Working It(20)

Zack slid one of his hands from Nolan’s head down to his back and moved him even closer. The move was enough that it forced Nolan to put his bad leg at an awkward angle.

The breath he sucked in at the bolt of pain was unexpected, and Zack immediately pulled back. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Keep kissing.”

“That wasn’t fine. What happened?”

No, no, no, he didn’t want to get into this. “My leg. It’s fine. Keep kissing.”

When Zack stepped away completely, Nolan groaned his displeasure. “You’ve mentioned your leg before.”

“I have.”

“Are you okay?”

“I was in a car accident. A pretty major one. I’m lucky to be alive, and I’m just fine dealing with a bad leg.” He hadn’t been naked with another man since he’d been injured, and hadn’t a clue how someone would react to seeing the mangled white skin. He wasn’t exactly freaked out about it, but he wasn’t in a rush to be judged harshly either.

Not that he thought Zack would.

If they ever got to that point.

“Can we go back to the kissing?” He batted his eyes for good measure. “I liked the kissing.”

The second Zack frowned, Nolan knew the moment had passed. Zack dropped his hands. “I better get you home. I’m sure your sister is back and wondering where you are.”

Nolan gathered this wasn’t going to be an I better get you home so I can get you naked thing. “Probably. Don’t want to be tired and piss my boss off tomorrow.”

Zack snorted and moved to hold the ropes up for Nolan to leave the ring. “I hear you work for a real jerk.”

“He can be when he’s stubborn. I know how to settle him down though.” Nolan slid beneath the ropes, but not carefully enough. The moment his feet hit the floor, he realized that something had fallen onto his jacket. Expecting to see dust, a startled shout exploded from him when he looked down and saw a spider. “Fucking hell!”

Furiously, he beat at his shoulder, spinning around to make sure he’d gotten the spawn of Satan as far away from him as possible. The pain in his leg was nothing compared to his loathing of spiders. When he saw the little bugger trying to scurry away, Nolan stomped near it just to make certain it wasn’t going to turn back.

Panting, he looked up to see Zack staring down at him from the ring, eye squeezed shut and face red. Nolan swayed toward him, but stopped for fear of getting closer to the spider. “Are you okay?”

Laughter exploded from Zack as he gripped the top rope with both hands. He gasped and nodded and then laughed some more.

Nolan couldn’t stop from rolling his eyes. “Yes. I’m scared of spiders. Blame my eldest brother for that.”

“The look . . . on . . . your face!” Zack tried to stop long enough to get himself out of the ring, but failed. “Spiders!”

It was weird, Nolan normally got annoyed whenever someone teased him about his fear. He wasn’t thrilled to be a fully grown man terrified of such a tiny creature, and hated when he was reminded of his failing. But seeing Zack—hard, angry, serious Zack—laughing uncontrollably, Nolan felt his heart swell. “I thought you were taking me home?”

“I am.” Zack wiped tears from his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Nolan reached over and punched his shoulder. “There, we’re even.”

They fell into step and headed toward the door. “If you’re going to help out here, you’re going to have to get over that. There are a lot of spiders around this place.”

“I promise to do better.” Nolan grinned. “So, you’ll let me help?”

“I’ll use you as spider bait.”

Nolan punched his arm again.

Zack shook his head, and seemed to come to terms with something. “I could use the company getting this place up and running.”

Nolan knew something had changed between them, small but significant. The way they walked together, relaxed. The sexual tension was still present, but had wrapped its arms around their budding camaraderie. They were becoming more than boss and employee, or accidental kissers. They were becoming friends.

Nolan took a deep breath as they stepped outside into the Toronto night air. “Good. We’ll get started tomorrow.”





Zack hadn’t slept much after he’d gotten home that night. He’d been hard as a rock from the moment Nolan had slipped into his car until well after he’d dropped him off at his apartment. He’d tried most of the night to get Nolan out of his mind. Jerking off hadn’t helped; neither had reviewing work documents. Maybe Max was right and he’d been on his own too long. Either that or he was under more stress than he realized.

