Played to Death by Meg Perry Page A

before?”
    Scott swallowed hard. “A couple of times. Have you?”
    “Yes, but not here.” The guy looked around the bookstore. “This is nice. Good to see an independent bookstore slugging it out with the big dogs.”
    “The owner’s worked hard to make this place successful. It's paying off.”
    “How long has he been open?”
    “Around ten years, I think.” Might as well get the gay thing out in the open. See what happens . “An old boyfriend first brought me here a few years ago, and I was taken with the place.”
    At the words old boyfriend, Gorgeous flashed another one of those impossibly beautiful grins, and hope surged in Scott's chest. Good God . He was acting like a hormone-addled sixteen year old. Gorgeous started to say something, but the moment was lost when Ortega began reading.
    Scott tried to concentrate on the reading, but it was difficult with Gorgeous in such close proximity. He took a deep breath and tried to use the mental calming exercises he always ran through before a concert. Maybe that worked, maybe the book excerpt finally gripped his imagination. Whatever the cause, when Ortega finished and everyone applauded, Scott felt much calmer. Maybe even calm enough to chat this guy up and ask him out.
    Ortega moved from the microphone to the table where she'd be signing books, and Scott got in line with Gorgeous right behind him. Ortega was taking her time, talking to people as she signed. Good. More time to talk to Gorgeous. But what to say? Talk about the bookstore. Scott turned to say something when Gorgeous said, “Is the turnout always this good?”
    Oh, thank God . “Generally. The owner does a good job of promotion, and he has an email newsletter. You can sign up if you want, and you'll get notifications for all the readings.”
    “I'll do that.” Gorgeous smiled, and Scott felt his knees weaken a little again. “So an old boyfriend brought you here.”
    “Yeah.”
    “It was an old boyfriend that convinced me to begin reading mysteries back in grad school. I ended up writing my dissertation on the place of the mystery in medieval literature.”
    “So your degree is in literature?”
    Gorgeous nodded. “I'm in the English department at USC. Or, I should say, I will be come fall. I just moved to LA three weeks ago.”
    “Oh. Where did you move from?”
    “Boston.”
    “Ah. I love Boston. One of my favorite cities.”
    “You've been there?”
    “Several times. I'm from the east coast originally. Near Philadelphia.”
    Gorgeous nodded. “I'm from the west coast originally - just north of San Francisco.” He grinned. Scott found that he was learning to control the weakness in his knees. “This is such a lame question, but what do you do?”
    “I play with the LA Philharmonic. Cello.”
    Gorgeous was impressed. “Wow. Where did you study music?”
    “Juilliard and Eastman.”
    Gorgeous gave a low whistle. “You're a superstar.”
    Scott was appalled to feel himself blushing - which embarrassed him even further. “No -” But they had made it to the signing table. Scott got his book signed and thanked the owner. Gorgeous came to where they were standing and gave his email address to be added to the newsletter mailing list.
    Gorgeous's email address didn't give a hint as to what his name might be. Scott was trying to decide whether to ask the guy to go for a coffee when they got to the door. Gorgeous put his hand on the door and paused. “Is there a good independent coffee shop around here?”
    “Yeah, just a couple of blocks down.”
    “Would you like to get a coffee?”
    Scott fought to keep his voice steady. “Yeah. That sounds good.” He held out his hand. “By the way, I'm Scott Deering.”
    Gorgeous took his hand - nice firm grip - and held it for a second. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Scott. I'm Ethan Williams.”

 
    Monday, June 15
    Jamie
    I got to work early so I could take care of email before Scott, Donna, Kevin and Jon arrived. I was deleting junk mail