Footsteps of the Past (Second Chances #2) - Felice Stevens Page 0,15

to cut off Freddie from his reminiscing, André slipped his arm around Chess’s waist. “We’re going to change now, so I guess you can tell Dottie we’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes or so? Is that good?”

“Perfect.”

Freddie left them, and they made their way across the room and down the hallway.

He opened the door to their room to find their suitcases on the bed and the shutters wide open to allow the brilliant sunlight inside. Here on the dresser were stargazer lilies, and André was touched that Dottie had remembered his favorite flower.

“Happy we came?” he asked Chess, who had already kicked off his sneakers.

“I am. It was nice of Elliot to invite us, but when you suggested here, it made sense. It would be silly to leave this all empty and go somewhere else. I’d forgotten just how beautiful it is out here, even if the nightlife isn’t my thing.”

“You’re my thing.” Chess smiled at his words, and André sat next to him, drawing him to his chest. “We don’t have to go anywhere but the beach. As long as you’re with me, it’s where I want to be. And if we didn’t just tell Freddie we’d be ready in fifteen for lunch, I’d prove to you how much you mean to me.”

“We have a lot of time to make up for. Every month seemed like forever when I’d lie in bed at night and think of you.”

“Whatever it takes—days, weeks, or months. I promise I’m not going to let that happen again. You’re too important to me.” André kissed him, falling into the unique sweetness of Chess’s lips. Their softness played devil’s advocate to his hungry demand, his need growing more powerful with each sweep of their tongues and each gasping breath.

Chess pulled away first. “We can’t. We have to get to lunch. Plus, you’re still a little weak.”

Fuck lunch, he wanted to say. When they’d first met, nothing had mattered except the thrill of their naked bodies sliding against each other, hot skin on hot skin. They’d forget about food or anything in the outside world, everything fading away but the driving need to possess each other, body and soul.

And besides, he hated being doted on. “It was a stomach bug; that’s all. No need to make it sound worse.”

“I’m not. I just know that with all the traveling and different foods, you don’t want to take any chances.”

“Stop treating me like I need to be coddled. I’m fine,” he said a little more sharply than intended, and Chess ducked his head, but not before André spied the hurt on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

“I’m looking out for you because I love you.”

Instantly contrite, he cupped Chess’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I need to get used to being home again and having you with me. I’m so used to living from meeting to meeting, I need to check myself and not rush things.” He’d forgotten how sensitive Chess could be, how he hated any kind of conflict.

Relief spread over Chess’s face. “Exactly. The purpose of coming here was to throw away the clocks and put aside the phones so we could concentrate on each other. As a matter of fact, I should practice what I’m preaching. My grant applications can wait a few more days, and my teaching assistants can fend for themselves for a while.” Chess reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and powered it down. “There. No more phone and no more distraction.” He gazed at him expectantly.

It was the right thing to do, of course, but years of being the one everyone turned to had made him forget what it was like to take a breath. Cutting himself off from his brother and sister wasn’t a problem; all those two ever talked about was where they were going for dinner, what yacht they were partying on, and who they were sleeping with. It was his mother and the business he had to worry about, and given the intense negotiations and new ventures she’d planned for Webster Properties, it might be career suicide to go dark.

But he wanted to show Chess he was on the same page; plus, he did think it would be good to disconnect. Maybe he could turn off the phone for now, and only check on it once or twice a day. Making a show of it, he turned it off, slipped it