Page 58 of Total Creative Control

“What?Why?” he demanded, outraged at this unfairness.

“Because you look like a fucking supermodel, and you know it,” she threw at him. “So no compliments for you.”

Aaron laughed, and Lewis turned to gape at him. “Et tu, Brute?”

“Well, youaredisgustingly pretty,” Aaron said, and just for a moment, alongside the amusement in his silvery gaze, there was pure, heated admiration.

Lewis’s gut twisted, and he couldn’t think how to respond to that, but it didn’t matter because Aaron was already turning away and heading for the main stairs with Toni, and all Lewis could do was follow them, trying to pay attention to their light-hearted conversation.

When they entered the lounge a minute later, the others were there already, Charlie standing behind an honest-to-God fully stocked bar, while Milly and Geoff lounged at opposite ends of a huge sectional sofa that looked like it could sit about ten people. They were both sipping cocktails already, Geoff’s a long tea-coloured drink and Milly’s a rose-pink confection, with a layer of white foam on top.

“Welcome, welcome!” Charlie greeted them. “Let me make you all a drink. Do you trust me to choose for you?”

There was a brief silence as all three of them obviously thought “No” before they all muttered unenthusiastic affirmatives.

Charlie beamed, either oblivious to the undercurrents or actively enjoying them. He loaded up a cocktail shaker with ice and began pouring a lethal number of shots into it.

“I love your dress,” Toni said to Milly in her easy way, smiling as she settled herself on the sectional. Milly began babbling about dress designers, and Lewis tuned out, grateful for Toni’s ability to talk to anyone about anything. It was a skill he singularly lacked.

Aaron glanced at him and murmured, “I suppose we should sit down too. We’d better head for the other end, I suppose.”

Lewis unenthusiastically eyed Geoff, who was giving off vibes of angry misery, but he nodded.

Aaron sat first, and Lewis settled down beside him, only realising once he’d sunk into the plush cushions just how close he was to Aaron. Their arms brushed, and he could feel the heat of the man’s body beside him. Like they were a couple.

Fuck. But it would look bad if he moved now. Deliberate. Pointed.

Charlie was doing his bartending, energetically mixing, shaking, and pouring.

“Do you think he’s going to roofie us?” Aaron muttered, and Lewis laughed, though in truth it wasn’t something he’d confidently bet against.

A few minutes later, Charlie emerged from behind the bar with a tray of drinks. He presented a lilac-hued drink to Toni, saying, “Purple Sunset seemed apt for you tonight, darling.”

Toni laughed, then sipped it. “Wow, that’s delicious!”

Charlie smiled smugly. Next, he handed a thick tumbler to Lewis. It had a huge ice cube and was filled nearly to the brim with scarlet booze.

“Jäger Negroni,” Charlie drawled. Lewis raised his eyebrows, then took a gulp. It was, at least, satisfyingly alcoholic.

Aaron’s offering was a much more froufrou affair, a sunny yellow drink presented in a classic coupe glass complete with a prissy little pink umbrella weighed down with red glacé cherries.

Charlie smiled thinly at Aaron. “Sidekick,” he said succinctly, before turning away to reach for the last drink on the tray, a blood-orange concoction in a classic Nick-and-Nora glass. Rather than sit on the sectional, he settled himself on the floor in some kind of seated yoga pose.

“What have you got, Charlie?” Toni asked. She’d already necked half of her Purple Sunset.

Charlie smiled his smug smile again. “It’s a Commander-in-chief.”

Aaron pressed his lower leg against Lewis’s, and when Lewis glanced at him, he had his lips pressed tightly together against his obvious desire to laugh.

Oh Christ, but Lewis really shouldn’t have looked because now his lips were twitching too. He made himself look away and took a gulp of his drink, but even as he did so, he pressed back against Aaron’s leg in answer, and then—he wasn’t even sure why he did it—he just left his leg there.

He couldn’t even pretend it was to soothe himself, or to stay calm, because that was definitely not the effect this contact with Aaron was having on him. Quite the opposite. His heart was racing, and his cock was pulsing and hardening.

“Earth to Lewis?” Charlie said pointedly, and he blinked hard, realising he’d completely zoned out while Charlie had been talking to him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I was miles away.”

“Yes, I did notice,” Charlie said repressively. “You really should work on being present in the moment, Lewis. It’s absolutely vital if you’re going to give of your best. Not to mention being respectful of others around you.”