Ethan (Alluring Indulgence #5)(29)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Once.”

From that single word, Ethan got the impression Beau wasn’t looking to expand on his answer. Too bad for him. If Beau was insisting on pushing Ethan out of his comfort zone, it was only fair he suffer the same way. “When?”

Beau looked back at him, his intense gaze sending a strange sensation across Ethan’s skin. The man was… the only word he could come up with was… beautiful. And oddly enough, most people probably wouldn’t think that way when they saw him.

Not only was he tall, he was tremendously built. Like a football player. And now that Ethan thought about it, Beau had always been that way.

He obviously spent time in the gym. A lot of time if Ethan had to guess. Ethan was leaner, lacking quite so much bulk, but that was likely due to their body types. He spent several hours a week working out, but only with the equipment he kept at the shop. His motive for working out was to be strong, capable of defending himself if need be. Never again would he get caught lacking in that area.

Between working at the shop, the few hours a week that he dedicated to weight-lifting, and helping to take care of the few horses his parents and Travis had on the ranch, Ethan didn’t find much time to do anything more. Nor did he have the energy. But Beau filled him with an energy that had been lacking for some time and he didn’t know why that was.

“Back in March,” Beau said and Ethan remembered what he had asked.

“How many dates did y’all go on?”

Beau laughed, the sound callous and lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever.

“One. That’s all I needed.”

“Y’all didn’t hit it off?”

Beau shook his head in response and Ethan continued to regard him in the shadows. The blue lights from the dashboard highlighted the hard angles of his face, making him even sexier. If that was even possible.

“Dinner? Dancing? Movies?” Ethan asked, encouraging Beau to talk. After all, Beau was the one who wanted to chat.

“Dinner.”

Something niggled at Ethan when Beau answered. There was a question lingering somewhere in his subconscious, but he couldn’t think clearly enough to put the words together.

“His name was Joe. I met him one afternoon when I went into Austin for parts. He was the first guy to ever approach me like that. I was stunned. And a little curious.”

“A little curious?”

“Yeah. I’d just come to terms with the fact that I’m not straight.”

Ethan noticed that Beau didn’t say he was gay. He had specifically stated that he wasn’t straight. Did that mean he was bisexual?

“Were you attracted to him?”

“He was a decent looking guy. I’d talked to him on several occasions because he ran one of the parts stores that I frequented. Outgoing, funny. So yeah, I was attracted to him.”

“And he took you to dinner?”

“We met at a restaurant in Hutto.”

Ding. Ding. Ding. The warning bells sounded in his head, and Ethan immediately remembered what he had wanted to ask Beau. “That’s when you saw Blake?”

Beau’s head swiveled slowly until their eyes met across the cab. “Yeah. I saw him.”

“With another guy?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t think to mention it to me?”

Beau’s eyebrows furrowed, his shoulders tensed slightly. “It wasn’t any of my business.”

Fair enough. Ethan knew he could find all the reasons in the world to argue, but decided against it. The fact that Blake wasn’t part of his life anymore didn’t bother Ethan. He wasn’t fond of being cheated on, but it was in the past.

“So, you and Joe. Dinner.”

“Yeah,” Beau said, a small smile tipping the very corners of his lips. Ethan fought the urge to lick his own lips because he was suddenly extremely interested in kissing the man.

But for some reason, this talking thing… he kinda liked it.

Chapter Nine

Beau didn’t particularly want to go into the specifics of the clusterfuck of a date he’d had, but he liked that Ethan was asking questions. For now, it looked as though the guy had dropped all of that tough exterior. Then again, he was halfway through his second beer and who knew how many he’d had at Moonshiners. Ethan’s inquisition may be based purely on liquid courage, but Beau considered it progress regardless.

“We met for dinner. At first, it was nice. Normal. We have a lot in common from a work perspective, so we didn’t lack for anything to talk about.” Beau remembered the instant that night had taken a downturn. “We were halfway through the meal when Joe mentioned sleeping together.”