Wiley nodded and smiled, a small dimple popping up in his cheek. Yeah, he was pretty damn sweet.
There was a clatter in the kitchen, and Baer nodded his head in that direction. He’d seen Grey pulling out meat to thaw for dinner. “You like steak? We eat a lot of it around here.” He stopped suddenly and cringed. “I mean, unless you’re a vegetarian. Which is cool. We can totally work with that.”
Deep belly laughs had Wiley rocking backward until he had to stumble to catch himself. “Do you realize that you have the same expression on your face when you said vegetarian as some people get when they say communist?”
“I did not!” Baer gasped, which only made Wiley laugh harder. “I don’t have any problem with vegetarians. I’m sure they’re all very nice. I-I-I just don’t understand what they eat.”
Wiley was panting for air and wiping the tears from his eyes. “They eat everything but meat.”
“Yeah, but meat is like…the meal.” Baer might have been playing it up a little, but he really enjoyed watching Wiley laugh so hard.
“Well, lucky for you, I’m not a vegetarian.”
“Are you a communist?” Baer joked, which earned him a snort and a head shake.
“I’m happy to help with meals,” he offered. “I’d feel strange just staying here otherwise.”
“We can work something out. We all take turns with the meals. Maybe you can help on my nights. My cooking repertoire isn’t exactly vast and mostly involves the grill.”
“I’m not big on cooking either, but I’m sure if we put our heads together, we’ll come up with some great stuff.”
Baer couldn’t help but smile at the man. He was always so upbeat and ready to tackle anything. “Tonight, you’re in for a treat. Dane is a great cook, and I saw a tub of his potato salad in the fridge.”
Baer led the way to the kitchen with Wiley following him. He found Grey pulling out the ingredients for a marinade, and he opened the refrigerator to see if they had any cabbage. It was his favorite vegetable and he had a craving. No cabbage, but there was another tub of something that looked like coleslaw. Yum.
For a quick lunch, they settled on some sandwiches and chips. Wiley and Grey talked softly as Grey mixed the ingredients. They both got wrapped up in talking books, deadlines, and grumpy editors. Baer couldn’t particularly relate to any of it, but it was nice to watch Wiley when he was happy.
The young man smiled often as he spoke, his hands moving constantly as words flowed from his lips in a steady stream. He was definitely a talker, and his excitement as he asked about Grey’s powers was cute as all get out.
Wiley turned to get something for Grey out of the refrigerator and his jeans pulled tight over that small ass. Baer’s gaze locked there until he heard a snort. His gaze moved to find Grey watching him with a huge grin.
Hell, Baer was in real trouble here and he knew it.
Chapter 5
Baer knocked on the door to Wiley’s room and listened to the resulting shuffling inside. His voice lifted as he talked to his fluffy princess.
Dear God, that cat is a freaking nightmare.
The artist had been living in the plantation house for just over a week, but Baer hadn’t seen as much of the man as he would have liked. While he’d been helping Dane and Clay with the remodeling of the dining room and moving their weapons to the billiards room, Wiley had spent most of his time locked away in the bedroom. Apparently, he was on a deadline and running behind on his current project. A new shaft of guilt cut through Baer. Was he running late with his work because of him?
The door swung open suddenly, and Wiley’s face lit up in the most breath-stealing way. He looked up at Baer like he was the best gift he could have found outside his room.
“Hey! Come on in,” he greeted. He backed up and waved Baer inside.
Baer slowly stepped past him. On the left was a doorway to the private bathroom, and on the right was a door to the walk-in closet before reaching the bedroom. In the center of the bed, Queenie lay stretched out, her fluffy fur poofed perfectly about her large body. Yeah, she knew she was the queen of her domain. Baer didn’t need to read her thoughts to know that.
“I’m not disturbing your work, am I?”
“Nope! I just sent off the last pages of the issue I was working on to my editor. She usually has only light modifications for me. I’ll be able to knock those out tomorrow and be all caught up at last.”
Baer glanced around the room to find a handful of action figures placed on the desk and several cat toys spread around the room. “It looks like you’ve gotten settled okay.”
“Queenie and I are perfectly cozy in the room. We even spend some time in the morning sitting on the balcony, enjoying the early morning sun and getting some inspiration to start the day.”
“Are you going to be comfortable enough?”
“Oh, yeah. This room is way bigger than the bedroom in my apartment, and Queenie has plenty of new places to explore. After meeting Ruby, she’s sticking close to our room for now. I think she got a little overwhelmed by all the newness.”
Baer glanced over to the cat who yawned at him, flashing perfect little fangs. Yeah, the rotund princess is super stressed over her new surroundings. But Baer kept his thoughts to himself.
“I know you sent a message to your grandmother, but did you need to check in with a girlfriend…or maybe a boyfriend? You know, just so they didn’t worry.” Baer held his breath for a second. That didn’t sound suspicious, right? Just concerned. Like a good friend.
Wiley blushed a little. “Um…it’d be a boyfriend, actually, and no. I don’t date much. Never been really good at it. I think I’m kind of high-maintenance.”
“I doubt that,” Baer quickly said while something inside of him soared with relief and joy. “And I’ve got no room to judge. My dating track record is epically bad.” And he truly doubted it was going to get any better, with the whole powers and pestilents thing.
Their conversation ground to an awkward silence with Wiley staring down at his feet and Baer scratching his head, trying to figure out how to get them back on track. Oh! That’s right! He was checking on Wiley’s comfort.
“What about the desk?” Baer asked suddenly, making Wiley jump. “I noticed you had a drafting table in the apartment.”
“Oh, that’s for my larger projects. I do all my work for the comic books digitally now. The desk is just fine.”
“And the light?”
“Light is all good.”
“If it’s not, you can always take over the game room. You’ve got your own private door to that room right here.”
Baer walked over and opened a door on the far side of the room that led into a larger room that separated their bedrooms. Wiley followed Baer over to the game room that currently housed just an old couch and a TV.
“Dane hasn’t tried to renovate this room yet because the other main rooms are a bigger priority,” Baer explained. He waved his arm to encompass the room, suddenly feeling like one of the models displaying carpet cleaner on The Price Is Right. “You’d have total privacy here if you needed the space. I’m sure we could get a drafting table for you and set it up in here.”