“I…” Trent moved his mouth, but nothing more came out. He hadn’t expected that turn of events and continued to stare at Gage, bewildered. But the slow steady pound of his heart picked up a beat, and the solid arousal hardened tighter in his jeans. Finally, he pushed his gaze up, away from Gage, focusing on the wall behind him, trying hard to regain his ability to think.
“I can see I need to do better. I honestly don’t believe I’ve ever asked anyone out before, but it can’t be hard and I do understand the benefits. Let me start over. Trent, please do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to dinner. Dinner’s what you do on a date, right?” Gage asked. He lifted his finger to Trent’s chin and pushed his head down to where their eyes met again. “There you go. I’m right here… What do you say to dinner with me, Trent?”
“I would say I don’t mix business with pleasure,” Trent said.
“Well, then, you’re fired. Now have dinner with me,” Gage said with a chuckle. “No, really, have dinner with me. Say yes, it’s just dinner,” Gage said, his elbows were now on the table and he leaned in closer to Trent. “And before you say no, again, technically your business is with Layne Construction, not me, so there is no real mixing going on,” Gage added. Trent hesitated still, but Gage had a point. He did work for Layne, not Gage. After a long pause with Gage staring at him hard, he finally answered.
“All right, I’ll go to dinner with you,” he muttered, still shocked to the very core.
“Great. I’ll take that yes, and say, how about tomorrow night?” The grin spread easily across Gage’s lips, making Trent absolutely certain he sat looking at the most handsome man on the planet.
“My nanny has class every night this week, I think.” He stayed transfixed on Gage.
“I might be able to send my housekeeper over,” Gage suggested.
“No, I’m sorry, I need to know the person who watches them. Let me check with Auntie Crazy, see what she’s doing, hang on.” He palmed his phone on Gage’s chuckle.
“I heard about that name from the kids tonight. Is she a sister?” Gage asked.
“No, my sister’s best friend, they grew up together,” Trent said, flipping through his contacts and sending Sophia a quick text message.
“Hunter and Emalynn are your sister’s children, correct?” Gage asked.
“Yes, my sister passed away when Emalynn was born. Their father died right about the time Lynn got pregnant with Em. He was military. My parents are gone, so they came to me. I legally adopted them. It’s why they call me Dad.” Trent’s phone rang with Sophia on the other end of caller ID. Of course she couldn’t have just texted back.
“Hello,” he said.
“Is this for a date for you? I can come right now?” The tension of sitting across from Gage, compounded with hearing the desperation in Sophia’s voice, caused Trent to laugh at her question. The volume on his phone was up high in order to hear in the playroom. With a glance up, his suspensions were confirmed, Gage heard it all.
“No, not now, just one night this week,” he said.
“Tomorrow! Trent, see if she’s free tomorrow night,” Gage said.
“Is that him, are you with him now? Is it the gallery guy? Oh my god, he’s so freakin’ hot, Trent, you lucky boy!” Trent looked up, horrified, and Gage leaned in closer to the phone before he spoke.
“Tell her, indeed, it is the gallery guy, unless there’s more than one? Then I think I’m entitled to know who my competition is so I may fire him,” Gage said while looking straight at him. Trent didn’t say a word, just held the gaze and listened. It sure sounded like Gage flirted with him, and for the second time tonight his heart connected to Gage, doing another strong pull toward the guy. Being flirted with soothed his nerves and made him smile. Trent hadn’t realized until that minute how much he needed someone to flirt with him, someone to want to be with him.
“Oh, Trent, he sounds sexy as hell. Tomorrow! I can babysit tomorrow. Tell him right now, I can be there right after work!” she said.
“Tomorrow it is, then. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Auntie Crazy. I can’t wait to meet you,” Gage said into the phone, leaning all the way across the table now. Trent never said a word.
“I’ll bring clothes and spend the night. I can leave for work from your house. You can stay out late,” she added.
“It’s a work and school night. I’ll be in early.” He finally got something out to add to the conversation. At that point, Gage leaned far across the table. His full lips were still spread in a big, arresting grin, his slate blue eyes sparked with amusement.
“I’ll still stay there. It will be easier. So what time? Never mind, I’ll just come right after work. When does Rhonny leave?” she asked.
“She has class at six, I think,” he said, and it took everything in him to tear his eyes away from Gage to check on the kids playing.
“I’ll be there somewhere around six tomorrow evening. And Trent… Yay! He is so yummy! Good job! I’m high fiving you right now! Trent, listen to me! Get laid! Don’t wait! Do you hear me?” With that Gage laughed and Trent disconnected the call.
“See why I call her Auntie Crazy?” he asked.
“I think her points may have merit, with a definite solid outcome theory,” Gage said, wiggling his eye brows, making them both laugh.
“Let me get the kids to eat, it’s getting late.” Trent called them down under strong protest. When he finally wrangled them to the table, they all sat together talking about the playground slides, and the new friends they met tonight as they ate their dinner. When it was time to leave, Gage walked them to the truck, stayed with his back leaning against the bed of the truck with his arms crossed over his chest while Trent got Em and Hunter buckled in their car seats. With nothing left to occupy him, Trent shut the door to the backseat and turned to Gage. An awkward silence fell between them as they stood staring at one another and Trent felt the stain of a blush heating his cheeks again.