It's Complicated: A Reservations Story

“Stop,” Thane said, interrupting him. “I’m a married man.”

Julian cocked a brow, staring at the phone. Married? Pfft. Thane wished he were married. Besides, there would be no Thane and Levi without Julian. He’d introduced the two. Thane needed to show a little more appreciation for what Julian had placed in his path.

“No, you’re not married.”

“Thanks for bringing up such a sore subject.” Thane, the mover of mountains, caregiver to the world, had met his match in Levi Silva, one of Reservations waiters. Julian couldn’t deny how much he had enjoyed watching his overly confident boss chase after the waiter day and night. Thane needed his arrogant ego knocked down a peg or two, no matter how good a guy he always tried to be.

“I have Beckett St. Clair’s file in front of me. I don’t see why everyone thinks he’s so nice-looking. There’s not a lot of information here, and he’s come out of nowhere. What do you know about him?” Thane asked.

Julian kept his lips zipped about the ruggedly handsome beauty of Beckett. The waiters had almost immediately given Beckett the moniker of the Marlboro Man, and it fit. The guy towered at a soaring six-four of solid muscle, and he was masculine as hell. He pulled off elusive and mysterious better than anyone Julian had ever known. And, goddamn, the guy had swagger. Beckett’s self-assured strut had the club patrons turning to watch that man leave at every opportunity.

Beckett was everyone’s type, no matter what Thane insinuated.

Should he confess to Thane that he’d already been digging around in Beckett’s background? The Marlboro Man had given Julian his undivided attention for months. Julian hadn’t missed the way Beckett watched him. He loved the weight of the man’s stare. Soft smiles and little pleasantries here and there always made Julian’s night so much lighter. Julian found himself moving about the club, just to be noticed. Something he hadn’t even contemplated since…before.

There would have been a time he would have been all over that hot cowboy, but not anymore. Men and dating were a hard pass. So off Julian’s radar that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done either. A self-imposed exile from sex was a hard pill to swallow for someone who had previously lived to get off. Giving and receiving pleasure had been his only priorities in life.

In what strange twist of reality would anyone from his past believe that Julian Cullen had gone celibate?

This new, careful Julian needed the reassurance that the Marlboro Man was harmless. Trust came as a hard commodity these days. He had enlisted Tristan Wilder’s help to dig deeper into the man’s past. A secret he chose to keep from the well-intentioned Thane. If Thane had any inkling of Julian’s uncertainties about Beckett, he’d have already kicked the guy out of the club and revoked his membership. They didn’t need that kind of bad press right now.

Besides, none of it mattered. Julian tried for nonchalance as he spoke his truth to Thane. “St. Clair’s been a member for months. I danced with him last night at a celebration that your man, Levi, invited him to participate in. He gave me a compliment. I liked it. That’s all.” He hoped his tone conveyed that Thane had overstepped his boundaries by letting his protective side get the best of him.

“Three times, Julian. You danced three long dances with him. I watched you. You were into it.” Thane’s exasperation rang clear in his words as if Julian were a petulant child. “Anyone you date needs to be thoroughly vetted; I won’t have it any other way. They haven’t caught the guy who hurt you. I refuse to take risks where you’re concerned. Hell, we still don’t know the motives behind your assault. The private investigators have nothing, which means it’s most likely a serial predator. But what if it was personal, and he’s waiting—” Thane abruptly stopped the commentary he’d given Julian at least twice a month since the assault.

Thane wore the protective daddy bear cloak with pride. Julian allowed it only because he silently agreed. But how long could he go on like this? Living without actually living, waiting for something that might not ever happen?

“I’m sorry to bring it all up again. What happened to you just gnaws at me. I can’t let it go.” Thane had been Julian’s champion from the minute he’d missed their regularly scheduled “date” because his ass was lying unconscious in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. Thane had gone out of his way to find Julian when so many others would have never thought twice about his absence. Then Thane had taken over his care. He owed Thane everything. The expensive healthcare system wasn’t there for people like Julian. It had taken everything Julian had plus a whole lot of Thane’s aid and influence to get him back on his feet.