Or he could accept the more obvious explanation. He liked Nolan in a manner that went beyond professional respect. The attraction had been little more than physical when he’d first laid eyes on him, but after a month of working side by side with him, Zack knew it had grown past that. He’d let his guard down, and the strangest part was that Nolan wasn’t even his type.

Maybe that was why he hadn’t kept his emotional dukes up: he hadn’t expected Nolan to have that kind of impact. And now, Nolan had managed to insert himself in nearly every crack of Zack’s life without him fully realizing. Even the gym would no longer offer a safe haven from the attractive, funny, caring man . . .

Fuck.

What had really broken through the last of his barriers was the spider.

Dear God the spider.

His lips stretched into a smile each time his mind replayed the events. The look of horror on Nolan’s face as he tried to destroy the tiny arachnid was forever burned into Zack’s memory. Zack hadn’t laughed that way in years. Hadn’t thrown his head back and let loose a giant belly laugh.

It was a good feeling, something he’d like to experience again. That was the main reason for his purchase on his way home the previous night and his utter excitement waiting for Nolan to arrive this morning.

Yeah, he was an asshole.

The soft sucking noise of the glass office door opening sent a thrill through him. It took great effort to keep his gaze locked on his computer monitor instead of on Nolan as he strode into the office.

Nolan popped his head into Zack’s office. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“Need a coffee refill?”

“Please.” He held out his mug without making eye contact. “I’ve been here awhile.”

“Need me to get anything together for you?”

“Just the coffee, please.”

The moment Nolan turned the corner, Zack grinned. He wasn’t this person, not the one to buy gifts and certainly not the one to play pranks. The gurgle and pop of the coffeemaker spitting out a fresh cup sent his heart beating. It took real effort to school his features in time for Nolan to return with the mug.

“Here you go.” Nolan set the coffee down in front of Zack’s keyboard before pausing. “Are you okay?”

“Yup, just trying to finish this report.” Don’t smile. He’ll know something’s up.

“Okay.” Nolan frowned and looked back at him twice before moving over to his desk.

Zack did his best to watch without looking too obvious. Nolan went through his usual routine, setting his own coffee down, picking up the jacket he’d slung across the reception counter, hanging it up carefully, and returning to the coffee to take a slow sip as he subtly stretched out his leg.

Finally, he pulled out his chair, and—

“Fuck!”

Zack burst out laughing.

“You asshole!” Nolan picked up the giant stuffed spider that Zack’d found at the toy store and shook it at him accusingly. “Asshole.”

“But it’s so cute and fuzzy. I thought you and Ralph could become friends.”

“Ralph. Who the hell names a spider Ralph?”

“The manufacturer. It’s what was on the tag. Check the recycling bin if you don’t believe me.”

“I can’t believe you did that to me.” Nolan threw Ralph at him, and Zack barely caught it in time.

Zack threw it back, still chuckling. “I can’t believe you actually called me an asshole. Twice. Consider Ralph therapy to help you get over your phobia. I told you, there are a lot of spiders at the gym.”

The dramatic glare and eye roll Nolan threw his way were more than enough to relax him. This was the reaction he’d been hoping for—playful and accepting. A positive start to a work day that might end up more than a little stressful.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Zack returned his attention to the top of his email list. After he read the first few lines, the happy vibes he’d been cruising on evaporated.

Shit.

He’d been handling a discipline issue with one of his managers for a few months now. Complaints of inappropriate comments toward female employees and poor job performance. In this day and age, Zack kept hoping these incidents would become old news; the sad reality was that even with Compass’s clear policies, frequent trainings, and track record of zero tolerance, this shit still happened all the time.

He fired off an email to Nancy, knowing she’d have to be involved with the inevitable termination. Before he hit Send he glanced over at Nolan, who’d slid Ralph to the side of his desk in full view of Zack. Three pens were now in Ralph’s grasp, as though he were Nolan’s adorable little helper. The thought revived Zack’s smile. No matter how bad his day might get, there were small things he could hold on to, things that would make him happy.