On the Steamy Side - Louisa Edwards [68]
“Look at him!” Grant exclaimed. “Standing there, pouring drinks, all sympathetic and quiet. Looks like the kinda guy you could tell anything to, doesn’t he?”
Lilah tried to read between the lines. “Grant, sugar. Are you trying to tell me that bartender is blackmailing you?”
“No!” Grant looked genuinely horrified. “Oh, mercy, I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“But what could he possible have on you?” Lilah protested. “You’re, like, the sweetest, nicest man who ever lived.”
Grant squirmed in his chair. “Not that nice. Come on, Lolly, I mean, I’m human. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, like anyone else. I just . . . wish I didn’t have to be reminded of them every single time I look at Chris Colby.”
Mystified, Lilah swiveled in her chair, searching out Christian Colby with new interest. He was holding up a cocktail shaker as if offering the contents to one of his customers. Lilah cocked her head and tried to see what it was about the man that turned Grant into a whack-a-doo.
The bartender reminded Lilah of some of the guys her aunt hired in the summers to help work the farm. Handsome in a rough way, she decided, more cowboy than she’d ever expected to see in Manhattan.
Christian shook his head and reached behind the bar for a glass bottle. He uncapped it and poured a long stream into a short glass. He leaned on the bar and pushed the glass forward with a sympathetic smile, and for no reason she could articulate, Lilah’s breath came faster. She craned her neck to see who took the drink, but there were too many people in the way.
“Do you see what I mean?” Grant asked. There was something perilously close to hysteria in his voice. “I can’t work with him every day. I just can’t.”
It was Devon, she was sure of it. Like someone had flipped a switch that started an electrical current flowing between her body and Devon’s, Lilah was suddenly absolutely certain she’d find him at the bar, tossing back whatever liquor it was that Christian had just served.
She got up and stood looking down at her best friend. “I love you to pieces, Grant, you know that, right? But sugar, you’re not making a lick of sense.”
Grant scowled down at the scarred tabletop rather than meeting Lilah’s eyes. “Look. Colby knows something about me, okay? Something I never should’ve done, much less told anyone about, but it’s over and done with now. No good can come of raking it all up. Can we just leave it at that?”
Lilah studied her best friend’s face. He looked miserable. She hated to see him like that, but she wasn’t sure what else to do or say. Unless . . . “Wait. Is this about . . . do you like him? Or does he have something against you because of . . . you know, that?” Wow, awkward much?
Color bloomed along Grant’s cheekbones. “Geez, Lolly. No, it’s not about that.”
“Okay.” Lilah was relieved. She’d always known her best friend preferred boys to girls; it was part of him, something she accepted without question. But, in true Southern fashion, they’d never explicitly spoken of it. She only knew she hated the idea of anyone looking down on Grant or disliking him for being gay.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it. There’s no point.”
Lilah stared at his stony face. He really wasn’t going to confide in her. Stung, Lilah said, “Fine. I’m going to give you tonight to wallow, but tomorrow I want you back in top Grant form. Get a hold of yourself! Christian Colby won’t be around forever; this is only temporary.”
“Is that what you’re telling yourself?” Grant glared at her. Lilah couldn’t remember him ever looking at her like that before. “It’s not forever, it’s not even real, so you can have a fling with your boss and it’ll all be okay because you know going into it that it’s temporary.”
The sounds of the bar faded like Lilah was suddenly plunged underwater. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She didn’t know what to say.
Grant gentled his tone. “A one-night stand is one thing. But you’re living in the man’s apartment now. Seeing him every day. Hon, leaving aside the fact that Devon