Studs, Spurs, and Stephanotis - 3. Chapter 3

Luke

Luke had gone through a cycle of putting his hands in his pockets and taking them out to fidget with the hem of his shirt a half dozen different ways by the time he and Jessie left the bakery where she’d insisted, he help her do the final taste test for her and Bowen’s wedding cake. After nearly an hour of tasting what had seemed like pieces of almost every kind of cake in the bakery, Luke still couldn’t tell the difference between the three different flavors of chocolate his daughter had settled on for the towering 6-tier cake, but he’d figured out the cannoli, so he’d consider that a check on his, ‘queer dad card’.

The sun gleefully beat down on the back of Luke’s neck, licking a line along it that left a sheen of sweat behind when Jessie parked his truck in front of Alex Cole’s shop. She’d insisted on driving—probably because she was worried that Luke would drive them straight home. Which had been an option he’d silently considered, but his kid k new him as well as he knew her. So, she’d driven and now they were standing in front of the florist’s shop, Jessie’s arm looped securely through his to keep him close.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

Luke shrugged until he felt the edges of the nails on her other hand goose his ribs hard. “Oww, Jesus, Jessie. Yeh, it looks great.”

His daughter beamed at him for falling in line and Luke rolled his eyes as he looked around at all the bright foliage. A riot of colorful flowers spilled out of an earthenware pot in the front of the store by the door. Luke recognized the sunflowers, and pink and orange Gerber daisies only because they were Jessie’s favorites, and he’d bought them for her in the past for birthdays and graduations from the previous florist. Mr. Hannan had been an elderly man in his seventies, who’d owned the shop before he’d passed. There had always been beautiful flowers filling the inside of the shop, but Alex Cole had definitely stepped things up since purchasing the building.

The front of the shop had been painted sage green and white, with large, perfectly clean and clear windows to form a subtle, neutral background for the explosion of bright summer color that was silhouetted in the windows and spread out all over the front of the sidewalk. Low wooden bookshelves painted white, were arranged in front of the shop, and filled to overflowing status with plants and little garden accents between a hodgepodge of larger, decorative garden statues and fountains. The large white and green sign hanging in front of the shop had the new name scrawled across the front in elegant, loopy black script-Pretty as a Posy.

Luke’s lips twitched. Cute.

The soft tinkle of wind chimes crafted from what looked suspiciously like antique spoons, announced their entry into the shop when Luke held the door open for Jessie, and welcomed them into such an elegantly airy, yet almost feminine subspace, that Luke’s balls curled up to hide as soon as the toes of his boots touched the pale tile. It wasn’t even remotely his kind of scene considering his home was mostly dark wood and comfortable furniture. The house plants he had were all contributions from Jessie.

“I think I’ll just wait — “

He didn’t get to finish the sentence. Jessie clung to his arm like a limpet, dragging him through the small shop that was surprisingly crowded, past a group of young women who were giggling over a rack of birthday cards with half naked men on the front. Ignoring the interested grins sent his way gave Luke something to focus on other than all the frou-frou fluffiness threatening every one of his Y chromosomes. After dealing with Kelly this morning, he wasn’t in the headspace to find out how many other young women in their town had daddy issues they wanted to work out.

“Don’t even think about it. You are going to bring a date to this wedding. That’s final.”

“Hey, I agreed to meet Alex, not to anything else. Get that into your stubborn soul right now.”

Jessie ignored him with a rude sound as she picked up a small green plant in a terracotta plant to inspect it. Luke cocked an eyebrow at her. When she continued to ignore him—which was uncharacteristic since Jessie had always talked to him openly since the day she’d shown up on his door—Luke gently nudged her ankle with his foot before he pressed a lean hip into the counter.

“Ok, something’s up that has nothing to do with my love life. What’s going on sweetheart?”

Jessie glanced up at him from beneath long lashes, then sighed as she set the little plant back down. “Nothing really…”

Luke snorted. “Yeah, that ship has sailed. Talk to me.”

Jessie sighed again, then scowled, glossed lips twisting into an annoyed Kewpie doll pout made more prominent by her glossy, berry pink lip gloss. “It’s just that that idiot is... well, an idiot.”

“I know a few people who fall under that description, so you’ll need to clarify.”

Especially since I know one particular idiot who I want to kill and kiss at the same time.

