Page 13 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them
“Kinda had to. They don’t have a website. I looked. Figured I’d get a better grasp of the situation in person anyway. Glad I did, now. Damn, man, this building is falling apart around their ears.” Something André would quickly correct.
Ian passed a hand over his face. He seemed torn now—still stressed but giving ground under André’s sincerity. “Yeah. It has been for years. I fix what I can, but I don’t have the expertise or the tools to handle all of it.”
“I’d be surprised if you did. You major in social work, not plumbing.”
“Just how much of my Facebook did you snoop?” Ian demanded suspiciously.
André smiled as he admitted cheerfully, “All of it. Casper was damn cute when you first found her, by the way.”
Ian shot him an unamused frown. “You’re not distracting me with my favorite subject.”
Damn. It’d been worth a shot.
For a few moments, they simply stared at each other, the tension building before Ian let out a harsh breath. “Fine, I must admit Second Sun could desperately use whatever you can donate. But you said your reason for being here was two-fold. What’s the other reason?”
André stepped in a little closer past some dry brush, into the range of something a little more intimate, which meant Ian’s scent grew even stronger. Why did this man smell so fucking delicious? André had to give himself a mental slap before he nuzzled in and started nibbling on sheer instinct. Instead, he locked eyes with Ian, dropping his voice to more of a purr. “You. I know you don’t trust me right now. You don’t think I mean it when I say I like you. This place will be my proving ground. I’ll protect what you protect. I’ll care for what you care about. I’ll earn your trust, even if I have to do it a step at a time.”
There was his damn confusion again, like Ian was trying to do high-level calculus with André’s words, only nothing computed into a sensible answer.
André mentally sighed. Patience. This would take patience. “What part of my answer did not make sense to you?”
“All of it,” Ian admitted readily, his hazel eyes searching André’s. “You can have anyone. Literally anyone. You’ve proven this since your freshman year, hooking up with anyone who looked your way. So why the hell would you pursue me?”
Ouch, but not like he was wrong. “You are both reliable and trustworthy, an incredibly rare combination in my life. I would be a damn fool to let you slip through my hands. I try to not be an idiot; it’s generally a painful experience.” He gave a wink. “Plus, you’re cute as hell.”
“André, I’m being serious.”
“So am I. It hurts that you don’t believe me.”
Ian’s head dropped back as he gazed up at the thinning canopy. He pulled in a deep breath, then let it out again, before looking at him. He seemed calmer now. On the surface. “André.”
He just loved hearing his name out of Ian’s lush mouth. Focus, dammit, focus. “I’m all ears, love.”
Ian had a look of pain and a sort of cynicism in his eyes. He was grave saying all of this, but matter of fact at the same time. “I’m sure you learned today about how I’m an orphan. I have no money, no connections, and I’m certainly not on your social level. On top of all this, I’m a man. Yes, yes, I know you’ll happily bed all genders, but a fuck toy and an actual partner are two different things and you know it. You’re telling me you think your family would accept someone like me as your romantic partner?”
How dare a man so fascinating sell himself short. It was a fucking travesty, and André wouldn’t let it stand. He caught Ian’s hand and drew it up to his mouth so he could gently kiss the back of his knuckles. Ian was just surprised enough to allow this.
“I cannot wait to prove to you how little all of that matters.”
Ian quickly retracted his hand, shaking his head in a minute manner. He was back to being utterly confused. “I don’t understand you. You have it all.”
“Not yet,” André murmured ruefully. “But I’m working on it.”
Chapter 4
André Castor was a force of nature. Ian didn’t understand this until he watched the man in action. He waltzed right back into the group home, sat and discussed money with Mary and Emma—an insane amount, a figure Ian couldn’t even wrap his head around—and then cheerfully plopped himself right back in with the kids. The ease with which he sat on the floor, accepting Kit into his lap, all the while talking to Luna—it spoke volumes.
He’d done this before, Ian realized with a start. André was entirely too comfortable to be a stranger to situations like this. He’d clearly been around kids. When he said his parents encouraged him to donate to charities, he hadn’t just meant money. Or maybe he had, but André didn’t write a check and leave. He invested himself in the process as well.
Honestly, Ian didn’t know how to feel about any of this. He had several points he was confused about, starting withwhyAndré was so fixated on him. He’d explained, sure, but it didn’t mean his explanation made any sense! André was constantly surrounded by people who were better looking—and much better connected—and he could pick any of them with ease.
So he went for a broke orphan instead? Make it make sense.
He’d seemed sincere when he’d spilled his plan in the woods, which was the hardest part for Ian to wrap his head around.The playboy from a rich family was sincere about wanting to date him? Ian believed it as much as someone offering him a spaceship ticket to go visit Jesus.
When he’d first asked Ian out, he’d assumed maybe André had meant it as kind of like a thank-you date? Flirting seemed to be the man’s main mode of communication. Now, though, Ian couldn’t brush off his actions. André had gone through considerable effort to find something important to Ian, and to show up like he did here, he was serious. At least, right now he was serious. Come next week, who knew? The man wasn’t known for his attention span when it came to fuck buddies.
Plus, it was weird being pursued by a man. Ian had been questioning his own sexuality for years. He knew he wasn’t completely straight per se, but he’d never been pursued or had tried to pursue a same-sex relationship. It was just another thing he wasn’t comfortable with tacked on top of everything else.
