Page 14 of The Lawyer's Quandary
“I worked out a lot during the winter, and I figured a little extra strength would be good. I had plenty of time. Now I’m back to swimming a lot and trying to keep the weight off. It wouldn’t do to have a chunky swim coach.” It could sometimes be hard to earn those kids’ respect, so you had to walk the walk and look the part. His kids worked hard, and he always felt it was important to show that he worked just as hard as they did.
“When you’re done flashing your hunkiness and making my little heart go pitter-pat, we may as well get going. You don’t want to be late.”
Mark hit him with a stare, because usually Ashley was the one who was late for almost everything. He flipped him the bird and grabbed his bag on the way out. “You’re such a smartass.”
“It’s why you love me,” Ashley quipped as Mark got in the car.
ChapterFive
Greg madesure he had everything ready. He had gone back and forth over what he wanted to make. He didn’t want it to be too fancy, but he wasn’t going to make sandwiches either. First thing in the morning, he mixed up some pasta salad, and then thought they could grill out, so he put some pork loin chops in to marinate. He’d cook them on a low grill to make sure they stayed juicy.
He was cutting up fruit when the doorbell rang. Greg hurried out front. Mark looked amazing, and he smiled and kissed him before letting him inside. The other man—well, wow, he blinked twice at the shirt.
“This is Ashely. If you want to get sunglasses because of the shirt, feel free,” Mark said.
“Come on in,” Greg welcomed, and closed the door. “We can go on through to the sun room. I have beer and can make cocktails. I also have Coke and stuff like that.”
“Soda water with ice?” Ashley asked.
“Yeah. I’ll have a soda. We stayed up too late over cocktails, and I don’t want to go down that road again.”
“Great. Go on through, and I’ll be right in.” Greg got glasses from the kitchen and made up the drinks before joining the others. “It’s nice to meet one of Mark’s friends.”
“And how long ago did you meet?” Ashley asked.
“Earlier this week,” Greg said. “He came along with a potential client, and after the meeting, we had lunch, and he invited me swimming yesterday. Then we had dinner and now lunch today.”
Ashely sipped his drink. “And there hasn’t been any bones-jumping yet?”
Greg refused to get ruffled. “Not yet. Actually, I’ve decided to save myself for marriage.” He slipped in a little southern accent, and Mark chuckled. “After all, what sort of gay boy do you think I am?”
Mark snorted, and Ashley had no comeback. “I don’t think you’re going to win a shade contest with Greg.”
“Please,” Ashley said with a wave of his hand.
“You want to try me?” Greg asked with a grin. “We could open the reading room.” He leaned forward. “I’ll even start with an easy one. Your shirt is so loud, it’s going to make us deaf. Or, if that shirt came to life, we’d be up to our ears in peacock poop.” He cocked his eyebrows, but Ashley seemed stunned.
“Did you disappear or just turn sideways?” Ashley retorted.
“That’s nothing. The higher the hair, the closer to God, or did the can of Aqua Net explode?” He smiled and glanced at Mark, who was trying not to laugh.
Ashely put his hands up. “Okay. I get it. What do you do?”
“I’m a lawyer,” Greg answered, and then Mark laughed hard. “Which means I can argue anything with just about anyone and try to make it sound like I’m right, whether I actually am or not.”
“I see.” Ashley took a sip of his drink. “So what sort of case did Mark’s friend bring you?”
“I really can’t talk about it, and neither can Mark, for that matter.” Greg wanted to make sure Ashley knew not to be giving Mark the third degree as soon as they left. “And no, Mark just came for moral support. He isn’t in any sort of trouble. At least not yet.” He winked at Mark, hoping it would pique Ashley’s curiosity just for a bit of fun. “What sort of work do you do?”
“I’m a supervisor over at Amazon. It’s my job to see to it that all the work gets done and the orders go out on time. Ihave a number of shift supervisors who work for me, and I really like what I do, even if I complain about it. I spent a number of years as one of the supervisors, and I was promoted last year. I’m hoping in a few years to advance into a distribution center management position. But that will take a while.”
“That’s pretty awesome.”
“Yeah, it is. But there’s a lot of pressure as well.”
“I suppose. There always is when you’re supervising others.” Greg finished his soda, stood, and stepped just outside the sunroom to start the grill. He needed to get it heating before he put the meat on.
“Do you need any help?” Mark asked.
