Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) by Nicole Edwards Page A

considered it at that point.”
Glancing back at Ethan, Beau noticed the skeptical look. “What?”
    “You
went on a date but hadn’t considered sleeping with the guy?”
    “First
date,” Beau reminded him, as though that should explain everything.
    “Go
on.”
    “So,
halfway through dinner, Joe started talking about sex. He wanted to know
whether I was a top or a bottom.”
    “Clearly
a top,” Ethan murmured, his eyes opening substantially as though he didn’t mean
to say the words.
    “And
you would know this how?”
    Ethan
laughed, the sound making Beau’s entire body hum to life. He loved the sound of
Ethan’s laugh. Maybe because it was so rare, but the few times he’d heard it
over the years, Beau had always noted it.
    “You’re
not a top?”
    “I
don’t have a preference,” Beau said honestly. Considering he’d never been a
top, and had only been with one man – a man who clearly wasn’t gay – Beau
didn’t know which he would enjoy more. “Anyway…,” he continued with a smile,
“Joe was convinced that I couldn’t be the top because there was no way I’d
fit.”
    Ethan
laughed again, the warm, rich sound filling the truck and eliminating every
ounce of tension that had been there since he put the truck in Park.
    “That’s
what he wanted to talk about? Over dinner?”
    “Yup,”
Beau responded, laughing. “Needless to say, if that’s what you’re supposed to
do on a date, I think I’m going to need some time to adjust before I do it
again.”
    Neither
of them said anything for a minute or two, and when Ethan grabbed a third beer,
Beau shifted again to face him more fully. “What about you? What was your first
date like?”
    Beau
didn’t think Ethan was going to answer when he focused his attention on
draining the beer bottle in his hand, but he waited him out. He was nothing if
not patient. After all, he’d spent his entire life tagging along with Zane, the
guy had the attention span of a gnat and Beau had learned to sit back and wait
because likely things would change in an instant with him.
    “I
don’t date.”
    Beau
found that hard to believe. Sure, he got that Ethan didn’t intentionally form
relationships, but the guy was unquestionably monogamous. Over the years, there
hadn’t been many that Beau had noticed, but Ethan had lovers. Admitting it or
not, it didn’t change the fact that he got close to people.
    “How’d
you meet Blake?” Beau knew Blake wasn’t from Coyote Ridge.
    “By
accident.”
    Beau
wasn’t impressed with Ethan’s half ass response and considering he had opened
up, he was going to insist Ethan do the same.
    “Work?”
    “You
could say that.”
    Being
that Blake was a mechanic, it was logical that Ethan met him that way. He
didn’t honestly care for the logistics. The less Blake interfered in their day
to day, the better off Beau would be. And that included in conversation.
    “Mind
if I ask you something personal?” Beau figured he would warn Ethan before he
asked his next question. It didn’t matter what Ethan said, he was still going
to ask it.
    Ethan
glanced over, a sexy grin on his lips. “If I say no, you’re gonna ask anyway,
aren’t you?”
    “Yup,”
he said easily and paused only briefly. “When did you realize you were gay?” He
knew the question was personal, but Beau didn’t have anyone to talk to about
his thoughts and fears. He didn’t think Zane would understand, and he knew
without a doubt that Zane was uncomfortable with the situation as a whole. Or
maybe he wasn’t, and Beau was. Either way, Ethan seemed like the ideal person
to ask.
    “I
think I’ve always known,” Ethan said solemnly, his tone low and serious, his
attention focused on the blackness just outside the truck window.
    “Have
you been with a woman?”
    Ethan
didn’t look at him when he said, “No.”
    Beau
hadn’t thought he had, but he was curious.
    Not
wanting to push too far, he let the subject drop, figuring they could pick that
conversation