Every Shade by Nora Phoenix

2

Tris didn't object at all to the cute guy leaning against him, his back pressed against Tris's chest. It was a damn shame the lights in the elevator were out, because he wouldn't have minded feasting his eyes a little longer on that appealing face. His dark hair had been styled to perfection, not a strand out of place, and it completely fit his neatly trimmed beard and his eyebrows that looked like he waxed them regularly.

The only reason Tris paid attention to things like that was because Cara had once railed about not having her eyebrows done in so long she'd acquired a unibrow. She'd had to explain that one to him, and ever since, he’d paid attention to eyebrows for some odd reason. Not a particularly helpful skill on a construction site, but it provided some amusement every now and then.

But it wasn't Samuel's eyebrows that had made Tris notice him or even the cute beard and the gorgeous, dark blue eyes, nor the suit that had to be custom-made, since it hugged his slender body so perfectly. No, it was a pair of full lips that were just begging to be kissed. Tris rarely had such a physical reaction to people he met, but this time, his whole body had shown attention, his dick most of all. That had to be the first time he could remember that he'd gotten a hard-on because of a guy's lips.

"How are you doing, Samuel? Or would you prefer to be called Sam?"

"Either is fine," came the soft response.

Tris still detected stress in his voice, which didn't surprise him after that announcement. He had zero fear of small places and wasn't afraid of the dark, but he couldn't deny this experience was a little unnerving.

He moved his leg sideways so he could reach his phone, then took it out and turned the flashlight feature on. "How about I put this right here so we have at least a bit of light?"

Samuel let out a little sigh. "Thank you."

“You didn't answer my question," Tris said, keeping his voice light. "Which do you actually prefer, Samuel or Sam?"

"My boyfriend always calls me Sam," Samuel said, and Tris's first reaction was a deep disappointment that he was taken, followed by a thrill at the good news that at least he was interested in men. Not that Tris would ever poach a boyfriend off another man. That was something you just didn't do, not even to strangers.

"I'm sure he does, but technically, that's still not an answer to my question," Tris said.

"Huh," Samuel said, and that one expression packed a lot of surprise. "I guess you're right. I prefer Samuel, actually."

"Samuel it is," Tris said. "Since we’re going to be stuck here for a while, let's chat and keep our minds off the fact that we can think of a million places we’d rather be right now. So, tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?"

It was the most mundane of opening questions, obviously, but considering Samuel's stress, Tris figured it was a safe enough place to start.

“I’m a graphic designer at an advertising agency," Samuel said.

"Cool. Or at least, it sounds cool. What does that entail, exactly?"

Samuel let out a cute giggle. "It means that other people come up with creative ideas for ad campaigns, and I make whatever graphics they need, like designs for ads in magazines, newspapers, or even billboards. I also do branding for ad campaigns or companies, so developing a new logo or a house style for a company."

"Gotcha. I take it you spend most of your days behind a screen then, creating beautiful things that didn't exist before," Tris said.

"I love that description," Samuel said, and Tris could hear the smile in his voice. “It’s accurate, though not everything I create can be labeled beautiful. But yeah, I create what wasn’t before. What do you do? Judging by your appearance, you don't look like you spend all day indoors."

Tris weighed his words for a few seconds, then decided it was a neutral observation and not a judgment on his appearance. He'd been there before, some urban professional judging him for being a guy who worked with his hands. As if they had zero understanding that both of their jobs were needed, since they wouldn't have a place to live without guys like Tris.

"I own a construction company," he said, allowing his pride for his achievements to ring through in his voice. "I started it about ten years ago, and it's grown from being just me to employing about twenty guys full time and countless per diem workers.”

"What kind of things do you build?" Samuel asked.

"We mostly do remodeling and renovation, but we have scored a few new construction projects as well. They’re hard to snag for a small company like mine. I can't be as competitive on pricing as the bigger guys."

Samuel's body, which had still been a little tense, relaxed against Tris's, and it almost felt like he was snuggling against him. There was absolutely no need for Tris to still have his arms wrapped around Samuel, but he couldn't seem to let go of him. Still, no harm done, as long as Samuel didn't push him away or give any indication he was getting uncomfortable, right?

"So what you're saying is you're creating beautiful things that didn't exist as well," Samuel said.

"I guess so," Tris said, feeling strangely happy at hearing his own words echoed back to him.

He'd better remember this guy was taken, he told himself. "And you have a boyfriend, I understand?" he asked, just to help himself focus on that crucially important tidbit.

"Yes," Samuel said. "We've been dating for two years now."

"And he calls you Sam," Tris said, not knowing why that was so important for him to mention.

"He does. I don't mind from him, I guess," Samuel said, and there was a hint of an edge to his voice that alerted Tris there might be some trouble brewing in paradise.

Still, he wasn't the kind of man to capitalize on that. There were few things he hated more than cheating. "Is he taking you out for dinner tonight?" he asked.

“Yes, he made reservations at Quatre, an exclusive French restaurant,” Samuel said, and now there was a happiness in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

Tris had never heard of the restaurant but since going out for dinner usually meant fast food for him with the occasional chain restaurant thrown in, that didn’t surprise him. “Sounds like you have a wonderful evening planned.”

“If we ever get out of this damn elevator,” Samuel mumbled.

