Trusting Jack (MC Securities Book 1) Page 8

  “How old are you?”

  Michael rolled his eyes. “Just gone thirty. Don’t remind me.” He let him change the subject.

  Jack laughed. “So, there’s hope for me yet?” Jack continued to smile, his gaze drifting over Michael’s face, making him feel warm.

  “Of course. Get all this nonsense sorted and you can do whatever you want. Be whoever you want to be.”

  Michael half expected a suggestive retort, but Jack looked oddly vulnerable. “Do you think so?”

  Michael wanted to say more. Wanted to go back to talking about Daniel McCafferty, so he could explain his connection to the man, but Jack was so relaxed he didn’t want to ruin it. So, he didn’t.

  Chapter Nine

  Jack opened his eyes and blinked at his phone. It was seven o’clock. Almost time to get up. Noises alerted him to the fact that Michael was already up and about. He sighed and flopped onto his back, one hand behind his head. He’d really thought that they might have gone to bed together after their evening out. Thought that they might have… He sighed again. Michael had kissed him on the forehead in a chaste way and passed him the bedding before shutting himself in. When Jack caught his hand, he’d given him a sad smile and muttered something about him still being his boss.

  Jack threw back the covers, heaved himself off the sofa, and headed for the bathroom. He couldn’t really blame him. Who the hell would want to get tangled up with someone in the kind of mess he was in. Probably for the best. He flushed the toilet, and then jumped in the shower and let the hot water pound down over his head. He’d offered no-strings sex, but for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure he could do anything with Michael on a no-strings basis. Michael was completely different to anyone he had ever met. There was something just so…so… He sighed and let the water run over his head. He’d no idea what it was.

  He quickly shampooed his hair and rinsed. If they had started something, he’d end up getting all soppy and ruining it all anyway. He soaped up his body and scrubbed, thinking back to his ex. Gavin. They’d split because of Nathan, but that wasn’t the whole story. He’d stopped short of telling Michael all about life with Gavin. He let his mind wander back to the awful rows they’d had where Gav said he was clingy, too needy, too insecure. When Gav had laughed at him trying to make a better life for himself, criticised every choice that he made. So many little things that he’d tried to do right to make things work and got totally wrong. He rinsed his hair again and put some conditioner on it, twisting his body under the water while it worked. He seemed to have a real knack for getting it wrong. He really didn’t want to get things wrong with Michael, but he knew he would.

  He jumped out and grabbed a towel and rubbed himself. He used the edge of his fist to clear a circle in the mist on the mirror and peered at himself. He wasn’t bad looking, but nothing special. Michael was drop dead gorgeous, mega intelligent, successful and… He picked up his toothbrush with a sigh.

  Michael was in the kitchen, dressed for work, when Jack emerged with the bath towel slung around his hips. Jack took a firm hold of the towel.

  “Morning.”

  Michael turned and gave him a half smile and nodded. “Sleep well?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  Michael nodded and went back to making tea.

  Things felt unexpectedly awkward and Jack’s heart sank even further. “I’ll get dressed,” he muttered and headed for the lounge. He threw his clothes on quickly. A warm smell of toast wafted around the apartment and Jack’s stomach grumbled. He headed for the kitchen, where Michael was sitting at the island. A mug of black tea sat waiting for him, and a pile of toast.

  “Help yourself,” Michael said around a mouthful.

  Jack picked up the tea and blew across the surface before taking a sip, then tucked into the toast.

  They ate in silence for a while, and Jack felt uncomfortable for the first time around Michael. He swallowed the last of his toast and wiped the butter from his lips with the back of his hand. He couldn’t bear it.

  “Do you want me to go?” The words just kind of blurted themselves out. Michael looked shocked, but now he’d started, it was like his mouth couldn’t stop. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can sort something out for myself. You’ve been really good to me. I can’t… I can’t….” The words ran out.

  Michael put his toast down carefully and dusted the crumbs from his fingers. He scratched his head and frowned. “I don’t want you to go, but if you don’t want to stay I…” He shrugged.

