“Beautiful wedding,” Seth said. Okay, this was really fucking awkward. He’d not had any problems talking to Liam last night. Not that they did a whole lot of talking.
“Yes. Geoffrey did an amazing job of pulling it together.”
A painful silence fell over them and Seth swallowed hard, his brain scrambling to find something to say. Anything to smooth over this awkwardness and just make everything okay again.
“I had no idea you worked with my brother,” Liam said in a low, rushed voice.
Seth couldn’t stop the wide grin. “I had no idea you were related to Sven.” Seth rolled his eyes at himself. “Though after seeing you standing next to each other, I can’t believe I fucking missed it. Especially with the accent.”
Liam chuckled softly, and it helped to break the uncomfortable tension still twisting between them. “It’s okay. I…I was just wondering…if you told anyone…about last night.”
There was no stopping the wince. “Told? No.” Seth sighed. “But a coworker might have guessed. I was pretty shocked to see you and…he kind of guessed from my reaction. I’m sorry. I told him he can’t tell anyone.”
“Thanks,” Liam said, instantly relaxing. But then his eyes widened, and his mouth fell open as he quickly added, “I-I mean, I’m not ashamed of what we did last night, and it’s not like I’m in the closet. I just don’t want to make things awkward for my brother at work. And it’s not like I keep him apprised of my sex life anyway.”
“I get it,” Seth replied with a smile. “Not a problem. I’d prefer it if all my coworkers don’t know all my business either.”
“Okay. Good. Yeah, I…good,” Liam said, stammering a bit. A crooked smile flashed across his lips, and he extended his hand to Seth. “It was good to see you again, Seth.”
“You too, Liam.” Seth took Liam’s hand, watching his own get nearly swallowed up in his fist. His skin was slightly rough from manual labor, but it was just the right amount of pressure as they shook. That touch alone sent his brain soaring back to the night before and having those wonderful hands all over his body, holding him down. Blood rushed to Seth’s cock, and he found himself licking his lips at the unexpected hunger.
Liam sucked in a ragged breath, and his hand tightened around Seth’s for a heartbeat before he dropped it completely. He flashed Seth one last smile and retreated to the rest of the wedding party.
Boyfriend? No, Seth wasn’t interested in a boyfriend.
But he was very tempted to suggest another hot night of sex with Liam.Chapter ThreeLiam looked around his shop, warmth swelling in his chest. Everything was finally coming together just as he’d dreamed it would.
Sturdy, gorgeous wooden tables with drawers gleamed in the overhead light. He’d bought them from his brother’s friend, Abe. Each was one of a kind and had turned out better than he hoped when he’d put in the order. Big and blocky, they were beautiful with black hardware on the drawers. He’d placed them strategically around the wide space, all covered in flower arrangements and vases.
More delicate vases were on glass shelves along the walls.
The entire area was a delight of color to the eyes, and the flowers’ scents comingled in the best possible way. He took a deep breath, enjoying the bouquet of fragrances.
Every day, he loved walking in here and being hit with the bounty of beauty.
Working with nature and flowers had always been his passion. In fact, his parents had nicknamed him Ferdinand after a book he’d read about a bull who preferred smelling flowers to fighting in the ring. It had taken him years to ditch that moniker, but his mother occasionally still slipped up.
Not that he really minded.
He was a big man, built like a veritable bull, but he’d accepted his more gentle nature.
Opening this shop had been a long-time dream, and the only cloud over the whole thing was his missing partner. Gerald Miller had gone in half with him to get the place open, then up and disappeared on him.
Liam had called, texted, and stopped by his apartment several times, but there hadn’t been a single peep from the man other than a hasty meeting at the shop. It wasn’t like him to be this way, either.
Granted, he’d only known him a few years, but Liam had never seen him do a dishonest thing, and he’d proved himself a good man many times over. He’d even moved to Cincinnati to open this shop with Liam when staying in Michigan was too painful.
Gerald probably had a new girlfriend.
Grinning at the thought, Liam turned his shop sign to open and went into the rear to work on a new shipment he’d gotten in that morning. With prom season in full swing at the local schools, he had lots of corsages and boutonnieres to prepare. He had carnations, baby’s breath, freesia, lilies, and more. His plan was to fill the refrigerated cabinet by two in the afternoon, so he got to work.