Second Nature (His Chance #2) - Alexa Land Page 0,2
get to know the man you’ve become.”
“You know, you give good advice.”
That made him smile. “I try. So, was he the gorgeous guy with dark hair you were talking to downstairs?”
“Yeah. Turns out his real name is Gabriel. I only knew him by his nickname, which seems odd to me now, since we were so close. Or I thought we were.”
“See what I mean about taking the time to get to know each other?”
“I do, and you’re totally right.” I chewed my lower lip for a few moments, and then I muttered, “I just hope we aren’t doomed from the start.”
“Why would you be doomed?”
“Because submissive bottoms don’t usually end up together.”
Phoenix leaned against the dresser and scratched his short beard. Then he said, “Admittedly, it’s pretty unusual. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. If you both want to be together, you’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.” He went over to the bed and unzipped his duffle bag, and after a pause I asked, “You’re not planning to get dressed up for dinner, are you? I didn’t expect this place to be so fancy, since it has the word ‘ranch’ in its name.”
Phoenix was wearing what he always wore—jeans, cowboy boots, and a flannel shirt over a T-shirt. A few pieces of silver jewelry took his look from farm boy to indie rocker. “I didn’t bring anything dressy,” he said, “but I don’t think we need to worry about it. Everybody I’ve met since we got here has been dressed casually.”
“That’s true.” I pushed off the doorframe and said, “I’m going to take a few minutes to get cleaned up. Come get me when you’re ready to go downstairs, okay?”
“Definitely.”
I shut the connecting door and found the toiletry bag in my backpack, then went into the bathroom and tried to fix myself up a bit. After brushing my teeth and combing my hair, I debated shaving but decided the five o’clock shadow really should stay. I looked like a kid without it, and there was no point in reminding Gabriel I was six years younger than him.
At that point, I ran out of ideas on how to make myself look more presentable, so I gave up and went out onto the balcony. It felt like I was about a million miles from my tiny studio apartment in L.A. I wondered how Gabriel had ended up here, of all places. It was probably a great place to live and work, since everyone I’d met had been really friendly. But it was also in the middle of nowhere, not just because it was on an island. The hotel was located way outside the town of Avalon and the developed part of Catalina, so it felt like some kind of lush, tropical oasis, totally apart from the rest of the world.
Well, maybe not the tropical part. It was actually pretty cold since it was late February, so I went back inside and dumped the contents of my backpack onto the bed. Fortunately, I’d thought to pack a black, V-neck sweater, and I pulled it on over my T-shirt before frowning at my reflection in the mirror. I usually didn’t give a fuck about how I looked—until today. Now all of a sudden there was someone I wanted to impress, but I didn’t have the first clue how to go about that.
Phoenix knocked on the door a few minutes later, and we went downstairs to the dining room, which was just off the lobby. It was open and airy with high ceilings and lots of windows, and like the rest of the hotel, it looked like a huge pile of cash had been spent on it.
There were two groups of people drinking cocktails and chatting, but I didn’t see Gabriel. I turned to Phoenix and whispered, “I’m so nervous.”
“I know, but you’ll be fine. Just breathe.”
“Do I look okay? This sweater was a mistake, wasn’t it? Do I look like a nerd? Or a dad? Or a nerdy dad? I was cold, but it didn’t seem right to wear my leather jacket to dinner.”
Phoenix grinned at me and reached up to fix my hair. “The sweater’s fine. Seriously, you have nothing to worry about.”
Gabriel appeared a moment later, and Phoenix quickly pulled his hand away. I stammered, “Hey. Um, meet Phoenix Jaymes. Phoenix, this is Gabriel—”
I actually had no idea what his last name was, but Gabriel filled it in for me. “Moriarty.”
They shook hands as Phoenix said, “It’s great to meet you, Gabriel.