Jessie waved a dismissive hand, then started fidgeting with the pale peachy petals of a rose tucked into a tasteful floral arrangement in a low white bowl by her elbow. “Bo’s uncle is the major of his matchbook sized town, but he acts like he’s some top tier government official. Snooty as all hell with a stick the length of a football field shoved up his butt. I met him yesterday when Bo and I had dinner with his family to fill them in on some wedding details, and he’s a MAJOR ass. He made it clear he doesn’t approve of Bo and I—for which I was tempted to deck him right in his snarky mouth, because these man hands are pretty with pink polish, but they can still slap the stupid out of someone. I refrained for Liz’s sake because it’s not her fault she’s genetically linked to an asshat, and I know she doesn’t want him here. We just couldn’t get around inviting him since he is family and I love her and Keith as much as I love Bo. Because of that, I was willing to suck it up for one night. But then he made a comment about how he didn’t think it would be “appropriate” for you to bring a date to the wedding because he’s campaigning again, and he’s all about “family values.’”

Considering Jessie was a trans woman dating a man who’d never had a same-sex relationship before, but was crazy about his kid, Luke had to admit that the mayor sounded like an ass. However, the world was full of asses. He’d dealt with more than his share in Detroit. But the wedding was about Jessie and Bo, and Luke had long ago stopped caring what people thought about his sexuality. Gray hair came with age, but so did confidence and a general feeling that people could fuck off if they had a problem with how he lived his life.

“That’s fine with me,” Luke said with a shrug. The only person he’d wanted by his side at the wedding was Noah, and the sheriff had made it very clear that would never happen. To be fair nothing was going to happen now, or ever again, and that was Luke’s choice. After Noah had left him alone at his place with money for a damn Uber while he picked up a friend, cheap wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the emotion that’d swept through Luke and slowly grown from embarrassed frustration to his current simmering anger. He understood that Noah had been caught off guard, but there still hadn’t been any excuse for Noah making Luke responsible to get himself home. Luke wasn’t a cop anymore, but Noah was, and though Luke knew that thin blue line could be difficult to cross, you never left your partner behind to wade through a mess by themselves.

Luke managed to bite back his frown at his thoughts for Jessie’s sake, so she wouldn’t think he was upset with her about the situation. She had enough on her plate dealing with an openly homophobic, distant relative.

“It’s ok, baby. I’d prefer to go alone anyway.”

“Well, too dang bad because it’s not fine by me, and Bowen agrees. He’d have let me deck Mayor James Roland in his bigoted face if it wouldn’t have caused problems between him and Liz. Hell, he’d have helped. But the Wilsons have always been good to me, and Keith’s your best friend. Because of all that, I’ll deal with the mayor’s homophobic idiocy until Bo and I say, ‘I do’ but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. He can kiss my perky, Pelaton honed behind if he doesn’t like who you’re kissing. No one messes with my daddy.”

Luke grinned at his daughter as Jessie dropped that word so casually. She didn’t do it often—as proven by her refusal to this morning until she’d found a reason to affectionally antagonize him—but it still warmed Luke’s heart every time because it came from her soul when she said it without any prompting.

“I know, and I love you for it, Jessie. But this is about you and Bowen. If my going stag makes your lives easier, I’m fine with it. I dealt with worse when I was a cop. The world is filled with judgmental morons, and trying to change their minds will just give you an ulcer.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean we have to bend over and quietly take it either, unless that’s your thing.” She grinned. “Behind closed doors, do you, no matter how freaky.”

Luke ignored both the commentary and her amusement at his expense because at least she was smiling again. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking at flowers?

“Hey, don’t change the subject. This isn’t about me because I’ll kick Mayor Roland right in the nads with my something-blue cowgirl boots if he’s rude to you at the wedding. You just don’t want to go with Alex because you’re holding out for your mysterious booty call,” Jessie said.

“Cut that out,” Luke muttered, glancing around to see if anyone had heard. The ears on people in their small town were like fucking satellites, transmitting both near and far.

“Hey, if he isn’t fit for introducing to your friends, and most importantly to me, then you shouldn’t be boffing him.”

“Jessie, you know I rarely ask you for anything, but I’m begging you to drop this because it’s too damn complicated for me to even process in my own mind, much less talk about. Please baby.”

His daughter eyed him silently for a moment, and Luke had to steel himself hard to keep from fidgeting beneath Jessie’s assessing gaze. Working with teenagers meant she had more than her share of experiences dealing with half-truths and bullshit. But after that almost infinite silence, she conceded with a slight nod of her curly blonde head.

