Noah seemed to have a plan, right? He should listen at least. Give Noah that.

  Hell, if nothing else, they had this time, right? He wasn’t going to look a gift Texan in the mouth.

  Noah was right behind him, and they met at the stairs up to his condo, Noah having slid smoothly into his parking spot. “Hey.”

  “Hey you. You take the food, and I’ll get this.” It was a long three stories up in the cold.

  “Got it.” Noah tucked the thermos under his arm to grab the doughnuts. He led the way up, and Mason noted the cowboy boots had been replaced by hikers.

  Logical. Those boots were slick as snot. Even Stoney River switched to lace-ups in the wintertime.

  They got inside, set down all the stuff, and for a long moment, they simply stared at each other. Noah’s lips looked a little blue.

  “You want the fire or the bed, Mister? You look cold as ice.”

  “I want you.” They met in the middle of his living room before heading to the bedroom, and Mason was grateful Miss Priss was hanging out with Rach at the office today.

  “Come to bed, Mister. I’ll warm you up.” He held one hand out, wanting his lover in his bed.

  Noah took his hand, following, and they stripped down before sliding between the sheets, laughing when cold hands met warmer skin.

  “Damn, it’s frigid out there,” Noah said. “I need longies.”

  “I’ll have Rach grab you some.” Later. Much later. Right now he wanted more.

  He wanted kisses and touching and something that didn’t happen by his own hand while Noah was so far away.

  Noah kissed him, leaning on one elbow next to him, lips warming quickly. He scooted closer, bringing their bodies together, shoulder to hip.

  They rubbed a little, finding all the ways their bodies fit together. Rediscovering each other.

  “I never wanted anyone like you, honey.” Noah rolled atop him, covering him totally. “My little hard body.”

  “No?” He knew it was true. He felt the same way. “I was missing you so badly it’s like I conjured you.”

  “Maybe you did. Maybe you called to me.”

  Maybe he had. Mason wanted to believe. He leaned over and nipped Noah’s shoulder, knowing the sting would surprise his lover to no end.

  “Toothy!” Noah laughed for him, one leg pushing between them. “Gonna mark me as yours?”

  “No. No, I know I can’t. I was playing with you.” He leaned back, looked at the spot that wasn’t even pink. “See? All safe. I have your back, Mister.”

  “I don’t care, honey. I’m all yours. Now, if you left it right under my ear, I might protest a hickey….” Noah was chortling, eyes dancing.

  “Poor abused man.” He chuckled softly and wrapped one leg around Noah’s hip.

  “I am. I abuse myself so often it’s criminal.” Noah drew one of Mason’s hands down and wrapped his fingers around Noah’s shaft. “Touch me.”

  “As long as I can.” Pillow talk, sure, but he meant it, every word. Mason stroked up and down, pausing when Noah returned the favor, fingers finding his cock, exploring the tip, then the flared ridge of the head.

  He forced himself to keep his hand moving, keep the rhythm up, even as Noah tried to drive him out of his mind. The slow caresses made him dizzy as a bad fall on the slopes.

  This was way more fun than that.

  Noah licked Mason’s lower lip, then nibbled a little. Sharing the wealth, he guessed. He lifted his chin. He had nothing to hide and plenty of turtlenecks.

  Damned if Noah didn’t latch right on above his collarbone and pull up a mark. Lord, the man could suck, which gave him ideas.

  He left himself wide-open, offering every inch.

  Noah hummed, a cross between an approving sound and a chuckle. Then he moved down to lick at one of Mason’s nipples, exploring. Mason’s body tightened, his balls drawing up as Noah sucked, tongue sliding over the tight bud of his nip.

  He shuddered. Noah made him so hard. So hot.

  Those surprisingly hot lips slid down over his belly, Noah’s beard stubble scratching his hip.

  He tried to sit up, and Noah shook his head. “Let me love on you. Please, honey.”

  “Anything,” he whispered. “Anything at all.”

  “I want to taste. It’s been too damn long.” Noah’s words buzzed against the head of his dick, the vibrations almost too much to bear.