  “Well, I don’t want to go, but after last night I thought you’d maybe decided that I was—” he shrugged awkwardly, “—I don’t know. In too deep with the wrong people? Too much trouble.” He looked at Michael. “I… Well, if people knew about me it might damage your business, and if they knew I was living here, people might think you were involved as well and that would be...” It would be unthinkable. If people thought that Michael was involved in the crap with Bryce…well. His heart was thumping in his chest. He couldn’t hurt Michael that way.

  He looked at him. Michael was chewing his toast and watching.

  “What if they thought we were an item. If you’re not out…” He shrugged helplessly.

  Michael looked thoughtful for a moment. “I was thinking of going to the Christmas markets after work tonight. Would you like to come?”

  “Wanna… what?” The shift in topic surprised him.

  “Christmas markets. They do the best bratwurst. And Gluhwein.”

  “But…”

  “Look.” Michael shifted awkwardly in his seat and looked at his mug. “I like you. I like you more than I should, given I’m your boss, and I’m struggling with that to be honest. That’s the only reason I didn’t…ask you to…” He gestured vaguely and then sighed. “Last night… I laid awake last night wanting to come and crawl onto the sofa with you.”

  “You did?” Jack’s voice came out like a squeak. He cleared his throat.

  “What you told me?” He shook his head. “I’m so sorry that you lost Nathan. I’m sorry that there wasn’t anything you could do, I’m sorry that your ex was a dick, I’m sorry that you’re mixed up in all that shit. What I’m not sorry about is the fact that you are here with me.” Michael gave him a level look. “But, I need to tell you something.”

  Jack held his breath. “What?”

  Michael hesitated but then looked up and held his gaze. “My business partner?”

  “Chris?” Jack had never met the guy that Michael worked with, he seemed to work away from the office. He’d heard them mention Chris in passing, but that was it.

  Michael nodded. “Chris. Christian. Christian McCafferty.”

  Michael watched the blood drain from Jack’s face. He’d often read that line in books and thought it unlikely to ever happen, but it did.

  He opened his mouth and then shut it. “Is…is he related?”

  Michael nodded. “Cousin.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if you knew.”

  “I didn’t… I … Christ, I’d never have applied to you for a job if I’d known. Oh God…” Jack put a hand over his mouth.

  “I didn’t want to involve him if I could help it, but I think it’s best that we do.”

  Jack was still staring. Shocked, uncomfortable. He swallowed. “So, what … This Christian is what… your business partner?”

  Michael nodded. We set up the business together. He does the people part, I do the tech stuff. He’s better at people than I am.”

  “Why have I never seen him?”

  “He’s been working in Europe securing a contract that will make a big difference to us. Move us into a different league.”

  “Is he legit?”

  Michael bristled. “Of course he is. I wouldn’t be involved in business with him if he wasn’t. I know about that side of his family, but he has little to do with them. Totally different lives and nothing to do with us.” He hesitated
and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Mostly.”

  Jack stared. “Mostly?”

  Michael cleared his throat. “Mostly. The only time I’ve had any involvement with that side of the family was when my ex ran off with my ideas and tried to flog them. He…sorted it out.”

  “Sorted it out?” Jack said the words carefully.

  “Yeah. Damage limitation. Meant we didn’t go under.” Michael cleared his throat again. “Dealt with him.”

  “Dealt with him… Have you any idea what he did?”

  Michael hadn’t asked too many questions. He shook his head and stole a glance at Jack.

  He was looking thoughtful. It wasn’t a good sign. Michael was kicking himself. He should have said something straight away instead of sitting on it, but in truth, he hadn’t known how the hell to react. He knew Christian’s cousin was dodgy, knew when Christian had asked for his help when Alex had all but ruined them, but he hadn’t realised he’d be mixed up in the extortion of money from vulnerable young people. It had thrown him completely. He’d tried to get in touch with Christian but hadn’t been able to make contact. it made him uncomfortable.

