Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) by Nicole Edwards

be strong, capable of
defending himself if need be. Never again would he get caught lacking in that
area.
    Between
working at the shop, the few hours a week that he dedicated to weight-lifting,
and helping to take care of the few horses his parents and Travis had on the
ranch, Ethan didn’t find much time to do anything more. Nor did he have the
energy. But Beau filled him with an energy that had been lacking for some time
and he didn’t know why that was.
    “Back
in March,” Beau said and Ethan remembered what he had asked.
    “How
many dates did y’all go on?”
    Beau
laughed, the sound callous and lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever.
    “One.
That’s all I needed.”
    “Y’all
didn’t hit it off?”
    Beau
shook his head in response and Ethan continued to regard him in the shadows.
The blue lights from the dashboard highlighted the hard angles of his face,
making him even sexier. If that was even possible.
    “Dinner?
Dancing? Movies?” Ethan asked, encouraging Beau to talk. After all, Beau was
the one who wanted to chat.
    “Dinner.”
    Something
niggled at Ethan when Beau answered. There was a question lingering somewhere
in his subconscious, but he couldn’t think clearly enough to put the words
together.
    “His
name was Joe. I met him one afternoon when I went into Austin for parts. He was
the first guy to ever approach me like that. I was stunned. And a little
curious.”
    “A
little curious?”
    “Yeah.
I’d just come to terms with the fact that I’m not straight.”
    Ethan
noticed that Beau didn’t say he was gay. He had specifically stated that he wasn’t straight. Did that mean he was bisexual?
    “Were
you attracted to him?”
    “He
was a decent looking guy. I’d talked to him on several occasions because he ran
one of the parts stores that I frequented. Outgoing, funny. So yeah, I was
attracted to him.”
    “And
he took you to dinner?”
    “We
met at a restaurant in Hutto.”
    Ding.
Ding. Ding. The warning bells sounded in his head,
and Ethan immediately remembered what he had wanted to ask Beau. “That’s when
you saw Blake?”
    Beau’s
head swiveled slowly until their eyes met across the cab. “Yeah. I saw him.”
    “With
another guy?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And
you didn’t think to mention it to me?”
    Beau’s
eyebrows furrowed, his shoulders tensed slightly. “It wasn’t any of my
business.”
    Fair
enough. Ethan knew he could find all the reasons in the world to argue, but
decided against it. The fact that Blake wasn’t part of his life anymore didn’t
bother Ethan. He wasn’t fond of being cheated on, but it was in the past.
    “So,
you and Joe. Dinner.”
    “Yeah,”
Beau said, a small smile tipping the very corners of his lips. Ethan fought the
urge to lick his own lips because he was suddenly extremely interested in
kissing the man.
    But
for some reason, this talking thing… he kinda liked it.

Chapter Nine
    ♂♂
     
    Beau
didn’t particularly want to go into the specifics of the clusterfuck of a date
he’d had, but he liked that Ethan was asking questions. For now, it looked as
though the guy had dropped all of that tough exterior. Then again, he was
halfway through his second beer and who knew how many he’d had at Moonshiners.
Ethan’s inquisition may be based purely on liquid courage, but Beau considered
it progress regardless.
    “We
met for dinner. At first, it was nice. Normal. We have a lot in common from a
work perspective, so we didn’t lack for anything to talk about.” Beau
remembered the instant that night had taken a downturn. “We were halfway
through the meal when Joe mentioned sleeping together.”
    Ethan’s
eyebrow cocked in that sexy way that Beau liked. He was obviously interested in
the story. “Were you planning to sleep with him?”
    Beau
laughed, glancing back out the front window as his face heated with
embarrassment. He had never been the type to openly talk about sex – at least
not when he wasn’t having it. “No. I hadn’t