Heartsville 02 - Unscripted (Nico Jaye) (8 page)

Carter’s brows furrowed, and he sent Teddy a confused look.

Teddy bit his lip and tried very hard not to smile. “It’s a movie.” When Carter continued to frown, Teddy shook his head. “Never mind.”

“No, it’s great,” Gia said, leaning forward. “There’s this big-shot guy, Richard Gere, and he hires this prostitute, Julia Roberts, for a night that turns into a week together. And she takes him on a picnic and reads him books, and he stands up to this prick to defend her, and they totally end up together in the end.”

Carter looked even more lost, and Teddy took pity on him. “Did you know Mama’s focaccia was once featured on
Underground Eats
?”

“Oh, Teo,” Mama said, blushing. “It’s just a little show.”

“Little shows can lead to big things, Mrs. Carbone.” Carter took a bite of his rosemary focaccia. “And your focaccia is deserving of the biggest.”

Teddy tried not to be charmed by Carter’s kindness to Mama, but it was hard when the bastard was just so… charming.

Ugh.

Dangerous.

Between the soft kisses, the charm, and the kindness, that’s exactly what he was.

***

With light spilling out of the kitchen window, Teddy sat down on the steps of the back porch, a glass of white wine in his hand. He’d been surprised when his mother had shooed him and Carter outside after dinner, and he’d been even more surprised when Carter hadn’t objected.

“Your family is lovely,” Carter said, sitting down next to him.

“Oh, they’re something, all right,” Teddy said, smiling.

“No, don’t make light of it. You’re lucky, you know.” Carter paused, looking down into his own glass. “There’s… there’s a lot of love there. Even I can see it.”

Teddy made an inquisitive noise, and Carter said nothing for a long moment.

“I’m no longer interested in selling the Oasis.”

His heart beating faster, Teddy tried to keep his voice steady. “You’re… you’re not?”

“No, I’m not.” Carter set aside his glass and looked at Teddy. “You’ve built the Oasis into a family of its own, and the world needs a little more of that. If I can help keep it out there, then it’s not a hardship to hold onto it. It’s… it’ll be nice to know I helped a little.” Carter had a faraway look for a moment before turning a half smile toward Teddy.

Teddy bit his lip and inched closer. He set his glass down and dared to reach for Carter’s hand. “You’ve helped a lot. And you’re part of the Oasis family too, you know.”

Carter laughed, a short, mirthless sound. “My dad’d be thrilled to hear that.”

Cocking his head, Teddy frowned up at Carter.

With a glance at Teddy, Carter tilted his head back and looked up at the dark sky. “He never liked Uncle Richard, and he didn’t want me hanging out at the Oasis after a while. I never understood why, but as I got older I realized it’s because he always thought Uncle Richard was just a little too swishy. A little too gay.” Carter’s lip curled up, but it was a smile devoid of humor. “Didn’t do a damned thing to keep all things gay out of my life because I still came out to them later on.”

“That’s… that’s brave of you.”

“Brave?” Carter scoffed. “I was already tapped for the executive track. My dad couldn’t have been prouder—first in my class at Wharton, and I was a clear fit to take over at Monroe Capital. He didn’t like it when I came out, but what could he have done? I was already dating guys, and it’s not like he could stuff me back into the closet. My mom couldn’t care less. She had her other babies to worry about—the Northside Women’s Club and the Gold Coast League.” Carter shrugged. “Not brave,” he repeated. “Just something I needed to do for me.”

Thinking about the surprising reception to his own coming out—his parents hadn’t freaked out about his being gay nearly as much as they had when he’d said he didn’t want to take over the family business—Teddy squeezed Carter’s hand. Carter gave him a surprised look, glanced down at their joined hands, and squeezed back, a small smile on his face.

Teddy cleared his throat. “I… I know my opinion doesn’t count for much, but I think it was brave.”

“You’d be surprised,” Carter said quietly, almost to himself. He looked up again, a soft look in his eyes. “Thanks.”

