Where He Belongs: Gay Romance, page 2
Gus turned to him, trying to judge whether he was making a suggestion or telling him he had to. "Or I could hire a hot manny. You available?"
"No."
Gus wondered if he just got an answer to a question he hadn't meant to ask. Maybe Jack was seeing someone. "You are probably out of my price range anyway," Gus said. He was dying to confirm if Jack was in a relationship. Of course if he didn't let Gus bring Josh to work, it would become a moot point because Gus would go from Jack's admirer to an enemy for life.
Later on, when they served the family meal for the staff right before dinner service started, Jack refused the invitation to eat with them and stayed in the office. Even Josh couldn't get him to join them. That didn't keep Josh from bringing him a plate of food to eat in the office when he and Gus came back.
"Eat up. You're skinny like me. You can't skip dinner," Josh told him as he set the food on his desk.
The look on Jack's face was priceless. He wasn't as tall as Gus, but Jack was in great shape. Gus could tell that if he ran his hands up and down over every inch of him, it would all be hard, lean muscle. Gus flexed his fingers. The palms of his hands tingled at the thought, and he felt tense with the need to let his hands roam Jack's body. Why did Doug's partner have to look like that? How was Gus supposed to concentrate on his work?
When it was Gus's quitting time, he went to say goodbye to Jack who was lurking near the kitchen again. He was busy typing on his phone.
"Do you know of a good gym?" Jack asked, seeing him approach.
"You're not letting what Josh said get to you, are you?" Gus asked. Jack's body had been driving him crazy all day.
"The gym at my hotel is always crowded. Doug recommended a place..."
"So you know to stay away from there," Gus said.
"I assumed it was a meat market."
"No doubt. Try Ivan's Gym if you want something serious. Fit House is more for regular guys. Everyone calls it Fat House. That should give you an idea of what it's like in there."
Jack thanked him and looked them up on his phone. Gus would kill to see him working out. He groaned involuntarily at the image of Jack sweating and straining. At the sound, Jack turned to stare at him.
"I was just thinking how much I needed to work out," Gus said to explain himself.
Jack looked him up and down. "You look OK," he said blandly.
"And that's exactly why I need to work out more," Gus said. "I have some equipment at home, but Josh always wants to exercise with me, then we start goofing around and then we eat snacks." Gus smiled at the memories of all the times they did that. It was fun but counterproductive. He always told Josh he was making him fat. Josh would just shrug. With his skinny shoulders, that boy had perfected the art of a shrug.
Jack stared at him strangely as he stood there grinning to himself.
"You really enjoy being a father, don't you?"
"It's the best," Gus confirmed.
Jack only nodded vaguely, like he didn't understand the appeal. Oh well, it wasn't for everyone.
When Gus told him he was leaving for the day, Jack was surprised to hear it.
"Johanna takes over for me at 6:00. When I come in in the morning, I look over the receipts and her report from the night before. Johanna is very competent. You'll see that for yourself when you grill her," Gus said. He wondered if Jack would have yet another problem with Gus leaving at such a busy time and splitting his management duties.
Jack stayed unreadable, leaving Gus unsure about where things stood. Maybe he wasn't the ideal manager for a busy restaurant, but he liked his job. He hoped he would get to keep it.
Chapter 2
Waking to bright sunshine that flooded his bedroom, Gus immediately thought of Josh and what he might be up to. It was way too late on a Saturday for Josh not to have gotten into ten different kinds of mischief. Gus got out of bed with a grumble, knowing he would need to deal with something.
It was like that for him every morning since Josh learned to walk. Before that, it was his crying that would wake Gus. Gus would go over to his crib, and as soon as Josh saw him he would stop crying and start babbling at him. Little faker. Later on, it was an incessant "Dadadadadadada" that would have Gus going over to his crib at the crack of dawn. Holding on to the crib railing, Josh would grin at him and bounce there in his footie pajamas until Gus picked him up.
