Page 21 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

“Are you okay? You said that before.” Kevin inched around the coffee table and sat beside Shaun. “Shaun?” The cat curled on the couch cushion, ignoring him and Shaun. “Leo’s leaving us alone.”

“No, I’m…it’s…” Shaun frowned. “I don’t want to mess this up. I like you and I want to be with you, but I guess I’m clumsy at relationships. I dove in too fast and I’m worried you’re going to put the brakes on, since I can’t. As for Leo, he’s fine.”

Kevin scooted closer and bumped knees with Shaun. “I’m a fumbler and you are, too, so we fumble through this together. It won’t be easy all the time, but I don’t want to go through this journey alone.” He kissed Shaun. “You’re the one I want with me.”

Shaun kissed him hard. “I so want to stay over.”

“I’ve got to work, too,” Kevin said. “But this gives us time. When are you free to get together next?”

“Mondays are my long days. We have to set up the ad pages for the week all at once.” Shaun crawled onto Kevin’s lap and straddled him. “Tuesday?”

“I’ve got inventory tomorrow,” Kevin said. “There’s a game on Tuesday, too.” He patted Shaun’s ass. “Up. I need to clean up the mess.” Not that he didn’t want Shaun to stay put. He did. “If I don’t toss this stuff, the cat will get into it, and we don’t want to clean that up.”

“No, we don’t.” Shaun helped collect the garbage and dispose of it. “I’m done at noon on Wednesday. I could meet you. After work?”

“How about lunch? The food trucks in town are dangerously good.” Kevin wiped his hands on a towel. “Then we can sit in the park in the center of town.” He liked going there and watching the people move around the square.

“I love it.”

Kevin pinned Shaun to the cabinets in the kitchen and kissed him. He and Shaun were at the beginning of something fantastic. He couldn’t wait for their next date. He’d found a guy who didn’t mind the cat, had manners and was freaking sexy. “We’re doing this?”

“We are.” Shaun brushed his nose along Kevin’s and sighed. “We so are.”

Kevin held his boyfriend tight. His life was finally going in the right direction.Thank you, God.

Chapter Four

Shaun practically skipped through his day on Monday. His heart was light and his spirits soared. He had a boyfriend and was happy. For the first time in a long while, he knew where he stood with his man and had no worries. Granted, he wished he could’ve stayed with Kevin and explored every inch of his sexy body, but he appreciated Kevin’s desire to slow down.

God.He needed to rein himself in. When he looked at Kevin, he wanted to strip him and fuck him until they couldn’t walk.

Good thing that Kevin was thinking straight for the both of them.

Shaun forced himself to focus on his work. He adjusted the copy on Thursday’s ad page, then stood back to admire his work.

“Looks good.” Remy Nicholas stood beside him. “You’re a whiz with this stuff. I write, but I can’t arrange for shit. Ask Bobby. He’ll tell you I made a mess of the photo collage he had on the wall in the den. He had to fix it.”

“Thanks.” He liked arranging and placing the ads. Plus, he had proper spacing for everything. “I read your editorials. They’re good.”

“Yeah? I never feel they’re done.” Remy adjusted two of the boxes of advertising. “I’m going to put you on the pet story, by the way.”

“Pet story?” Shaun froze. He wasn’t a reporter. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re going to interview Stone McCartney for a feature on the animal shelter and you’ll get photos of the animals. You’ll be in charge of working with him to pick the pet of the week.” Remy folded his arms. “You’ll be great at it.”

“I’m advertising, not copy writing.” He hadn’t written a proper story in forever. “I’ll screw it up.”

“I doubt that.” Remy widened his stance. “We’re in the black, but I see more for you and I think you’re up for this. You’re good. This, arranging and writing up ads, is easy. You could do it in your sleep.”

Maybe.

“And you’re doing well with publishing for the paper. I liked your idea of putting a small feature section in for the stories about the baseball team. Daron’s idea to create a special free paper to distribute at the park is good, too,” Remy said. “I want both meshed so we can entice people at the stadium to become subscribers.”

He’d forgotten all about the feature thing he’d suggested.

“I’m putting Daron on interviewing the players,” Remy said. “He’ll be contacting a Kyle Beglin. You know him, right?”

“Too well.”And not in a good way.

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