Ellery Mountain 3 - The Carpenter and the Actor (5 page)

Glancing at his watch, he saw it was a little after one. He didn’t need to be ready for Finn’s until seven. That was six glorious hours in the hot tub, the shower and maybe a sleep. With a smile on his face and a spring in his step, he left the diner and made his way to his rental. He had emails to send as well.

Back at the cabin, a quick Google search revealed Thomas Dexter was indeed mayor of Ellery, on his second term and he had a really good website for feedback. Then he scanned for details of ‘Norma-Jean’s Clip and Curl’ and found an entry in an Ellery town directory. Leaving a positive review of their service felt good. Emails winged their way to the two modelling agencies he had worked with and in particular to the relevant staff he used to talk to. Hot tub, a nap on the sun deck in the shade, a shower and he was ready at five.

Kieran was outside his door at six fifty-three. Not that Jason had been watching the time. Much. Kieran looked far too sexy in jeans and a red T-shirt and he was smiling. His hair was effortlessly fluffy and layered and he smelt delicious. Not kissing this man now was going to take all of Jason’s willpower. Willing away his desire to simply drag Kieran into the cabin and have him on the floor of the hallway was a battle in itself. He wanted to see Kieran in his natural habitat so to speak. Watch him interact with his friends, maybe find out a little about his childhood, his family. This wasn’t a random pick-up, this was an enticing two weeks of possible connection.

Kissing was for later. After meeting the cop, the fireman, the teacher and the soldier. Then once he’d done that there would be a lot of kissing. He was going to be a gentleman and not push for more. Not unless Kieran begged for it. Shit. The image of Kieran begging to be fucked against the nearest wall was too much overload. One kiss wouldn’t hurt. Right?

Kieran huffed in surprise as Jason pulled him in for a quick hard kiss then released him. “The fuck?” Kieran said bemusedly. He pressed his fingers to his lips. “I didn’t want that problem going on in our heads of who was going to kiss who later,”

