At Long Last by Shawn Lane

Author:Shawn Lane [Lane, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781602724495
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Published: 2009-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Scotty had to admit the day was going better than he'd hoped. They were having a great time. Well, he was and, judging by his smiles, so was Preston.

They'd had a lunch of fish and chips and beer. Then they'd been cruising the shops on the embarcadero ever since. The afternoon was gloriously sunny, but not too warm. A day like this was exactly why he planned on living in Morro Bay some day.

"So, how often do you come here?" Preston asked as they exited a shop of colorful kites and flags.

"It's been a while, actually. But before I left for New York I used to come pretty often. Three or four times a year."

Preston glanced up at the sky, his expression nonchalant. "With somebody?"

Scotty smiled a little. "Once with a guy, yeah. And twice with a female friend. But most of the time just me. I love it here."

Preston grinned. "I can tell. You're very enthusiastic."

He felt his cheeks heat a little and knew he was blushing. But, damn, he could be a geek. And he hated that about himself.

Covering his embarrassment, Scotty headed into the next gift shop. It was filled with statues of whales and dolphins and even a few paintings of sea life. At the back of the shop stood a very tall, thin dark haired woman talking with a couple. He guessed her to be the proprietor.

He walked over to a painting hanging on the wall. Scotty recognized it as the work of a famous sea life artist. The price tag had been placed on a card at the corner of the painting.

Preston came up behind him. "Nice. Thinking of buying it?"

"I don't know. I like it, but it's pretty expensive. I don't even have a place yet to hang it." Scotty grabbed Preston's hand and pulled him along to the painting next to it. Without even really thinking about it, he threaded his fingers through Preston's. "What about this one? I like this one, too. It's about fifty bucks less."

"Hmm."

"Hello there." A woman's voice sounded from just a few feet away.

Scotty turned to greet the tall dark haired woman he'd seen earlier. "Hi."

"Can I help you...two?" She paused just a bit before adding "two," her gaze darting to their entwined hands.

Preston shrank back a step and wrenched his hand out of Scotty's hard enough to sting. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He backed even farther away from Scotty, putting more distance between them and pretending to be studying a display of postcards.

For a moment Scotty felt physically ill. His stomach twisted, sunk. Tears pricked his eyes unexpectedly at the snub.

The woman's eyes widened, obviously catching Preston's odd reaction. "Would you like me to show you all the paintings we have of that artist?" she asked, politely.

His knees wobbled a little. He didn't even want to look in Preston's direction. He knew he was probably being unfair. But fuck, he did not want to go down the road of hiding who he was again.

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