Page 48 of Steal My Heart
Brian nodded. “I want that too.”
Hilliard closed the distance between them, his lips touching Brian’s in an electric shock that both made him jump and left him wanting more.
“I know you have to look after Beverly, but come to the house tonight if you can,” Hilliard whispered. Brian nodded, and Hilliard kissed him again, harder and more urgently this time. “I have some things I need to get done, but I’ll be waiting for you.” He stood, first holding his hand, then letting his fingers gently slip away. Then he left, and Brian sat in the still room.
“Is everything okay?” Gran asked as she slowly came down the stairs, holding the railing. “From what I saw, it looked like it.”
“Gran….” Brian sighed. “You don’t need to be looking.”
She shook her head. “Do I need to keep reminding you that I may be old, but I’m not dead? I’m feeling better, and Grant is taking me out to dinner this evening.”
“Gran, you fell!” Brian was aghast.
“And I will hold his arm.” She shrugged. “Oh, and try to find someplace to go this evening. After dinner, we’re coming back here, and I’d like the chance to spend some time alone with him.”
Brian tried not to appear shocked and upset. “Fine, Gran. Hilliard asked me to his place this evening.” He stretched out his legs as she sat down in her chair.
“You look at loose ends,” Gran said. “What’s wrong? It seems like things are going well. You have someone who cares for you a great deal, and we’ve proven your innocence. I know it will take time for the conviction to be vacated, but it will happen.”
“I know. I just…. We visited Violet, and she looked like part of her life had been ripped from her.” He bit his lower lip. “I hate to see her so broken up. Frank really messed up, and the ass is going to jail, but….”
“You have a big heart,” Gran said. “But Frank made his own bed when he did what he did.”
“I know. But I keep wondering who the real thief is. I have some ideas of who it might be, but I don’t know how to prove it or how I can even get close enough to talk to them.” He was really frustrated.
Gran patted his hand. “That part of the case is the sheriff’s job. The old case has completely fallen apart, and they know it. There are going to be prominent people calling to reopen the investigation, including Violet, I’m sure. This isn’t how you and Hilliard should be spending your time.” Her smile was the same one she used when he skinned a knee as a kid.
“Thanks, Gran,” he said gently, hugging her before getting up. He had a job he needed to finish, so he hurried upstairs. After all this excitement, he could use a little quiet.
“I EMAILEDAlan,” Hilliard said once he and Brian sat down on Hilliard’s back patio.
“What?” Brian asked, shocked.
“And then he called and we talked.” He sipped his beer slowly as Brian watched him. “I needed a name from him, a contact of his from when we were in law school. I remembered that one of his friends back then had moved out here. He’s a lawyer in San Francisco. Alan gave me his email address.” He sighed. “And we talked a little.” He turned to Brian, his eyes watering. “It was a kind of closure, I guess. There was no drama about him wanting me back or him saying he needed me. None of that stuff. He did say that he had messed up.” Hilliard sipped from the bottle and sat back in the chair, looking up at the sky like he was talking to it. “As we talked, I realized that he and I wanted different things. Well, maybe at first we wanted the same thing, but for different reasons. Do you know what I mean?”
Brian wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want Hilliard to stop, so he nodded a little, more as encouragement than anything. “I suppose you wanted different things out of the firm?”
“Well, that… and each other, I guess. He wanted to be a shark, without a doubt, and I wanted to help people. For a while, that put us on the same path. But then… it didn’t. I was softer I guess, quieter, and Alan wanted someone who….” He chuckled. “I guess I don’t even know what I’m saying. He and I were on different paths, and for a long time they were close enough together that we thought it was just one, but I don’t think it ever was. He said that he loved me and that he would never forget me, but….”
“That must have sucked.”
“Not really. See, I loved him too, but I guess that had been fading for a while.” Hilliard took his hand. “I know that things between him and me are over. They were even before I caught him cheating, and I can see that now. He has the firm, and he’ll go forward with it. My name is off the door. And I’m going to open an office here just as soon as I can pass the bar. Until then, I’m going to get a job.”
“I know a few places that are hiring,” Brian told him.
Hilliard smiled. “I’m not going to work with you. I think that was part of my problem with Alan. We spent too much time together and didn’t have a life that was separate.” He leaned closer. “I don’t want what happened to Alan and me to happen to us, so I’m going to see what I can find to make ends meet for a while until I can take the test. I already applied, and now I’m just waiting until they give it.”
Brian smiled. “So you’ve definitely made up your mind.”
“Yup. This is where I want to be.” Hilliard finished his beer. Brian did the same, and then Hilliard stood, holding out his hand. Brian took it, and Hilliard led him inside and up the stairs into the bedroom.
The windows were open, and the power of the waves a hundred yards away, the wind across the open land, all of it swept inside. Hilliard wrapped him in strong arms and pressed him against the closed door with a thud. Brian’s breath hitched and his eyes widened as Hilliard stared deeply into them. The panels of the door pressed to his back, but he ignored it. All that mattered was Hilliard’s warmth. As he drew nearer, the intensity built until Hilliard took his lips in a bruising kiss that broke the dam holding Brian back.
He clutched Hilliard, grabbing his clothes in a desperate attempt to get at his skin. He needed him as badly as he needed air, and he was tired of waiting. They pulled apart only long enough to get their shirts off. Then they crashed together again,lips exploring as their hands did the same, tugging and pulling at belts and buttons before shoving pants aside.
Hilliard pushed them toward the bed, and they tumbled onto it in a fit of laughter, their pants around their ankles. Brian didn’t care, and Hilliard didn’t seem to either. They did manage to get their shoes off and kick their pants away, and Hilliard pressed Brian against the mattress, kissing him as though the world were going to end at any moment.
“Damn,” Hilliard whispered between breaths. Brian cut him off with another kiss as Hilliard reached for the nightstand.