“Ok, I’ll drop it. For now. But you still need to meet Alex and help me with these arrangements.”

Both were torturous tasks, but Luke would take them on threefold over talking about his shit-show of a love life.

“Deal.”

“Good. Now can you grab that vase for me?” Jessie pointed upward, then shook her head as Luke reached for one with a blue and white floral patten painted on it. “No, the light green one next to it.

Following where his daughter’s finger pointed, Luke reached up for the piece of pottery painted with a distressed finish. It looked like it belonged at a garage sale, not on a store shelf. A quick glance at the price tag made Luke glad Keith and Liz had insisted on footing half the bill.

Muttering beneath his breath, Luke tugged gently at the strings of the tag as it tangled with another vase beside it. Stubborn, it refused to let go.

Tugging at the vase again with that hand, Luke absently batted away a hanging plant with the other. Long, vine-like leaves tangled around his arm, snagging on the cuff of the arm of the shirt Jessie had insisted he wear. Irritation guided Luke down the path of brawn not brains, and when he yanked his arm down hard, the plant retaliated by flipping off the hook, pot and, and made a beeline straight for Luke’s head.

Stumbling back to avoid it, Luke’s arms flailed in a vain attempt to steady himself. His grasping hand managed to grab hold of another small shelf. The creaking sound broke through Luke’s momentary relief, smashing it to smithereens along with all the items littering his feet when the shelf came off the wall.

Jessie’s mouth opened in a mute O of horror, her slim fingers clenching around a bouquet of sunflowers clutched in her own right hand. Luke’s cheeks heated, something crunching beneath the rugged tread of his left work boot heel as he tried to step out of the mess.

Behind them, a voice chirped out in a soprano lilt. “Whoa! Rodeo bull in the China shop!”

Spine tight, Luke turned to look over at the short, boyishly handsome man silhouetted in the doorway in a black, long-sleeved t-shirt, and pink leather vest. His painted-on blue jeans didn’t even budge when he thrust out a narrow hip to balance the vase of yellow roses that he had resting on it. Bleached blond hair stuck straight up around his head like a cheerful halo. Luke looked for Alex Cole’s horns when a slow, mischievous smile peeked out from between fingers tipped in bright red polish as he covered his mouth with his free hand for a moment, like he was trying to hold back his amusement at Luke’s expense.

Luke appreciated the consideration, but his ears heated as Alex swept him with a slow, appreciatively assessing look like he was enjoying the view despite the decorative carnage littering the ground all around them.

“Or should I say rodeo stud…” Alex said with a wider, toothy white smile framed by lips glossed in pale pink. “Either way, very nice. We just need to work on your entrances handsome.” Alex’s grin widened as he set the vase he’d been holding, safely on a bare counter.

“I’ll pay for all damages,” Luke assured him, immediately reaching into his back pocket for his wallet while praying to God that Alex took credit cards because there was no way he had enough cash on him.

Alex waved away the offer in a chorus of jingle and jangling from the army of cut metal bangle bracelets that stretched up high along one slim arm.

“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes minor disasters are the cost of doing business. I’m sure we can figure something out.” His smile was all dimples and charm, laced with obvious invitation.

“Alright... But seriously, if the cost adds up after you take full inventory of what got damaged, let me know.”

“I will. For now, we’ll just clean it up and go from there.” Alex smiled at Luke before turning to wave down a slim young woman with pink hair and a black t-shirt with the store’s name printed on it. She immediately gave him a thumbs up and scooted off. When she returned with a broom, Alex waved Jessie and Luke towards him and a quieter section of the store.

“Hi honey,” he said, that comment directed at Jessie. “Right on time. I’ve got your designs all drawn up.”

Luke managed to reign in his eyeroll before the air-kiss Olympics between his daughter and Alex were over, and Alex returned his attention to Luke though he addressed Jessie.

“This is your dad?”

“Sorry, yeah, this is my dad, Lucas Sylvane. Luke, meet Alex Cole.” Jessie’s pointed gaze in Luke’s direction warned him to play nice. “Annemarie down at Dr. Fenton’s office recommended Alex because he did all of their flowers for their son’s wedding last fall. Portions of the centerpieces are going to be edible, but Liz said we should do floral arrangements too because they’ll photograph better.”

