THREE

 

All thoughts of leaving had fled from Taylor’s mind. All of the worries about Danica’s exhaustion had been driven right out, because he had, even in his confused attraction to the gorgeous ride operator, seen how happy she looked as she piled onto the dangerous-looking, creaking little cart.

Even though it sounded sort of like hell to him, Danica was having a good time, and she was safe. Right? These rides had all been tested, or else the fair wouldn’t still be running.

For the moment, he could just be himself. Just a man, who couldn’t stop staring at another man, who felt the twist of attraction way down deep inside of him, as sharp as a knife buried inside of him and as impossible to ignore. And possibly just as dangerous, given the way that the stranger had glanced at him a few times.

Taylor wasn’t a complete stranger to people being attracted to him. Even for him, someone who had spent most of his life in the tiny town of Snoqualmie, Washington, there had been a few who had hit on him. Mostly women, of course, which made him uncomfortable, but from time to time there had been a man who Taylor had been almost sure was flirting with him.

Not sure enough to do anything about it, of course.

None of those tepid interests had anything on this, though. He didn’t even know how to handle it, and his hands felt awkward, hanging at his sides, so he clasped them together, and that was even more awkward. It was probably a good thing that this man didn’t seem to want to spend more than a few seconds looking at Taylor at a time.

With the way he looked, he was probably used to being stared at, being desired. Tall, well over six feet, with broad shoulders and powerful arms and legs, he had the body of someone who used his body to make his living but the eyes and lips of a poet, large and expressive.

And that hair. Taylor had never seen auburn hair of that exact hue before. It could have almost looked black, but the sunlight picked up embers inside of the strands, seeming almost to burn there. And the braid, almost as thick as Taylor’s wrist, brushed the small of the other man’s back. His skin was tanned golden, and there was this aura about him, something that spoke of danger but also of excitement.

Those were two things which were in short supply in Taylor’s life, so that was why he was probably having such a hard time looking away. Although he should, he was going to make an idiot of himself. He probably already had.

“You could take a picture, it’d last longer,” the man commented, and he sounded amused, but not pissed off. When Taylor had been attracted to people before, to men, he had always been too nervous to say anything, to give them the notion that he was even interested. Part of him had assumed that it would be unwelcome, and the situation would devolve into uncomfortable.

“Uh …” Taylor fought with the urge to stutter, to apologize, though the man didn’t seem like he was upset. So he just swallowed, and even when it had been pointed out, he found that he still couldn’t draw his gaze away for more than a second or two, which was probably going to amuse the man even more.

“You got a name?” Why this gorgeous man was still speaking to Taylor, he had no idea. Maybe he just found Taylor funny, which should probably bother him a great deal more than it did. He had enough pride not to want to be someone’s joke.

“I’m Taylor,” he admitted, fighting off the absurd urge to awkwardly poke his hand out at the other man. Who was busy working, damn it, and was probably just being nice in talking to him at all. Why did he have to be so socially awkward, anyway? “Taylor Lachlan. It’s nice to meet you.”

Wow, could that have come off any more prissy and off-putting? At this point, he was going to be lucky if the guy didn’t just outright stop talking to him. But instead, those big brown eyes shot him a look that was almost coy, he could swear it, and maybe even flirtatious. Maybe.

“Hey there, Taylor Lachlan,” he murmured, and he was undeniably teasing, but that low, drawling voice seemed to shoot right to his cock anyway, even as it weakened his knees. “I’m Dane. Dane Galloway, if you’re interested.”

Oh, Taylor was interested. Very interested. Not only was this the most handsome man that he had seen in, well, probably his whole life, but this was the first conversation he’d had in person with anyone that he wasn’t related to in months. And it didn’t seem to be going completely terribly.

“Is she your sister?” Dane asked, and Taylor glanced at the Ferris wheel, which was whizzing merrily by them. He caught just a glimpse of Danica, her eyes bright, chattering animatedly with the little girl in the same cart that she was, her headscarf snapping smartly in the wind, and a smile came to his lips.

“Yeah. Danica.”

She was gone, and the moment she was, Taylor’s gaze was back on Dane, measuring the size of his shoulders and arms, wondering for a brief, breathless moment what it would be like to be snatched up and held in them. Would it feel confining, terrifying, or would he feel safe? Somehow, even though he barely knew this man, he found himself thinking the latter.

“Pretty name. I don’t wanna be rude, but she’s sick, ain’t she?” Dane commented.

Taylor drew in a deep breath. It was hardly a secret, but it scared him that she was so obviously ill that strangers could even notice it. Still, there was no point in denying it, so he nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Cancer. Leukemia.”

It was never fun saying those words out loud. Cancer was such a terrifying word, and most of the time, in Taylor’s experience, the moment it got tossed out there, people were stumbling over themselves trying to get away. Poor Danica had hardly any friends, even, and Taylor suspected that it had more to do with the parents than the children. It wasn’t contagious, but even people who should know better were hesitant.

