New Tricks Page 12

  “I’m sorry about all that, but thank you.” She took his hand. “My son has turned into a real piece of work.” She sighed. “What did I do wrong?”

  “Grandma.” Brandon hugged her and got her to her chair. “You need to rest. Dad is an ass most of the time. All he wants is to get his own way. Nothing else seems to matter.” Brandon stepped back. “Do you want me to make you some tea or something?”

  “No. You two go on. Phillip isn’t going to be back tonight, and don’t let him ruin your plans.” She was clearly trying to put what had happened behind her for Brandon’s sake, but Brandon hadn’t moved. Thelma patted his hand. “It’s okay, honey. You know your father is pretty much a dick of epic proportions.” She clicked her teeth. “I swear I didn’t drop him on his head, though if I had, he might have turned out better.”

  “Grandma,” Brandon said with a gasp, putting his hand over his mouth. “He’s—”

  She took Brandon’s hand. “He’s my son, but I didn’t raise him to be a bigot. That’s all on him. Now go have a good time. Your father doesn’t get to have a say in my life, and you shouldn’t let him have a say in yours.” She smiled, and Brandon’s color slowly returned to normal. “Go on.”

  “Okay,” Brandon agreed. “But you call if he comes back or if you need anything.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m perfectly fine and can handle your father on my own. Like you said, he has no power here.”

  Brandon hugged her, and Thomas waited a few minutes while Brandon finished getting ready, and then they left the house.

  “Sorry about all that. My dad is a control freak. Grandma said she spoiled him as a kid, so he’s used to getting what he wants…. He’s mean when he doesn’t.”

  “What about your stepmother?” Thomas asked, opening the passenger door and holding it for Brandon. He closed it after Brandon was inside and went around to get in the black BMW.

  “I don’t know how she can stand it.” Brandon shrugged as Thomas started the engine, the air-conditioning kicking in, cooling the interior. “I can’t believe he thought you were paying me.”

  “Well, I am,” Thomas quipped. “Not the way he thought of, the dirty-minded geezer.”

  “Yeah… but… he insinuated that I paid for college by being a whore.” Brandon shook in his seat. “I know it’s just one of my father’s ways of trying to win every argument or fight he perceives. He has a paper-thin skin, and when attacked in any way, he comes out all guns blazing. It’s so embarrassing. Most people give up and give him what he wants just to keep him quiet.”

  “Then it works,” Thomas said. “He gets exactly what he wants and goes on his merry way.” He grinned devilishly. “Isn’t going to work with me. I have resources he could only dream of.” Thomas was already formulating ways he could make Phillip’s life miserable, starting with the various oversight boards. He was no Boy Scout and knew how to play hardball when the situation called for it. “Now, how about we talk about something else?” Thomas reached over and patted Brandon’s leg. “I made a reservation at Ryland’s Steak House. They apparently have the best food in the area.”

  Brandon whistled. “That’s…. You don’t mess around, do you? I’ve heard of it, of course, but I’ve never been there.” Brandon settled back in his seat, smiling softly. “What was it like growing up here and then moving to New York?”

  “Culture shock for a few months.” Thomas smiled as he remembered the adjustment time. “It’s loud and fast and no one waits for anyone else. It took me weeks to just be able to sleep. There’s always this low-grade noise in the background. But I really did love it. I was younger then, about your age, and it was exciting and new. I thought I was ready to take on the world.” Thomas shook his head.

  “I take it that wasn’t the case?” Brandon asked.

  “God, no. But I had a real leg up. For a few years, I’d been working with Kornan Marsh. He and I had partnered on a couple of developments here in Colorado. That’s how I got my start in larger projects. Kornan and I developed a project here in town and a couple up in Telluride. They were hugely successful, and he proposed that we work together in New York. Kornan was getting older and looking to retire in a few years.” Thomas pulled into the lot and right up to the valet station. He gave the valet the keys, and they went inside the rich, dark-toned restaurant and gave the hostess his name. They were shown to their table and settled with menus.