“So you kissed me now to ensure I wasn’t thinking about what the kissing would be like later.”
“In a nutshell.” Jason pulled the door shut and locked it, checking the handle to make sure it was all okay. Kieran caught him by surprise when he pushed him back against the closed door and forced Jason’s legs apart so that he sunk a little lower. Jason was shocked and he certainly didn’t argue as Kieran kissed him and deepened the kiss whilst burying his fingers in Jason’s hair. This kiss was different. Not only was there a whole lot of sexy demanding tongue, but Kieran was challenging Jason to respond. Jason did. He placed his hands on Kieran’s ass and lifted a little so they were finally groin to groin, and, Jeez, they were as hard as rock against each other.
Suddenly there was air between them and Kieran was wriggling free with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Now that was a kiss worth worrying about for the next few hours.” He smirked.
Jason followed Kieran to the car, amused at the swagger in the other man’s walk.
“Well played,” Jason said. “Only one thing.” He climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and turned to face Kieran in the driver’s seat, who waited for the ‘one thing’. To demonstrate the problem he placed his hand flat on Kieran’s groin and cupped his erection. “Hours of sexual frustration and we’ll find a kiss at the end of the night is probably not going to be enough.”
“Dude,” Kieran said firmly. “We only have two weeks. We need to move up the schedule.” He laughed and the sound was like nothing Jason had heard before—genuine, dirty and something he could get used to listening to every single day of the next fourteen days.
The journey to Finn’s house wasn’t long. They pulled up outside the wide-fronted house built into the side of the mountain.
Jason let out a low whistle. “This is a nice place,” he commented. Kieran parked and turned off the engine.
“Ready for this?” Kieran asked. He was still smiling so his words couldn’t be considered as a veiled warning that Jason should get ready to face something awful.
“As I’ll ever be,” he said. Kieran climbed the steps to the front door and Jason spent a short time choosing between looking at Kieran’s ass and marvelling at the crazy height of the back veranda supported by scaffolding like wooden supports connected to the rock of the mountain. He decided the ass was prettier and far less disturbing, and was therefore caught by surprise when the door flung open and the cop was standing in the doorway.
“Come in,” he said hurriedly then disappeared from view. Kieran walked in and Jason followed and suddenly he was being introduced to all these hot guys. Well, four anyway. First off there was Daniel, whom he had already met briefly. Then Daniel’s boyfriend, a blueeyed brunet who looked unlike any teacher that had ever been in one of Jason’s schools. They shook hands and Jason was quickly introduced to Max, Finn’s other half. Tall, broad and muscled, he was gorgeous. Jason could see why Finn was so interested in the other man. Of course, Max wasn’t small like Kieran. He was blond, but his hair was military tidy, whereas Kieran’s was layered and textured and soft. He was broad and strong, but Kieran was a spitfire of a package wrapped up in cute.
He realised he was staring at Max and that no one was talking. In fact, they were all looking at him, probably waiting for him to say something. Cautiously he glanced over at Kieran, who stared back at him with something akin to sadness in his face. Why was Kieran looking so pissed off? What had he missed?
“You scrub up well,” Finn finally said. Jason sent an expression of thanks to the cop and pasted his actor-type smile on his face.
“Less like a criminal now,” he said. Then he spread his arms wide. “Someone said there would be beer.”
Kieran made a noise low in his throat and walked off diagonally from where they were standing and into the kitchen. Bemused at the sudden change in Kieran from happy smiley to pissed off, Jason shrugged at the men in front of him then went to find Kieran. The man was intent on pouring Coke into glasses and concentrating on getting them as full as he could. Jason came to a stop behind him and snaked his hands around Kieran’s waist to rest them on his flat stomach before resting his chin on Kieran’s shoulder. The scent of his soon to be lover was intoxicating and Jason could stand here all day. If anything, Kieran appeared to stiffen in his hold. Jason put two and two together in his head and came up with five.
“You’re annoyed. They were staring. Is it because of the acting thing? I don’t have to stay if this makes you feel uncomfortable,” he said gently.
“That isn’t what I am pissed off about, asshole,” Kieran snapped low enough for only Jason to hear. He turned in Jason’s hold and grabbed a handful of Jason’s shirt. Jason had no choice but to go with the flow as Kieran pulled him down for a bruising, searching kiss. When they separated there was a spark of temper in Kieran’s eyes.
“What?” Jason said unsteadily. “Did I do something wrong?” His dick was hard in his pants and he had to catch his breath from the kiss. He didn’t remember a kiss ever making him want to drag a lover to another room, except for the fact that this was the second stirring kiss he’d had today. Kieran was forceful and fitted so well in his arms. Perfect.
“You don’t come here and stare at my friends,” Kieran hissed.
“I didn’t…” Jason protested. Then he recalled how he had been sizing up Max as the complete opposite to Kieran. It had probably looked like he was staring at Max, and clearly Finn and the others, and hell Max himself, had all picked up on his focus.
“Max is with Finn. But if that’s who you want then I am sure Max can introduce you to a lot of tall, built guys he knows.”
“I’m not interested in Max—”
“I can see why you like him,” Kieran interrupted. Doubt trickled into his words. “Max is the nicest guy, sexy, muscles, tall, strong—”
“And not my type at all.” Jason thought it was about his turn to interrupt. “Seriously, I have this thing for guys with tousled blond hair that are feisty and fun and are called Kieran.” He was teasing with the last part, but he hoped to hell Kieran understood what he was trying to say.
“That narrows your field a bit,” Kieran said dryly. At least the snap of temper had left his voice.
“Until now the field was empty,” Jason smiled.
“So why the staring?”
“Don’t you think this conversation is a bit heavy for the first date?”
“Are we actually on a date?” Kieran said thoughtfully. “Aren’t we just having two weeks of sex? Is dating included in that?”
“We won’t be having sex all the time.” Even as Jason said the words he wanted to retract the sentiment. Actually, unless there was a major incompatibility issue in bed, he was pretty much going to want to have a bit of Kieran on a daily basis. Doing that meant he could keep all the shit in his head to one side, and he didn’t care who he admitted that to.
“So the staring at Max…?” Kieran persisted. How did Jason go about explaining his thought process at the time?
Finn spoke from behind them, “I think we’d all be interested in that one, Hollywood.” He sounded more amused than angry, but this wasn’t the impression Jason had wanted to make on his first time out with Kieran.
Jason groaned low in his throat and realised he couldn’t turn and face Finn. Not with his erection pressing so hard against his fly. Talk about flashing his arousal in his host’s face.
