“Here you go.” Ethan placed the cocktail on the counter and slid it toward the man who’d ordered it. “Enjoy,” he added with a smile.

The guy nodded and twisted on his barstool, stirring the drink with a cocktail stick while he conversed with his friends.

Ethan ruled him out as his stalker, took the next order, and turned to grab a bottle of gin from the shelf behind the bar.

One of the other bartenders sidled up to him and reached for the Courvoisier.

“How’re you holding up, kiddo?”

Ethan bit back a sigh and looked at the handsome Japanese man with the retro black-rimmed specs studying him with concern in his eyes.

“Akihito, I swear to God, if you ask me that question one more time, I’m gonna floor you. And you’re, like, two years older than me.”

Akihito frowned and tut-tutted.

“You can bitch all you want, sweet cheeks, but I ain’t letting you out of my sight.” He twisted away and flashed a bright smile at the man who’d ordered the Sidecar.

Ethan shook his head slightly while he mixed a G & T. Movement to the left caught his gaze when he turned back to hand the drink to the patron. Joe was headed for the bar, his eyes locked on Ethan. The expression on the club owner’s face sent a sudden shiver down Ethan’s spine.

Oh, fuck. Now what?

Surprise darted through Ethan when Joe came around the counter and opened the hatch. He dropped it, closed the distance to Ethan in half a dozen steps, grabbed him by the waist, and kissed him hard.

Ethan froze and stared up blankly into Joe’s stormy gaze while the latter pressed his hot lips against his own, his stubble grazing Ethan’s chin.

Shocked gasps echoed along the counter. The noise level in the club dropped fractionally before rising to fever pitch, the entire room reeling as word spread.

Intuition flashed through Ethan.

Though it hurt to acknowledge it, he understood Joe’s intent. Still, he wasn’t about to let their first kiss be born out of anger.

Ethan ignored Joe’s bruising touch, lifted his hands to Joe’s face, and melted against him.

* * *

Joe blinked when Ethan softened below him, his fingers achingly gentle where they lay on Joe’s cheeks, his long eyelashes fluttering against his face as he closed his dazzling green eyes. Ethan let out a breathy moan.

Heat shot through Joe and arrowed straight to his groin at the sensuous sound. His dick twitched and stiffened.

Shit.

Joe loosened his grip on Ethan’s waist. His anger faded as he explored the full lips beneath his, curiously molding them with his own, knowing he was playing with fire yet unable to stop himself.

Joe probed the soft mouth beneath his with his tongue.

Ethan shuddered and parted his lips, eyes blinking open for a moment. The hunger in the emerald depths sent a torrid wave of lust surging through Joe. He cradled Ethan’s face and swooped inside the opening, his tongue invading the dark, hot space, caressing, exploring.

Unheeding of the dozens of stares focused on them and the shocked murmurs spreading across the club, Joe plundered Ethan’s mouth, need a hot spring coiling tightly through him, twisting his belly and hardening his cock.

Ethan’s tongue met his a heartbeat later.

The bolt of electricity that flashed through Joe almost made him groan out loud. From the way Ethan twitched and arched against him, Joe knew the bartender was also experiencing the same shocking sensation.

Joe pressed his thigh between Ethan’s legs, dropped one hand to Ethan’s tight butt cheeks, and deepened the kiss.

Ethan moaned and shuddered, his body dissolving against Joe’s, his hands dropping from Joe’s face to grip Joe’s shoulders for support, his erection pushing sweetly against Joe’s hard-on.

A wolf whistle reached Joe dimly through the red haze of pleasure flooding him from where his tongue danced with Ethan’s. He recognized Cam’s laughter and could imagine Gabe groaning in sheer embarrassment at his lover’s crass behavior.

Had his own hands not been full of the insanely sexy man he was currently kissing, Joe would have shoved a middle finger at his best friend. It was with reluctance that Joe lifted his mouth off Ethan’s a moment later. He didn’t think he’d be able to stop if he carried on for much longer.

