A Restored Man (19 page)

Ty stilled and dry swallowed, his gaze fixated on Cole's underwear. He recovered relatively quickly and grinned. "Four?"

Cole zipped up his pants and grinned. "I can guarantee you…that is absolutely no reflection of what they're guarding."

"What
would
be appropriate?"

"Iron Man," Cole deadpanned.

Ty chuckled quietly and shook his head. "Where does this obsession with superheroes come from?"

Cole shrugged. "They're cool."

Ty cocked his head, watching Cole with that inquisitive stare that pushed him to always want to say more. "It's more than that, isn't it?"

He shrugged again, not really sure what to say. "They're tough. They've been through something life changing and it made them stronger." He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to avoid fidgeting.

Cole stared at Ty as a mix of emotions raced across his face before he looked away, lost in thought.

Cole's stomach growled, totally ruining his casual perusal of Ty's features.

Ty's gaze snapped back to Cole's. "Hungry?"

Cole nodded and looked up at the walk clock. He sighed. The day passed too fast when he spent time with Ty.

"Go ahead and grab something," Ty said.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I'm fine," Ty said, reaching into his pocket.

Cole planted his hands on his waist. "Are you fucking serious? Please tell me you're actually going to eat," he said, watching Ty bite into the chocolate bar.

"I
am
eating."

Cole rolled his eyes. "Not that crap or TV dinners. I mean real fucking food. I don't think you eat."

"Sure I do. You saw me eat a sandwich the other day."

Cole crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow. "That could have been a one-time deal."

"You're not with me all the time," Ty said, taking another bite.

"I don't think you eat regularly. Come to think of it, I've never seen you take a bathroom break either."

"I'll call you to supervise the next time I need to take a leak."

Cole glared. "You should have a good meal."

"I usually work late and I can't exactly cook in my office."

"Why don't you come over and let me cook for you?" Cole asked, tugging on his beanie.

"You can cook?"

"Would you even know the difference eating that shit?" Cole pointed to the chocolate bar with a sneer.

Ty's eyes slowly widened. "You're asking me out on a date?"

Cole looked away, his pulse quickening. "It's an invitation to come to the halfway house on my night to cook. You'll finally meet Matt and Julian. I'll ask Aidan, if you want a familiar face. Not sure you can call it a date. It's real food.
Good
food. Say yes."

"Yes."

Cole tried to hide his surprise. "Anything in particular you like?"

Ty chuckled. "Apparently I eat crap. Surprise me."

"Good. Done. Now let's have lunch."

"I just ate," Ty said with a slight frown.

Cole shook his head and grabbed Ty's arm. "That was a snack. You feed your staff but you don't take care of feeding yourself."

Cole managed to drag Ty to the daily lunch trays Stacie set out. She had set aside two sandwiches for them and labeled each with their names. They grabbed the sandwiches and bottled waters then retreated to their work area for lunch. Cole jumped up on one of the bench tables while Ty sat in one of the chairs and silently ate as the music filled the air. Occasionally, Cole glared when Ty would fiddle with the sandwich rather than eat. But it was enough to get him to take another bite.

Ty wadded the empty sandwich wrapper and threw it in the garbage. He stood close to the back wall and pushed his hands into his coverall pockets. "So you never answered my question. What was it like being in prison?"

Cole crumpled the wrapper and tossed it into the bin. He washed down the last bite of the sandwich with a few gulps of water. "It's hard being away from family and friends," he said, capping the bottle and pitching it into the garbage bin. He didn't want to dwell on the sacrifice his family made to visit him in prison.

Cole sighed and jumped off the bench table. "It was two years. It's weird. Time drags and flies at the same time. It sucked but most of the guys inside left me alone. I think they avoided me because I talked too much. It was easy to stay out of trouble in there because everyone thought I'd snitch them out if I hung around in their circles." Cole laughed. "So I guess my big mouth, which always seemed to get me in trouble, kept me out of trouble while inside."

"And alone," Ty added.

Cole looked up to see Ty's gaze firmly fixed on him. "Yeah. I'm not really a loner, I like being around people. You saw how big my family is. I'm used to having people around me all the time. The loneliness was the killer for me."

