“Staying with? Does he live here?”
“No.” Daniel shook his head and finally tore his gaze away from Asher. “He’s my brother’s friend and he offered to let me share his room because the hotel was sold out last night.”
“Is that right?” Chase raised one eyebrow, planted his hands on his hips, and tapped his foot. “One bed or two?”
“What?”
“The hotel room,” Chase said. “Does it have one bed or two?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “One bed, and before you ask, we shared it. Is that okay with you, Mom?”
“Hey!” Chase looked hurt. “Don’t snap at me because I care. Last I heard, you were on another one of your celibacy kicks, looking for Mr. Right, and suddenly you tell me that you’re shacking up with the Latino version of Mr. Clean. I just want to make sure nobody takes advantage of you.”
“Oh, Christ, not you too. I’ve already had to tell my brother to back off today; I don’t think I can handle your meddling this soon. You haven’t even met Asher. Why do you automatically assume he’s going to take advantage of me?”
“Seriously? Have you met you?” Chase asked incredulously.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Daniel, that every guy you meet wants to take advantage of you.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Daniel shook his head and laughed. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Asher. I think once you stop drooling, you’ll actually like him.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure I will,” Chase said, disbelief clear in his tone.
Daniel stood up and picked his baseball cap up off the top of the slot machine.
“You’ve got another credit left in the machine,” Chase pointed out.
“Oh, right.” Daniel pressed the button and the machine lit up and played a sound meant to resemble coins dropping, an attempt to make the modern machine have the character of traditional slots.
“Holy shit!” Chase said with a laugh. “You just won five grand. Looks like Lady Luck is still on your side.”
Daniel darted his gaze toward Asher, who hadn’t taken his eyes off him all night.
“Yeah.” He smiled wistfully. “It sure seems that way.”
“I’VE been to that dim sum buffet you’re looking at. Delicious.”
Asher’s jaw ticked at the sound of that voice way too close to him. Daniel’s friend, ex-boyfriend, whatever. Chase Rhodes. What the hell kind of name was that?
Plus, the guy was all long eyelashes, rosy cheeks, tight pants, and an even tighter sleeveless shirt, over a body that had not an ounce of fat anywhere. Asher hated him on sight.
“Congratulations,” Asher said, not moving his eyes from where he was tracking Daniel as he looked at food in the buffet line and then put some on his plate. Good thing, too, because the man hadn’t eaten all day. “It’s thrilling to know you’ve been here before.”
“I wasn’t talking about the restaurant.” Chase was standing next to his chair and bending down so close Asher could feel his breath against his cheek. His elbow tingled with the need to jab out and put some space between them. “I was talking about Daniel.”
Well, now. That got Asher’s attention. Was this guy trying to get under his skin? Seriously? Asher had just under a foot and a good ninety pounds on him. He turned his head slowly and glared murderously.
“Are you wearing makeup?” he asked, running his gaze over Chase’s face, contempt clear in his voice and expression.
The other man didn’t step back, didn’t flinch, hell, he didn’t so much as blink. Asher would have respected him if he wasn’t so busy hating the guy’s guts.
“Why, yes, I am,” Chase said with a wide grin, batting his eyelashes. “A little liner, some blush, and gloss. Thanks for noticing.”
“It wasn’t meant as a compliment,” Asher grumbled.
“No.” Chase laughed. “I imagine it wasn’t.”
Before he could respond, or hit something, Chase stood up and Asher was looking at the bastard’s groin instead of his face.
“Hey, Danny Boy,” Chase said joyfully.
Asher twisted his head and saw Daniel approach their table, a plate in one hand and a bowl in the other. He sat between Asher and Chase’s chairs and set his food in front of him.
“Where’re you going, Chase?” he asked.
“Nowhere.” Chase walked back to his seat and sat down. “I was just stretching my legs. You know how I like to move around.” He winked at Daniel.
Asher told himself not to take the bait. He took a deep breath and focused on Daniel. There, that helped calm him. Then he noticed the food on Daniel’s plate and frowned. “That’s what you’re eating?”
Daniel blinked in surprise, looked down at his food and back at Asher, and then answered. “Uh-huh. It’s soup and salad.”
“Yum, I love their chipotle-lime tofu salad,” Chase said. He picked up his fork and started eating from Daniel’s plate.
Asher bit the inside of his cheek. If he said anything, he’d look like a possessive freak. He’d known Daniel all of one day. One day. He wasn’t in a position to complain when the man shared his food. Even if there wasn’t enough food there to fill one person. Besides, he knew Chase was trying to goad him and he wasn’t going to give the annoying prick the satisfaction of succeeding at any level.