Teddy nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Carter’s eyes were a midnight blue in the darkness of the evening. Inexplicably, Teddy’s heart began to pound, and he didn’t know what to expect next.

Carter leaned in, nuzzling Teddy’s soft five o’clock shadow, and Teddy’s lips parted on a soft gasp.

A loud burst of laughter by the kitchen window startled them, and they broke apart.

Teddy bit his lip, flames of heat rising to his cheeks.

Carter cleared his throat. “I was going to tell you I won’t be able to make it this week because of an unexpected business trip that came up. We have an opportunity that requires my presence, and the scheduled meetings are Thursday and Friday.”

“Oh, okay.” A bead of disappointment formed in Teddy’s belly.

“But do you want to go to dinner Wednesday night?”

Teddy blinked and offered a hesitant smile. “Do you mean go to dinner to… discuss the Oasis? Or go to dinner to… go to dinner?”

A sexy smile curled on Carter’s lips. “The latter.”

Teddy’s eyes went wide, and the bead turned into butterflies. “Oh.”

“Yeah?”

Teddy nodded, a small smile blooming on his face. “Yeah, yes. Okay. Yes.”

Chapter Seven

It’d been about a year since Teddy had dated.

At that time, he and Greg had fizzled out after dating for about five months, then he’d had some one-night stands afterward that’d been followed by the dry spell he’d recently broken with Carter. Somehow time had flown, and a year had passed since he’d been on an actual date.

This was a date.

Teddy had received that clarification.

And if he hadn’t, the gentle pressure on the small of his back when they’d entered the restaurant and the unfairly attractive smile on Carter’s face would’ve done it.

“Is it unrefined if I admit I’ve always wanted to come here?” Teddy asked, moving his menu to the side and leaning forward over the intricate place setting and wineglasses. Le Papillon was a small restaurant located between Heartsville and Chicago that, even with such an out of the way location, was a perennial favorite with the critics. It was also almost impossible to get a reservation, and the two times Teddy had tried for his treat-myself-to-somewhere-special birthday meals, he’d had no luck.

Carter’s eyes lit up, and he smiled warmly. “I don’t know about unrefined, but I’m glad you like it. I saw how much you seemed to enjoy our lunch and figured French would be the way to go.”

“Our lunch?” Teddy was positive this was their first date, despite their several previous encounters.

Carter raised his brows. “At Brasserie Jo with Paul from CMT?”

Teddy’s eyes went wide. Carter had noticed him even while his focus seemed to be on charming the socks off Paul?

Carter’s lips twitched in a small smile. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Shit
. Teddy was afraid he’d said that out loud.

“Anyway, I thought you might like the skate here. Of course, you can pick whatever you want, but the skate’s the best I’ve ever had.”

“Skate…?” Teddy wasn’t really sure he knew what that was, and he leaned in closer again. “This will sound even more unrefined, but what exactly is that? I’ve seen it on other menus and have been afraid I’d get stuck with a shoelace in my mouth.”

Carter laughed. “It’s okay; it’s definitely something a little different,” he said with a smile. “It’s a fish that looks like a stingray but isn’t a stingray.”

Teddy’s brows inched higher. “And you eat it?”

“And it’s delicious,” Carter added, nodding.

Teddy waffled, eyeing the “Skate with Chateau Chalon sauce” on the menu.

“C’mon, Teddy,” Carter said in a low voice, a gleam in his eyes. “Live a little and go with the unexpected, to hell with the consequences.”

Teddy’s body zinged to life at the memory of those words, which had been the catalyst for their one-afternoon stand. The look in Carter’s eyes suggested he’d picked the phrase deliberately.

If anyone had asked him just a few months ago where he’d be at this point in time, there was no way Teddy could’ve predicted he’d be the co-owner of the Oasis and on a date with Carter Monroe. It was almost absurd what life had sent his way, but the candlelight flickering across Carter’s face highlighted the reality of the moment.

This was Teddy’s life.

He was the star of it.

