Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Noel returned to a very different house than the one he'd left this morning. There were security cameras everywhere, the busted window had been fixed, the latch at the gate was not only replaced but reinforced, and the front door had been replaced completely. He went from practically no security to all the security in the space of eight hours.

He also came home to a very confused brother.

Hunter met him at the door, and he did not look like he'd gone to work at all. Instead of form-fitting jeans, he was in sweats and his "comfy" shirt, or in other words, a T-shirt so holey it was not fit to leave the house in. His dark brown hair was styled, though, so maybe he'd been out? He was clean shaven, too. Confusing signals over there.

"Oh, you're home?" Noel greeted Hunter with some concern.

"Uh, yeah. Slight accident at work. Some idiot rammed into a utility pole so there's no power at the bar tonight. Should be back up and running by morning, or so the city people said." Hunter gestured toward the house in general with a single finger, eyebrow raised. "And when did you decide to buy all this?"

"Um. About that. This isn't my doing." Noel tried for a smile even while his mind raced. How did he even begin to explain this?

"What, did the security fairy decide to drop by and bop you on the head?"

"Not…exactly?" Noel toed off shoes, hung his jacket up on a hook, buying himself precious seconds to think. Ah, that might work. "So, you know my new job?"

"Sure, the security company." Hunter nodded, expression still quizzical.

He'd been in the middle of dinner prep when Noel walked in, so he joined his older brother in the kitchen, going to the sink to wash his hands first. He hadn't been able to tell his brother the truth about his mafia PA job, for fear of worrying Hunter, so he'd gone with the cover story of working for a security company. It wasn't technically a lie? At the very root of its history, that's what the mafia was originally—security for neighborhoods, and Fernando had mentioned he'd started his clan as a means to protect others like himself. So, yeah. Half truths.

"Right, so I had a small incident at work this morning. A colleague bumped into me and spilled coffee all over my shirt. Boss sent me home to change, and my colleague—his name is North, really nice guy—drove me here. As kind of an apology, I guess. Anyway, while I was at work, some thugs came looking for Uncle and the front door had been busted open."

Hunter groaned, head dropping sharply in despair. "When will they get it that he's not here?"

"I dunno, but I hope it's soon. Anyway, North was visibly worried about seeing the break-in. I think he went straight to my boss and told him about it. My boss was also worried, so he sent North and some of the other guys to install security equipment, replace the locks, etcetera. All free of charge. They did tell me they'd installed a few things, just not how much they'd done."

Hunter smiled at him. His brother was a very charming guy so when he smiled like that, with such pure happiness, it was hard not to smile back. "That's great. So thoughtful of them. Your new boss and coworkers really like you, huh?"

"Yeah. It's mutual." Noel had admittedly been nervous around them that first week. They looked rough, after all, like they'd rather bite than smile at you. Now he knew they were tough on the outside but gooey in the middle. He liked every single one of them.

"I'm going to make lemon bars after dinner," Noel tacked on. "As a thank you for their help. They really liked the cookies last time."

"I'll help." Hunter was all smiles as he chopped garlic. "They've helped me too, after all."

"Sure."

Noel rolled up his sleeves and helped with dinner prep and when it was in the oven, Hunter found a moment to just crack open a beer and sit on the couch with his little brother. Kind of a rare thing on a weeknight. They normally didn't see each other much except on weekends because of their different schedules. It was a miracle Hunter hadn't been home this morning, actually, otherwise he'd have been alone with those thugs. Thank god he'd been running errands and not at the house.

Since he had his brother's attention, Noel threw out the idea that had been driving him crazy since this morning. Ever since he'd put on Fernando's shirt and gotten that look , the one he still didn't know how to define. "Hey, let me ask you something."

Hunter gave him a go ahead with his fingers even as he sipped his beer.

"You ever have someone look at you and feel like…I dunno how to describe this. Like for a second, just a second, you feel almost consumed by them? Like they're hungry for any taste of you and you can almost feel that on your skin?"

Hunter paused and slowly lowered his beer, eyes narrowed on Noel's face. "Now who looked at you like that, baby brother?"

