“Idiots,” Seamus muttered, turning his head to thank Bellamy for distracting him. The words died in his throat when he saw the unmistakable desire in his eyes.
Unnerved, he stepped away from the hot touch on his back. “Thanks for inviting us tonight. It was fun to watch, but I should have left it at that.”
“You aren’t the kind of man who’d be satisfied just watching,” Bellamy drawled.
“The fighting,” Seamus clarified, throwing a dark look over his shoulder. “You’re good at it.” You never lost control, but I don’t have any around you.
“I’m good at a lot of things.”
Jesus, did this guy never give up? “I’m interested in Gill.”
“I know you are.” Bellamy was following him back toward the shadows of the building. “She has a lot to teach you about running a brewpub.”
“As a woman,” Seamus said, more loudly than he’d planned. “I’m interested in dating Gillian Murphy.”
“I don’t blame you, but you’re sexually interested in me, Seamus.” Bellamy raised his brows expectantly. “Are you going to deny it?”
He couldn’t, but he wasn’t going to admit it either. “I want to be with Gillian.”
“I hope you’re giving her some say in that. She’s a fairly independent woman, in case you haven’t noticed. Have you? Noticed?”
“Noticed what?”
“Let’s put it another way. Have you thought about her naked?”
Seamus instantly tried to conjure up the image so he wouldn’t have to lie. It wasn’t unusual that he hadn’t, was it? He wasn’t a teenager, for God’s sake, staring at every pair of breasts that went by, but he’d noticed her body. She was small with narrow hips, and breasts that would fit in his hands. Hair that was a shade or two darker than Bellamy’s, though you couldn’t compare the two because Bellamy’s hair was more like three shades in one. It was clear he’d spent a lot of time in the sun.
Fuck, stop thinking about him. “Yes, I’ve thought about her naked.”
“And when you think about Ms. Murphy naked,” Bellamy said, smiling as if he knew how full of shit Seamus was, “about spreading her legs and making her come, does it get you so hard you have to touch yourself? Do you rush back to your hotel room every night and jerk off imagining her beneath you?”
Seamus clenched his fists so hard they hurt. He did, but not for Gillian, and somehow Bellamy knew that. The bastard. “I’ll let that go because you might have a concussion and you’re giving me a ride home.”
“That’s nice of you. You are, you know,” Bellamy added. “Nice. It must be exhausting. A part of you thinks so too—I saw it when you knocked that man off his feet with your combination. He didn’t even see it coming. I don’t think you did either.”
“No.” But I should have.
Bellamy’s voice gentled. “Are you beating yourself up about it? Wondering what your kids would think if they could see you now?”
How the hell did Bellamy read him so easily? It was pissing him off all over again. “Look, Bella—”
“Were you thinking about Gillian when you were watching me fight?”
“I was thinking about fighting, you asshole! I don’t fight with Gillian. She never drives me this crazy.”
Bellamy beamed at that, then flinched and swore, raising his hand to wipe away a streak of blood from his cheek.
Seamus instantly forgot his own anger and anxiety and moved closer. “Are you okay? Maybe you should sit down and let me—”
His back hit the brick wall and he grunted as Bellamy pressed his hot, damp torso against him. His face was so close Seamus could see flecks of gold in the brilliant green gaze. “I’m a man too, Seamus. I also have two parents that, while nowhere near as attentive as you seem to be, love me in their way and would give me anything I asked for. I’m not an orphan, I’m not broken, and I don’t want to be another person you feel the need to take care of. That isn’t what you need.”
Seamus swallowed and licked his lips, a part of him loving the contact, needing it, and another part wishing he weren’t so weak around this man. “How do you know what I need?”
Bellamy’s smile transformed, suddenly more feral than sensual. “You’re so bottled up you’re ready to explode. So hard that if I touched you the way I wanted to? You just might. I don’t know all the reasons you have for denying what’s been happening between us since that first night in the lobby, but I can’t anymore. I want you, Seamus. I think you know how much. And no matter how much you wish it weren’t true, or what elaborate explanation for it you have in that head of yours, you want me too. All you have to do is admit it.”
Before he knew what he was doing, Seamus reached up and grabbed Bellamy’s throat, sidestepping as he swung the big man around and pressed him against the wall. He stared into those bright green eyes, feeling their hearts pounding against each other’s chests. He thought he might feel more than that, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Couldn’t. “It doesn’t matter what I want or what I admit. This shouldn’t happen.”