Professional Distance (Thorne and Dash 1)

“We didn’t have a first date or really any dates but…special moments. We had plenty of those.” Thorne thought about the time he’d spent with Dash. It was only a few months, but it felt like so much longer. Sailing together. That had been special. “It’s too cold to go sailing,” he mused.

Kathryn nodded in agreement.

They hadn’t been out that many times. They’d spent much more time inside, lying around, watching movies.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what he should do. Please let this work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Marc gave Riley a confused look. “Is that…”

“Peter Gabriel,” Riley and Marc said in unison.

They raced to the window, and Marc jerked the cord to raise the blinds, tangling them as they rushed upward.

Thorne stood beside his sleek Mercedes, wearing a dark suit and a beard that looked damn good on him. He was also holding his phone and Bluetooth speakers in the air, blasting “In Your Eyes” louder than speakers that small should go. Of course he’d have the best tech.

Why am I thinking about tech? My former lover—former client—is re-enacting Say Anything in front of my apartment.

“Oh my fucking God!” Marc said, never taking his eyes from Thorne.

“I…” Riley couldn’t speak. He could hardly breathe. His heart was pounding, and it felt like it was in his throat.

“Dude, you’ve got to go down there.”

“I…”

Marc waved at Thorne and then grabbed Riley by the arm and dragged him toward the door. “Go down there and talk to him right now.”

Riley’s feet wouldn’t work. “I can’t.”

“Yes. You can. I don’t care if you tell him it’s over for good, but you’ve got to say something. If nothing else, the guy has balls.”

The swirl of confusing thoughts in his head dizzied Riley. “We watched it together. He’d never seen it even though he was in high school when it came out, and he never… I’m babbling.”

“Go!” Marc practically shoved him down the stairs.

Riley caught himself against the wall and kept moving. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs he was running.

Thorne turned when he saw him, the music continued to play, but he set the speakers on the roof of his car.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Thorne raised a brow, that damn sardonic look he was so good at. “I did hope you would remember.”

Riley gestured toward the speakers. “Of course I remember. But why?”

“Why do you think? Because I made a terrible mistake, and I needed to get your attention so I could apologize and see if…” He took a slow breath, and Riley watched his chest rise and fall. “If there is truly no chance, or if there’s some amount of hope left for us.”

“Us?”

“Yes, us; you and me. I was a fool, and I hurt you. I know you may never be able to forgive me, but I’m here to say what I should have said back then. I don’t want to be a client to you. I want to be so much more.”

“Are you sure? Because two months ago it sounded like you just wanted to own me.”

Thorne winced and glanced around. They’d acquired quite a collection of onlookers. He tapped his phone, silencing the music. “Could we take this inside?”

“In the lobby at least,” Riley said, not yet sure he wanted Thorne in his home. And even more uncertain whether he wanted Thorne in his life.

“I never wanted to own you,” Thorne said as the door closed behind them.

Riley raised his brows.

“I can be an arrogant son of a bitch. That’s true enough, and yes, I like getting my way. But what I really wanted was to spend every day with you. To wake up with you. To know you weren’t sleeping with anyone else. To know that when you looked at me like you cared, like it was more than a job, that look was sincere.”

Riley frowned. “Of course it was sincere. How the fuck could you doubt that?”

“Because I was scared. Scared if I asked for more than a business arrangement, you would walk away and I’d never see you again. I couldn’t fathom why you would want to be in a relationship with me.”

“What?” Riley couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You thought I didn’t want you?”

“I thought you wouldn’t want to date me. We have a few differences you know, like twenty years of them.”

“I don’t give a fuck about that,” Riley snapped.

“You don’t?”

“No, but I sure as hell never thought you’d want an actual relationship with me, a kid, a prostitute.”

Thorne shook his head. “I never thought of you as—”

“You tried to make me a full-time employee, one whose job was to fuck you.”

“And cook for me.”

“God, Thorne, do you hear yourself?”

He held up a hand. “I’m sorry. It was a solution I could offer that would let me see you every day. I thought it was the best option to get what I wanted.”