Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
His partner settled on the other side of the table, but his foot met Frank’s on the floor, like it did each week. He picked up the bottle of white wine and poured some into glasses, taking his time to think over his answer. The flame of the candle he’d already lit earlier made his eyes flicker as if they too held real fire when he looked up. “Nothing was ever an act with you. I was wary when I was asked to meet up with someone I haven’t vetted myself, but it just worked from the start.”
Frank swallowed, frozen to the seat. He wanted to believe it. Ezra never talked much about his private life, not beyond things that were amusing or pleasant, but there likely was a good reason for why he’d chosen this profession. It was fair that he took the money they’d agreed on, but it wasn’t impossible that he actually enjoyed his time with Frank.
His hand curled over the box as he struggled to find the right words. He’d never been good with those. “That’s really sweet. It’s one of my biggest pleasures to see you lose control and just feel, but I also love to see you happy. Like when you caught that fish. I wish I’d taken a photo, because your smile was so big. And since it’s been a year… I got you a little something.” He slid the watch over the table, unbothered that his food was waiting.
Ezra froze, staring at the box, then at Frank, before returning his gaze to the gift. “It was a great weekend. I liked doing something different,” he said, putting down his cutlery to accept Frank’s present.
His tongue briefly parted his lips, as if he was nervous, but when the golden surface of the watch glinted in the flickering glow of the candle, he let out a soft sigh. “It’s… beautiful.”
Frank rubbed his chin nervously, but then grabbed the fork to do something with his hands. “I hope it goes with your style. You’re always so elegant.”
Long fingers fished the watch out of the box, and Ezra rubbed it with both thumbs, as if he were caressing the segmented bracelet. But there was something dim in his smile, and Frank’s heart sank when he realized that maybe this gesture spoiled the relationship they’d built so far. His breath burned when Ezra leaned back in his chair and looked up.
“I need to tell you something.”
Frank froze with a potato half-way to his mouth. “What’s up?” He didn’t like the tone of Ezra’s voice one bit.
He’d assumed Ezra had been nervous when they first met, even though he hid it well, and back at the lake he’d been unsure about being in a boat after dark, but this was the first time Frank saw him in true discomfort. A maddening tension squeezed Frank’s back muscles when Ezra gently put the Rolex back into the box and had a sip of wine. His perfect lips opened wider than usual to take a long, ungentlemanly gulp from the glass.
“I wanted to tell you in the morning, but I think... given the circumstances, I should do so now. This is... difficult,” he admitted, biting his lip.
Oh, God. He hates the watch.
Fuck.
“Did I do something wrong?” Frank stuffed his mouth with food, but he could barely sense the flavor, even though the chicken was tender, and the salad dressing—tasty as ever.
“No, of course not,” Ezra said, but his foot left its usual place alongside Frank’s. “It’s just that—”
The room seemed to darken as Frank berated himself for every dumb choice he’d made. He knew other men offered Ezra gifts, even very expensive ones, so he assumed it wasn’t anything rule-breaking, especially that he’d previously brought him modest, more normal presents that had been eagerly accepted. Was this about the confession from moments ago?
His head overheated at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Ezra had wanted to express some deeper affection to him but couldn’t do it because of the nature of their relationship, and the expensive gift ruined it all by reminding him that they were in fact a client and an escort.
Then again, if Ezra had real feelings for Frank, it would change everything. Frank had become his regular because their meetings offered him a bit of clean fun that wasn’t in any way connected to his job or real life, but he couldn’t deny the fact that the man sitting across from him had crawled way too deep under his skin than he should have. But if they both wanted to change the nature of their connection many issues stood in the way. It wasn’t as if Ezra could live in the dump Frank called home, and Frank wasn’t sure how he felt about investing his feelings in someone who slept with other people, even if it was for work. But if dating Ezra for real was an option, Frank could make some arrangements. Though they’d need to first have a conversations about Ezra’s future without the boundaries of privacy an escort had the right to expect. They’d need to know each other out of this bubble.