Prince of the Playhouse (13 page)

The little rat.
Ru stood and put both hands on his hips. “Grow one.”

Merle laughed his ass off. Gray chuckled but looked damned uncomfortable. Ru wanted to sigh. Instead he smiled sweetly. “Anyone else?”

When no hands went up, he waved, gathered his stuff, and escaped out the front door of the theater into a warm, breezy evening. Instead of strolling, he power walked his way up the hill toward his neighborhood.
Just get home and try to figure out this day.
Or maybe try to forget it. Of course, he only had one way to shut off the noises in his brain—Gray Anson movies. Not such a hot plan tonight.

“Good evening, Mr. Maitland. Out for a stroll?”

A cold worm of discomfort crawled up his spine. Ru plastered on a smile and looked at the patrol car that had pulled up next to him. “Good evening, Officer Johns. No, I’m commuting home from work.”

“Oh, that’s right. You like to walk.”

“Keeps me in shape.” Ru patted his flat belly.

“For your boyfriends?”

He sighed quietly. “Among other things. Are you on duty this evening?”

“Yes. And I just wanted to let you know that I’m keeping an eye out for you.”

Or on me, more likely.
“How nice.”

“After all, that guy who tried to rob you got set free. He had a better lawyer than you would’ve thought. So you might want to retool your strolling schedule. Have a good night. I’ll be around.” The car pulled away.

That certainly got rid of his boner.

Ru strode up the hill and down his block—

Uh, about the boner.

There in front of his house stood the limousine.
Oh man, this is not good—exactly.

He slowed.
What am I going to do? What?

As he got closer to the big car, the back door opened and Gray stepped out, looking beautiful. As if he could look any other way. Jeans and a white sweater. Should have been just your regular. Gray Anson didn’t do regular.
Keep that in mind, asshole. You’re a small-town, wannabe designer with delusions of grandeur.

His dick had resurrected the macarena in his pants. He walked resolutely to Gray, who smiled tentatively.

Ru didn’t return the smile. “Hi. Why are you here?”

His grin faded. “To apologize for showing up drunk and rowdy last night.”

He crossed his arms. “I see. I assumed the kiss I got in the wings served as the apology, and we had no more to discuss.”
You’re cool, Maitland, but your knees are quaking.

“I’m sorry about that too.”

He raised his eyebrow to hide the punch in his gut. “I see.”

“Shit! No, that’s not what I mean. I’m not sorry I kissed you. I’m sorry I did it like that without asking or—whatever I should have done.”

“Why did you kiss me?”

Gray glanced around uneasily. “Could we go inside?”

“No.”

He stared at his feet. “I guess I was flying high from the scene and kind of lost touch with reality.”

Ru sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. You were brilliant. You’re going to be great. I’m very proud of you.”

“But you don’t like me anymore?” Some deep well of pain overflowed into Gray’s eyes.

Ru’s mouth fell open, then snapped closed. “Dammit, Gray. Have you lost your mind? Anyone with half a brain can see that I don’t like you. I adore you and have for a long time.”

A smile like sun and rainbows and birdies spread across his face. “You do?”

Ru took a step forward. “Yes.” He looked up into Gray’s eyes with a frown. “And somewhere in your manipulating billionaire-who-gets-everything-he-wants brain, you know it—and you use it. I’m a gay man. You flirt with me ridiculously. Flirt? Fuck! You kissed me, for God’s sake. And not just a peck on the cheek. We’re talking tongue and cocks and sighing and shit.” He moved even closer and shook his finger in Gray’s face. “Well, I’ve got news for you, Mr. King of the Universe. I do not provide rest and recreation for homocurious movie stars, and above all, I do not mess around with other people’s fiancées, whether said person is male, female, or undecided. Got it?”

The driver’s door to the limo opened, and Chris stuck his head out. “Gray, don’t you think you ought to go inside?”

Gray’s eyes flicked to Chris, then back to Ru. “Could we?”

“I’m really sorry, but I’m not a masochist. We have nothing else to talk about.” He stepped back and started walking toward the cottage.