  Jack rubbed his face. “You trust him?”

  “Christian? With my life.”

  “And mine?”

  Michael’s chest squeezed at the question, so hard it was difficult to speak. “Yes.” His voice was croak. “Yes. I trust him. I just need to get hold of him.”

  Jack sucked in a breath. “Okay.”

  He was staggered. Michael could see it in his face. He didn’t blame him, he should really have told him about Christian when he’d mentioned McCafferty. Daniel McCafferty had a reputation. However, to the best of his knowledge, he wasn’t a nut job, he was a shrewd businessman. Like his cousin. Just not afraid to dabble on the opposite side of the fence. It was complicated.

  He watched as Jack picked up another slice of the toast and, biting off a huge piece, chew thoughtfully. His hair shone now. Clean, glossy hair that flopped onto his forehead. He’d lost that gaunt, cold, underfed look although he was still thin. And his eyes. God, his eyes. Slate grey that sometimes turned a greyish blue. Wide, disarmingly innocent given the life he’d had. In a short space of time he’d burrowed his way into Michael’s life, and he was stunned at how much he wanted to keep him there. He should have seen that his refusal to take him to bed would shake him and make him feel unwanted. He had an awful feeling that it wouldn’t take much to make him feel unwanted after what he’d told him about his life. His chest hurt every time he thought about it. He just wanted to pull him into his arms and hold him tight.

  He wanted Jack to trust him to stick around. But he had no idea how to achieve that. He wished he could say something profound, something that would make him feel better.

  “So, do you fancy the market tonight?” It was the best he could do.

  “Um…yeah?”

  “Well, we can change quickly after work and head out. We can get something to eat, do some shopping…” It all sounded a bit trite given what Jack was dealing with, but doing normal things would help. Michael realised he wanted to do some normal things with him. It was the first time he’d ever wanted to do normal things with someone. Hell, it was the first time he’d thought about doing normal things at all.

  Jack finished the last of his toast and wiped his mouth and fingers on a piece of kitchen paper. Michael watched as Jack stood and made to leave.

  Jack stopped by the kitchen door and turned back. “This market. Were you…were you thinking of getting a tree?”

  There was such hope in those gorgeous eyes that Michael’s lips curved into a smile. He never bothered with trees or Christmas decorations, mainly because he was too busy, and he went to his parents for Christmas dinner and they went the whole hog, so it didn’t seem worth it just for him.

  “You want to trim up?”

  Jack bit his lip and looked so charmingly hopeful. He’d seemingly taken their previous conversation in his stride. Just like he seemed to do with everything that life threw at him.

  Michael shrugged, and his smile widened. “Why not.”

  They hauled the Christmas tree from the lift and Jack almost toppled over in the process. There were pine needles everywhere. Over both of them, in the car, in the lift, and they were now spreading across the hallway as they dragged the tree towards the flat door. It was bloody enormous and all claims about it not shedding needles were patently untrue.

  “Wait…” Michael fished in his pocket for the key and propped the monster tree up against the wall while he opened the door. They dragged it in, and Jack collapsed on the sofa laughing. Michael had to laugh with him. The tree was ridiculous. And there were bags of decorations still in the boot of the car, along with some contraption that they were supposed to stand the tree in to make sure it didn’t wilt. Jack had wanted to get one with a root, so they could plant it afterwards, but then had to agree the options for planting a tree in a flat in the middle of the city were a bit limited.

  “I’ll get the rest of the stuff.”

  He headed back down to the underground garage. On the way back up in the lift, his phone rang. Juggling the boxes with one hand, he dragged it out of his pocket.

  Christian. At last.

  “Hey,” he said, gripping the phone between his ear and shoulder to reposition the boxes.

  “You wanted to speak to me?”

  “Yep. Got a bit of a problem.”

  “Go on.”

  “It involves your cousin.”

  There was a quiet sigh from the other end of the phone. “Go on.”