"Being alone sucks," Ty said, his focus still intently aimed at Cole.

Cole's heart beat faster. He could feel Ty's gaze on him like fingers ghosting over his body. He looked away and swallowed hard, gripping the bench table behind him. He closed his eyes and counted backward from twenty, hoping to calm his racing pulse and chill the heat that coursed through his body.

Pause. Be good.

He exhaled a shaky breath and opened his eyes when he finished his countdown. He looked up to see Ty's gaze still focused on him. And there it was, staring back at him—the want in those eyes mirroring his desire for Ty. He could be wrong. He could be
so
wrong, but he couldn't stand this anymore.

"Fuck this," he said and stepped forward.

Ty straightened as he neared, tracking each step Cole took.

Cole stood in front of Ty, taking a step forward as Ty took one back until he was flush against the wall. Cole kicked his booted foot between Ty's feet, forcing Ty to widen his stance, dropping him about an inch or two.

"Being alone does suck," Cole said before reaching behind Ty's neck and quickly pulling him in for a kiss, ignoring the voice that demanded he pause again. He screwed his eyes shut and pushed his lips against Ty's as he begged and pleaded that he hadn't misinterpreted the restrained emotion in those brown eyes.

Cole inhaled sharply when Ty's hands hesitantly landed on his waist and Ty's lips parted slightly.

Cole's pulse escalated and the heat in his body rose. He gripped Ty's hair with both hands to angle his head, giving him that perfect slant he needed to completely plunder Ty's mouth. His heart pounded wildly while his tongue explored, tasted, and memorized every savory millimeter of the man he had coveted for far too long. He heard a moan escape before Ty's tongue hesitantly slid alongside his. He groaned and gripped Ty's hair harder, pulling him closer as he drew Ty's tongue into his mouth and sucked its length, mirroring a promise for more. He
needed
more—more closeness, more heat, more skin.

More Ty.

Ty's hands slid up along Cole's spine and landed at the back of Cole's neck. Cole pulled away from the kiss, gasping for air—the gentle brush of fingers against his neck almost too much after so many years. He looked back at Ty, his eyes had darkened to a deep chocolate brown. His kiss-swollen lips parted with each breath as he stared back at Cole, waiting.

Cole loosened his grip in Ty's hair. He shifted his shaky hands to cup Ty's face, closing his eyes when the warm skin pressed against his palms. He tipped his head up and leaned in to close the distance between them, slowly brushing his lips back and forth against Ty's. He heard a faint whimper escape when he sucked on Ty's soft, full lip.

That sound. God, he wanted to hear that sound again.

He lazily slid his tongue along Ty's and wrapped his fingers around the back of Ty's neck, wanting to hold him in place as he continued to explore, reveling in the eerie silence in his head. There was no chatter, no replay of conversation, no music. Nothing. Just a blissful silence and all that existed was Ty and his taste, the feel of his lips, and the slide of their tongues.

Cole broke the kiss when Ty's large, hot hand slid up and down his back. His head lolled to the side, drunk with the need for more friction coursing through his body. Ty peppered kisses along Cole's jawline and down his neck. A groan escaped Cole when Ty grabbed his ass and pulled him flush against his own hardened arousal.

And there was that sound again, coming from Ty, that soft, strangled whimper. The subtle sound better than any song Cole could imagine.

A surge of desire shot up Cole's spine. He ran his fingers up Ty's neck and into his hair again, gripping with enough force to pull Ty's head to the side and kiss his neck, desperately licking and sucking the sensitive skin from the base of Ty's neck to his jaw.

The whimper made an encore performance, encouraging Cole to continue.

Ty's radio chirped.

A frustrated growl escaped Cole.
Fucking Stacie and her LoJack
. He tried to back away but Ty held him close with one hand while he reached for the radio with the other to answer Stacie's call.

Cole buried his face at the side of Ty's neck, trying to settle his breathing. He placed one hand on Ty's waist to steady himself while his other hand slid down to Ty's hip to hold him near.

Shit.
He was pretty sure he shouldn't have ignored the need to pause.
Shit. Shit. Shit.

Ty returned the radio to his pocket when he finished the call. He placed one hand behind Cole's neck, and the other over Cole's hand at his own hip. "You okay?"

