Besides, he’s your boss and he most certainly should treat you as a professional rather than as his fuck toy.” “Well he doesn’t treat me like that, that’s for damned sure.”
Javier touched his shoulder. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Javier’s voice was so low and sincere that David nodded in a moment of weakness. “You know
nothing can come out of it, don’t you? He’s your boss, and he fucks half the guys that come into his studio. He’s never going to be what you deserve to have.”
“If you mean I’m not good-looking enough to actually get a guy like that, then you’re right.” David stood up and began pacing the small space. “I know I’m boringly average in the looks department. I’ve always known that, but…” David stopped and turned to face Javier. “Just once I’d like a guy that I like to like me back, you know?” Javier sighed and nodded. “Like you have any problems in that department,” David said, and realized he was sounding whiny. Javier had dark skin, jet-black hair, and the deepest eyes on the planet. “If you wanted, I bet you could model for Christian.”
He’d take Javier in a heartbeat, that David knew for sure.
Javier was just Christian’s type.
Javier put up his hands. “No thanks. I have no intention of taking my clothes off for the likes of him or anyone else with a camera. I want to be a fashion model, not do porn, or even semi-porn.” Javier moved closer, and David saw him reach out. Closing his eyes, he felt Javier’s fingers on his temples making small, slow circles. “I’m sorry I was picking on you. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Javier’s voice dropped and deepened, becoming a soothing balm that worked away some of the tension that fueled his headache.
“Are you feeling better?”
David nodded slowly. He’d gotten headaches like this for as long as he could remember. He’d had tons of tests done, but they could never find anything wrong. Lying down in a dark, quiet room helped. The only other thing that did was the way Javier seemed to be able to soothe away the pain. “We need some dinner,” David said without opening his eyes.
“I made macaroni and cheese from my mother’s recipe a while ago,” Javier told him, and David’s stomach rumbled his response.
Chapter Two
Christian waited until he heard the door close and then closed his eyes again, hoping sleep would come. Photo sessions took a lot out of him, they always had, but lately he’d had a hard time concentrating, and it was all because of his new assistant, David. His previous assistant had left three months ago, probably because Christian had driven the man crazy. He knew that. Christian had hired David because he seemed to have the ability to do the job, and if he was honest with himself, because of his plain looks. He’d hired good-looking assistants before, and all they seemed to want was their chance in front of the camera, figuring being his assistant was their foot in the door. Christian was many things, including a shameless cad who would do almost anything to get the perfect picture, but he did not, under any circumstances, get involved with the people who worked with him. That was his hard and fast rule and the only one he never broke.
The problem with that rule was that his current assistant fascinated him. They’d been working today getting the lights adjusted before the shoot. Christian knew he’d asked David to move the light to the left, and David had done just the opposite, which actually turned out just the way he’d wanted. That was a small example, but it fit the pattern Christian kept seeing. Christian was even willing to bet that if he were to go into the kitchen, David would have made a small dinner for him and placed it in the refrigerator, because he always did after a shoot. David worried about him, and no one had done that in a very long time.
Opening his eyes again, Christian looked around his large bedroom, its stark, white walls covered with some of his own pictures. These weren’t the ones from his studio, but pictures he’d taken when he went for his walks of random faces and views others rarely paid attention to. These photographs were personal and only for him. Getting up, he slipped into a pair of loafers and walked into the kitchen to heat up the dinner David had almost certainly left for him. He ate it sitting at the small kitchen table. Once he’d cleaned up, he opened the door to the studio, figuring he might as well get some work done. He knew he could work from his desk in the apartment, and before David he usually did, but now he preferred to work at the desk David used. Calling up the pictures from the day’s session, he cycled through them to see which ones really captured his attention.
Christian jumped when he heard a key slide into the studio door. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Then he saw David enter with another man behind him. “It’ll just take a minute, Javier, my bag is right next to the desk.” David took two steps and saw him, stopping mid-stride. “Sorry, Christian,” David stammered slightly before retrieving the bag next to the desk. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.” David had this smile that he only made when he was nervous, and it was totally adorable, like a small boy surprised he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“You didn’t,” Christian said lightly before letting his eyes travel to the other man. He was tall and dark-complected, with long, black hair that seemed to shimmer in the low lighting. Christian’s mind was already picturing how he’d look with white rope wrapped around his chest. The stunning man said something, and Christian snapped out of his vision. “Sorry, I’m Christian Coulliet.” He extended his hand, and the man looked at it with suspicious eyes before taking it.
“Javier Mendez,” the vision answered as he shook his hand briskly for a second and then released it almost like he’d been burned. “Davey, we need to go or we’ll be late for the movie.”
Christian couldn’t help noticing Javier’s hard expression or the protective way he placed his hand on David’s back. “I didn’t mean to bother you,” David said, and walked back toward the studio door. “I’ll see you in the morning,” David said brightly, and the door closed behind them.
Christian sat at the desk staring at the pictures on the computer screen without really seeing them. That David had a boyfriend really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him—he was a thoughtful caring person and deserved to be happy. What startled Christian was the way the hurt slammed into his stomach. He had no right to feel this way, and yet he envied the easy way Javier touched David and even the familiar way he spoke to him. He was jealous— something he’d never felt about anyone in his life. Christian closed the files he was working with and stepped away from the desk. Wandering around the empty studio, his footsteps the only sound in the empty room, he pulled back the dark curtains to look out of the windows, staring at the lights, watching people pass on the sidewalk a few floors below.