  Michael gave Christian a run-down of what had happened as the lift made its way to his floor.

  “Well, I can’t just go barging in and demand that he write off the debt.”

  Michael frowned and adjusted the phone. “I don’t expect you to. I’ll lend Jack the money to pay it off, and he can repay me. At least I won’t make him homeless and try to rape him.”

  Christian was quiet for a moment. “That’s the bit I don’t get. Daniel is many things, but I don’t see him extorting money from some kid or employing a thug to do his dirty work. He’s nothing if not fastidious, and this Bryce character sounds way off beam.”

  “I want to be sure that if I give Jack ten grand it will pay off the debt. I wouldn’t trust Bryce for a second. All I need to know is, if I pay off the ten grand, will that be an end to it?”

  “I can try talk to him. I’m not promising though, he can be hard to pin down.”

  “I’d owe you. Again.”

  There was a pause on the line. “Damned straight.”

  Michael got out of the lift and elbowed his way into the apartment carrying the boxes.

  “Jack, give me a hand?”

  The sound of stockinged feet padding towards him made him peer around. Jack grinned at him and grabbed a few. “Have you got the base? We need to get it in there then we can decorate it.”

  “At the bottom.”

  They piled all the bounty on the floor by the tree and sorted through it. Getting the tree into the holder with water was trickier than it looked. Getting the damned thing straight was another thing entirely. It was only after some contortions from Jack, wriggling under the tree and sticking card under the feet that they got it upright and reasonably straight. When he came out, his hair was full of pine needles. He shook his head and scattered them everywhere.

  Michael laughed and batted him away when he tried to shed needles all over him. “Get the box, let’s get the tinsel and the baubles on.”

  “Wait,” Jack said bouncing a little. “We need Christmas music.”

  “Christmas music?”

  “Of course, you can’t put a Christmas tree up without music. And the chocolates.”

  Michael tried to stop the smile that curved his lips, but it was a tough job. Jack was so damned excited, so happy, it lit up something in his own heart. Something he hadn’t realised had gone out. When had he become so jaded that he couldn’t
be excited about Christmas? He found a Christmas channel, and the soft, familiar sound of sleigh bells filled the room along with the scent of pine needles from the gargantuan tree. He found the box of chocolate mints that Jack had insisted on buying. As they ate them, he realised that these were exactly the same as those his mother bought every Christmas. The dark, minty chocolate melted on his tongue making him smile.

  He watched Jack pull out armfuls of tinsel and realised that he’d never bothered with any of the Christmas stuff because he’d never had anyone to share it with. He watched as Jack sorted the decorations and sang along in a soft, off-key voice to the strains of the songs on the radio.

  “Let’s do the lights first.” Jack grinned up at him.

  Michael pulled out the box of white lights that they had bought and plugged them in. They worked perfectly. Between them, they wound them around the tree and threw on tinsel, baubles, decorations, and topped it with a golden star.

  They stood back amid the debris and admired their handy work. It wouldn’t win any design awards, but in his small living room, it looked wonderful.

  “Not bad,” Michael murmured.

  “It’s…perfect,” Jack whispered, grinning and hugging himself. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He looked at Michael. “C’mon, let’s do a selfie.”

  Michael rolled his eyes but got out his phone and posed beside Jack, holding it up to get the tree in, and snapped.

  Jack moved closer while they looked at the result. Michael flicked through some of the pictures they’d taken at the market. There was one in particular, another selfie, where even he looked really happy.

  “I still can’t believe you didn’t have any selfies on your phone,” Jack said, laughing.

  Michael shook his head and smiled. He slid the phone back in his pocket, hesitated, then, as Jack was still grinning and leaning into him, awkwardly put an arm around his shoulders. He felt the warmth from his body as the music swirled around them, breathed in the scent of his shampoo. It felt like his heart stopped beating for a little while when Jack leaned even closer until they slid into each other’s arms. He was simply the most perfect fit. The feel of his taught, male body was heaven.