  “Months.”

  “Never again.”

  He nodded, but honestly, Noah was sucking, and he would have agreed to anything—anything at all—to make Noah continue.

  Noah didn’t tease any more. Lips sealed around Mason’s shaft, he bobbed up and down, tongue working at sensitive spots in both directions.

  Every so often he’d open his eyes, stare and know that it was his Noah, not some great wet dream. This was his lover, and the pleasure Noah gave him built and built until Noah pushed one finger between his asscheeks, tapping at his hole.

  “Love!” He bore down, took that finger in deep, and shot, as eager as any untried teenager. It had been too long.

  “Mmm.” Noah took him in, every drop, then slid up his body to kiss his mouth. The kiss was flavored with him, and he whimpered, then reached out and wrapped his fingers around Noah’s heavy prick again.

  That was what Noah needed, that big body bucking wildly, Noah riding his touch.

  He groaned, pumping hard, palm rolling around the tip with every upstroke.

  It took maybe a minute before Noah was taking his mouth with a fierce kiss, hips jerking as Noah came for him. Hot and wet, Noah’s seed fell on Mason’s skin, marking him far better than any hickey.

  “God, honey. I needed that bad.”

  He understood that.

  Shit, he more than understood that. “You warmer now?”

  “I’m on fire, honey.” Noah held him close, heart thundering against his ribs, every beat obvious to Mason.

  He wrapped them together in his goose-down comforter. “I’m so glad you’re here, Noah.”

  “I am too. I needed to see you. I know I could have called, but this was too important.” Noah rested their foreheads together.

  “Sometimes you need to breathe the same air.”

  “Yes. And I needed to look in your eyes and remember you care as much as I hope you do.” Noah smiled, lips curving against his. “I do love you. That’s the most important part. Remember that when I get all imperious.”

  “Imperious, huh? Wow.”

  “Right? One disadvantage of running everything is expecting everyone to be on board right away with my every scheme.”

  “Do you have a lot of schemes, Mister?”

  “With you I just have one.” Noah met his gaze head-on. “Find a way for us to be together most of the time. I know we’ll both have to travel. I know we both need to work. That’s the kind of people we are. I just don’t see why we can’t make the effort to do it together.”

  “You’re way more important than I am, Mister. I know that. I’m the guy people like you hire.”

  “Hey.” Noah took his chin in one hand. “How can you say that? If we’re going to do this, we have to come at it as equals. Your time is just as important as mine.”

  “Yours is a lot more expensive.” They had to acknowledge that. “And I have to say, a lot of people need you.”

  “Yeah. I’m working on that.” Noah paused, the laugh soft and kinda self-mocking. “I have spreadsheets to show you.”

  “Spreadsheets? I love spreadsheets.” There was something comforting about having that much information in a searchable form.

  “I adore you. Seriously.”

  Mason kinda felt as if he was on top of the world. Noah had really put effort into this.

  He just needed to figure out what this was.

  Chapter 26

  O n the second day they were together, they made love all day. In between naps. By day three, Miss Priss had stopped trying to bite him, and Noah thought that was some kind of victory.

  By day four, though, Noah was starting to worry. Mason was loving, happy and smiling, but studiously avoiding anything like a discussion about the future.

  Then the night of day four, Mason started murmuring things about how the week was flying by so fast. As if Noah was really going to just go back to Texas in a few days.

  Noah set the alarm on his phone for the next morning so he’d be up about a half hour before Mason got up to have his coffee and newspaper.

  He set up his paperwork, his agreements, along with a folder holding his final volley. He opened the door to a super quiet knock, Rachel standing there with lattes and croissants.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  “Anytime. If I’m going to be your assistant here, as well as the boss’s, we’re going to have to hire someone to help with the event planning.”

  “We totally will. Can you take Miss Priss?” He liked Rachel. He really did. And he thought she’d make a great Aspen-based assistant for them, if Mason approved.

