Now, they sat together in his office. Trent sat across from him, making something close to eye contact, talking things through as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be half erect, fighting a full hard-on for most of the entire morning and doing nothing about it. Maybe it’s how straight guys lived their lives but it certainly wasn’t how he lived his life. Mr. Hot and Sexy sat across the desk from him, not blinking an eye at the discomfort he may or may not be feeling.
Regardless of the guy’s sexual orientation, he clearly wasn’t interested in finding his release with Gage, and that, for some reason, bothered the hell out of him. Maybe Trent was in a committed relationship. The jealousy snaking through his heart at the thought came out of nowhere. And what the hell is that about? Gage didn’t even know how to process jealousy. Was it truly jealousy? He’d never been jealous of anyone a day in his life.
Putting aside the jealousy, a raging hard-on, being gay or straight, and every electrical problem in this place, this man in front of him clearly wasn’t interested. He’d said as much earlier. Well, all right then! Gage would leave it alone. He would find someone else to help take care of this bulge between his legs. After all, Gage had found this morning he lived in the right neighborhood to find a hot male model that would be ready to spend time with him. Right now he had a bigger more immediate problem: where in the hell did he leave off in this conversation? Hmmm…
“I understand they’re expecting you downtown for the permits. I’ll have my person call you in the next few minutes. I need your number please, Trent. You’ll also handle the electric company from here. I’ll give you my contact’s information. Please call them today and work out the details. McCall, I suppose you will let the others know what we’re doing, so no one is stuck in the middle of something important when the power is cut, correct?” Gage said, jotting the numbers down for Trent.
“Yes, sir,” McCall said and looked up at him again for the second time this last hour.
“Then, I think I’m done with you, McCall. Take care. Trent, I’ll have your check ready in a moment. Hang tight,” Gage said, dismissing the project manager. Gage wrote the check, never looking up as McCall left the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Trent stand and move behind the chair, in a clear attempt to put more space between them.
“Will you be monitoring the work personally?” Gage asked again for the second time in the last few minutes. He stopped the stroke of his pen halfway through writing the check. He looked up at Trent and his heart bounced around in his chest. He found it difficult to breathe properly. Trent stared down at him, the connection jumped out very clearly there between.
“Yes, sir, I will,” Trent said. Now they were all the way back to ‘yes, sir’. He didn’t like it at all. Gage couldn’t stop the pitter patter of his heart, and Mr. Yes Sir over there put as much distance between them as he could.
“What’re your qualifications?” Gage asked, laying the pen down. He already knew the answer to this question. He’d checked out every contractor himself before they were brought in, but he stalled to keep Trent in this room.
“I’m a master electrician,” Trent said, his voice not quite as strong as before. The simple reply gave Gage just what he needed to help break the tension forming between them since McCall left the room.
“Mmm…” A smile tore across his lips at the thought of this man in front of him being his master. Yeah, he could see Trent was well-qualified to hold such a position. His phone rang disturbing the perfect image playing in his mind. He finished the check, tearing it at the perforated edge, but didn’t hand it to Trent, instead looked down at caller ID.
“I need to answer this, hang on.” Gage answered without waiting for a response. “Gage Synclair, can you hold a moment? Good. Thank you. Hang on.” He put the call on hold, before turning the full weight of his stare back to the hot-number in front of him. A smile tore across his face as he chuckled at the one-liners he kept coming up with all day long about Trent Cooper. It seemed to be a pattern forming where the guy was concerned.
“So, Saturday evening at six, and you’ll handle the city and the electric company?” Gage asked still chuckling to himself.
“Yes, sir,” Trent said, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the chair in front of him. Good, he shouldn’t be the only one living in this hell between them.
“And your crews will move forward on the remodel tomorrow?” Gage asked, knowing the phone call held for him. It was the every two-hour check-in from the field operations in Mexico. He needed to take the call, but he didn’t want Trent to leave him.
“Yes, sir,” Trent said again.
“I’m Gage,” he said, with a little too much snap in the two words, and he could feel the smile leave his face.
“Got it,” Trent said, and again Gage got the impression Trent stared at his nose, not his eyes. He checked the urge to run his hand over his face to see if anything might be on there to cause Trent to become distracted.
“You could say it,” Gage said, surprised by his own words.
“Yes, Mr. Synclair…” Trent said, and Gage watched him bite his lip. Gage’s hips rolled forward involuntarily, and he almost came right there, watching Trent’s tongue dart out over the soft skin of his lips. “Gage, we’ll see you in the morning.”
“Perfect. I like the sound of it,” Gage said. “I have one last question, do you wear the beard all the time or are you a clean shaven kind of guy?”