It's Complicated: A Reservations Story

“You’d keep an eye on the truck?” Beckett teased, lifting a brow at Julian, letting his lips quirk into a smile before taking a hearty drink of the black coffee. “I love my truck.”

“One eye always fixed on it,” Julian replied, lifting three fingers on his right hand, giving the Scout oath hand sign. He was always ready to give a lighthearted joke. “I’ll check the flights today. Keep your phone on so I can book whatever I find,” Julian offered.

Before Beckett could respond, Julian stepped away, sweeping an arm toward the front door.

“You need to leave so I can go back to sleep.”

The directness Julian exhibited in every part of his life was much appreciated. No awkward goodbyes. Beckett had to go or risk being late, which he never allowed himself to be. He quickly leaned in, stealing a kiss from a surprised Julian before he started toward the door.

Julian countered by reaching out and swatting Beckett’s ass as he turned away. Of course, Julian got the last word.

At the door, Beckett looked back over his shoulder. “Was that a promise of something special you have planned for the weekend?”

A challenging glint lit Julian’s face as he reached down to Woofer’s collar, keeping him from following Beckett out. “Be mindful of what you ask for.” Julian’s sexy grin grew in both promise and challenge. “The rush of anticipation is fucking intoxicating.”

No doubt he was getting a glimpse of Julian’s former self. Beckett let that be enough, chuckling as he left the condo.

Chapter 21

“Thane says it’s corporate policy; we have to post my position before we can officially offer it to you. What I’m going to suggest is for you to really take the next week and see what you think about the job. I’ll fight for a good salary, but it’ll be a decrease in pay for you,” Julian said, watching Ricco as he entered the daily liquor inventory into the Reservations proprietary software.

Ricco never looked up at Julian. His fingers continue to furiously fly over the keyboard, typing in the totals from the back of a small cocktail napkin. Damn, Ricco was faster than even him. “I need to get my foot in the door at Dishology. It’s not the money that’s the problem, it’s these damn pants. I haven’t had to wear real clothes since I started working here.”

Julian chuckled at the observation, one with which he secretly agreed. He’d rather be wearing the Reservations designated underwear uniform too.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Beckett had been all over his text messages today, and Julian couldn’t seem to wait even thirty seconds to answer whatever was sent. This incoming text had to be alerting him of Beckett’s arrival to get the key to his condo. This new weirdly endearing pitter-patter in Julian’s heart had a small smile forming as he fished the phone from his pants.

“I usually get to this point then let you check what I entered. I went over the numbers three times like your control issues require. Do I just sign it and hit enter?” Ricco asked.

Julian ignored Ricco, lost in his haste to see Beckett. All his thoughts, all day long, had focused on his roommate for the next couple of days. He couldn’t stop thinking about Beckett and pivoted, taking long strides down the hall toward the employee entrance door. At the same time, his staff began arriving for the impromptu mandatory employee meeting he had called to explain the upcoming changes.

“Your cowboy’s out there,” Chase announced, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. Julian had to do a sidestep, then duck to get past the flood of men moving in the opposite direction from him.

“Nah, he’s coming in,” Quinn called out from the door. Julian looked up to see Beckett a few feet away, holding the door for each employee to enter ahead of him. His gentleman.

Julian knew the ribbing he was destined to receive over Beckett coming to see him in the middle of the day like this. It couldn’t be any worse than all the kissy faces he’d endured over the last week. After all this time of Reservations being the most important thing in Julian’s life, it felt damned odd to have Beckett taking the top spot of his concentration. Julian got close enough to reach for Beckett’s waist, pushing him back several steps toward his truck to do the key exchange as privately as possible.

Beckett followed his lead, except the cowboy didn’t seem to understand his privacy goal. Beckett wrapped his arms around Julian’s waist, drawing him into a tight embrace against that muscular chest as the heavy door swung closed behind them.

“You smell amazing,” Beckett said, lifting Julian’s chin to look in his eyes. Julian couldn’t seem to make himself pull away no matter how hard he had lectured himself for doing just that. He had to find his professionalism while on work property like Thane had literally begged him to do. “This is a nice greeting.”