“Makes sense.” Luke slid his hand into Alex’s when the shorter man offered it for a perfunctory shake. Soft and warm, with his fingernails polished as neatly as Jessie’s, it felt foreign in Luke’s harder, calloused one, but Alex’s grip was surprisingly firm, and appealingly confident. None of that limp fish bullshit that eighty percent of the population, gay or otherwise, normally offered because they didn’t realize the importance of a proper handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Alex. Jessie’s been going on about you all morning.’”

Luke smiled as was expected for the sake of polite company, but he could feel the strain in his cheeks. Despite the strength of his handshake, if Alex had traded in his blue jeans and vest for pastel overalls, he would’ve looked perfectly at home on the shelf of Precious Moments figurines that Jessie had been collecting since she was a teenager.

“Nice to meet you too, Luke. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Luke smiled, falling into the expected script of first meeting pleasantries. “All good I hope.”

“Absolutely, but I wouldn’t mind finding out more from the source himself.”

Alex grinned as Luke cleared his throat, offering him another cheeky wink before he turned his attention to Jessie. Humming under his breath, Alex brought out a small binder from a filing cabinet in the corner that had yet another bright floral arrangement resting on top of it.

Luke didn’t acknowledge the wink. Alex was obviously a master of casual flirtation, and though Luke didn’t consider himself a slouch during his days of chatting up men at bars, he’d only been with Noah for the last few months, so he was off his game, while Alex was thriving on top of his.

Exhaling slowly, Luke silently toed a piece of broken pottery that’d broken off from the main mess, trying to sweep it off to one side so no one tripped over it as Jessie and Alex chattered on about the ‘classic’ vibe of roses, versus the ‘playfulness’ of daisies.

Luke nodded at the appropriate times and made the occasional noncommittal sound when the animated pair asked for his advice, though it was blatantly obvious that his opinions weren’t really needed, and that his being here was exactly the matchmaking ploy he’d suspected.

Exhaling again, Luke glanced towards the front door to discreetly calculate the distance between it, and where he was standing. The gap was a little too far to make a full out run look casual, but if he sidled slightly to the left every time that Jessie and Alex giggled, making it to freedom in less than five moves might be possible. Unfortunately, Alex was able to split his focus with expert professionalism, inviting Luke into the conversation with wide, friendly grins each time Luke thought he could start his trek toward escape.

Unfortunately, none of the smiles that Alex cast his way were doing anything for him.

It wasn’t Alex’s fault. By most people’s standards, he was an attractive man. A little on the shorter side than was Luke’s personal preference, but his tight jeans, and fitted t-shirt beneath his vest made a confident statement and showed off a perky ass to perfection. His pale skin was flawless, and the carefully applied liner and mascara were subtle, and added an unexpectedly charming androgyny to his features, especially when he grinned full out, no holds barred. He was without a doubt, very pretty, and his compact body looked lithe and leanly muscled, closer to that of a runner than a waif.

Obvious invitation was visible in Alex’s almost violet blue eyes when they crinkled in Luke’s direction again. If Luke was honest with himself, he could admit that the possibility of hot, no strings sex with a man who obviously found him attractive, and had no qualms about showing it in public, was tempting. There probably wasn’t a closet in the world that could contain the brassy confidence of Alex Cole, but there wasn’t even a hint of a spark when Alex smiled at him encouragingly. Apparently, Little Luke didn’t go for cute and charming florists because he was hung up on a sexy but closeted cop.

Luke stifled a sigh. This was all such a mess. Hindsight was always 20/20, and they couldn’t go backwards at this point, but a part of Luke wished that he could. Had Noah just talked to him about a more definitive timeline for when he might be willing to step out into the sun with Luke, even if it was in another town so they could take baby steps towards Noah being able to accept that most people probably wouldn’t care that he was gay, Luke probably would’ve kept on waiting-hopeful, with every finger and toe crossed.

Most of the people in their town thought Jessie was amazing, especially as a social worker with kids' others forgot about, and she was a transwoman. If small town USA could embrace that, accepting that their town Sheriff was dating her father wasn’t too far of a stretch. Of course there would always be people who were stubborn, ignorant asses like Mayor Roland, but as long as the majority outweighed the minority, Luke knew he and Noah could’ve handled the status change together. Unfortunately, Noah hadn’t even wanted to try. His defense every time that Luek had brought it up, had been that it was different for him than it was for Luke.