  “So, what happened with Kornan? You can’t leave me in the middle of a story.” Brandon was smiling, and it was good to see that some of the effects of the confrontation with his father seemed to have died away,

  “When I first moved to New York, he took more of the lead on the projects we did together, but over time, I took that role. Kornan did more than just the projects we worked on, and eventually, after I took over the leadership role, he could have more development things in the works at once. Everything worked out for both of us. When he decided to get ready to retire, he wound down the development side of his business and I took over a lot of what he left behind.”

  “Didn’t he have family?” Brandon asked.

  Thomas scoffed and shook his head. “He had a son who was as useful as tits on a boar. All he wanted to do was spend what his dad made. Kornan’s daughter is a doctor in New York, very successful, but she has her own career, so Kornan consolidated his estate. When he died, he left most of his things to his son and daughter, but he willed me the paintings at the house. They hung in his office. Both of them were so him….” Thomas swallowed around the lump in his throat. “He was good to me, and I see him when I look at those works.” Thomas sniffed, picking up his menu. He was covering up, but dammit…. “The filet is supposed to be amazing.” Thomas lowered his menu to find Brandon staring at him.

  “You always seem so together and in-charge.” Brandon smiled slightly.

  Thomas didn’t know what to say. He was used to hiding his emotions. In negotiations, they could give someone else the edge they needed, and he never did that. “None of us are in charge of everything all the time.” He leaned forward. “Kornan was like a second father and… he was gay.”

  Brandon’s mouth hung open for a second. “Did his children know?”

  Thomas shook his head. “He was of a different generation and time. He told me he’d been married to his wife for almost forty years and never cheated or strayed. After she died, he was able to explore who he was. I think he came to grips with himself before he died, but I don’t know if he was ever with another man. At least not in the time I knew him. If he was, he never told me, and I like to think he would have.”

  “The two of you were never together?” Brandon asked gently.

  “No. He was too much of a father figure for me.” Thomas picked up his menu again. “I always hoped Kornan would find someone, but….” Thomas shrugged.

  “Do you think he was happy?”

  Thomas thought a moment. “Yes. He was. Especially the last six months.” He tried to think back, and realized that Kornan had been different the last months of his life. He smiled more and had a light in his eyes that wasn’t there before. “Maybe he had found something to fill his life.” He didn’t want to jump to the conclusion that Kornan had found someone, but it was nice to think he had. Thomas reached across the table and took Brandon’s hand, smiling at him. “You made me remember something happy.”

  “Good evening, gentlemen. I’m Serge. Can I get you something from the bar?”

  “Yes. A bottle of sparkling wine. And please bring some water, if you would. Thank you.” Thomas waited for Serge to leave and then turned to Brandon. “That’s enough about me. I want to know about you. What is it you want? Really want. I know it isn’t to be my assistant.”

  “You know I went to business school and got an MBA, but as an undergrad, I also worked in film. I found out pretty quickly that my behind-the-camera work wasn’t good enough. I really don’t have the eye for it. But I’d love to work in film promotion and financing.” Brandon smiled. “Three ye
ars ago, we had to do a senior project. A group of us decided to make a film.”

  “But you said you weren’t very good.”

  Brandon nodded and chuckled under his breath. “I was pretty awful. My job was marketing and promotion. We made the film, and I put together a marketing plan, even got a few sponsors and created a website for it. Eventually we uploaded the completed film to YouTube and ended up getting hundreds of thousands of hits. It wasn’t full-length or anything, but a studio ended up picking up the rights. The other guys rewrote the script for a full-length feature, and shooting starts in a few months.”

  “That’s impressive. They got their shot because of what you did.” Thomas shook his head in awe.

  “No. They got their shot because they’re talented as hell. I helped them get noticed. I’d hoped that with all the business credentials, I could use that to help get Hollywood interested in me. So far it hasn’t happened.”

  Serge brought their wine and refilled their water.

  “I can’t believe how thirsty I am all the time here.” Thomas drank most of his water, and Serge refilled his glass once again.

