Beautifully Moved (Candied Crush #5) - Charity Parkerson

One

“Will you stay after the show?”

“I don’t know. Is there a reason you’re asking?”

“You know there is.”

Dean couldn’t stop running the conversation through his mind. Did he know why Xavier had asked him to stay after today’s show? That was a loaded question, even for himself. Dean had met Xavier Nilsson months earlier when Dean’s older brother Brett had been in an accident. Until then, Dean hadn’t known Brett had a world renowned celebrity chef slash famous actor slash Sweden’s most beautiful man temporarily living under his roof. It turned out Xavier was Brett’s neighbor and his house had been under renovation until last week. Dean hadn’t known Brett spoke to any of his neighbors, much less moved one in. He thought Brett was too busy to talk to anyone… including Dean. Not that it mattered now. Xavier had moved back home last week and was now back to filming his nude cooking show in his own kitchen.

That was truly unfortunate, since once Dean learned Xavier had been staying with Brett, he hadn’t been able to stay away. He had never visited his brother so much in his adult life. Honestly, he was more than a little surprised Brett hadn’t called him on it yet. Goddamn, though, Xavier was beautiful. Platinum hair and gray eyes. He had an accent that made Dean want to taste the tanginess of it. Xavier never wore clothes. That definitely made him harder to ignore. Even on his show, Cuisinier Unveiled, Xavier cooked while wearing nothing but an apron. He continuously flashed the camera his bare ass, keeping the ratings high. Dean would know. Since he had met Xavier, he hadn’t stopped watching the show. This was his first time seeing it live, though. The only reason Dean had been invited to today’s taping was Brett’s man Roman was cohosting and had used the opportunity to propose. It had been sweet. There had been tears and such.

Roman’s proposal was the only sweet thing about the day. Every other second had been nothing but Dean and Xavier exchanging heated glances every chance they could. That brought him back to his original thought. Did he know why Xavier asked him to stay after the show? It was true that Xavier constantly made veiled sexual advances. Dean had never taken them to heart. He had to be that way. Dean couldn’t let himself entertain the idea Xavier actually wanted him. Dean was the younger brother of a celebrity YouTube producer. That was it. Dean was not special in any way. And still, his amazing brother had given up so much for him. It was important that Dean stay contained and disciplined. Dean needed to be worthy of his brother’s sacrifices. He needed not to need anything else. That was the only way he could make up for taking away Brett’s family.

“You stayed.”

Dean glanced around. Everyone else was gone. Goddamn it. He had stayed. “You asked me to, but didn’t tell me why. I suppose curiosity killed the cat.”

Xavier’s gray eyes flashed with humor. He motioned toward the meal they had created on the show. “Someone needs to eat all this food, since everyone else ran away. Will you join me?”

That was the last offer Dean expected. He didn’t think there was any way he could say no without sounding rude. “Oh. Yeah. I guess.”

A teasing smile touched Xavier’s lips. “Which is it? Yeah or you guess?”

Dean took a breath before he said anything he couldn’t take back. “Yes, I’ll join you.”

The triumph in Xavier’s smile almost made Dean run for his life. Then, Xavier turned around, flashing his bare ass again as he grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. “You can’t have Cavatelli and Mussels without white wine.”

Dean snagged a stool at the kitchen island where all the food was displayed and sat. “I wouldn’t know. This is my first time trying this. I don’t eat a lot of shellfish.”

Xavier kept his gaze locked on his task of pouring a glass of wine for Dean. “Is that because you don’t like shellfish or because you don’t know how to cook it properly?”

Dean shrugged. “I guess I’m a bit simplistic. It’s just me, so there’s no need to get fancy and cook a huge meal. In fact, I’m guilty of eating super unhealthy because it’s just easier. It seems crazy to cook for only me.”

After passing the glass Dean’s way, Xavier fixed him a plate. “This is my job, so it’s like a free pass to be wasteful.