Hair trigger discomfort during their last fight had apparently made Noah forget that once upon a time, Luke had been a cop in the rough urban jungle of Detroit, where he’d had to worry about being killed on the job by more than just desperate criminals. Granted, he’d left Detroit and that life behind. Noah couldn’t leave their town. Then again, no one was going to be taking pot shots at Noah in neighborhoods where people worrying about racoons in their trash, was one of the worst complaints.

This thing between them, whatever it’d been, was just a complicated crap storm, and Luke didn’t want to drag anyone else into it, especially not a sweet, flirty florist whose only sin so far was the fact that he wasn’t Noah McNally.

“So, what do you think, Luke?”

“What?” Luke glanced between Alex’s amused expression, and Jessie shaking her head as Luke dragged himself away from his temporary mental reverie to return to the present.

“I said that maybe the three of us can get together tonight to discuss the changes to the arrangements since it’s a little busy right now,” Alex explained. “I’ve been told I grill some pretty mean steaks, and I make an awesome loaded potato salad.”

His eyes met Luke’s warmly. Alex’s expression was steady on his with a slight curve to his plush mouth that was optimistic enough to make Luke suspect that dinner for three, would somehow become dinner for two before the main course because Jessie would find some reason to bail on them.

Well, hell.

A tinkle of sound from the windchime spoons over the door broke the awkward silence.

“Hey Jessie, nice to see you again. I hate to interrupt folks, but your truck is in a non-parking zone, Luke.”

Contrary to the popular belief that recollections were never as accurate as the real thing, Sheriff Noah McNally in the flesh blew Luke’s morning memories right out of the water, even though he’d seen the man a little less than an hour ago. Noah’s smile was casual as he tipped the brim of his hat slightly towards Jessie and Alex, all courtesy and manners when he wasn’t kicking Luke out of his bed.

Fucker.

Luke’s eyes narrowed slightly as the corners as that wide, sensual mouth kicked up high at the corners, creating a subtle play of thin lines by Noah’s eyes and mouth that should’ve been aging, but instead managed to add some rugged interest to his former lover’s youthful, handsome face.

“I need you to move it. I’d hate to slap a ticket on the windshield and take away any of the funds allocated for Jessie and Bowen’s wedding.”

Luke’s tongue pressed hard against his teeth. What would the giggling girls currently eyeing the macho, straight-as-a-ruler-drawn-line Sheriff think if Luke told them all about the strawberry shaped birthmark on Noah’s inner left thigh? The one right next to his dick that darkened to royal purple every time Luke sucked up the flesh surrounding it—which he had on more than a handful of occasions. That level of gently possessive play had always put Noah on the edge so fast, that he immediately shot hard down Luke’s throat the moment he closed his mouth with vacuum worthy suction around Noah’s cock.

Arousal slammed into Luke’s traitorous body hard as Noah’s keen gaze swept him with slow deliberation, looking in absolutely no rush at all to write that ticket. Apparently, he was content with just being a pain in Luke’s ass. Noah parked himself against the doorframe, directly in Luke’s path so that he’d probably have to brush against that sexy, toned body just to get out the door.

Luke’s jaw ticked. Outing someone like a petty teenage girl in the middle of a snit wasn’t his style, even if it would’ve made his life easier. Instead, he settled for giving Noah a hard look, his fingers hooking lightly through his own belt loops.

“A little busy right now, Chief. Alex and I were in the middle of a conversation. Give us just a minute?”

A slow hum started in Luke’s ears when Noah cast an unfriendly look Alex’s way. It was subtle and sent Luke’s blood pressure skyrocketing towards Mars.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

After months of sneaking around, doing nothing more revealing in public than nodding at each other, Noah was acting like the afore mentioned, petty teenage girl. All that attitude was coming from a man who’d made Luke enter his number into Noah’s cellphone under a false name in the event anyone else ever picked it up and saw the incoming number. Some men might’ve found the jealousy flattering, proof that Noah actually did care. Luke wasn’t one of those men. He knew that Noah cared about him. Hell, Luke secretly suspected that Noah McNally loved him just as much as Luke loved Noah. Feelings weren’t the problem here. Being treated like a dirty secret was, and Luke was fucking done. He could feel the heat rising to his ears, threatening to overflow like Mount Saint Helens as Noah continued to shoot less than friendly looks Alex’s way. Thankfully the florist’s attention was focused on Luke.

Self-centered, arrogant son of a….

Luke had never been so grateful to Jessie for meddling as he was when she broke up his and Noah’s silent pissing contest with a girlish, high-pitched squeal.

