Seducing His Ex - Chapter 4

John stepped into the Brooklyn Heights brownstone behind Zion. He waited for Zion to switch the lights on before following the man into a wide living room with a high ceiling that Brooklyn brownstones were known for.

“This place is huge.”

Zion looked over his shoulder as he watched John step in a circle and look around the spacious room.

“It is,” Zion replied. “Even more so since we did renovations, taking down a wall in here made all the difference.”

“You hired someone?”

“No,” Zion replied. “Although I stayed in California for my doctorate, and later work, I come home every summer and Israel and I plan some kind of project together. I couldn’t do it this year because I had to get everything ready for the move this fall.”

“Move?” John’s query was met with a light nod from Zion.

“I haven’t told Israel yet, he thinks I’m out here for some sort of mid-semester election week break. But the truth is, I’ve found a teaching position here that I’ll start in January, so I’m going to be home full-time now. I missed my mother and brother too much to stay on the West Coast.”

“I still can’t believe I didn’t know Israel Landry was your brother.

Zion shrugged. “It’s an easy mistake to make. We don’t have the same last name and I didn’t share a great deal about my family when we were in undergrad together.”

“If I may, why don’t you two share the same last name?”

“My mother married Israel’s dad when I was five.” John could see a far-off look spreading across Zion’s face, making it obvious his memories of his past were bittersweet. “My birth father had died in a car accident three years prior. Simon Landry raised me and loved me fiercely. He was so much more than my stepdad. He was my father, the only father I could actually remember. When I was seventeen, he asked me if he could adopt me, and I said yes. But before the adoption could be finalized, Simon died. So, that’s why Israel and I have different last names.”

Regret sat like a lump in John’s throat. He didn’t have a right to pry into Zion’s past. They weren’t together anymore. And considering Zion hadn’t shared this information with him when they were a thing, maybe they weren’t as close as he remembered. After all, Zion was able to walk away from him rather easily, and in all their years apart, the man had never reached out to reconnect.

Zion gestured toward the sofa, preventing him from digging deeper into the chaos of jumbled feelings sitting in the middle of his chest. “Please, sit down while I go get us something to drink. Water okay with you, or would you prefer wine?”

“Water’s fine,” he answered, and Zion disappeared through the doorway and down the hall.

John unbuttoned the jacket of his Brooks Brothers suit and smoothed his hand down his tie as he took the seat on the sofa.

He crossed his ankle over his knee and chided himself for the nervous twitch of his foot.

He’s just a man you used to date, John. There’s no reason to be this nervous.

That admonishment didn’t do much to calm his nerves. They hadn’t seen each other since they were twenty-one, yet fourteen years later, the same jitters that assailed him back then seemed to be making a comeback.

From the moment he’d met Zion, with his locs twisted into an intricate pattern and his big warm brown eyes, he’d been lost. A hunger he’d never known clawed its way inside his chest and spread like the most powerful drug, seeping into his blood, infusing his cells and lighting up every synapse in his brain.

And now, all these years later, he could feel the same thing happening to him, that burning, that desire growing inside him again.

He dropped his foot to the floor, leaning over to gather himself. He was the youngest and best PR guy in the business. Putting on good face was something he taught his clients. He would just have to take his own advice to get through this weekend.

Three more days.

That’s all he had to get through and this would be over, and his promotion would be on the other side.

He could do that. He could spend a little time with Zion and not have it impact his life.

He leaned back, his nerves relaxing just the tiniest bit. He’d drink his water whenever Zion made it back to the living room, then he’d politely excuse himself and head back to his apartment where their past wouldn’t haunt him, and he’d be fine.

“Sorry it took so long. The housekeeper left some curry chicken and buss up shut roti skins for me. She always cooks way too much. You want some?”

John looked up at the sight of Zion. He was out of his coat, stripped down to a fitted t-shirt and jeans that seemed so much sexier than he’d noticed in Israel’s office.

He could feel his heart rate creeping up, his muscles flexing involuntarily as he remembered the rich brown skin underneath the material. He’d spent so much time running his fingertips, tongue and lips against it that he had its texture, taste and smell committed to memory.

This was not good. Not good at all.

“I probably should let you get some rest. I’m sure the coast-to-coast flight has you jet-lagged.”

Zion shook his head, a determined gleam shining in his eye that put John on notice.

“Actually, I’m still on Pacific time, so it’s not that late to me. Come on, I hate for food to go to waste and I hate eating alone. It’s just dinner, John. What are you afraid of?”

John tilted his head, trying to figure out what was going through the man’s mind. Was he just being friendly, or was this like old times where a seemingly innocent dinner invitation could lead to so much more?

His gut told him he should probably leave, but then he remembered what his task was, to keep his boss’s “kid” brother occupied for the weekend.

He took a breath, stood and then shoved his hands in his pockets. “If you’re sure it wouldn’t be an imposition, then fine.”

Zion’s dark eyes gleamed and although John’s common sense told him this was a bad idea, his heart thumped its approval against his rib cage.

I’m probably going to regret this, but what the hell. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.