“Wait.” Ru looked back at Gray, who had just pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He hit a key and pressed the phone to his ear. He listened for a second, then said, “Hi, Penelope. It’s me. I really need to talk to you, but I don’t know when. I’ll be here working on the play for the next couple days, and then I have to fly to New York—anyway, I’m so sorry. I can’t do a wedding. I’ve tried to tell you—”

Ru gasped. “What are you doing? Stop that. Hang up.”

Gray hit the button, and his arm with the phone dangled limply. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Fuck! Get the hell inside.”

Gray’s lips turned up a fraction, but besides that he managed to look like a pup with his tail between his legs. Dutifully he crossed up the walkway and stopped at the door until Ru caught up and unlocked it. Then he turned the handle and went inside. By the time Ru followed, Gray had installed himself on the yellow couch.

Ru perched opposite him. “Do not ever—I repeat, ever—give a woman terrible news by voice mail. Or text. Or blog. Or Facebook message.”

“I know, but it’s really hard to tell her anything in person.”

“Don’t care. Grow a pair.” Had he seriously just told Gray Anson to get some balls? “So you’re going to tell her you don’t want to get married?”

“No, I’m going to break up with her.”

Lost the power of hearing and sight. Holy shit.
He swallowed hard and took a breath. “Why? She’s a smart, powerful, well-connected woman who doesn’t need your money. They don’t come along every day.”

“Yes, and she makes my studios and producers very, very happy.”

“Right. So?”

“So I’m gay.”

“Shit!” Ru stared at Gray and tried to form words. “You’re not shitting me? The biggest movie star in the world is a closeted fag?”

“Correct.”

“And you discovered this—?” He circled his hand.

“When I was fifteen for sure. I suspected as far back as ten or so.”

“And you’re now—”

“Twenty-five.”

“Jesus, Gray.”

“Yeah, I know. What a lying, cheating asshole.” He looked up, and the storm-cloud eyes glistened with tears. “My parents still don’t know. I did a lot of sports in high school. In a small town, sports heroes don’t come out. Then I got discovered. Things are better today in the industry, but no movie actor came out six years ago. Quite honestly, action stars don’t come out today. Hell, millions are spent keeping us in our fur-lined closets.”

“Penelope doesn’t know?”

He shook his head. “And none of the women before her.”

“Are you bi?”

He blew out a long column of air. “No.”

“Oh my God.”

“I’ve tried to have sex with women a few times, when things got to the point that not having it made no sense.”

“And—?”

“I use some excuse like I was drunk or stressed or something.”

“So all those pictures of you with the men are what they look like?”

“Yes. I used to have a small group of friends that I hung with. We’d throw parties and have sex. But then those photos appeared. That was the end of that. We spent millions suppressing those shots.”

“So how do you have sex now?”

“I pretty much don’t. Even hiring someone is no guarantee when they can make millions by outing me.”

“And this is the way you live?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so terribly sorry.” That was true. What a shitty way to exist.

“If someone offered you a billion dollars to take on my life, would you?” He asked it seriously.

Ru thought about it—seriously. Dirt-poor beginnings made a billion bucks sound amazingly huge. “No. Not unless I realized I could use my money to buy a different life.”

Gray tossed one of the pillows into the corner of the couch. “It’s tough to unring a bell. How do I become not famous, Ru? No matter what I do, the press never gives up. If I come out, I take a big cast of players down with me—and I still don’t get any privacy.”

Ru nodded. “And you give up one of the biggest careers in show business.”

“That too. Shit, I was headed for a life as an auto mechanic. Not that there’s anything wrong with auto mechanics—except I hated it. I really like being an actor.”

“Want something to drink?”

Gray looked up. “Oh yeah, sure.”

Ru walked to the kitchen. He called, “Are you able to look beer in the face?”

“You got any iced tea?”

Ru poured tea for Gray and grabbed a glass of wine for himself. Suspended animation. That’s how he felt. Afraid to think or feel anything.
Okay, have you got the balls to ask the question?

He moved back into the living room and put the tea in front of Gray where he sat deeply committed to the yellow couch. Ru sipped his beer and sat opposite again. Couldn’t get too close. Might go up in flames. “So I guess my question is, why are you telling me?” He smiled. “I’m honored that you think I won’t go out and make millions by outing you, but why bother?”

“I don’t want you to think I’m marrying Penelope.”

“Okay, I believe you.”

Gray fidgeted on the couch. “I know I haven’t got much to offer.”