“I apologise,” Jason said. He was talking to both Finn and Kieran, but it was Kieran’s eyes he looked into. “When I walked in, I was confronted by a wall of pretty. I kind of zoned out.”
Kieran smirked up at him. “A wall of pretty?”
“Uh-huh,” Jason said softly.
Kieran reached up and wrapped his hands around the back of Jason’s neck. “You think you’re slick, don’t you?” he said softly.
“I can be,” Jason answered. They kissed and were broken apart by a cough and a loud “Beer needed.” Kieran brought the drinks and led them back to the sitting room and to four smirking faces. Handing out the beers and drinks was an education. Max didn’t really drink. Kieran explained that the town was so small that he was one of only a few volunteer firefighters, and so had decided from day one to cut out beer.
“All beer?” Jason asked, horrified. After a day’s filming, back in his trailer he liked nothing more than a cold beer and some random satellite channel showing DIY shows. He loved his DIY shows, and his beer.
“No biggie,” Max said. Kieran wasn’t drinking either, but then he quite rightly pointed out that he was driving. Jason was torn. He admired his soon to be lover’s common sense, even as he contemplated if possibly there was a greater chance of sex tonight if Kieran was a little on the happy-drunk side.
Three sofas, three couples, and no one appeared inclined to start the conversation. Jason was not going to be first. He hoped Kieran would say something that broke the strange tension in the room, but it wasn’t him—it was Daniel that went first.
“So, an actor then,” he said. As conversation starters went it wasn’t the best one out there. Jason scanned Kieran’s friends. Seemed as if Daniel had actually asked the one vague question that everyone wanted Jason to talk about. Daniel stared at him intently. There was disapproval in those green eyes. The disapproval was underlined when Luke elbowed his boyfriend. Evidently Daniel had been warned to be nice. Great. That meant he had been talked about and consigned somehow to a box of people not suitable for Kieran. Daniel was clearly the protective one of the group.
“Yes. Full-time,” Jason answered carefully. “I’ve been really lucky with the roles,” he added on his usual disclaimer. That was a standard line from any actor.
“I love
Late Last Night
,” Max stated. “Do you write any of the content yourself?”
Jason found himself relaxing a little. Max liked the show—he could work with that. Swallowing a mouthful of beer, he nodded. “We’re always encouraged to add in new slants to characterisations and the directors like us to ad lib a lot,” Jason said. “We have a working script but some of the funniest stuff comes from us just winding each other up.”
“You play a gay guy…” Daniel began. Jason tensed. Daniel was pulling him out of his happy place. “He’s kind of effeminate at times. Doesn’t that just reinforce the gay stereotype?”
“Dan—”
“Daniel—”
“Jeez, Dan—”
Luke, Finn and Kieran all jumped on Daniel, but he didn’t look repentant. If anything, he looked more determined. Kieran shuffled uncomfortably next to Jason then placed a hand solidly on his thigh.
“It’s called acting,” Jason replied softly. “
Late Last Night
is comfort-comedy. The blond on the show is dizzy, the straight next-door neighbour is nosy and the gay guy is cool. Viewers respond positively to stereotypes in all shapes and sizes.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to portray a gay man as effeminate and wimpy.”
“My character saved the blond from a fire, helped the next-door neighbour plumb in a bathroom and built a pretty good wall. So he likes to dress well and is in touch with his feelings. What is so bad about that?”
Daniel scowled then huffed when Luke elbowed him again.
“What Daniel won’t tell you,” Luke said, “is that your show is in the planner and he watches it religiously after the news.”
“It’s not the show I have an issue with,” Daniel protested.
“It’s me. Isn’t it?” Jason said gently. “The problem is with me. Are you stereotyping me?” Daniel was doing exactly that. Probably knew enough about actors and their perceived shallow personalities to be worried for Kieran. Jason was relieved that Kieran had someone watching out for him who was so concerned.
“Can we leave this?” Kieran said. “You’ve done your bit in playing big, bad Daniel.”
Daniel subsided into silence and Jason realised he needed to be saying something positive. “I like Kieran,” he said. “I won’t hurt him.”
“Okay,” Daniel said. He wasn’t going to add to that. He simply raised his beer in salute and Jason copied the motion.
“Okay,” Kieran said firmly. “Now we have all the crap out of the way about who is going to be looking after me because I can’t do it for myself—”
“I wasn’t meaning that,” Daniel interrupted.
“I know what you meant, Dan. But now it’s all said, can we please move on to the fun part of this evening?”
“All I want to know is how many straight actors are actually gay?” Max asked. Jason jumped on the question with enthusiasm. This was a question he could answer really well.
“Where do I start…?”
The conversation shifted eventually away from Jason and at some point in the evening Daniel even thawed enough to laugh at some of Jason’s stories. For some reason he seemed inordinately protective of Kieran, which confused Jason. Kieran was a confident, strong man. What was there about him that made Daniel feel like he needed to be protected? An intriguing puzzle and one he could contemplate as Kieran returned from the kitchen with more beers and sat down just that bit closer to him than last time. Jeez. He wanted to pull him in as close as Max held Finn and as tight as Luke gripped Daniel’s hand. The man only had to get in his proximity and Jason lost every ounce of sense.
When the evening finished and they ended up back in the truck, Jason couldn’t stop himself from asking the question that had plagued him all night.
“Why is Daniel so protective of you?”
“They both are—Dan and Finn,” Kieran said. He shrugged. “Probably because of what happened a few months back.” He put the truck in gear and moved off the drive and back onto the main road.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“About…?” Kieran took the turn that would lead them across to Ellery Cabins.
Was he being deliberately obtuse? “What happened a few months back?”
Kieran sighed, but he didn’t say anything until the truck pulled up outside Jason’s cabin. Jason didn’t push. Evidently whatever had happened had been something that had caused Kieran a problem. Protectiveness rushed through Jason at the thought that something was hurting this sunny, happy guy. He pushed it away. Half of him realised he was doing what Daniel had spent all night dealing out, and the other half thought that they’d only known each other for a few days and feeling protective was premature.
Kieran killed the engine, released his belt then turned in his seat. Around the cabins was kept dark and the only light on Kieran’s face was the glow from the old-style car stereo.
“There was this guy—coming through town, working construction. Joe—tall, dark, a lot like Daniel. He owned this company that renovated old houses and he commissioned me for newel posts on a reconditioned staircase. He was interested, I was interested. There isn’t a lot going on in Ellery. We had a thing.”