These days Josh let him sleep later but not without consequences. When Gus first started at the restaurant, Josh's attempts at cooking would have to be cleaned up. Not being allowed to go near the stove or the microwave or use knives, Josh just mixed random things.
"Do you want to try it?" he would ask, an eager look on his face.
Thank God he was mostly over that obsession.
After a quick visit to the bathroom, Gus went in search of Josh.
"What is this?" Gus asked seeing his old CD's arranged into a tower in the middle of the living room. It was a dangerously crooked structure. All over the carpet, action figures were perched around it in different poses.
"Just Joshing around," Josh said proudly. His great-grandfather had taught him that phrase. Now Josh used it every chance he got.
"Are you going to put them all back?" Gus said of the CD's.
"Not yet. I need them," Josh said. That's when the CD tower crashed.
"And I need coffee," Gus said leaving Josh to deal with the disaster.
Josh was telling his action figures, "Watch out, guys. Oh, no. You got crushed. Don't worry. I'll save you."
Gus expected Josh would eventually put away the CD's, putting the ones that had fallen out into the wrong cases, of course. Good thing the days of CD's were over. Gus only held on to them for sentimental reasons. It was a collection he and his brother, Liam, had put together and fought over when they were kids.
With Liam living in New Zealand, married with kids of his own, Gus hardly ever saw him. The last time Liam visited the US, he had seen that Gus still had the CD collection and he had laughed. It was also the first time he had met Josh. Josh had taken to him right away because Liam was loud and funny.
Seeing Josh, Liam said, "He's a Dwyer, all right."
Josh might not be a Dwyer by blood, but he was in his heart. He had that indomitable Dwyer spirit that drove Liam all over the world until a New Zealand girl finally made him settle down. The same spirit only drove Gus up the corporate ladder until Josh came along. That's when he found out what it meant to be a Dwyer, specifically Gus Dwyer.
Gus had felt something inside him awaken at the fateful moment when he asked Suzanne to have the baby she was carrying. She didn't want a child, and Gus realized that he did. He asked her to have the baby so he could adopt him. It had been a leap as great as flying to the ends of the world, and the reward was the best thing he could imagine – a beautiful little son, who got into everything, made a big mess, and filled his heart with joy.
This morning, while Gus's back was turned, Josh decided to spruce up his cereal with M&M's.
"M&M's don't go in cereal," Gus said, taking the bag away from him after a few of them made it in and sank to the bottom of the cereal bowl. "See? They can't swim."
"Don't worry. I'll save you guys," Josh said as he fished them out from the bottom and ate them.
"You call that saving them?"
Josh nodded and grinned.
"No more sneaking M&M's into your cereal," Gus told him.
Saturdays and Sundays, Gus went in to work later. He and Josh usually put in only a few hours. Wednesday was Gus's only full day off for now. Though it cut into their weekend, Josh liked going to the bistro so it wasn't a major sacrifice.
As Gus drove to the bistro with Josh, he wondered if there was any chance that Jack would be there again today. He tried hard not to look forward to Jack coming to the bistro to look over his shoulder. Jack was definitely a mixed blessing.
"The big boss is here," Leroy said when he saw Gus coming in. He pointed a thumb toward Gus's office. He and Alfonso were busy unpacking some crates by the delivery entrance.
"You mean me," Gus said. He was still Leroy's boss as far as he knew.
"No. I mean the big boss," Leroy said, keeping a straight face. Alfonso grinned though.
Gus went into the office while Josh lingered to watch them opening up the crates, wanting to see what was inside. Leroy had a good eye so Gus had put him in charge of checking over the deliveries so they wouldn't get shorted or otherwise screwed over by the suppliers like they used to.
"Sure you can use my desk," Gus said when he saw Jack sitting there already, though not in his chair, on the opposite side.
"I needed somewhere to work," Jack said pointing to the other desk.
Josh's desk was clearly unavailable. It was covered with stuff that was supposed to keep Josh busy and out of Gus's hair while he worked. Papers and crayons were buried under toys, and Josh's drawings were tacked up above the desk.
