Squared Away (Out of Uniform 5)

“Really?” Mark grinned at him. He was enough of a perfectionist that he had to add, “We’ll just have to try harder. Make sure it’s the best.”

“You’re on.” Isaiah pulled him in for a kiss. This one was soft, leisurely, and somehow more intimate, given everything they’d shared. On the TV, the long-forgotten movie was wrapping up, the guys in a wedding scene. Hating the way his chest pinched, Mark had to look away, focus on the kiss. And there was both promise and risk in that kiss—the promise of more of everything Mark was coming to crave and the risk of opening himself up like this. Putting his heart on the line was scarier than any mission he’d undertaken, and he simply wasn’t sure whether he had that sort of courage in him.

Chapter Fourteen

“You should dance.” Daphne said with all the finality of a presidential decree.

“Like this?” Isaiah launched into the cupid shuffle while serving up the pancakes. It was Mark’s first day back on base, and he’d wanted him to have something more than his usual smoothie. It was bound to be hard, getting back to work, finding the new normal. Isaiah was having enough trouble with that himself. He couldn’t imagine adding SEAL stuff into the mix.

“No. Like this.” She pointed to the Cinderella video on the tablet. Cinderella was dancing with her uniformed prince. “With Uncle Mark.”

“I’m having too much fun watching this. Nice moves, Uncle Ikey.” Mark came into the kitchen in his uniform. He did have a bit of a princely quality to him. Isaiah had a thing for uniforms, and Mark could seriously star in a recruitment video. He tried not to be too obvious with the ogling though.

“Dance!” Daphne commanded again, and Zoe joined the chant.

“Oh fine.” Mark grabbed Isaiah’s hand, guiding him into a waltz. And all of a sudden Isaiah was back at Cal and Danielle’s wedding, staring into his eyes for the first time. Mark spun him in front of the fridge and the girls applauded. Then, clearly going for bonus points from the audience, Mark dipped him.

“There. Dance,” Mark said as he released Isaiah after helping him back upright, acting like he hadn’t just rearranged Isaiah’s heart. The guy was a serious romantic—the bath stuff, the massages, bringing Isaiah his favorite rocky road ice cream, sitting through Isaiah’s movie picks. And now dancing in the kitchen.

“Pancakes.” Isaiah handed him a plate, loving how Mark smiled at the offering. He’d be the best boyfriend Isaiah had ever had if Isaiah could tell anyone about him. Or if he saw himself that way, which Isaiah wasn’t sure he did. Sure they hung out almost every night after the kids went to bed, but that might just be a proximity thing. Isaiah was worried things were about to change with Mark going back to work, being around his friends again.

“I better head out soon.” Mark put his plate away after he finished seconds, giving Isaiah a meaningful look.

Oh yeah. Best part of the morning. They usually snuck in a quick goodbye kiss before one of them left on errands or the school run or whatever. The girls were occupied with the tablet and Liam was happy in the high chair, so he ducked into the foyer, pulling Mark with him.

“I might be late.” Mark tugged him close.

“It’s okay. I’ve got a date with a zombie movie.” Isaiah grinned up at him, waiting for his kiss.

“Maybe we could—”

Knock. Knock. Crap. Dylan and the girls were early for their playdate. There was no school that day, so Isaiah had invited them over along with his new friend Lydia and her kids. But now he wasn’t going to get a kiss. Or find out what Mark might have been about to propose because Mark was already opening the door to let the guests in.

He made his greetings, then turned to Isaiah. “Better head out. I’ll text you an ETA if I have one.”

“Sure.” Isaiah shifted his attention to pouring the last of the coffee for Dylan and getting the kids set playing outside. Lydia and her kids weren’t there yet, but the kids had too much energy for indoors.

“So what’s up with Uncle Hottie?” Dylan settled into one of the patio chairs. “You guys working things out?”

“Aren’t you married?” Isaiah griped.

“Married, but my vision still works great. And Wizard’s hotter than half the Instagram profiles I follow. He could be on a book cover or something. And I know you. You’ve probably got a Mount Shasta sized crush already.”

“I do not.” What he felt for Mark went far deeper than crush. He’d had hundreds of crushes over the years—fast, fleeting ones, deeper ones that he nursed for months, ones that led nowhere and ones that fizzled out when reciprocated. He was the crown prince of crushes. And Mark wasn’t a crush—he was more like the embodiment of all Isaiah’s most secret wishes, everything he’d wanted for years. And slowly, day by day Mark was stealing more of Isaiah’s heart than any crush had ever managed to.