When the waiter stopped by their table to ask if they were ready, Teddy met Carter’s gaze before looking up and boldly stating, “I’ll have the skate.”

The smile on Carter’s face was worth it.

***

Le Papillon was about halfway between Chicago and Heartsville, so even though Carter had tried to convince Teddy to let Carter pick him up, Teddy had prevailed in persuading Carter to meet there. Teddy hadn’t considered, however, what would happen once dinner ended.

Dinner with Carter had been fun. Teddy was shocked to discover he could have fun with Carter at a restaurant with eight different types of utensils, but he had. Carter had opened up a little more about his family and his hobbies (sailing his own boat was apparently a stereotype that rang true for him), and Teddy had shared his own difficulties in shying away from the family business and venturing out on his own. They’d lingered over dessert, and the warm look in Carter’s eyes had heated Teddy all over.

“I’ve never seen marshmallows like that,” Teddy commented after Carter had paid the bill. Teddy shrugged into his coat as they prepared to leave. “Coiled up in that glass bowl and the way she cut them with scissors? I never knew marshmallows could be so artistic. And I’m being unrefined again, aren’t I?”

Carter smiled and shook his head. “It’s part of your charm.”

Teddy blushed. “Well, consider it my way of saying I had a really great time.”

“I’m glad. I did too,” Carter said, the smile still lingering on his lips. He held the door open for Teddy to exit onto the sidewalk.

Fishing his keys out of his pocket, Teddy hovered by the unmanned valet stand. He debated, then thought… what was there to be shy about? They’d already fucked each other, and God knows Teddy found Carter attractive—even more so now that Teddy’d seen the person he thought of as The Real Carter.

Teddy cleared his throat. “So… this’ll sound terribly cheesy, but your place or mine?”

Carter chuckled and approached Teddy. He cupped Teddy’s jaw in both hands and kissed him gently. Teddy murmured against his lips when Carter lifted his head.

Carter’s voice had a rasp to it when he spoke. “I’m going to regret this, but… neither. This is where we part ways—tonight, at least.”

“But don’t you want to…?” Teddy could feel his cheeks burn at what he was suggesting. He didn’t want to beg for it, but didn’t Carter…?

“Teodoro, trust me—I want to. God knows I want to,” Carter said with a heated look. “But tonight was about saying I want more than that from you. I want you to know I appreciate you too.”

Oh.

God, that made Teddy feel warm and flushed all over.

Teddy wet his lips and nodded slowly. “Okay. Thank you. I think.”

“You’re welcome.” Carter leaned in for another of his soft, exploring kisses and whispered against Teddy’s lips. “Soon, though. Soon.”

Chapter Eight

Teddy loved Halloween at the Oasis.

Little kids from the neighborhood came by in the afternoon, and he happily handed out miniature bags of M&M’s and boxes of Nerds. They always oohed and aahed over the decorations that graced the marquee and lobby. The fake cobwebs dangling from the corners of the box office windows and the creepy butler mannequin who offered a platter of bouncy ball eyeballs also made their annual performance of
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
that much more fun. A campy dress rehearsal the day before had been as much a reunion as an actual practice for the performers who made the trek over from Chicago for the performance.

Halloween also meant he could dress up as part of the show.

Once night had fallen, it was time for the adults of Heartsville to have some fun. Those who hadn’t gone into the city for their celebrations were welcome to come to the Oasis to indulge in a little humor and horror. He loved seeing his neighbors come in wearing their Halloween finery, whether it was a tame pair of devil’s horns or a fully sequined Columbia lookalike.

Teddy welcomed them all.

Or, rather, Dr. Frank-N-Furter did.

It was outrageous and completely out of character, but Teddy threw himself into his night with the RHPS. He fluffed up his hair, which was naturally already dark and wavy, donned a fake pearl necklace, shimmied on his corset, garter belt, and satin undies, and rolled on black fishnets. The only thing he skipped was the eye makeup, which he’d learned the hard way was irritating to his eyes. With the rest of the costume intact, though, Teddy figured he was overwhelming enough already.