“I’m sorry, Noah. I drove Luke’s truck over, and didn’t even notice the sign when we parked. We were rushing to make it down here on time after leaving the bakery. I’ll go move it right now so Alex and Luke can finish their conversation about having dinner tonight.”

His daughter was a meddling little shit, but Luke needed to escape the situation and though he didn’t want to hurt Alex by leading him on, he couldn’t out Noah either, so he’d have to take a moment when his mind was clear, to strategize about how to let Alex down gently later. He could only triage one thing at a time, and right now, he had to deal with the sexy six feet and three inches in a government issued uniform. He could avoid Noah once he was outside, maybe even run him over with his truck, and call it a vehicular homicide inspired by trauma from being surrounded by frou frou wedding shit for the past six months. There had to be a judge in the state of Montana who had daughters and could sympathize with him.

“It’s ok… I got it,” Luke said, interrupting his daughter. “Are you good here for a little while, Jessie? I have some errands I need to run anyway, so I’ll just get the truck out of the Sherriff’s way so he can sleep better at night.”

Noah chuckled along with everyone else, but Luke didn’t miss the slow dilation of his pupils. There was something dark and deep in Noah’s eyes, but he looked away too quickly for Luke to be sure of what he’d seen. Sorrow? Guilt? If Luke hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d struck a nerve.

And if I did, it still doesn’t change anything.

Luke turned back towards Jessie just as his daughter hurled herself at him, hugging Luke hard the way she had when she was younger, and he was still her hero. Luke bussed a kiss to her cheek as Jessie handed him the keys to his truck. “Thanks daddy,” she murmured against his ear before hugging him tight again.

Over her shoulder, he saw Alex offer him a smile more tentative than it’d been earlier, like he was reading the room. Luke paused, his expression softening. As a general rule, he tried not to be an asshole and treat everyone he met with respect. Just because nothing serious was ever going to happen between him and Alex, didn’t mean Luke had to be a dick. They could share a meal, work their way towards a friendship if they had things in common, and if the time came for subtle boundaries to be created to discreetly address the elephant in the room, he could do it less harshly than a straight-out rejection right now. Alex, in his pink leather and glossy lip gloss, didn’t deserve his feelings hurt because Noah wanted to hang out in the land of lions and witches beyond the wardrobe.

Ignoring Noah for a moment, Luke reached over for one of the small green business cards in a white holder on the counter. After scribbling his cell number on the back of it, Luke handed it over to Alex.

“Call me when you get some free time. Dinner might be tough because I have some chores to finish when I get home that I couldn’t get to yet since someone felt the need to drag me all over God’s green today earth tasting wedding cake samples and looking at flowers. I get up before sunrise most days, so I go to bed early.” Except when Noah had spent the night. “But maybe we can try coffee tomorrow on your lunch break or something, if you’re ok with that? Just be warned, I like it black.”

Alex couldn’t hide his obvious surprise or pleasure as his smile widened, teeth showing clear to the molars. “That would be awesome because so do, though, full disclosure, I like flavored coffee, so it’s cheating a bit.”

Luke grinned despite his better judgement because Alex’s smile was just that infectious—genuine and open. He was just a happy blonde Muppet.

“Sounds like a plan then. I’ll text you tomorrow to confirm a time, and I can come pick you up here if that works for you.”

“That definitely works for me. I like the diner off main. They always have hazelnut coffee for me on hand since I donate all my arrangements that are starting to wilt just enough not to be sellable, even though they still look great for a week or so. They brighten up the window spaces.” He smiled again, then slid the business card into his own back pocket.

“I like the burgers there, so we’ve got all our based covered.” Luke smiled, then looked over at Jessie who was eyeing Noah.

“You…Don’t forget your plus one. I have a list longer than Santa’s naughty one of women who’d love to polish your brass on the third or fourth date, instead of the on-their-knees-by-sunset, slutty cousins.”

Alex snickered behind the hand he put over his mouth, trying to hide the sound in a cough so fake, Luke’s lips twitched. Jessie was nothing if not blunt.

Noah’s stoic cool seemed to break for a moment, but he recovered quickly. “I’m working on it, Jessie,” he assured her with an easy smile, though his gaze was all for Luke. “I’m working on it. Lucas, your truck’s waiting.”