Cole shook his head, burying himself further into the warmth of Ty's body. "I think I inhaled too much paint."

"We weren't painting."

"My brain's a little fried right now. Cut me some slack," Cole said, nuzzling Ty's neck, enjoying his scent more than he wanted to admit.

"Are you okay?" Ty asked again, stroking his fingers against the back of Cole's neck.

"Tell me I didn't fuck this up," Cole said in almost a whisper.

Ty's fingers threaded with Cole's at the hip. "I was going to ask the same thing."

Cole rested his head on Ty's shoulder and exhaled as relief poured through his body. "I kinda suck at waiting. I have the patience of a gnat."

"I didn't realize gnats had patience."

"Exactly," Cole said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

Ty's soft rumble-laugh sent another bolt of desire through Cole's body, triggering a moan.

"Are we still on for our date?" Cole asked.

Ty separated a few inches to look at Cole. "I thought it wasn't a date?"

"Humor me. It's the closest thing I've ever had to a date."

"Okay, it's a date."

"Let's skip to the next base. Sleep with me."

"I'm not sleeping with you."

Cole raised an eyebrow and half smiled. "Not right now, but you will."

"No, I won't," Ty said, looking away.

"Why's that?"

Ty released Cole and stepped away. He turned to Cole, the teasing look gone from his expression. "You do realize I'm your boss. Right?"

"Yeah, and?" Cole asked, crossing his arms.

"You're my employee," Ty said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what you being the boss means."

"You're
my
employee," Ty repeated.

"And that's a car and that's a tool chest," Cole said, pointing to each item. "What's your point?"

Ty shook his head. "It's the employer, employee thing. It can't happen."

Cole took a step toward Ty. "Sure it can. I think we just proved that."

Ty rubbed his eyes. "The point is…it shouldn't happen."

Cole stepped forward until he was standing in front of Ty again. "Your dick was pushing against me when we kissed," he said. He grabbed Ty's chin when he looked away, forcing him to focus on Cole. "Your
hard
dick. So don't stand there and tell me this isn't going to happen. That's a bullshit excuse."

Ty rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "It's not that simple," he said quietly.

Cole sensed a hint of sadness in Ty's voice, something he hadn't heard before. He didn't want to push but there was no way he was backing down now. He pulled away Ty's hands. The pain he saw in Ty's eyes sliced through Cole's core. "Don't make it harder than what it already is. No one said it'd be easy. Hell,
I'm
not easy. But I want you. And I'm not going to walk away from that."

Ty looked at Cole and exhaled. He shook his head. "Cole, you don't know me. You don't know—"

"Stop it. I know you better than you think. I might not know the first thing about a relationship, but I know part of it is getting to know someone and working through stuff."

Ty sighed dramatically and looked upward. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed heavily. "How the hell did we go from a non-date, to a kiss, to wanting to sleep with me and now a relationship?" He stepped away. His jaw muscles twitched and he shook his head repeatedly.

It was frustrating as hell not having a secret decoder ring that would give him some insight into what was running through Ty's mind. He walked over to Ty and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ty, how about we get down to the basics."

Ty looked at him and the pain in those brown eyes ripped through Cole worse than a serrated knife digging into him.

"Yes or no questions. Do you like me?" Cole asked, reaching up to touch Ty's face.

Ty leaned into the caress and closed his eyes. "Yes," he said in almost a whisper.

"Do you ever want to kiss me again?" Cole asked, stroking Ty's cheek with his thumb.

Ty opened his eyes and looked right at Cole, the want back in his expression. "God, yes."

"Good. Because if you had said no, I think my blue balls would have exploded."

Ty gasped a laugh. "You're as subtle as a sledgehammer."

Cole half smiled. "It's one of the reasons you like me. Admit it."

"Yes," Ty responded, the desire clearly screaming from his brown gaze.

"Good. We'll figure everything else out. Take it slow. I know you need to be in control so the ball's in your court. When you're ready, you tell me. All you have to do is ask. I won't push you or rush you. But I can't be held responsible if my balls have exploded by the time you get around to moving things along."

"I thought you had the patience of a gnat," Ty teased.