This man’s attention made his reaction to Toby’s awkward touches seem tame.
You’re tired. That’s all this is. Tired and hungry and out of your element.
But his body was buzzing with renewed energy and an urgency that stemmed from arousal. When the stranger licked the ice cream off his spoon, Seamus clenched his fists, feeling his dick harden and strain against his jeans in spite of his mental rejection.
He couldn’t look away.
The man smiled in genuine amusement and interest, and his body straightened, shifting as if he meant to come closer.
Self-preservation made Seamus whirl back toward the front desk, warning sirens blaring in his head. “My key?”
The girl blushed again. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Finn. Patty has your key, and she’ll take you where you need to go from here.”
“Thank you. And please, call me Seamus.” She could call him anything she wanted as long as someone got him away from the stranger who made him more uncomfortable—more aroused—than he’d been in years.
“Mr. Demir. I didn’t see you there, sir,” the desk clerk said as Seamus followed a slender redhead with a luggage cart to the elevators. “Can I help you with something?”
The doors closed behind them before he could hear the man’s reply.
Demir? Jesus, even his name sounds sexy.
Seamus sighed heavily as the elevator dipped gently and then started to climb. It had been so long since he’d experienced this kind of attraction that he’d almost convinced himself it was an aberration. The fact that he’d silently categorized himself as bisexual since Toby wasn’t something he discussed with anyone. It was private and pointless, since no one of either gender had been in his life since he’d had the twins.
He wasn’t ashamed or homophobic, that wasn’t the issue at all. Two of his cousins were gay, and Jeremy Porter, Owen’s husband and best friend since high school, had been bisexual for as long as they’d known him. And Seamus’s twin brother Stephen was straight, but he’d fought for gay marriage in the state senate, so it wasn’t like his family was backwards on the subject. But it still wasn’t something they’d thought about or discussed on a daily basis—until Owen, their mother’s pride and joy, fell for Jeremy and abruptly changed teams. That had shocked them all, but then sex and sexual orientation had started coming up all the damn time.
The thing was, back when Seamus was in high school, marriage and children had meant one man and one woman, and he’d accepted that he had to give up that part of himself to get what he wanted from life. It was worth it to him. But this last year had changed everything, and though he’d been happy as hell for his family’s good fortune in the romance department, he sometimes couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a mistake all those years ago.
Now was too late for him to change direction. As a nearly forty-year-old father of four rambunctious children and the owner of a small but successful business, he’d barely had time to sleep let alone go out on a date in years. But he had a plan that, when and if he ever got around to it, anyone he dated had to be with someone he could see as a potential partner for the life he’d created. A strong role model for Penny. A supportive influence to help his sons become the men they should be. A friend he could laugh with and who would love his large family as if it were her own.
Nothing about what he was feeling right now fit in that perfect puzzle he’d been assembling in his head. Lust so forceful it made his body ache wasn’t what he needed to make his life complete. It hadn’t cross his mind because it simply wouldn’t work.
Don’t lie, he chastised himself as he got out on his floor and followed the girl down the hall. It crossed your mind when your brother moved in with Jeremy, and again when your cousin found Tanaka.
But just because he had a feeling didn’t mean he had to act on it. He had to think about his kids. They were his priority—first, last and always—and nothing and no one was going to change that.
When the redhead led him to his room and opened the door to let him in, he was so distracted by his thoughts that he barely saw the huge suite with the walk-in shower and the bed that was bigger than his kitchen.
When she set his bags inside the door, Seamus tried to tip the woman—Patty, right?—but her eyes widened and she shook her head as she handed him the key. “That’s all been taken care of in advance, Mr. Finn. Word from on high is that you get anything you want. Your own key to the indoor swimming pool, and the VIP larder too, in case you have a late night craving. Any spa treatment we have is available for you with an appointment, and a schedule of outdoor activities like rowing and falconry is right there on your dresser. The sky is the limit.”