Ru snorted sauvignon blanc through his nose, which stung like a son of a bitch and made him cough. “Ri-right. A billion dollars, a plane, three houses, the most beautiful face and body in Hollywood—”

“And I have to ask anyone who’s with me to keep my secret, pretend I’m straight, endure being my fuck buddy while the world thinks he’s my just-plain-buddy. I have to ask him to lie like I do.”

Ru stared at the pale golden liquid in his glass.
Such pretty colors.
Could he hold his breath and talk at the same time? “And I need to know this why?”

“Because I’m asking you to be that guy.” His forehead wrinkled. “Jesus, I know how damned unfair that is. How disrespectful. Tell me to hang.” He dropped his head in his hand.

Whoa. Don’t be an idiot!
Oh great, that was the advice his brain threw out.
Uh, don’t be an idiot, run? Or don’t be an idiot, jump him?

Ru stared at Gray. Gray raised his head and stared at the melting ice in his glass, looking as unsure as he had that first day Ru met him in the costume department. More.

“You’d continue to date women?”

“I have to.” He never looked up. “It’s all part of my carefully crafted fiction.”

“And I could date men?”

Ah, that got his attention. He looked up at Ru with wide eyes. “Uh, I never thought about that.”

“If I’m your buddy who happens to be gay, how do you explain that I never have a boyfriend or date men?” Not that he ever did now.

“Wow. I guess I didn’t think this through enough.” His hand messed the perfect hair.

“I’m not going to be sitting here in my little cottage waiting for you to show up.”
Shit, am I really saying this?
“I have a job, and a career, and my own ambitions. Okay, being your friend could make sense. But the rest? The best I can see are a few opportunistic fucks.”

Gray’s turn to snort liquid. He wiped the spot of tea from the couch with his sweater. “Seriously?”

What am I doing? What you’ve always done. Protecting yourself.
“I’ll tell you what. You make a final decision regarding Penelope. She’s a lovely girl, and I’m not a home wrecker or a cheater. You two aren’t fuck buddies. You have a relationship. Deal with that and we can talk further.”

Gray nodded. “Yes, that’s what I plan to do. Need to do.” He flashed that grin. “You sure you wouldn’t like me to give you a quick blowjob on account? Just to prove I’m gay?”

Oh my God. When did I become the object of men wanting to deliver blowjobs?
He couldn’t begin to hide the erector set in his pants, so why try? Ru stood. “I’d like nothing better, but not gonna happen. Men do weird things when they’re horny. Go home and think through your life. I’ll do the same.”

“Are you always this reasonable?” Gray rose slowly and displayed all six three of his yumminess and a mighty erection of his own.

Ru’s heart tried to leap from his chest, jump across the table, and pledge itself to Gray. “No.”

A phone buzzed and Gray reached in his pocket. “Yeah.” He frowned. “What the fuck? Why can’t those assholes leave me alone?” He listened. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He clicked off and shoved the phone back in his pocket. “Bastards.”

“What happened?”

“That drone that went over yesterday when I was outside your studio took pictures of you and me horsing around. Now the photos are all over the Internet. More gay rumors.” He headed to the door.

The muscle in Ru’s jaw twitched. “So much for good intentions.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Go take care of your reputation.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.”

“Right.”

Gray took two steps forward, kissed Ru on the cheek, turned, and was out the door and running to his limo like The Flash.

“See you in the movies.” Ru closed the door, grabbed his laptop, sat on the couch, and opened the lid. Shit, he felt like he was opening a cobra basket, and he didn’t have his snake charmer’s flute. He searched
Gray Anson photos
. A millions links appeared, with today’s on top. He clicked—and sighed.

There they were, Gray flashing his famous teeth, and Ru jumping up and down like a flaming idiot. A flaming gay idiot. The copy clearly suggested that this was a new liaison for Anson.
Megastar Gray Anson, who rumor has long suggested may be hiding his true sexual orientation, was photographed today in an affectionate interlude with rising gay fashion designer Ru Maitland outside Maitland’s design studio.
Jesus, at least they’d spelled his name right.

He slammed the lid of the laptop closed.
Shit.
The leering face of Officer Johns flashed in his mind. Gray wasn’t the only one who didn’t need the publicity.