Taking a moment to try to calm his racing heart, Laine stopped a few feet from the door. He took several deep breaths before he felt ready to face the man—Severo Adulio Robledo, per Brendon-- inside. Well, as ready as he was going to be. Laine opened the door and stepped inside, the Styrofoam box in his hand making a crunching noise as he unconsciously clenched it. He thought his eyes might just bulge out of his head when he saw the figure sitting in Doreen’s chair, arms up and hands behind his head, feet propped up on Doreen’s desk.
“You’d better thank God it was me instead of Doreen who walked in.”
The man smiled and Laine’s heart sped up and his cock twitched at the way that smile lit the guy up, making an attractive face dropdead gorgeous, those pale eyes gleaming.
“She left me in charge when she ran off to play white knight.” Severo lowered his feet and hands, then stood, that bright smile still in place. “Figured since I wasn’t getting paid, I might as well get comfortable. Those chairs over there suck.”
Laine tried to keep his gaze on Severo’s face, but damn, the little guy had some broad shoulders! “Yeah, well, small town budget and all. Come on back—” Or maybe his office was a bad idea. His step faltered and he was about to tell Severo that they were going to stay in the front instead, when the man’s smile widened.
“Scared?”
Oh, hell no! Laine met Severo’s gaze and swallowed his sarcastic reply. The man was trying to goad him, and Laine wasn’t going to play. He didn’t even glare—much. Laine opened the door to his office and headed for his desk, aware of Severo behind him. He’d swear he could feel the man scoping him out…scoping his ass out, mostly.
“Have a seat.” Laine set his lunch on the desk and sat, pointing at Severo. “But keep your damned feet off my desk.”
“Yessir.” Severo plopped into one of the two chairs in front of Laine’s desk, tossing Laine a lazy salute. Instead of irritating him, it made Laine want to smile, though he didn’t. Not even when Severo gave him a wink.
“Why are you here, Severo?” Laine might not have smiled, but his prick had perked up and it wasn’t going to soften any time soon. Best to get the man out of here as soon as possible.
Severo grinned and winked again. “Brendon tell you my name? Guess he must have.” He shrugged and leisurely swept Laine with a heated gaze. “I figured you’re gonna run a check on me, be the big, bad protective sheriff and all that. Plus, I think you’re hot.” The and gay went unspoken, but Laine could see the knowledge in Severo’s eyes. The need to keep his sexuality secret kicked in as Laine worked to hide his panic.
“No. I don’t think so.” And that was as much as he was going to protest. “And I meant, why are you here, as in, why are you in McKinton?”
“I felt like I needed to be here, Sheriff. Make of that what you will, though when you pull a report on me—you were still going to do that, right?”
What did that mean? “Of course.” And he would not feel bad about it, either. Laine opened a drawer and took out a notepad and a pen, pushing them across the desk. “You can give me a head start by writing out your full name, birth date, license number, and social.”
“I don’t have a license, but the rest, sure. Anything else you want? Need?” The man had the audacity to lick his lower lip and look up flirtatiously at Laine through thick lashes. “You just let me know.”
Laine refused to shift despite how uncomfortably hard he was. Why was he reacting this way to this man, for Christ’s sake? “That should be more than enough to get me started.”
“Okay.” Severo stood and walked around the desk, handing the paper to Laine, his thighs brushing against the arm of Laine’s chair. Laine couldn’t look away from the desire burning in those pale green eyes, couldn’t stop himself from inhaling deeply, taking in Severo’s scent. The mix of soap, sweat and a faint lingering cologne had Laine’s prick leaking, and he realised too late that Severo was now in a position to see just what effect he was having on Laine. His words confirmed that he had, indeed, noticed.
“I could help you finish, too. No strings attached. I don’t do strings.”
“Shit,” Laine muttered before he caught himself, heat spreading throughout his body. It’d been so long since he’d gotten laid, not since Conner. So long that even the thought of Conner didn’t dampen his desire, a fact that confused Laine more than it unsettled him. “I’m not… I don’t.” No strings? Could he do that? He never had before, unable to shake the thought that one-night stands were just sleazy.
That he was even considering it was a testament to how hard up—pun intended—he was. He couldn’t do it, of course, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to lie, not while he was pinned by those eyes, his cock obviously hard and wanting what he was denying it. “No. I’m not interested, sorry. Not my thing.” Severo could interpret that however he wanted to.
“Okay.” Severo’s lips tipped up just the slightest bit as he stepped back. “It must be pretty difficult, being in your position.”
Laine refused to comment, a confirmation would be an admission he wasn’t yet prepared to make, and he’d already decided he didn’t want to lie.
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