"Did my mom fall in love with my dad over saying that word?" Hayley asked.

To give him his due Eli didn't falter in his answer which was immediate and firm.

"Your mom fell in love with your dad the first day she saw him. Your dad did the same, he just didn't know it."

* * * *

Riley leaned into Jack and wrapped an arm around his husband's waist as they waved Eli off.

"What did I agree to?" Jack asked. He looked a little stunned but Riley wouldn't have expected anything else. Eli was very definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"Twenty half-naked male models draped over your fences and scaring the horses." Riley shook his head as he said this. "You've been Eli-ed."

"He seems like a nice guy though. Hayley liked him. I liked him." Jack sounded thoughtful. Riley was still in shock that his husband had agreed to the shoot in the small space between steaks and dessert.

"It didn't worry you him telling stories about Lexie?" I don't want him to tell you anything that will make you doubt what we have.

The taillights of Eli's rental finally disappeared and Jack simply wriggled free of Riley's hold and turned to face him. His expression was serious and Riley suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, but nothing could make Riley break the gaze.

"Lexie is Hayley's mom," Jack began. His tone was soft but firm. "I want Hayley to know as much as she can about her, and I want to know more about you. I'm not insecure, het-boy. I know you love me and I love you. The history of you is always a good place to learn how you got to be so damn perfect for me."

Riley sighed and buried his face against Jack's shoulder.

"How come you always know what to say?"

"Practice." Jack laughed. "I had a thought that maybe Eli could stay when he's here for the shoot."

"In the house?"

"May as well. We can stand to have a friend of yours stay a while."

"No naked monkey-sex in the barn? For two whole weeks? Can you manage that?" Riley was joking but Jack's answer was deadly serious.

"You don't have many friends here to visit, Riley. It would be good for us all to get to know Eli. Anyway"— Jack smirked—"we can just be very quiet and make love when he's asleep."

"Not before we check for cameras," Riley deadpanned.

"He didn't?"

"My room. Time-lapse images of quite a few things you don't want the rest of the world knowing about."

"I'm assuming he deleted them?"

"Yeah. I made him."

Jack leaned close. His breath held the lulling, gentle scent of fine whiskey. Riley was pulled to him like a magnet with a desperate and sudden need to touch. "Shame. Could have been good to watch."

In seconds Riley was hard and ready. Christ, what this man did to him. It should be illegal.

CHAPTER 4

Today had been one of the longest days on record. Meetings ran into conference calls and Riley hadn't managed to grab much more than a cookie with his endless cups of coffee. The group of five men still hadn't managed to get to a final agreement on the bids. Twelve tracts of undersea exploration rights were up for grabs and Riley had a gut feeling about two of them. His new company promoted ethical exploration and alternative energies; every member of staff from accountant to diver shared in successes and failures, and that invariably meant Riley dealing with much more than just his first love.

His map room at his new office sat silent and he wanted nothing more than to be in the cool room, crosslegged on the floor, studying maps and charting core samples. He really did not want to be sitting in this room with a bunch of old men who wouldn't know ethical exploration if it was lubed and stuck up their asses.

Not one of them had what Riley had. That frisson of excitement when he followed a seam in the seabed and his instincts, checked deposits, and then found oil reserves was a natural high. Something his dad and his brother had never really understood and evidently something these idiots failed to grasp. Riley couldn't understand it. He loved the research and the knowledge you needed to do well. The office and the negotiation and the endless back and forth of the discussion between the men sitting here with him was driving him insane. He looked over at Jim thoughtfully. Having his dad here provided more support than Riley could have ever thought. Jim was so involved in CH and really, they were making up for lost time. For so long he'd thought Gerald Hayes was his father—he was never happier than when he found out that Jim was his real dad. Jim sat calmly and quietly to one side and was making notes on paper in front of him. Ostensibly he was there on Riley's behalf, as counsel and secretary to this deal.

They'd had all the big meetings for this proposal and Riley thought everything had been agreed to. Then all of a sudden out of thin air Josiah 'pompous ass' Harrold from the large and, some would say, unwieldy Santone Corp called this urgent meeting to discuss, of all things, percentage returns.

"All I am saying," Josiah started, "is that, in view of the fact that CH is a new face in oil, a lower percentage of any returns is what you should expect."

"There's forty-three years' experience in this company," Riley summarized. He forced himself to remain calm. Like the other three men in the room, Josiah was a contemporary of Gerald and Jack's dad. Josiah knew exactly how long HayesOil had been in existence and how much of the Hayes name and experience had gone into Riley's new venture.

"Yes, but no offense is meant by this at all. If it had been your dad or Jeff sitting here…" Josiah's voice deliberately trailed away and he looked at Riley pointedly. Riley was damn sure Josiah meant every single little inflection in his voice as a means to offend. Anger coiled in his spine and he dug his fingers into his thighs, letting the pain ground him and help him to remember to bite his tongue. He counted backwards from ten, a trick he had learned from many occasions in an office similar to this with his dad or brother.

Think before you speak, Riley. Keep the moral high ground. Don't back down.

"I'm not entering negotiations here, Josiah." Riley deliberately used the other man's name. Josiah's lip curled. He had always been Mr Harrold up until a few years back and Riley got the impression the man wasn't that fond of this new level playing field that put CH on the same starting page as Santone Corp with the current negotiations. "CH will be underwriting the same risk as the other four in this syndicate. Does anyone else have an issue regarding perceived investment and reward?"

Riley turned directly to the other men. He knew them all in one way or another.

"No issues here."

"We're ready to sign."

The assurances were quick and to the point and Josiah really had nowhere to go. Without him the finances would be tight but Riley had some reserves and hell, if it meant getting this bid in on time, he would forego any percentage over and above covering his own costs. He wasn't going to let Josiah know this though.