“They were hot,” Calenpiped up.
“Calen! Nothelping.” Brent frowned at him, but Grant could see things heating up betweenthe two of them, and he couldn’t help but wonder if they’d make it home beforethey got into it. Now that they were both back from vacation and not trying tohide how they felt, the heat always went up a few degrees whenever they were inthe same room together.
Grant had to agreewith Calen. “They were hot. The little one’s a firecracker.”
Bryce laughed, andsome of the stress seemed to be easing. “That’s Oliver. He’s sweet.”
“So when are wegoing to meet them?” Garrett tried to get things back under control, but Caleninterrupted.
“Meet them withtheir clothes on, he means.”
Bryce blushed butsmirked, clearly not upset by Calen’s teasing. “Don’t make them feel weird.” Helaughed. “I thought about inviting them to the barbecue next weekend?” It cameout more as a question than Bryce probably intended.
“That sounds good,”Garrett said, and everyone nodded.
The sound of theconference room door easing open had them glancing over. Wyatt’s head peekedaround the door hesitantly. “Master? You said not to let you stay late.”
Garrett glancedover at the clock on the wall. “You’re right. Thank you.”
Everyone startedheading toward the door with greetings for Wyatt and one last teasing remarkthrown at Bryce. Grant still had a while before he needed to head over toCarter’s place, so he hung back, waiting for the room to clear.
When everyone butWyatt and Garrett had cleared out, Grant turned to the men. “So what did Cartersay about our date?”
Wyatt had made ascience out of avoiding Grant for the past couple of days. Even when Grant thoughthe had timed it perfectly to catch Wyatt at Garrett’s office, he’d missed thesub by minutes. Wyatt started fidgeting and looking around the room, probablyfor a way to escape. “Nothing.”
Garrett and Grantboth laughed. Garrett moved over to hug Wyatt and Grant leaned back in hischair, propping his feet up on the table. Garrett growled at him to move themand Wyatt laughed, breaking the tension.
He shifted aroundand stood up, walking over to Wyatt. “If Carter asked you not to say anything,that’s fine. I won’t bug you.” He probably should have said that he wouldn’tbug him much, but that was probably understood.
Wyatt leaned backin Garrett’s arms and smiled. “He didn’t say that. Not specifically.”
Grant lovedloopholes. “See, then, it’s fine.”
Trying not togiggle and failing miserably, Wyatt’s smile widened. “He had fun. Thank you formaking him change.”
“I didn’t makehim. I just encouraged him to dress up for me.” Grant’s grin was naughty andinfectious. They both shook their heads at him.
“And the farmer’smarket thing was a hit. He loved that.” Wyatt gave Grant an approving look.
Garrett perked up.“You have cookies?” He looked down at Wyatt. “You didn’t mention the market.Did they get cookies?”
Frowning atGarrett, Grant shook his head. “No. I was on a date, not shopping for you.”
Wyatt winked atGrant, then looked up at Garrett. “Is it okay to mention that Carter is a bit anxiousabout tonight?”
“I’m sure Grant’sguessed that part already.” Then Garrett gave Grant a firm look when Grantstarted to laugh.
“He was nervousthe other night. I know it will take a while for him to get completely comfortablewith me.” Then he decided to push his luck. “Is he uneasy about somethingspecific?”
Wyatt blushed avivid red and pretended to zip his lips and lock them. Shaking his head, hethrew away the key like he was a kid again. Garrett laughed. Stepping back, helooked up at the clock again, then took Wyatt’s hand. “Come on, before youanswer that and make Carter lose it.”
Nodding, Wyattrefused to open his mouth, and just waved to Grant as they left the room. Grantfollowed behind them, not wanting to make them late for whatever plans theyhad. Grant hadn’t missed the fact that neither of them mentioned what thereason was that Garrett couldn’t work late.
Whatever it was,it wasn’t going to stay a secret for long. Nothing did in their family. Grant knewCarter must have already figured that out, otherwise Wyatt wouldn’t haveblushed so red and refused to talk. There was only one thing Grant could thinkof that would get that kind of reaction. Carter must be very nervous aboutshowing off his sexy collection.
Considering theyhadn’t talked about safewords or even BDSM in general terms yet, Grant knew heprobably should back off a little. The Dom part of him balked at that idea.Grant thought the best way to tackle it would be to jump in headfirst, so Cartercould see right away how beautiful Grant saw him as. Carter wasn’t going to believeit until the proof was right there in front of him, or pressed up against him.
Grant shoved thedirty thoughts out of his head. He couldn’t show up for dinner with a hard-on. Thatwould give the wrong impression. He wanted it clear he was looking forsomething long-term, not a hookup. He’d known that by the time the firstbarbecue Carter had come to was over.
