“Yes, Oliver. You’re such a pitiful specimen in the morning. Good thing I care about you. Maybe I should stay here indefinitely.” Jeff watched for a reaction from Craig. He knew he was taking a chance on the side remark, but hoped it would pass as a welcome suggestion from a close friend.
Taking the refill, Craig brushed his fingers over Jeff’s. “You’re a great servant.” Craig winked at Jeff. “Keeping you around for a while wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
Jeff took his seat and squeezed Craig’s lower arm as he held the cup to his lips. “How could I begin to think about leaving with such a rousing welcome?”
The two gazed at each other in silence. After a few seconds, Craig broke eye contact, lowering his eyelids, concentrating on drinking his coffee. Jeff watched as the tension seemed to fall away from his friend’s shoulders, and he sat back in his chair to enjoy the view.
Letting Craig think about his suggestion, Jeff stood up and put a couple of bagels in the toaster oven on the tiny counter. It took up half the usable space, but it was probably the only kitchen appliance, apart from the coffee maker, that Craig owned and used.
Jeff scanned the tiny kitchen area, wishing he could make it his own, wishing it was theirs. Staring at the toaster, he thought about a life where, each morning, he would wake up in the bed he shared with Craig, their bed. Hell, he wanted to be much more than friends. Jeff knew why all his previous relationships had fallen apart. He couldn’t help but compare every other man to Craig, and he always found them wanting. Craig was the only one he truly wanted to pursue, but it was a lost cause; Craig only thought of Jeff as his best friend.
Placing the cream cheese and jam on the table, Jeff started when Craig’s eyes flew open and he grabbed his wrist. “You might be right.”
“About what?” Jeff hoped he hadn’t actually verbalized any of his thoughts.
Craig looked at Jeff and tilted his head. “Your idea for a business venture. We really can do this if we approach it from the right angle. Why not start something that focuses on the LGBT community in the twenty-first century? And we don’t even have to be in charge of the servers and shit. That could be taken care of anywhere in the country by some computer geek who knows what he’s doing. We’ll be the front men.”
“And Sam can handle the legal work of getting the business going and the contracts for the clients. He’d make a great consultant and would probably do it for a nominal fee.”
Craig’s eyes widened. “You were that good, were you?”
“No, asshole—well, I was that good, but my guess is he’d do it to support a small business targeting his favorite minority.”
“Ah.” Craig nodded and offered a half-grin.
“You were teasing me!” Jeff smacked his friend’s arm. It was caught by Craig who held it briefly in place against his pulsing muscle.
“Only because I can.” Craig’s voice lost its playful tone and grew husky.
“Are you teasing me now?” Jeff knew his tone was breathy, but the way Craig held him in place was too much to deal with. He wasn’t sure how to interpret the gesture.
“I don’t know.”
“Craig.” Jeff pleaded, wishing for some sign of hope.
Craig let go. “I need my breakfast. I’m feeling lightheaded.” He stood up to get the bagels from the toaster, letting Jeff’s hand fall away. Jeff wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Craig seemed unsettled at losing the contact. “I hope your idea works, otherwise we’ll have to find a refrigerator box to move into.”
Jeff chuckled. “It should be a breeze. After all, how hard can it be to start a company that’s completely computer based?”
Carefully smearing a pat of cream cheese on his bagel, Craig shook his head. “My guess is it’s a lot harder than either of us realize.”
“Well, at least you know how to create a program on the computer. I remember all those cool games you designed.”
Biting into his bagel, Craig smiled as he chewed. “Yeah, I got a kick out of making things work. I guess I could design a questionnaire that could be worked to match with other questionnaires in the system.”
“It might be interesting finding out just who is right for whomever.” Jeff hid his smile as he took another sip from his cup of still-steaming coffee.
Looking up from his food, Craig’s eyes widened. “It might be at that.”
Chapter 6
“SAM, what the hell is all this? Do you get paid by the page?” Craig was pacing back and forth across Sam Solomon’s large office. He paused in front of the corner office’s floor-to-ceiling windows and gazed at the view of downtown Boston. “I’ve spent the past five days chained to my computer creating profiling programs for the new business. I’d almost forgotten what the city actually looks like.”
Jeff sat silently in one of the armchairs opposite Sam’s massive glass-topped desk. Craig had been getting more and more impatient with Jeff. Every time it looked like the profile was complete, Jeff would come up with another category that just had to be added to the site’s online form. There were so many components to finding the right match, and Jeff didn’t want to cheat their potential clients by not including any parameter that might make the difference between a successful match and a disappointment.
Standing from behind his desk, Sam buttoned his suit jacket and approached Craig. “You’re taking on a major responsibility. Starting your own business is a huge endeavor and there are a number of important protections and guarantees to put into place. They’re for the protection of both your company and your clients.”
Turning away from the window, Craig looked directly at Sam. “Are we crazy? Is