Ethan panted below him, chest rising and falling with his labored breathing, his full lips swollen and red from Joe’s kiss. He blinked up at Joe, his green eyes dark with passion.

Joe bit back a groan at the erotic picture of an aroused Ethan, his dick throbbing uncomfortably against the zipper of his pants.

“That was—” Ethan mumbled.

“Act One,” Joe said, his words coming out harsher than he’d intended.

Ethan stiffened against him, desire slowly fading from his eyes.

“Right,” he muttered, his tone bitter.

* * *

Ethan finished drying the last glass and placed it on the rack. It was two in the morning and the club was empty, bar Akihito and Kiba. Though it wasn’t his turn to clean up, Ethan had been reluctant to return to his apartment and had stayed back to help. Besides, he was still reeling from his first kiss with Joe. He’d found his fingers rising unconsciously to his mouth several times for the rest of that night, the heated tingle of Joe’s touch still evident on his lips.

Despite having spent the best part of ten minutes explaining the reason behind Joe’s behavior to a frankly intrigued Akihito and Kiba, the bartender and the doorman continued to watch Ethan with indulgent expressions, as if they knew something he didn’t know.

This did nothing to calm Ethan’s racing heart and fevered imagination.

The reason for his current predicament strolled into the bar.

Joe shrugged his jacket on and paused by the mahogany counter, his hazel gaze locking on Ethan.

“You about done?”

Ethan blinked, nonplussed.

“What?”

Joe sighed. “I’m asking if you’re ready to go.”

“Go where?” Ethan said suspiciously.

Kiba grunted.

“He’s saying he wants to walk you home, kid.”

“Thank you, Kiba,” Joe murmured, his eyes mocking as he continued staring at Ethan.

“Ay-ay-ay, how romantic!” Akihito squealed, hands rising dramatically to his cheeks.

Ethan narrowed his eyes at the bartender.

“One of these days, I’m gonna video you acting all camp and send it to your wife.”

Akihito grinned, unabashed.

“She loves me, warts and all, sweet cheeks. Nothing you do will ever change that.”

Ethan sighed, his pulse starting a steady, rising beat as he studied Joe. He knew refusing the club owner would only end in an argument. And there was no denying that the incident in the alley still sent shivers through Ethan’s body.

“Give me a couple of minutes.”

Joe was waiting for Ethan outside the staff changing room when he came out.

Ethan looked over his shoulder toward the silent club.

“Where are Kiba and Akihito?”

“They locked up and left. Come, we’ll go out this way.”

Joe turned and led Ethan through the private door to his apartment. Beyond the small lobby and spiral stairs was another exit opening onto a side alley. They headed north, the sound of traffic from the main Shinjuku strip slowly fading behind them.

Although Ethan was acutely conscious of Joe beside him as they navigated the roads toward his apartment building, he found the silence between them strangely comforting.

It wasn’t long before they reached his street.

Ethan stopped in front of his building and looked at Joe, feeling awkward for the first time since they stepped out of Saron.

“Well, this is—”

“I’m paying you too much,” Joe said bluntly. He stared at the pleasant neighborhood around them before studying Ethan’s building with narrowed eyes. “I knew you lived in Bunkyo, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

Ethan gazed at him, intrigued.

“What were you expecting?”

Joe frowned.

“Some crappy studio flat with shared facilities. This place looks like it’s serviced.”

Irritation replaced Ethan’s curiosity. He scowled.

“Sometimes, the shit that comes out of your mouth really pisses me off. And you’re right. It is.”

Ethan removed his key card from his back pocket, slipped it in the door, and pushed it open.

Lights came on, illuminating the empty lobby and the rows of letterboxes to the left.

“Thanks for walking me home,” Ethan said coolly over his shoulder. “I’ll—”

“I’m coming in,” Joe said behind him.