  “I guess I’m used to it. Most people don’t realize that we’re mostly desert here and it’s really dry.” Brandon drank as well. “Regular hydration is just part of the day.” He perused his menu, and Thomas did the same. “I think I’ll take your advice and have the filet.”

  “What sides interest you?”

  “Sweet potato, maybe the beans. What do you like?” Brandon looked at him through those long lashes, and Thomas’s stomach flipped a little.

  “All of the above. You pick what you like. They’re big enough to share, I’m sure.” Thomas set aside his menu, and they placed their order when Serge returned. As soon as he was gone, Thomas leaned forward a little. “Tell me more about this film?”

  “I guess my dream was to work in Hollywood. I have inquiries in with all the major players, and the guys have told me they’d put in a word for me whenever they can. I keep waiting and hoping, but I suspect that since I haven’t heard anything in months, my inquiries have gone dead and I need to look in another direction.” Brandon shrugged, but Thomas could tell some light had gone out of his eyes.

  “Don’t give up on anything,” Thomas said as their salads arrived. “Send more—pepper them with inquiries if you have to. Sometimes it just takes getting noticed.” He smiled. He knew success would take Brandon away, but he wanted him to be happy. That was what was important when caring for someone.

  They ate their salads, and then the main courses arrived. There was plenty of food, and Thomas ate until he was totally stuffed. The steak was seasoned to perfection and melted in his mouth, but the highlight of the meal were the soft hums of gustatory delight that sent heat through Thomas. And the way Brandon closed his eyes when he took a bite had a lot more than food running through Thomas’s mind.

  “Jeez, that must be really good.” He smiled at Brandon.

  “It is. I spent so much of the last few years eating whatever I could to get by on a student’s budget. As you saw today, Dad wasn’t going to help, and I couldn’t ask Grandma. She needs what she gets for herself. So I got by as best I could.”

  “Brandon,” Thomas said as he put down his knife and fork and took Brandon’s hand, massaging his fingers lightly. “You have the biggest heart. Most people would take whatever they could get to make their life easier.”

  Brandon shook his head. “I couldn’t do that, not to her. I did what I had to in order to get through school, including spending long days studying, working part-time jobs, and earning teaching-aid stipends. All of it. By the time I got through school, I’d been hoping to get a really good job and….”

  “You ended up as my assistant.” Thomas had known this was never Brandon’s dream job, but he hadn’t understood how much he’d settled.

  “Not that working for you isn’t a good job.” Brandon blushed adorably. Thomas loved that look. It meant Brandon couldn’t lie, and it showed who he truly was.

  “I know. You have dreams of your own.” Thomas released his fingers and pulled out his phone, looking for a specific picture, and then handed it to Brandon. “That was my dream.”

  “Your name on a building?” Brandon said as he moved the phone closer to his face.

  “Yeah. We all want something that will last past us and endure. This was the first major project that I did after Kornan died, and I put my name on it because I did it on my own. It was my conception, and I brought it to fruition. I had thought to take one of the penthouse apartments at the top, but I stayed where I was and put them all up for sale. The next project I named for Kornan. He’d have hated it, but it made me happy to remember him.” Thomas put the phone away.

  “What’s your dream now?” Brandon asked.

  Thomas opened his mouth, but no words came out. He found he didn’t really have one. He’d been running his business for so long and immersed himself so much that he’d lost sight of anything else. “I don’t know.” Thomas picked up his fork again. “I think part of why I’m here is to try to find a new one.” He smiled. “But I think I’m going to help my mom and dad with one of theirs. They’ve talked about traveling for years and want to go to Australia, so they’re going to plan it, and in the winter, Australian summer, they can go.”

  “Sounds awesome. Do you need help?” Brandon asked, like a good assistant.

  “No. Mom and Dad are deciding what they want to do, and then we’ll get a travel agent to help plan the whole thing for them.”