Dane didn’t stammer, though. He didn’t make awkward comments. More than a few people had told Danica herself, had told Taylor and their mother that everything happened for a reason, that there was some sort of divine plan to all of this.

Taylor was not a violent man, but he just might snap if he heard that one more time.

“That sucks,” Dane said instead, and he sounded like he meant it, but it wasn’t changing the way that he was sneaking his eyes over to the side. Looking at Taylor, he realized, just as Taylor didn’t seem to be able to stop looking over at him.

“She’s been responding well to treatment. That’s what the doctors say.” Taylor was mentally screaming at himself to shut up, even as he kept on speaking. Just because Dane wasn’t acting weird about this didn’t mean that Taylor should keep right on babbling. But the words kept on coming out. “They told my mom that they think she has about a seventy percent chance of …”

He cut himself off, because even to himself, he couldn’t think of any other option but that she survives. He wouldn’t let himself.

Luckily, one of the adults standing around waiting for the ride to be over spoke up, and Taylor could have hugged them for it if that wouldn’t have been much more awkward. He had done quite enough to make himself into an idiot already. He didn’t need to freak more people out.

“It’s been a while. Is the ride almost over?” The woman was speaking politely enough, but Dane shot her a bit of a look. Like he didn’t want the conversation to be over, perhaps? Or was that just Taylor projecting?

Because despite how strange he felt, despite his instant attraction to this man, despite how sure he was that he was making a fool out of himself, he didn’t want this to be over. There was something there, something like an electrical current arcing between his body and Dane’s, and even if he imagined it, even if it only went one way, he was more deeply exhilarated than he could remember ever being before.

Still, he couldn’t say that he was surprised when Dane pulled a lever and the wheel slowly ground to a halt. Taylor watched, almost amused by his own reaction, as Dane opened each cart and let the people, mostly children, out into the world.

It took a few minutes, and the whole time, Dane didn’t say another word. Of course he didn’t. He was probably just glad that Taylor was going to be gone, that the conversation could come to a natural end. And no matter how little Taylor wanted to, he realized that he should let it happen. Just go, and take what little he had kept of his dignity and just be glad that he’d had this experience at all and that Danica had it as well.

Danica bounced out of the cart, her head tilted toward the other little girl, who looked to be about the same age, maybe a year or so older. They were chattering away like old friends, and Danica actually had color in her normally pale cheeks, her eyes shining.

“It looks like you made a friend, Priya,” the woman who had been glared at by Dane spoke, addressing the girl that Danica was chattering with. She did a double take when she laid eyes on Danica, but admirably, perhaps, the smile didn’t leave her face, and she didn’t make some excuse to pull her daughter away.

“Yeah.” Priya, up close, was much sturdier than Danica, even at roughly the same age. It hurt a little to see, and Taylor swallowed a little. “Mom, this is Danica. I want to play with her again. We’re both going into Kindergarten in the fall!”

“Why don’t we exchange phone numbers?” Priya’s mother asked, still with that slight, gentle smile on her lips. “Maybe we can arrange a playdate soon.”

Both girls looked thrilled, and there was no reason for Taylor to deny the request. Not with how happy Danica looked. This day had turned into the best one, Taylor knew, that his little sister had had in quite some time. A new friend, a day at the fair, she was pretty much in heaven.

So the four of them pulled off to the side, but before they went, Taylor felt the utterly expected sensation of fingers closing around his wrist and he looked into dark eyes, amused and full of mischief.

“You should come back later if you want. I’m off at eight,” Dane informed him before giving him the sexiest, most challenging little smirk that Taylor had ever seen. Dane’s fingers released, and Taylor was free, only somehow, he didn’t want to be. That had been the most intensely sensual touch that he had ever had, as pathetic as that was, and he found himself barely able to breathe with molten lava, it felt like, running through his veins in place of his blood.

“Are you gonna go, Taylor?” Danica asked, having overheard that little exchange. Of course she had, Dane hadn’t made even the slightest attempt to mask it. It was almost like he thought that asking another man out on a date wasn’t something to be ashamed of. Or was Taylor reading that wrong, and that wasn’t what Dane had meant at all?

It had sure seemed like it.

“Let’s just get those phone numbers exchanged,” Taylor said weakly, though he knew that Danica, once she got an idea in her head, was probably one of the most stubborn people in the state. He probably wasn’t going to get away with distracting her.

Nadira, as she’d introduced herself, Priya’s mother, was looking at him thoughtfully, too. Now that he thought about it, he had seen this family around. This was not a big town, and it would probably get around to pretty much everyone that Taylor had been asked out by an out of towner.

If that’s what had even happened.

Come back later if he felt like it. That was what Dane had said, so casual that it seemed like it was the most natural thing in the world for a man to invite another man out. What did it mean? Should Taylor go?

The safe thing would be to just not. To let what had happened be nothing more than a memory that was so intensely thrilling that the hairs on his arms were still standing on end. But he’d lived safely for so long. It had been so long since he’d had any real fun, and his mother, he couldn’t help but remember, was home tonight.

If there was ever a time to go for it, this was it.