  “I can.” She flashed him a beaming smile and tiptoed inside to grab Miss Priss up right in her crate, since the little lady was sleeping. “Holler if you need anything else.”

  “You’re amazing, lady. Thank you ever so.”

  He closed the door, hearing Mason wake, snuffling and snorting.

  So cute. He usually didn’t get to hear that. He took the croissants to the kitchen and laid them out on a pretty plate before setting them on the tiny dining table. The chocolate ones looked decadent, but there were plain and bacon-and-egg as well.

  “Mmm. Do I smell coffee, Mister? You’re up early, love.”

  “I know. Latte?” He looked Mason over carefully. Very carefully, because the brief shorts did little to cover that hard body.

  “Did you go out?” Mason stretched up, flat belly rippling, shorts sliding down to show those golden curls.

  His mouth went dry, and Noah almost let himself be distracted. His eyes wide, he watched that spot, but he forced himself to answer. “I asked Rach last night. She brought stuff over and took Miss Priss.”

  “Aw. That’s cool. Good morning.” Mason came to him, all slinky kitty as he begged for a kiss.

  “Morning, honey.” Noah gave that kiss happily, hoping for just this the rest of his life. “How are you?”

  “Happy.”

  Simple as that. Happy.

  Thank you, God.

  Noah hugged Mason tight. “Me too. I figure we have a nice leisurely coffee and croissant, and then you owe me a meeting.”

  “A meeting? You want to plan Trev’s wedding? Now?”

  “No. I want to show you my spreadsheets, talk about how we’re going to split our time and such.” He held his breath, hoping Mason didn’t blow him off.

  “Let me start the fire. That’ll make it nice in here.”

  “Sounds good.” He got out two more plates, some butter, and a little carafe of orange juice.

  Mason tugged on his heavy robe and then settled, grabbing a pad and a pen. “I’m ready, Mister. Let’s work this shit out.”

  “Okay.” He nodded and gathered his stuff. “Okay.” He was as nervous as he’d been giving his first presentation to Daddy’s investors. “The spreadsheet here”—he called it up on his laptop—“basically tells you who I’ve turned what over to. After this week, I’ve set aside an hour on most mornings to take calls from everyone, but my only emergency calls now will come from Sammy or Jonah.”

  Mason blinked, looking over the information. “You mean… is this for vacation?”

  “No. This is permanent. If I’m on vacation, only Sammy will get an answer unless there’s a prearranged emergency call. I finally got my family to understand I needed to limit access some. I’ll have changes to the schedule when it’s time for board meetings or site visits, of course, but basically I’ve delegated a lot to carve out personal time. We deserve it.”

  Mason stared. “You’re serious. How? I mean, you’re serious? You want—you’re really serious.”

  “I am.” Noah’s heart thundered, and he knew if he took a bite of croissant right now he would barf.

  “Okay. Okay, I need to process. Let’s talk this out. What about my company? I have… I mean, I’ll be honest, I have a mortgage and a car payment. It would be hard to make my bills on an hour a day for me….”

  Noah nodded. That wasn’t a no. Mason didn’t quite understand yet, but even so, it still wasn’t a no.

  “I’ll have to work more than an hour a day, honey. That hour I set aside is for phone calls. Not including the occasional conference call. Mainly that’s just so my family know they can’t expect me to be available twenty-four seven.” He reached out for Mason’s hand. “I would never expect you to give up your business. Or your condo, come to that, though I would love for us to look for someplace a little bigger with the same view. That’s a goodly bit up to you, though. I love your condo.” Noah gathered his thoughts a moment. “The only change I can think with your business is we might see how it works for us to share Rachel. She could train someone else to do some of the party work, and she could sort of work for both you and me as more of a personal assistant.”

  “I love my condo too. We could… the offices next to mine are empty. We could work together here, if you have a place for me in Texas? I can’t ask you to give up your ranch. I wouldn’t.”

  “My family understands that we’re together. I want you to be with me, but if you want to live in Dallas and go to the ranch for special occasions, we can figure it out.” That was the easy part. He knew it was all rich bitch of him, but he could afford to live anywhere. “If you need an office in Texas to work out of, the Wright building has offices we rent. I bet I could make you a good deal.”

