Greer mashed his lips together. The piercing stare and furrowing brow showed his disapproval of Dallas’s response, but there was something more to the annoyance. “Next weekend, I have a political dinner in Houston and a beach cleanup on Sunday in Guatemala. Come with me? We’ll leave Saturday morning and be home Sunday night.”
The well of laughter manifested into Dallas reacting as if Greer had lost his mind. “I can’t go out with you in public like that. I thought of this as a one-night stand. Besides, I have too much to do—”
Greer reared back, rising out of the water, fully coming to his feet. His face contorted in a range of emotion until it settled on anger, and he let go of Dallas completely, leaving him to flounder in the water. “This is not a one and done situation. Don’t you dare trivialize us like that.”
“Us?” He’d barely gotten his feet underneath him when Greer’s frustration turned to full-blown outrage. Dallas hadn’t meant any offense and certainly not in the way Greer had apparently taken it. Greer shoved back. His harsh glare came with no words, and the guy always had a ready arsenal of persuasions to spew. Then he abruptly turned and waded toward the steps. “Greer, come back.”
Greer ignored him, taking the steps up, water cascading a trail down his nude body. He didn’t look back. Dallas watched Greer’s purposeful stride. The heat of his body mixed with the cool night’s air, causing steam to rise off Greer in waves. The sweet, gentle man he’d spent the last twenty-four hours with had turned into a sleek, predatory animal in complete control of his surroundings. He was impressive as hell, much like he’d been their first meeting in Greer’s office.
“Do you want me to go?” Dallas asked, standing in the shallow end of the swimming pool. The suggestion felt like a battering ram to Dallas’s heart. Just mere seconds ago, Dallas had started this argument by saying he couldn’t stay. Now, it was all he wanted to do.
Greer whipped out a terry cloth beach towel from a stack on a towel warmer and rubbed it over his face. “Of course, I don’t want you to leave. How is that not crystal clear?”
The relief was staggering. Dallas released a breath he hadn’t known he held. He kept his gaze glued to the hard body at the edge of the other side of the pool. Greer ignored Dallas as he made his way to the pool’s steps. Neither spoke as Greer dried off. He was such a handsome man; he stole Dallas’s breath like he stole his reason.
They stood about three feet apart, Greer kept his back to Dallas but reached for a second towel and handed it over. Dallas took it, bringing it to his chest, but his entire focus remained on the man now running the towel over his damp hair. “Then tell me what you think this is?” Dallas whispered.
Greer had no hesitation. Not a moment of pause or consideration. “I believe I’ve found a man I want to spend a significant amount of time with.” He finally turned, wrapping the towel around his waist, scooting past Dallas without touching him. “I see a future with you.”
On every level, Dallas loved every single one of those words. Greer spoke directly to his aching, fragile heart, that had just begun to heal all those battered rough edges. The barrier Dallas had constructed between himself and his sexuality all those years ago was crumbling under the wrecking ball known as Greer Lockhart. Dallas had never expected Greer to see the same value in him as he saw in Greer. He had honestly believed their ending came tonight.
Yes, the demons of Dallas’s world lurked around the edges, waiting to steal all this happiness. Of course, whatever they were doing couldn’t continue, but it did ease some of his burden of being defective. Never truly being good enough for the people around him.
“Nothing’s changed for me.” Greer turned at about three-quarters of the way to his bedroom. The towel in Dallas’s hand hung limp at his side.
He stood there, dripping wet, goose bumps springing up on his damp flesh from the cool air, but otherwise, he felt none of it. All the anxiety of his entire life ran anew through him. “I’m definitely not out. And I’m not sure I’m gay as much as I’m really into you.” Even as he said the words, they tasted bitter on his tongue. He denied what he knew deep down was the truth. He’d tried to convince himself so many times he wasn’t gay. He’d felt the guilt every single time he had those runaway thoughts. God, he hated being this fucked up.
Greer’s face softened; his chest fell on a slowly released exhale. He reached a hand up, pushing at his perfectly in place hair as if it didn’t naturally fall there. “If that’s so, then why’re you turning this into a one-time forbidden tryst?”