  “I’d love to go there sometime. Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, koalas, Sydney Harbour, kangaroos, all of it.” Brandon’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I never really got much of a chance to travel. Dad and Mom used to take a vacation every winter. It was a ‘just the two of them’ vacation, and I stayed with Grandma.”

  “They never took you?” Thomas was shocked. His parents had always taken him everywhere with them, and each summer they’d gone somewhere special.

  “Not on those trips. We went on driving vacations nearby in the summer, but they went to the Caribbean or to Mexico during the winter, and those were for them.” Brandon bit his lower lip. “I used to like it because I got to spend time with Grandma, but it was hard being left behind, knowing I wasn’t welcome.” He sighed.

  “Sounds a little like something your dad would do.” Thomas tried to make light of it. “You know the good part about growing up? We can make up for the things we didn’t get when we were kids.” Thomas raised his eyebrows, and Brandon smiled, dispelling the pall created by the mention of his father.

  “I’ll get to travel, though. Once I get a more permanent job, I hope I can afford some interesting trips in a few years.”

  “Have you thought about dessert?” Serge asked.

  Brandon shook his head. “I’m way too full for anything like that.”

  “Me too,” Thomas said.

  Serge returned with the check, and Thomas paid the bill. Then they left the restaurant, stepping outside.

  “Do you want to take a walk?”

  “Sure. Are we going to see a movie or something?”

  “We can. But when I was out this week, I found this restaurant, and then I continued down the street.” Thomas took Brandon’s hand, heading west. “I forgot about this view and what it looked like.” They walked beyond the buildings to a rise, and the city fell away behind them and the landscape opened up. Pikes Peak rose in the distance, the sun setting behind it, coloring the sky in a full palate of color.

  “I used to come out here all the time when I was a kid.” Brandon squeezed his hand. “When I was in school, we used to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ and I knew where those words came from. It had to be right here.” Brandon leaned against him, and Thomas put his arm around Brandon’s shoulders, standing still for a few seconds and then turning toward him. Their gazes met, pulling them closer until they kissed, sending a spark of desire racing through him.

  “I know. This really is p
urple mountain majesty.” Thomas kissed Brandon again because it felt too perfect not to. His head swam a little, and he let it float. Being bone-deep contented and happy was such a new experience for him. For years happiness came at the end of an adrenaline ride of contacts, construction, problem-solving, and late nights powered by coffee and takeout. This was so different. Thomas deepened the kiss, inhaling Brandon’s amazingly clean scent, loving the soft soundtrack of happiness that Brandon provided.

  A car honked on the street behind them, startling them both. Brandon moved away, and Thomas groaned softly. “Maybe we should move on.” He took Brandon’s hand, and they walked toward the car.

  THE MOVIE was fine, though Thomas didn’t remember much about it. He and Brandon sat in the back and spent more time kissing like teenagers than watching what was actually happening on-screen. When the lights came up, they both grinned and left the theater as quickly as possible.

  “Man, I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie like that.”

  Thomas smiled. “Movie? I don’t remember a movie.”

  Brandon took Thomas’s hand as they walked. Thomas turned to look at their entwined fingers. “I should probably take you home.” He didn’t want to press, and maybe taking things in a more measured way was best.

  “Thomas.” Brandon stopped. “Yes, take me to your home.” The heat in his eyes left no doubt about what Brandon wanted.

  They reached the car, and Thomas drove them back to his house. The laughter slowly died away, replaced by tension and anticipation the closer they got to the house. Sure, they’d spent a few hours making out in the theater, but that had its limits. But now at his house, with a bed just upstairs, the possibilities were endless, and by the time they got inside, the air between them crackled with unspoken desire.

  Thomas closed the door, wishing he had the words to be able to ask just what Brandon had in mind. He turned, catching Brandon’s heated gaze. His body thrummed with desire, but he didn’t dare move closer, or the last threads of control would snap. He had to know what Brandon wanted. Thomas had been here before, and part of him was scared as hell. Before, this moment had been just as heady, which was the problem. He needed to think with his big head and not his little one.