Sweet Sensations

Chapter Eight

Dominick

If Xavier hadn't arrived looking like the most adorably sexy thing I'd ever seen, maybe I would have been able to keep things more casual. The night might have turned out more like I imagined—friendly and companionable.

But he had worn that fucking suit. That suit that made him look like he was blushing. And when he had licked that ice cream off the spoon, his lips got all shiny and sticky. And when we walked through the back doors of the ballroom and toward the balconies, his bubble butt danced in front of me, his hips swaying just enough to bounce his cheeks.

As the evening wore on and I got more forward with him, however, I couldn't bury the voice in the back of my head, saying I should still practice discretion. I might have felt desperate to grab his ass and spank him pink, to listen to him whimper and moan, but that would need to come much later, if it came at all.

It was one thing to have Charles running around New York with some compromising information about me. I didn't need to replicate the problem in Denver.

Even though Xavier was much more of a sweetheart than Charles could ever be.

Which made playing with him all the more tempting.

"This way," I said, pushing open the door to one of the side balconies. A security guard posted in the hallway made a gesture to say something, then recognized me and stood back.

The balcony was only big enough for a few flowering plants and a small table at standing height, but the view was fantastic. The mountains seemed to rise up from the earth to greet us, and the cityscape twinkled beneath us, but each were dwarfed by the night sky.

I took a sip of my drink, the ice having finally melted into crisp, cool water, backed by a kick of bourbon. Xavier had been so sweet and charming all night; I just wanted to keep talking to him. I wanted to ignore all the boring hobnobbing and business networking and return to the easy conversation we shared.

And most of all, I wanted to keep feeling the way I felt when he looked at me. Plenty of people were intimidated by me, but none were ever as present as Xavier was. It was like he felt my power, but instead of running away, he wanted to be close to it.

Xavier cleared his throat softly, pulling me back to attention. "Even if the people here are disappointingly like in New York," he asked, "are you glad to be in Denver?"

I looked back across the mountains again and thought of Grandpa, doing the same from his porch. "I am," I said. "It's a beautiful city. And I have the time and space to think here in a way I don't in New York."

"What are you thinking about?"

"What I'll do next. What will challenge me and satisfy me."

Xavier laughed to himself, the sound of it like bells. "Bored with success already?"

I shrugged and almost told him about my plans to move out of the country. Even though he already knew my visit to Denver was temporary, however, I didn't want to remind either of us about that fact at the moment.

"Not exactly," I said, leaning closer to him across the table. "I just know I want more than finances and development are offering me right now. What about you? You ever consider opening a second store?"

He laughed again, the music of his voice sparkling through the night. "Absolutely not. I like things the way they are. A second shop would just distract me from Sweet Sensations, anyway."

"It seems like you're making a good living."

"Good enough," he said, nodding. "But I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it for the customers and the little neighborhood around the shop. A lot of the people who come into the store are friends I've known since my childhood." His pouty lips scrunched up, then fell into a slight frown. "I guess that's why they have so much trouble seeing me as an adult, too."

I nodded, impressed by how well he knew himself and how easily he had found the life he wanted. "It's more than a shop," I said.

"Exactly," Xavier agreed.

My phone buzzed with a message, and when I glanced at it, I noticed the time. "You'll have to excuse me," I said, smoothing down the front of my shirt. "I've got a little speech to give now."

"A speech?" he squeaked. "You're going to give a speech to this giant crowd, and you didn't even mention it before now?"

I waved my hand in the air. "It's nothing big, just a few casual notes and platitudes. Trust me, once you've given a few of these things, they all start to blur together."

He let out a puff of air, chuckling to himself. "I guess so. If I were giving a speech tonight, though, I would have been fretting about it all evening."

I leaned forward on the table. With a gentle breeze drifting across the city, I felt reluctant to leave our quiet corner of the evening. "A guy as cute and sweet as you? I'm sure the crowd would love you."

He blushed and looked aside, sending another wave of pleasure straight to my cock. "After the speech," I said, "I'm likely to drown in small talk. But I hope you know I've had a wonderful evening. This would have been a drag without you to distract me."

He looked back my way, his eyes wide. "Thanks," he said softly. "I've had a wonderful evening, too."

"Perhaps I can take you on a proper date next weekend? Dinner and something a little more intimate?"

He nodded quickly. "I'd love that," he said.

My phone vibrated again, a frantic assistant urging me to make my way to the microphone. "It's a date, then," I said. "Now come on. I need something pretty to look at when I'm talking to this crowd."

Walking back into the party, I caught a glimpse of Xavier's face. He looked pleased with himself, like he was proud to be there with me. And that felt good—different than when I would show up to a party in Manhattan with Charles on my arm. My New York guys would always try to show me off, like I was some prize, but Xavier just seemed happy to be my companion.

And for that night, at least, I was satisfied just to see him smile.