Luke’s name had never held so much promise or subtly sensual threat before and his dick suddenly became very interested in tattooing itself with his zipper. Ignoring the appendage he was officially naming Judas; Luke’s long legs ate up the sidewalk as he made a beeline towards his parking spot once Noah held the door open and let him pass through. Luke didn’t make eye contact of any kind, just headed out to his truck.

Swearing as the keys slipped from his suddenly uncoordinated grip, Luke didn’t bother turning when he heard the slow, deliberate thud of steps behind him. When he recovered his keys from the gutter that was still damp from yesterday’s rain showers, Luke continued to ignore Noah as he slapped them dry against his jeans. One finger touched his temple—even though he wasn’t wearing his cowboy hat right now—as a group of elderly women strolled past in their Sunday best, giggling like schoolgirls at the automatic gesture. Luke might’ve been a city boy once upon a time, but he’d been living n Montana long enough to pick up the kind of manners that made eyelashes flutter.

Luke waited till the women passed before shooting Noah an unfriendly look as he opened the driver side door of his vehicle. “I’m moving the truck, Sheriff. What’s the problem now?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Noah scratched absently at his forearm, sweeping Luke with another slow look. “But it definitely has something to do with fleeing the scene of a crime.”

“A crime scene? What the hell are you talking about?”

Noah’s slow smile—complete with dimples—slammed Luke’s pulse up hard against his ribs.

“Well, seeing as you seemed to have stolen that poor boy’s heart back there, it’s my duty to investigate where it is now, and make sure it gets returned because we can’t have him putting it in the wrong places. How’s eight o’clock tonight sound?”

Yes.

“Fuck no.”

“Are you really telling me that you’re going to defy a direct order from an officer of the law?” Noah whistled low, not budging from his obvious objective of teasing Luke into some kind of reaction. His already deep baritone lowered so his voice didn’t carry. “That takes a special set. Balls like that are a rarity these days, so I might have to take a peek and examine them myself.”

Luke rubbed his forehead with his middle finger in silent, belligerent suggestion, ignoring Noah’s obscenely slow, liquid chuckle at his expense.

“Sweetheart, I’d love nothing more.”

That creak suddenly echoing in stereo in Luke’s mind, was the sound of some poor camel somewhere in the world needing traction.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

The truck door rattled on its hinges as Luke slammed it shut. Expecting Noah to step away from him and back up to a safe hetero-male distance like he usually did when they were out in public together, Luke’s brows shot up in angry surprise when the toes of his boots bumped against Noah’s when the younger man stood his ground.

What the fuck?

Luke’s eyes narrowed as confusion was traded for anger because it was less complicated. Noah playing this unexpected game of chicken made Luke push the envelope harder. His long fingers splayed across the front of Noah’s uniform shirt just above his belt buckle, though in their current position, no one could really see where his hand was even though Luke felt the solid muscles of Noah’s abs contract, rippling beneath Luke’s hand in ways that would’ve tempted Christ himself. Noah still didn’t back away. Luke’s eyes narrowed and he pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned.

“What the hell is this?”

"What is what?

"This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Fucking Hyde bullshit,” Luke said, voice low enough to keep their conversation private, though his tone was vibrating with frustration. “What the hell was that back there with Alex?”

Noah shifted from foot to foot as his smile finally slipped. “Cole’s not the right guy for you.”

Breathe, Luke. The murder of a cop in broad daylight on a public street isn’t a good idea.

“Who says? He seems to be a good guy, and I don’t have to ask your permission about who I date because that ship the night you humiliated me because you misplaced your balls,” Luke said flatly. “I’ve been patient and I’ve been understanding, Noah, but now I’m done. I told you that night that I won’t hide for anyone anymore, not even you, yet here we are, having the politest fucking fight in history because you don't want anybody to know that you've been nailing me over every horizontal surface in your place and mine for the past few months.”

“Come home with me now, and I’ll defy physics and go for the vertical.”

When Luke didn’t smile at the tease, Noah sighed. The strain was obvious in the younger man's face as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I said I was sorry, Luke. Archie called, and I panicked.”

“Yeah, I know. I was there,” Luke said, a growl entering his tone. “You made me wait twenty minutes for a fucking Uber with my dick still leaking in my shorts because you didn’t want a guy who is your friend, to know you had to drive your lover back home. Your male lover,” Luke said, the words practically snarled. “A guy who likes me by the way.”

“As my friend, yeah. Not as my ‘special friend.’” Noah pinched the bridge of his nose hard. “You knew I wasn’t out, Luke. Don’t make this all my fault. I made a mistake. I'm trying to apologize.”

