A surprised laugh jumped from Andrei, the sound echoing through the restaurant. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas saw a few diners look up and stare for a second, but he didn’t care. They only wished they were at the same table. Andrei’s laugh reminded him of Snow’s—when the doctor loosened up enough. Loud and open and truly joyous.
“Two good friends, huh?” Andrei teased, his body relaxed again.
“I’m considering it.” Lucas tried to sound serious as he fought back a grin. He was on firmer ground now.
“That’s a much faster time table than I thought you capable of—considering what you told me about family earlier.”
Lucas shrugged his right shoulder. “I can be an impatient man.”
Andrei chuckled, stirring his largely untouched coffee, allowing them to fall into a comfortable silence again.
“You never answered my question,” Lucas pressed after a minute.
Andrei kept his eyes on the coffee. “I’d hoped you hadn’t noticed.”
“No.”
The younger man looked up, meeting Lucas’s gaze. His expression was unsure, as if he were stepping out on a too-thin branch, knowing if he said the wrong word, the branch would snap beneath him. Lucas almost felt the need to warn him that he was confessing to the devil, not an angel, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Yes,” Andrei finally admitted. “A few times. I told myself that it was about boredom and being adventurous and having too much alcohol.”
“You’re probably right.”
“But…” Andrei’s sexy lips tightened, his unease obvious in the draw of his brows as his dark eyes locked on his coffee.
“Things have changed,” Lucas finished when Andrei’s voice drifted off.
Andrei gave one sharp nod and Lucas shrugged again. “Happens.” He dropped his hands to his lap and curled them into fists on his legs to keep from reaching across the table to touch.
Tension eased from Andrei’s expression, though he was looking at Lucas a bit incredulously.
“Does it scare you?”
“Not knowing?” Andrei cocked his head to the side, truly considering Lucas’s question. “No.”
“Anger you?”
“No.”
“Confuse you?”
“Yes.”
Lucas nodded, tossing his linen napkin on the table. “Then you’ll be fine.”
“Just like that, huh?”
Lucas leaned forward, smiling at Andrei. “You’ll figure it out. Rowe wouldn’t have hired you if you were a complete idiot. Now let’s get out of here. I want to show you something.”
It took everything Lucas had not to let his grin turn wicked with those words. As it was, the flush on Andrei’s cheeks let him know that the bodyguard’s mind had gone the same direction.###
Andrei followed in Lucas’s wake through the restaurant, flummoxed by the man. He was like the planet Jupiter—a massive force within the solar system, drawing others into his orbit like small moons by the sheer weight of his presence. Andrei had been surprised by his warm affection for Ian. And even more flabbergasted when he’d asked about Andrei’s sexuality so bluntly. Was Lucas attracted to him? Yeah, Andrei was pretty sure Lucas was. The endless flirting seemed to grow more heated each time. Would he do anything about it? No, not a chance in hell. Lucas was undoubtedly a man bound by rules and screwing around with an employee had to break a rule or two of his.
“Were you serious?” Andrei inquired when they stepped outside.
Lucas looked over and gave Andrei a dark look that he was beginning to recognize as Lucas’s favorite expression. “I’m always serious.” He buttoned his jacket against the cool night air, gaze locked with Andrei’s. “But you might need to be specific about my previous seriousness.”
Andrei snorted as he waited for the valet to bring around Lucas’s car. “About being friends.”
“Ah, yes. You may ask me again after you complete the written exam.”
“Bastard,” Andrei muttered, trying not to laugh.
“True, but I’ve been known to keep life interesting.”
“Let’s just focus on keeping you alive for now,” Andrei said in a low voice as the valet hopped out of the car. Andrei stepped forward to open the back but Lucas slipped around him and opened the front passenger door. Andrei quickly moved out of the way, as Lucas slid into the car, throwing one last smirk over his shoulder at his bodyguard.
Grumbling to himself, Andrei hopped into the driver’s seat and pulled the car out into traffic, heading south toward the Ohio River.
“Where are we going? Somewhere to get you some action?” Andrei asked when they stopped at the next traffic light.
“Why the hell would I want to show you that?”
Andrei groaned dramatically but he was enjoying their banter. “Sometimes talking to you is like trying to nail gelatin to the wall.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never tried to fuck gelatin,” Lucas replied.
Andrei couldn’t stop his laughter. When he looked at Lucas, he was watching Andrei with a decidedly heated gaze that caused Andrei’s throat to become desperately dry. He licked his lips and locked his eyes on the road in front of him.