Page 20 of Primary Seduction
Trent’s voice brought him back. “Why didn’t you remind me? Happy birthday!” Trent came over to him. “What are you planning on doing today?”
He shrugged. “In all honesty, I was going to look around a few art galleries, maybe take a walk through some museums. Nothing exciting.” Max loved the art galleries—not that he could afford to buy anything for himself—seeing what people could create from different resources was unbelievable sometimes. The museums fascinated him, all the different objects from way back when. Max loved trinkets and things like that, so the museums were his secret favourite place.
“Max?”
“Sorry?” Max had obviously missed what Trent had said.
“I said, would you care for some company? Or would you prefer to be alone?” Trent fidgeted, not looking at him as he asked. “It’s okay if you’d prefer to be alone. I just wondered—”
“That would be great.” Max didn’t know what had prompted Trent to ask to join him, but he was not looking a gift horse in the mouth, as his mother used to say. It was probably not the best idea to spend the whole day with Trent, especially with how Max felt about him, but he wanted to. Maybe he should think of it as a birthday present to himself.
“Brilliant. Let me get ready.” Trent ambled off through to his bedroom, and Max chuffed and shook his head. What Max had left out was that he was booked on to a museum tour that afternoon; Trent was going to have an eye-opening experience, and Max might be able to get a better idea of what was going on inside Trent’s head.
They decided to get a taxi to save on trying to find parking on a Saturday afternoon. Trent insisted on paying for it, and Max didn’t want to offend him by saying he couldn’t.
They got out on the main stretch of road and began the short walk to one of the art galleries Max often went to. Trent had admitted he knew very little about art but was willing to learn. He’d told Max about the few paintings they’d had back when he was with Trish; he didn’t know the names of them but from what he’d described, Max bet they were worth a pretty penny.
They entered the gallery, and Max waved to the curator, Karen—he’d been here many, many times now, sometimes to look around, sometimes to source art for his job; he’d become good friends with her over time.
“Wow! These are amazing.” The awe in Trent’s voice was exactly what Max felt when he came to these places. Give him a room and he could design something extravagant from nothing. Stick him in front of a canvas and nothing would happen. He’s just not that way inclined, not like Livvy anyway. It had never crossed his mind to ask Livvy to paint something for his place, maybe he should ask her.
“They really are something, aren’t they?” Max’s gaze roamed the offerings, seeing vibrant colours set alongside greyscale; his visual palette was overwhelmed. He loved the way the coloured ones weren’t segregated to a different area to the greyscale ones. They wandered slowly through the gallery, discussing the pictures and debating the reasons for their preferences. Max found he really enjoyed Trent’s company.
“Max! How are you?” Karen came up and hugged him tight. “I’ve not seen you for a few weeks.”
“Yeah, I’ve been swamped at work.”
“And I can see your personal life has taken a good turn too. Who is your gorgeous partner?” Karen was married to the museum, but she also had a wife and two kids at home. She was a gossip like no other and would jump to all kinds of conclusions before you had chance to set her right.
“Oh, this is Trent. He’s just a friend.” Max just saw out the corner of his eye when Trent looked over at him. He didn’t understand what the glance meant; how else was he supposed to introduce him?
“Hi, Trent, nice to meet you. Max’s friends are always welcome here.” They shook hands. “Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” She indicated behind her and began walking in that direction, not waiting for their answer.
“She’s an acquired taste.” He chuckled. “She will start interrogating you soon, so be prepared.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Trent murmured as they followed in her wake, through a double glass door and into a long hallway that had several doors leading off it. Max saw Karen enter one on the right and knew it was the kitchen area. He glanced over at Trent and chuckled quietly.
“You look like you’re heading to your execution.”
“Am I not?” Trent replied, half-seriously.
Max shrugged. He didn’t know if Karen was about to give Trent the third-degree, but he had a feeling she was. They entered the room and found Karen standing at the counter with the fixings for the different choices.
“Coffee please, Karen,” he said as he chose a chair at a table close to Karen’s position.
Karen nodded and looked over with a raised eyebrow at Trent for confirmation.
“Coffee, please. Milk, no sugar,” Trent said, taking a seat next to Max.
They were silent while Karen made the drinks, and as soon as she sat down with her mug, she started.
“So, Trent, what do you do?” She took a sip of her drink, eyeing Trent over the top of it.
“I’m a teacher,” Trent said, looking decidedly nervous. Max smothered a smile within his mug.
Karen nodded slowly. “And how long have you known Max here?”
Trent swallowed audibly and quietly replied. “A little under a year.”
