as queer as a three pence piece. And I’ve never had any desire to have children…you must be a virgin birth.”

Tyler started giggling too. “Well, I didn’t know that! No one did! If I’d just tried to scam literallyanyone else, I’d be in jail right now. And there would be an extra few million in the pockets of different charities.”

“You got the first bit right,” said Michael, breaking into their little conversation. “But you need to do things the other way round. You get his trust; you get your claws into him…and then you start scamming. If you’re lucky, he’ll fall in love with you, and you can get anything you want out of him.”

Holden’s expression soured. “Yes, but you fell in love right back.”

“I married the diamonds,” Michael whispered conspiratorially, showing off his wedding ring, so glitzy it could be used as a lighthouse lamp. “Lab grown, of course. I’m not a hypocrite.”

“So I just have to get Ade to fall in love with me and I’m halfway there,” Tyler grinned. He nudged my side. “Reckon I could make that happen?”

“I’d like to see you try,” I said. I was only half joking. Because a little bit of me was already in love with the idea of Tyler Bevan, if not the person. Everything he’d come through, to still hold his head high, to sit in a room like this and tell the truth without fear of reprisal…I was astounded.

“Right, I am very, very tired. And I’ve got to get on a call with my stockbroker tomorrow,” said Holden. “I’m off to bed. Tyler, it’s been wonderful to get to know you.”

“That’s my cue to go too, I think.” Michael stood and followed Holden up the stairs. Halfway up the stairs, he turned back. “Leave the dishes. We have a wonderful lady coming in tomorrow who stacks the dishwasher just right. Fine art, honestly.”

As soon as he was out of sight, Tyler stood and gathered the dishes. He walked them over to the sink and rinsed each of them.

“Michael said…” I started, but Tyler held up a finger to hush me.

“I know what Michael said. But I have never been a guest in someone’s house and not offered to do the washing up.” He methodically cleaned each dish and passed them to me to dry. We left them stacked on the side, and Tyler wiped over the dining table too before holding out a hand to me.

“Is it time for bed?” he asked.

“Well, I promised you the hot tub…” I said.

Tyler’s eyes lit up. “Yes. Hot tub.”

“Have you ever…?” I started, and Tyler shook his head. I knew that hot tubs and jacuzzis were no longer the domain of the rich; they could be found in every health club and back garden nowadays. Tyler’s lived experience of small luxuries was so small that I just wanted to give himeverything.

“Let’s go then.” I held his hand as we walked up the stairs. I’d done a lot of that today. It was like with the masks dropped, we were much more content to touch, to hold. And I was glad he did. I didn’t know why I wanted so badly to protect a man who could so easily protect himself and had protected himself from much worse than I ever had.

I led him to the room we’d slept in the night before and slid open the floor-to-ceiling windows. I was immediately hit by the cold night air. The balcony outside was pushed up against a rock face, obstructing any views out onto the mountainous terrain. But that was a big, not a feature.

The hot tub was set into the floor, and I pressed the button to roll back the canvas that covered it. Steam rose from the hot tub, lit up by tiny LEDs that made reflections of the water bounce across the mountainside. I couldn’t wait for Tyler to experience this with me.

And then I realised one major problem.

“Tyler,” I said, trying to sound as far from leery and perverted as was humanly possible, “I have forgotten one thing.”

“What’s that?” Tyler was at my side, the pool lights reflecting off his pale skin.

“Bathers.” I had completely forgotten to grab that one item. And I was sure that Michael and Holden would have them, but I didn’t want to barge into their room now. I leaned down to press the button to cover the hot tub again, but Tyler’s trousers had dropped to the deck before my eyes. And then, as I kept my eyes steadfastly on the deck, he took his socks off. And then the shirt dropped. And then his boxers were on the floor in front of me and it took every tiny ounce of self-control not to look up.

Tyler stepped gently into the pool, and I tracked his ankles as he stepped in. I watched from behind as he sank down to his thighs, and then as his pert, pale arse sank into the foam.

I finally chanced a look upward as Tyler smiled at me, neck deep in the bubbling water. “You coming in?” he asked. He didn’t give me the dignity of looking away. He just kept eye contact as I unbuttoned my shirt, took off my socks, and then dropped my trousers and underwear.

I cupped my privates to hide them and preserve some dignity as I stepped from the cold air into warm, bubbling bliss.

I sank down neck deep in the water and looked across at Tyler. His eyes were closed and his arms skimmed the top of the water. We were about four feet apart and completely naked, and the proximity was killing me. My leg brushed up against his and I felt my face heat as Tyler’s eyes snapped open.

“I know I’m meant to sayeat the rich, but I could get used to this,” he said.

---