“I knew you weren’t out,” Luke agreed. “But I also thought that eventually you’d want to be. My mistake was thinking that we could be enough one day because we were friends,” Luke added, voice still quiet. “I know that being a gay cop can be challenging, Noah. I lived that, remember? But you don’t ever leave your partner behind just because it’s convenient for you. I’d never have put you in the position you put me that night. Leaving me the fare money… it made me feel cheap, and I refuse to be your dirty secret.”

“That wasn’t my intention, Luke. I know it was wrong, and I truly am sorry. But It’s different for me, and you know it.”

“How is it different? Because you live in a small town?”

“Yes, damnit.”

“I live in this town too, and so does Alex, and my kid, and Bowen Nobody gives a crap, and if they do, it’s behind closed doors where it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You ran away from Detroit to a tiny Montana town to hide from people who wanted to fire you because of who you wanted to fuck,” Noah shot back caustically. “I actually want to keep my job.”

As soon as the words left his lips, all the color drained from Noah’s face. Luke saw the contrition slamming through those hazel eyes before Noah’s lips even began to form the words.

Luke knew Noah hadn’t meant it. He’d just gotten swept up in the heat of the moment. That didn’t change the fact that he had said it.

“Go. To Hell.” Luke pinched the bridge of his nose hard when a young mother pushing a stroller shot him a dirty look. “Sorry Ma’am.”

The steady hum of Luke’s blood racing in his ears drowned out Noah’s new litany of apologies and Luke exploded, reacting with the savagery built up from months of word games, and thinly veiled double meanings that had gotten him nowhere, except needing to buy a new pair of jeans and extra detergent for his daily laundry.

Before he could think about the repercussions of assaulting an officer of the law, Luke shoved Noah hard enough to stumble him back up against the side of Luke’s truck. The truck door rattled on its hinges and Noah blinked, sudden panic crossing his expression as Luke slammed his hands down on the truck bed on either side of that long, hard body. When Luke leaned in close, he caught a hint of sweat lacing the citrusy aftershave that Noah always wore.

Luke could only imagine what their current situation looked like to outside observers, but right now, he was all out of fucks to give. “I’m only going to say this once, so you need to fucking listen,” he said low, tone hard. “I love you, Noah, but I’m tired of bumping elbows with you in that closet of yours.”

Noah swallowed hard. Luke could practically hear his heart pounding. “I never meant to hurt you, Luke.”

“No? I guess I didn’t get the memo that every time my phone rang in the middle of the night, you were just calling to tell me the next day’s weather, not fuck me stupid enough that I actually believed that we might get somewhere past the nearest horizontal surface one day.”

Luke pushed off the truck and moved to the driver’s side door again so he could get the hell out of dodge before he showed less restraint than Jessie had with Mayor Roland, and decked Noah in the middle of the street. Noah stopped Luke from closing the door by putting his hand on the top of the doorframe.

“Luke, this isn’t what I want. I didn’t want us to end. Can we just talk tonight?”

“Is part of that conversation going to include a specific plan for you getting comfortable with the idea of people seeing us out in public together? I don’t care if we go to Whitefish for dinner and a movie. Baby steps are ok with me. They always were. But if we aren’t going to be moving in a direction where you’ll finally be able to call me your boyfriend here, among our friends, then we have nothing to talk about.” He paused, watching the way Noah’s gaze dropped to Luke’s mouth as he swallowed hard. “It’s your move, Noah,” Luke said softly.

His brow hitched as he waited for an answer, hoping that maybe he’d finally gotten through to the younger man. But all he got was the long silence that stretched between them, and Luke felt his body tense again. He’d been expecting that reaction, but knowing Noah wouldn’t fight for him, fight for them, didn’t make the truth hurt any less when it was confirmed by his silence.

Squaring his shoulders, Luke shook his head, his bitter smile not reaching his eyes as he shoved Noah’s hand off the door frame so he could close it. Luke immediately hit the door lock in case Noah got any stupid ideas.

When he started the truck, the radio came on and Luke silenced it with a savage fist, cutting off the wailing twang of Faith Hill singing about her lousy love life. He had her beat hands down.

“Yeah, just like I thought. Go put my tax dollars to work by doing your job, Noah.”

As his truck rumbled away Luke thought he heard Noah’s voice, but he never glanced up to watch him in his review mirror.