Page 13 of Everything's Better With You
Joe had never wanted to be tied to anyone, never wanted to settle down, but damn, if Leslie Payton hadn’t been a temptation.
Now they were back in the same position. They knew each other somewhat better now. They’d each had years to search for something or someone else, and now, standing before him, Joe felt just like that college kid staring at the gates of heaven and being tempted to step into the light. Had his circumstances changed? Would Leslie be willing to take a chance on him now?
On this night, Leslie took his hand, letting his much larger fingers slide over Joe’s. He turned Joe’s hand over and ran his thumb over Joe’s palm.
“What’s changed?” Les asked, his voice husky. “I still feel the same. No, that’s wrong. I feel…more.”
Goose bumps erupted over Joe’s skin at Les’s slow, languorous touch. He’d be lying to himself if he said that he hadn’t hoped something would finally happen between them when Barry’s secretary had asked him to come for Spring Fling. Or when Les had texted him and asked whether he was coming. Or when he’d first seen Les slide down out of his monster truck, looking over the roof of Joe’s rental car as if he’d just gotten what he wanted from Santa. Les was the total package, a man with a big heart, sexy as hell in a “he has no idea” kind of way. Joe wanted Les to wrap those arms around him and change Joe’s mind, make him give up his running ways. Because he didn’t know if he had it in himself to stay put, even with this perfect man as incentive.
“What’s changed is that we’re both here now. No interruptions, no missing each other. We’re both grown-ass men who want this. Right? You do want this, don’t you, Leslie?”
“With everything.”
Joe pressed his free hand against Leslie’s beefy chest and ran it up his right pec, loving the way Les trembled under his touch. He dragged hisfingers up Leslie’s throat and into his hair, giving the back a gentle tug that elicited a moan.
Leslie’s head fell back and his eyes closed. He sucked in a breath and let it out on a sigh.
“Joe.”
“All of these years I’ve thought about how I would kiss you for the first time.”
Les slowly tilted his head forward and looked down at Joe, a smile splitting his lips. “How?”
Joe moved closer, pressing his body against Les’s much larger one. At 6’4”, Les had about five inches on Joe and about fifty pounds. But Joe knew that he was the one who needed to be careful. He might be slighter, but Les let himself be vulnerable with Joe, and he needed to remember that.
Joe moved Les’s hand to Joe’s lower back and then used his own left hand to run his fingers down Les’s cheek. “I thought maybe our first kiss would be wild, like we’d crash into each other and rip each other’s clothes off.”
Les’s hand tightened against Joe’s lower back and he balled up Joe’s shirt in his fist.
“God, Joe—”
“But now that I’m here—”
“Joe, please. Tell me you’ll take the job, tell me you’re really here.”
Joe froze. “Leslie—”
“I know, I always ruin it by getting too heavy with you, but Joe… It’s been such a long time. What can I do to make you stay?”
Joe took a deep breath and let it out, choosing his words carefully.
“I can’t promise you forever, Leslie, but say I took it. The job. For a year, to start. Could that be enough for you to see what we could be together? To finally touch me?”
Leslie’s eyes flared and he wrapped those strong arms around Joe so tight. It was exactly what Joe was looking for. It was the invitation he needed.
Joe brushed his lips over Les’s with his eyes open, wanting to savor every bit of the contact he’d waited fifteen yearsfor. Now that it was happening, his heart was ready to take a flying leap out of his chest and his knees were dangerously close to collapsing.
Les blinked and gazed at Joe like he was a fresh-baked cookie his mom had forbidden him to take but he couldn’t resist the taste. He moved his hands to cradle Joe’s jaw and pressed his forehead to Joe’s.
“It would be a start.”
Joe thought of all the romantic overtures Les had made over the years. Once he’d had Joe’s hotel room filled with roses when Joe had had a rough show, and there was the time after a particularly bad audition that Joe’s ride hadn’t shown up and he was about to be late for a flight out of San Francisco. Les had dropped everything to drive him to the airport and Joe was so thrilled, he almost said to hell with the flight and begged Leslie to take him tohishome. Joe wished he could be as giving, as generous, as loving. He wished he was enough for Leslie Payton. He thought maybe, just maybe, he was closer now…
“Then let’s start,” Joe said, giving Les the permission he knew Les needed.
And it paid off.
He couldn’t breathe as Les consumed him, kissing him so deeply it took Joe by surprise. Les crushed Joe to his chest and made deep swipes with his tongue, leaving Joe breathless. Joe smiled as Leslie dipped down to suck on his throat, thinking Les controlled the kiss the way he orchestrated his offense. He called the shots, he knew where everything was supposed to be, and Joe didn’t want to put up any defense.
