In Bed With The Boss Page 0,49

everywhere he went the conversation was artistic and fascinating. The galleries blew him away; the artists painting on the sidewalks made him wish he was doing something else with his life. It seemed as if this was the one place in the world where there were no formal boundaries. It felt like everyone left their real lives on the outskirts of town and settled into a comfortable, casual existence. Waiters socialized with doctors and lawyers; there wasn’t a suit and tie in the entire town. Toby met a few nice guys his own age from New York and exchanged phone numbers. He knew they’d only be friends; he didn’t have sex with anyone that weekend. A few guys had tried to seduce him and lure him down to the docks. But no one interested him enough to make it worth his while. The one guy who did interest him gave out his name the first night they met. And then Toby found out from a friend of Rosemary’s that the guy was going by another name and decided the guy would turn out to be trouble. He never trusted people with too many different identities.

By Sunday afternoon, when the Chieftain dropped them off at the curb in New York, Toby felt like a new man. In those few short days, he’d met new, interesting people; for the first time in his life he’d been surrounded by decent, hardworking human beings who were just like him: both men and women. He had no idea there were that many people like him out there. Up until that weekend, Toby had thought half of the homosexual world consisted of people like Brad Lindsay who spent their time living double lives, sneaking around corners and settling for what they could get instead of taking what they deserved. He thought the other half existed in basement bars wearing bad wigs, cheap high heels, and flat feather boas.

Toby carried Rosemary’s bags upstairs and they laughed about his chivalry. “Honey, I should be carrying yourbags. I’m bigger and stronger than you.”

“But I’m the man,” Toby said, his voice going deeper. “I’m the one who is supposed to carry the bags. You’re just a frail helpless little woman.” He knew this would get a rise out of her.

She laughed so hard she had to stop in the middle of the third floor staircase for a second. “I’ll bet I could carry you and the bags up all four flights.”

Toby took a step down. He had a feeling she was serious and he didn’t want her to hurt herself. “You just be good and enjoy the attention. Next time you can carry the bags.”

She stood up straight and started climbing again. “It’s a deal. And I hope next time we get to stay longer. It’s tough to travel to The Cape this time of year. You can’t predict the weather.”

Toby sighed. “I had a great time. I can’t wait to go back again.” They were supposed to stay until later on Sunday and have dinner with a few of Rosemary’s friends. But they’d all decided to leave early because a snowstorm had been predicted. It had already started snowing when they passed through Connecticut. There were at least three inches on the ground now in New York and they were supposed to be getting up to eight inches that night.

When they reached Rosemary’s door, they hugged and made plans for dinner the next Saturday night. Toby set Rosemary’s bags down in her apartment and he crossed the hall to his. He’d been having such a good time he’d forgotten all about his arrangement with Brad Lindsay. He inserted the key and turned the lock. He went inside, set his luggage down, and removed his coat and his pants. He was looking forward to a nice quiet Sunday afternoon on a snowy day, lounging around in his underwear with a good book and a hot pot of coffee.

On his way to the bedroom, he noticed a fresh bouquet of flowers on the coffee table and he rolled his eyes. Then he pulled off his shoes and socks and left them in the bedroom doorway. He was about to remove his shirt when he glanced at the bed and saw a hairy naked leg sticking out of the covers. He pressed his palm to his throat and gasped. The man in his bed bolted forward and clutched the sheets.

“What areyoudoing here?” asked the man in his bed.

“I live here,” Toby said.