Funny, a few minutes ago, Tris had been just as impatient but now he was fine spending some more time with Samuel. Maybe it was for the better that he was delayed, since he’d been hot-headed when he’d stormed into the building. Some time to cool off might prevent him from doing something stupid, like using his fists rather than his words to communicate his displeasure with the letter he’d received from that asshole lawyer. That two-timing bastard totally deserved to get his face smashed in, but getting arrested wasn’t gonna help Tris’s case. Or his company.

“How about you?” Samuel asked, interrupting Tris’s thoughts. “Are you in a relationship?”

He’d carefully avoided naming a gender, Tris noted, which amused him. His sexual orientation was hard to read for most people, and he usually got pegged as straight, especially when he had his kids with him. “I’m divorced, now single.”

“Oh. Newly divorced?”

“Nah, three years ago. We met in high school, got married when we found out she was pregnant in our senior year. We stayed together for a long time, but we’d grown apart long before then. We’re still good friends, though, and we share custody of our kids, two teenage boys.”

“Oh,” Samuel said again, but this time there was a little edge to his voice. “That’s great that you’re still such good friends, especially for your kids.”

“It is. She’s in a new relationship now, and her new boyfriend, Colin, is a cool guy who fits her perfectly.”

“But you’re not dating?” Samuel asked.

Tris shrugged. “I’ve dated a bit but nothing serious. I wanted to focus on my company and on my kids, and I figured that with all the changes the divorce brought, some stability for them would be good. But maybe it’s time to get back into it, I don’t know. It seems like such a hassle, you know?”

“It can be. I dated for years before I met my boyfriend. But you know what they say about having to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. Or princess, in your case?”

It was cute, the way he’d subtly framed that as a question, and Tris smiled. “Either. All,” he said. “I’m pansexual, so gender is not something I focus on, if that makes sense.”

The relief from Samuel was audible in a little sigh as well as obvious in the tension that left his body. “I thought you were gay because you were so comfortable with touching another man, but then you mentioned your ex-wife and I figured I’d maybe gotten it wrong. Then I considered you might be bi, but it seemed like a rather personal question to ask.”

Tris’s smile transformed into a chuckle. “So you figured you’d drop a little passive-aggressive suggestive question, huh?”

Samuel pulled his right shoulder up in a shrug. “It worked.”

It sure had, and Tris had to admire his devious tactic. “So what brings you to this office building?”

“My boyfriend works here. He was supposed to pick me up, but he texted me he was running late and asked me to come here,” Samuel explained.

Tris frowned. A guy who was late because he had to work on Valentine’s Day clearly had an issue getting his priorities straight. There was no way in hell he would keep a cutie like Samuel waiting. A man like that deserved to be pampered and taken care of.

“Well, at least you’re going out together in a little bit. I’m sure it won’t be long now.”

“God, I hope so. He will be so pissed when we lose our reservation. He made it, like, two months ago. Anyway, what brings you here?”

Even thinking about it brought his simmering anger back in full force, and Tris couldn’t keep the venom from his voice as he spoke. “I’m here to see if I can get a one-on-one with a lawyer who’s fucking my company over. It’s a long story, but basically, I did a job for a real estate developer who turned out to be a shady motherfucker—pardon my French—and tried to get out of paying me by suing me for incompetence. I thought everything was settled, but I got a letter today from his asshole lawyer that he’s decided to go ahead and take it to court. They damn well know I can’t afford the lawyer fees for a trial.”

For the first time since they’d sat down, Samuel pushed against Tris’s arms, and he let him go immediately. Samuel scrambled to turn around and face him, and even in the dim light his phone produced, Tris could see his indignity. “That’s horrible!”

The pure emotion on his face wrapped around Tris’s heart like a warm embrace, softening his anger. “It is. They’re taking advantage of a small company like mine because I can’t afford expensive lawyers. So I figured I’d come over and try to talk some reason into this asshole, though I doubt it’ll do me any good. The guy is a massive dick anyway, and not the good kind.”

He got a chuckle for that lame-ass joke. “Just because he’s doing this to you, or do you know more about him?” Samuel asked.

“Oh, I know more about him than I care to. The guy is a cheater, and there are few things I despise more than that. Apparently, he has a husband or boyfriend or something, but he cheats on him like every week or so. My ex, Cara, owns a cleaning company and she cleans the studio he still keeps, even though he lives with his partner. She’s run into him on more than one occasion when he was just done fucking some hookup. Seriously, he’s a total douchebag.”

He stopped talking when he noticed Samuel’s body going rigid. What was the matter? Was he triggering bad memories? Maybe his boyfriend had cheated on him and Tris had made him relive that?

Then it dawned on him. Oh god. Samuel had mentioned he was here to see his boyfriend. It couldn’t be, could it? Then again, how many gay lawyers could work on the same floor? Fucking hell, he’d gone and done it now, hadn’t he?

“Samuel,” he said, more a plea than anything else, and even in the weak light the terror in Samuel’s eyes was stark. He knew. “I’m…”

What could he say? That he was sorry? He was, for causing him pain, but the truth was that it wasn’t his fault. But would Samuel see it that way?

“The asshole lawyer, what’s his name?” Samuel asked, his voice barely audible.

“Samuel,” Tris tried again, not wanting to hurt him even more by confirming what they both knew was true.

“What’s. His. Name.”

Samuel’s ice-cold tone would be a damn turn-on if it didn’t break Tris’s heart. He forced the words out. “Evan McLeod.”