There wasn’t much furniture. Several canvases in different states of painting were placed round the room. Large windows overlooked the city, and he guessed it was for the light. She pressed a switch for blinds to cover the windows.
He knew why she did it and felt sorry for her. On the easel she was working on he saw a portrait of her. The picture was of one side of her face. The unmarked half. He wanted to get her to paint herself one day. Thoughts ran riot around his head of what he wanted to experience with her.
“Thank you for showing me where you work. I think it’s time for me to go.” He followed her to the front door of the apartment. “Stay here. I don’t want you to get cold.” Noelle nodded her head. Isaac pressed his lips to her, kissing her before he left.
His lips tingled from the contact. Thoughts of her would keep him occupied for the remainder of the night.
Chapter Eleven
Brad waited inside Ben’s office while the other man finished the night shift. Brad knew he made Ben uncomfortable, and it wasn’t his intention to make him feel anything but comfortable in his presence.
The club closed early on week nights, around twelve. Ben left to help round up the customers leaving him alone in the office.
Brad allowed his mind to drift, and he wondered how Noelle would cope with another winter being holed up in the apartment. She looked happier most days, and he wondered who the person was she was seeing. It couldn’t be Isaac as he promised he wouldn’t see her anymore. Ben came back in about thirty minutes later. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve invaded your working environment. I’m thankful you’re talking to me.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Brad. I’m talking to you, but that doesn’t mean anything has been rectified between us.”
“I’m happy you’re talking to me. That’s all that matters. I can’t change what happened in the past. I can only show you the man I am now.” He rubbed his sweaty palms down his jeans feeling the nerves gather inside him. Ben could throw him out at any moment, and Brad didn’t want that to happen. He loved Ben and had loved him for as long as he could remember. The feelings inside him refused to go away no matter how many times he tried to talk himself out of it.
It was times likes these where he wondered if going back to the drink would be for the best. He wouldn’t bother Ben, and he wouldn’t have to deal with the heartache he’d caused. No, he refused to take the cowardly way out. Brad was the person who caused these problems, and he would see to them.
****
Ben felt sorry for Brad. He wasn’t a nasty person, and treating him like dirt had only made him more miserable. Brad didn’t have the first clue of what he’d done to him. Ben saw the pain and confusion on his face and wished he could be in the same frame of mind. Many of his nights were spent in the throes of endless pain waiting for the sun to come up. Ben suffered from insomnia, which made night-time the worst.
Even as part of him hated Brad, he found he couldn’t be horrible to him. Brad clearly had no idea what he’d done. He wished when he’d met him all that time ago he’d known Brad had been hyped up on drink and drugs. He’d seemed so charming at the time. Ben blocked out the memory of their awful time together. He got up from his seat and walked round the desk.
“I’m going to walk you home,” Ben said. Brad followed behind him as he made his way out of the club. He locked the door and placed the key in the inside of his leather jacket.
“Do you know where I live?”
“Yes. I don’t mind the walk.” He pulled the collar of his jacket round his neck and walked side by side with Brad. Ben still felt an attraction to the younger man even after what happened. He didn’t know what to think of his body’s reaction to the man at his side. Part of him wanted to be disgusted for feeling anything while the other just wanted to forget everything.
Ben wondered if he was to tell him the truth whether that would change Brad in any way.
“I like the club,” Brad said.
“It’s all I’ve got left in this world.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what I did to you to cause so much hate?” Brad asked.
Ben stopped and looked at the other man. “I don’t hate you. I just don’t think you’re ready for what you want me to tell you.”
Chapter Twelve
During the day Noelle painted what she could. Her funds were fast running out, and she refused to ask Brad for any help. She knew he came from money, but she liked paying her way. Isaac called her regularly to set up meetings for the night-time. She loved the moments with him in the hotel room. They kissed and cuddled. At the moment it was more than enough for her, the touching and tasting of each other. Her lips spent the remainder of the night tingling from his touch. She loved it when he hadn’t shaved and then kissed a path down her neck. She shivered with delight thinking about having his lips on her body. The last time they’d met his hand had gone to her breast, the touch fleeting as he pulled away. She wished he’d taken the next step. She didn’t like the thought of asking him for more.
Brad spent a great deal of time out of the apartment. Noelle hoped his time with Ben was helping him to deal with his issues. She cared about him and wanted to see him happy. More calls from her family came, which she ignored. It hurt to hear the sound of her father’s voice. She ended up taking the voice mail off so she wouldn’t have to listen to him. Loving her parents was hard at times.
Isaac dominated most of her thoughts, and she’d begun to make sketches of him in her spare time. She wanted to be able to look at him without him being in the room. Most of her energy was used to draw him from her mind’s eye.
Nothing she created was like the real thing. He made her feel normal and happy. She didn’t want the feeling to end.
Winter had finally taken its toll on the city. Everyone was taking extra precautions when they left the house. Isaac had asked if he could pick her up from her apartment. She told him no. Explaining stuff like that to Brad wouldn’t help her cause. He worried too much.
They lay on the bed in the same hotel room. Isaac was kissing her lips down to her neck making goose-bumps erupt all over her flesh.
Sometimes they didn’t need to speak as they lay together. Staring into his eyes was perfect for her. The emotions he created within her scared her. She knew she was falling in love with him. The only thing she didn’t know was if it was a true love or a hero worship love because of him being the only man she’d been with, besides Brad, who hadn’t found her completely ugly.