"You were here when I left yesterday. Don't tell me you were here all night," Gus said as he cleared Josh's crayons and toys from the smaller desk.
"I'm not that much of a workaholic. But I did come in early," Jack said.
"You didn't find something wrong with our books, did you?" Gus asked, seeing what he was looking at on his laptop.
"No. Just going over everything. I'm mostly evaluating your procedures. I want to change a few things and update some of the software," Jack said.
"Not updates. I hate updates. Something always gets screwed up," Gus grumbled while Jack moved his laptop to the desk Gus had cleared for him.
Jack looked up at his whining. "I'll walk you through it, and it will make things easier in the end." Jack said. "You big baby" was implied.
Josh came in just then. "It was artichokes," he said of the crates he had seen them unpacking. "Leroy gave them a thumbs up." Josh demonstrated the slow thumbs up that was Leroy's trademark.
"Hello," Jack said, surprised to see him.
"Hello!" Josh told him as he dropped his book bag on the floor. The noise it made revealed that it held more toys than books today.
"You're here again," Jack said.
"You're here again too. Saturday is a workday for me and Dad," Josh said.
"We're glad to see you too," Gus told Jack, who didn't look a hundred percent pleased to see Josh.
"That's the homework desk. Are you doing homework?" Josh asked seeing that Jack was sitting at his usual place.
"No. Just work," Jack told him.
"Josh, you can sit over here," Gus told him pointing out the other side of his desk, where Jack had been sitting before.
"You said I couldn't sit there because I was too distracting," Josh reminded him.
"Jack is distracting too," Gus said though he meant it in a completely different way.
"Does he make faces at you?" Josh asked.
"Kind of."
Jack gave them a look over his shoulder but said nothing.
After a little while, Josh handed Gus some of his homework and he looked it over.
"You should check over what he's doing too," Josh said pointing at Jack.
"Actually, he is checking over what I'm doing," Gus told him. "Ready for a snack?" he asked Josh.
"Yes. He should have one too," Josh said, pointing at Jack again.
"You know, Jack is not your playmate. He's kind of my boss," Gus reminded him.
"Kind of?" Jack said, finally speaking up.
Gus smiled at him. "Want a snack?"
Josh nodded at Jack to encourage him to say yes.
"No, thank you," Jack said and turned back to his work.
When Jack was getting ready to leave, Gus decided to walk him out. He wanted to settle the issue of Josh coming to work with him.
"I can see you disapprove of every day being bring your son to work day. I hope you're not going to make trouble for me," Gus said as they stepped into the parking lot in the back.
"I just don't think it's ideal to have him here so often," Jack said.
"Ideal? What does ideal have to do with raising a kid?" Gus said.
"I wouldn't know," Jack said in a tight voice and started to walk away.
Gus got a weird vibe from him at that moment, but he didn't feel like he could ask him about it. Jack definitely had issues with kids. Too bad, Gus thought as he watched him walk to his rental. That didn't mean Jack was a total loss. A body like that couldn't be allowed to go to waste. They could still fool around if Gus ever managed to break through his hard shell.
Chapter 3
Later that day, Doug poked his blond head into Gus's office and looked around furtively. Gus stopped what he was doing to stare at his supposed other boss.
"They said he was gone. He is gone, right? They weren't messing with me?" Doug said as he still looked around for any sign of Jack.
"I thought you were just being irresponsible, but you're deliberately avoiding Jack," Gus realized.
"You met him, and you still ask me that?" Doug said, coming into the office properly.
Doug wasn't very tall, but he was a muscle-bound hottie. When he had seen the blond hunk for the first time, Gus thought he looked damn tasty. Then, disappointingly, he found out Doug was straight. Just as well since he was so fickle.
To be fair, Doug did give off a confusing vibe. Gus wasn't the first person to be surprised that he was straight. He dressed to show off his body and preferred bright colors most straight guys would avoid. The daring colors looked gorgeous on him, highlighting his coloring, especially his stunning, blue eyes. Women couldn't keep their hands off him.
