Personal Entanglement (Thorne and Dash 2)

They looked at each other, obviously both nervous to disturb the utter stillness of the place. Finally, Riley reached out to tap the bell, but he stopped when he heard someone curse loudly from the back.

“Bloody cockweasel. Can’t you stay put?”

Riley looked at Marc and raised his brow. The man’s voice was deep, sexy, and very British. They waited through a few more seconds of silence.

“Fat bastard!” the man said. “If he’d come in today…” And then a huff. “As if I’ve got time to mess with this twat waffle of a zipper just because he can’t be arsed to—”

Riley rang the bell. Marc glared at him as if to say why the fuck did you do that?

“What the…?” the man yelled. And then louder, “Just a moment.”

A few seconds later, the owner of said voice appeared. Riley tried his best not to stare, but, oh my God, he was hot. Smooth dark skin, a closely trimmed beard, and, even with a wool sweater on, Riley could tell his arms were defined perfection. Add the British accent and he was fucking irresistible.

“I thought I had the door locked, so you surprised me. You must be Riley,” he said, smiling.

Rather than the foul-mouthed sailor from before, now he sounded ready to give a lecture at Oxford. Riley looked into the man’s dark eyes, and all he could do was nod. Eventually he realized the man—was this Darius himself?—was holding out his hand to shake. His skin was warm and soft, which Riley hadn’t expected since Darius worked with his hands.

“I’m Marc.”

Riley glanced over at him; he was at least as mesmerized as Riley was, maybe more so.

“Hi, Marc,” the man said. He looked Marc up and down, openly assessing him. Thorne hadn’t mentioned that he was interested in men. Hell, maybe he didn’t know.

“I’m Darius.” So it was Mr. Magic Hands. “It’s lovely to meet both of you. I suppose you may have heard me just now…”

He didn’t look embarrassed exactly. Sheepish was more the right expression. It looked good on him.

“We did,” Marc said. “Bad day?”

“The worst. My assistant, the fifth fuc— Er…one I’ve had in the last year simply didn’t show up yesterday or today. Now I’m dreadfully behind.”

“I suppose you’ll be looking for a sixth assistant,” Marc said.

Darius nodded. “If I can ever find the time.”

“It so happens I’m looking for employment myself.”

Riley shouldn’t have been surprised by Marc’s ploy. He’d never been reticent.

“Are ya now? I don’t suppose you can be any more poorly qualified than the last sod I had in here.”

“I’m not. I started a course in textile design and suspended my studies for financial reasons, but I’ve done costume design for a local theater, and I’m highly motivated.”

All true, except the costume design was years ago when Marc was in high school, and Riley suspected Marc was more motivated to fuck Darius than to work for him.

“I’ll print out an employment application when I get Mr. Shipton’s suit. You can bring it back on Monday.”

“Thank you,” Riley and Marc said at the same time.

A few moments later, Darius returned. He handed a garment bag across the counter, and Riley took it. “Thorne will be home late tonight, so he’ll let you know tomorrow if—”

“It will fit. I know his body well.”

Riley stared at him, and he smiled, eyes bright, making him even more fucking gorgeous. “Because I’ve been designing for him for years. I swear I’ve never slept with him, not that he isn’t bloody gorgeous, but that’s not the kind of relationship we have.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t—”

“I like that reaction. It shows you really care about him. He deserves that.”

Riley nodded. “Yeah, he does.” And he hadn’t been doing a good job of caring for Thorne lately.

Darius turned to Marc. “If you’re serious, here’s an application. I’m assuming Thorne will vouch for you.”

“And I’m assuming you’ll want to know my employment history,” Marc said as he took the sheets of paper.

Darius nodded.

“I currently work for an escort service.”

“Do you believe that will affect your employment here?”

Marc shook his head. “No.”

“Neither do I. I don’t care who you’ve slept with unless it makes you miss work like the limey bastard who walked out on me.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Then fill that out and get it back to me.”

As soon as they exited the shop, with Darius locking the door behind them, Marc grabbed Riley’s arm.

“When I said he was magical I had no idea how right I was. Why the hell didn’t you tell me how gorgeous he was?”

“I’ve never met him, remember?”

“Surely Thorne has mentioned all his attributes.”

Riley shook his head. “Never.”

“Well, tell him you expect to be better informed of such important details in the future.”

Riley laughed. “I will. Are you serious about wanting to work with Darius?”

“Yeah. Aside from the fact that I’d be working for a god, I really do love fashion.”