Royce wasn’t sure which of them was going to break first, but he had little doubt that they weren’t going to last much longer before they either punched one another or fucked. At this point, he really didn’t care which happened.
So maybe he was putting a little more behind each kiss than was absolutely necessary, but he’d become addicted to each one of Marc’s soft sighs and the way his entire body relaxed against him despite his best attempts to stay rigid.
And maybe his hand lingered a little longer on his back, drifting down to smooth over his amazing ass even though no one could actually see. It was about getting into the role. Convincing anyone around them that he was the perfect boyfriend—not that he’d ever managed to accomplish that when he’d attempted to be a boyfriend one time in his life.
But he was behaving at the gallery. They’d arrived a little less than an hour before the opening, whereupon Marc instantly became a cat on crack, zipping from one end of the two-story gallery to the next. He barked orders at the caterers, the servers, and the bartenders for the two cash bars. Two different ladders were trotted out of storage, so gallery workers could adjust the lighting at Marc’s direction for the third time that day, while his assistant, Darla, read from the list of confirmed RSVPs. His second assistant, Toni, took down notes regarding emails to send to those who couldn’t make it and which meetings to set up for private showings.
The gallery workers barely had enough time to tuck the ladders away before the doors were opened. Royce got a bottle of water in Marc before he took one more pass with the caterer, and then he was greeting guests. And for the most part, Royce just watched.
Marc was a completely different person when he was in his gallery. He’d seen little glimmers of a confident, suave man who could easily talk to anyone who crossed his path when they’d been at Geoffrey’s, but when Marc was in his element, when he was finally comfortable and in control of his surroundings, he simply shined. It was stunning…and frighteningly seductive.
A part of him longed to pull Marc into a broom closet, or into the back alley, so he could press him against the wall and kiss him until they were both grinding against each other, breathless and out of control. But the thought was immediately followed by the memory of the brown pill bottle tucked in Marc’s nightstand. The bottle that held the heart medication he took first thing each morning.
He’d tried asking over the past several days for more information about his heart condition, but Marc always brushed it off as not important. He was so damn close to asking Quinn to hack the man’s medical records just so he could know for sure that it wasn’t too serious. That a stressful moment wasn’t going to suddenly steal Marc’s life away.
But for now, his focus was on the people milling around the gallery. Quinn had installed several cameras in the gallery a couple of nights earlier with Dom’s help, and he was supposed to be in the office watching the feed. He’d already seen Sven and Geoffrey pass through the show. Geoffrey had been actively looking at the art, while the bodyguard was helping to keep an eye on the other guests. They lingered for the first hour, then as they left, Dominic arrived with the other IT specialist, Gidget, on his arm. Royce barely managed to cover his surprise at seeing the young woman in a fashionable black cocktail dress. They lingered for a little more than an hour before Garrett arrived.
Unfortunately, Garrett’s hour was nearly up, and the show was open for two more hours. The busy gallery was too perfect of an opportunity for something to happen to Marc. People were approaching Marc from every side. Hugging him. Kissing him. Hanging on his arm. When Royce was unsure about a person, he quickly insinuated himself, and to his credit, Marc never blinked or said a word about it. He pulled Royce close and introduced him to whomever he happened to be talking to.
Marc stiffened, his smile becoming brittle, sending up a red flag. His own hackles went up, and he practically growled. Fuck, why the hell was he so tuned in to this man?
Royce quickly scanned the room, trying not to look too closely at that question passing through his brain. His eyes fell on two men in nice suits who were slowly making their way around the room toward Marc. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them, but the longer Royce stared at them, the more they started to remind Royce of Marc in a number of subtle ways. One was as tall as Marc but had more salt-and-pepper hair, while the other was shorter and had Marc’s same distinct brow. Neither looked half as sexy as Marc. Not by a long shot.