  Mason gave him a look. “You think?”

  “I do.”

  “I want to organize all the Wright functions.”

  “Oh?” Noah felt like shouting with joy. “Are you trying to negotiate with me, O’Reilly?”

  “You bet your sweet ass I am, Mr. Wright.”

  “You do drive a hard bargain. Okay, so we roll living situations into next quarter’s business. I stay here with you and Miss Priss for now, and rent the offices next to yours for my Colorado headquarters.” Noah rubbed his thumb over Mason’s hand. “If the fam comes to visit, Dad has bought that house you rented for us. They can stay there.”

  “And I want to spend Christmas with you—no matter where we spend it. In fact, I want New Year’s too.”

  “Man, I give you an inch….”

  “I want all of you, Mister. If we do this, we do it right.”

  “We have to go down to Texas a week before Christmas to do the annual Christmas party. I’ll get you with Maydell so you can review her plans. But then I thought….” Noah pulled his trump card and slid the envelope over to Mason. The best part was he hadn’t needed it. This was just gravy now. He knew Mason was in with him. For life. “Christmas.”

  The first-class flights left Dallas December 23 and returned from Venice January 3.

  Mason looked at them, then looked again, his lips parting in obvious shock. “Noah. Noah, these are for…. Oh my God. You’re serious?”

  The little table damn near went ass over teakettle when Mason pounced him, kissing him hard enough that it would surely bruise.

  Noah laughed out loud, holding Mason close. “Merry Christmas, Mason. Want to go to Venice?”

  “Yes. Yes, Rachel’s going to kill me, but yes. To all of it.” Mason held him, fingers framing his face. “This isn’t about the money, though. You know that, right? I would love you if you had nothing.”

  “And I would love you if you didn’t have the best view in Aspen.” He kissed Mason again, because he could. “Trevor has offered to help Rach over the Christmas hump. To make up for running off. That means you can enjoy without worrying. Much.”

  “Is this real, Mister? Are we going to be together?”

  “I’m sick of missing you. Of living for everyone else. I want us to be real. A couple.” He wanted even more, but he knew he would need Mason to see how it could work, how it could be if they both put in the time. He had almost three weeks for the trial run. As proof.

  “I’m in.” Mason took a shaky breath. “I’m in. I want you to meet my goddaughter, and Rick and Jefferson. I know it’s crazy, but I need you to meet them. And we need to be in Texas close to Sammy’s due date. We can’t miss that.”

  “No, we can’t. We’ll get Maydell and Rachel on the travel schedule.” Maydell would love Rachel.

  “Rachel’s in on this? You’ve spoken to her?”

  “Not really. Just last night. She’s a smart cookie, though. She said if she was going to work for me too, she’d have to train someone else to do the event stuff.”

  “Yes. Absolutely. We can focus too, if we get the chance. Who knows? We’ll figure it out.”

  “We will. After Christmas. Kiss me again? Then we can have breakfast.” Noah had never been more pleased with a presentation, or a negotiation, in his whole life.

  “I think I can, yes.” Mason lifted his face, brought their lips together. “Seal the deal, you know?”

  “Much better than a handshake.” He kissed his lover deep, wanting Mason to feel everything he felt.

  He’d done it. He’d really done it.

  Shit and shinola.

  Chapter 27

  “G reat party, Mason!” Sammy said, leaning against him. “Seriously. This is perfect.”

  Mason looked around with a nod. He was pretty damn good at his job, even when he had to work with the poor, unfortunate lady who had been hired to coordinate this party before he had become the exclusive Wright event coordinator.

  “Do you need to sit?” He smiled at Sammy, hoping that was sparkling grape juice. It had to be. She was super-duper careful.

  “I’m good. I promise. You’re as big a worrywart as Noah.”

  “Yes. You’re the most pregnant ever.” He winked at her. “Did you get the e-card from Trev and Bryan? They’re in Maui.”