Doug used to be the sole owner of Walnut Lane Bistro and Gus's boss in name only. Gus owed his job at the bistro to his college friend Brenda. Brenda was also Doug's cousin and frustrated accountant. Doug was a young entrepreneur, maybe too young. He had deep pockets and liked purchasing a new investment, but he didn't want to be involved in running it. There was no fun in that. He bought the bistro and then ignored the day to day operations. A good investment soon turned into a disaster. Brenda told Doug to either sell the place or get it straightened out.
Considering how Doug conducted business, it was no surprise that he drove the cautious and serious Brenda up the wall. She arranged for Gus and Doug to meet. She saw in Gus the solution to Doug's problems at the bistro and for Gus just the job he was looking for. After meeting Doug, Gus had the perfect job which allowed him to spend time with Josh.
Doug's hands-off approach suited Gus just fine, but it also left the bistro with major problems. The previous manager had been using Doug's lack of interest in the details to embezzle from him. Not wanting to bother with legal action, Doug just fired him and hired Gus. The problem was Gus didn't know anything about running a restaurant. He knew business, but he had only eaten in restaurants and washed dishes in a small diner when he was in high school. Doug didn't care about Gus's lack of experience. He was desperate, and his main concern was entrusting the place to someone the uptight, uncompromising Brenda had vouched for wholeheartedly.
Taking over a troubled business, Gus had to learn fast. He focused on the basics. He got the place cleaned up and cleaned up the staff too. A few of them had taken their cue from the previous manager and lacked both honesty and a decent work ethic.
The two chefs stayed though Gus wasn't sure about their skills. As he focused on everything else, he noticed that the food that the kitchen was putting out had improved without him having to do anything about it. Under new management, Linc and Rachel, the two head chefs, took their jobs more seriously. The food was now consistently good, not hit and miss like before. Gus was glad they had stepped up like that. Since Gus cooked at a level that only satisfied a six-year-old, he stayed out of their way.
Things had been going pretty smoothly since those early days, but now there was a new issue to deal with – Jack. Gus had a feeling Doug wouldn't be much help with that.
"Where's that gap-toothed kid who's always hanging around here?" Doug asked, not seeing Josh.
"Abby took him on a movie excursion some moms and dads organized for a bunch of kids from our neighborhood."
"Abby. Mmm," Doug said.
Gus hoped she wouldn't be back while he was still there to hit on her. She was a college student who had been babysitting Josh for years and probably the only woman in the universe who was immune to Doug's charms.
"Try and keep your mind on business for two minutes. You partnered up with your stepbrother, and now you don't want to deal with him so you dumped him on me," Gus said as Doug sat down and put his feet up on his desk.
"Don't hate him already. You barely met the man," Doug objected.
"I know he hates kids. That's not in his favor."
"Not really. It's about something else," Doug said and gave Gus a sideways look.
"Are you being mysterious?" Gus asked him.
"I'm not sure I should tell you." Doug put on a fake guarded look.
"Whatever."
"Don't act like you're not dying to know all his secrets."
"Tell me or shut up about it," Gus told him.
"OK. When he was younger, Jack was still going with girls. This one girl got pregnant so he married her. She had the baby, a little girl that Jack adored. Then his wife wanted out of the marriage, and she revealed that Jack wasn't the father. His best friend was. Jack loved that kid. The wife and the so-called best friend took her away, out of the country. Jack's heart got ripped out and stomped on. That's when he turned so cold. He doesn't trust anyone. He doesn't open up to anyone."
"Ouch. That's what happens when you mess with the opposite sex," Gus said.
"Be flippant about it. I'm sure Jack will appreciate that," Doug told him, like he was anyone to talk.
"I'm not. Believe me. If anyone ever tried to take Josh away from me... I can't even..." Gus just shook his head to chase away that thought and the awful feeling that followed. "You guys haven't been stepbrothers long. Were you around for all that?"