"Um." Yeah, no way in hell he'd say his boss. That would not go down well. Hunter had been the national runner-up for Taekwondo not so many years ago, and he still had the habit of punch first, send flowers later. "A guy I know at work. I could've been reading the look wrong."

"No. I can assure you, you didn't. If you feel like that, then that's how they were looking at you. That kind of lust can't be mistaken."

Well, damn. What was he supposed to do with this information? Fernando found him that attractive? Seriously? The same man that looked like an elven prince who had just stepped out of his forest realm? Noel was just the kid next door compared to that level of stunning beauty. He could not comprehend why Fernando had looked at him with such lust this morning. Seriously, the man could wave a hand and have any person at his bidding. It made no sense he'd be interested in Noel.

Hunter still looked suspicious. "Did this guy hit on you?"

"What? No. He didn't say anything. I don't, uh, think he intends to."

"Noel. When a man looks at you like that , he's not going to just let it drop. Trust me. Also, I know we've talked about this before, that you think you're gay, but are you comfortable with men hitting on you at work?"

He could understand why Hunter asked. They'd talked about this off and on for over a year now. Noel had never questioned it in his teens because he'd only really made friends with girls. It was only over the past two years that had changed, and he had some guy friends now. His teenage self had thought because he was friends with girls, he must be into them. But he never wanted to touch, just liked their company. Eventually, he had to admit to himself that it was men he wanted to kiss.

After that charged moment in the changing room this morning, Noel had no doubt where his sexuality fell on the spectrum. "Pretty sure I'm gay, Bro. I guess it depends on who's doing the flirting, but in theory I'm okay with any guy hitting on me."

"Okay, fair enough. So this particular man who gave you that look, how do you feel about him?"

Question for the ages, right there. How did Noel feel? He was torn between feeling confused and going "Yes, please." The second option likely wasn't wise. "Honestly, he's so far out of my league. I don't stand a chance with that man."

"Is that why you think he won't actually say anything to you?"

"Yeah."

"Noel, I'm not being your doting big brother when I say this, okay? You're a very attractive guy. You're smart, you're talented, and you've got a good personality. People meet you and like you within minutes. I don't think anyone is really out of your league. If you're not comfortable dating this man, that's one thing. If you're trying to bury your head in the sand and pretend like he doesn't like you, that's another."

"You sure that's not the very definition of a doting big brother?"

Hunter rolled those big brown eyes dramatically. "Pretty damn sure. Take it from someone who basically raised you. Also, from my perspective, it'd be really nice if you had someone aside from me to protect you."

That last stint where he'd ended up hospitalized after a beating really did haunt Hunter. It wasn't his fault; he'd been at work when it all went down. Noel had told him that many times. Hunter knew it, too, but the feeling still remained, rage and helplessness lingering like a bruise on his heart.

More practically, Hunter added, "At least come up with a possible response in case he does approach you. Just so you're not caught flat-footed."

Okay, that was wise advice. Noel didn't think Fernando would actually say something, but on the off chance Hunter was right? He should probably have an answer.

The hell of it was, Noel had no idea what way to answer. A "yes" was obviously unwise but…it was damn tempting.

Fernando leaping into action whenever Noel was in danger didn't help calm his desires down any. It was very, very hard to not read into that protective behavior and feel warmed by it. Aside from Hunter and Anne, he'd not had someone to rely on in a very long time. And they were all on the same shitty boat, so he felt bad about asking those two for anything.

Why was he even thinking about this? It was all moot, anyway. Dating the boss was always a bad idea, right? Besides, Noel had no real concept of how to date, much less how to date a vampire. That had to be pro league, right there. Better for him to just keep his nose down and his desires in check.

The timer went off for the oven and Hunter rose to take dinner out. It saved Noel from saying anything else and he rose too, heading to get plates ready. Even as he moved, he dismissed the idea from his head for the final time. Fernando had shady warehouse dealings and overly rambunctious mafia men to deal with. Surely he didn't want a na?ve boyfriend, right? Noel's utterly virgin self, with his zero-dating experience, wouldn't be a turn on for someone smooth like Fernando.

Yeah, he could just ignore what happened this morning. Nothing would come of it. Noel was one hundred percent sure on that.

Lemon bars and thanking nice coworkers. That's what he'd focus on tomorrow. Nothing more.