Kenton was not nearly as vanilla as he seemed to think he was, but the most important question on my mind as I watched him bounce around my backyard was if he knew that.
I just couldn’t decide and that was the only thing holding me back from asking out the excitable cutie.
Everyone he worked with seemed to treat his exuberance and wiggles as perfectly normal, but I’d never met anyone like Kenton before…and that said something.
Every time I thought I had a handle on him, he surprised me. When I decided he was sweet and probably as innocent as he seemed, he cracked a dirty joke. When I decided he was as dirty as his joke, he didn’t seem to understand why he couldn’t stare at my bulge without one of his coworkers redirecting him to something more appropriate.
They were really good at distracting him.
And that just gave me even more questions.
Did they know something I didn’t or were they protecting the innocent cutie from me?
Did I look dangerous or were they saving me from him?
Was it because he was technically working for me?
That didn’t make sense to me because he was my landscaper and they were almost finished with the job, but it was the only thing that came close to making sense. However, with the retaining wall now done and the hill from hell now landscaped perfectly, that shouldn’t be a problem any longer.
Right?
“Mr. Bane, what do you think?” Kenton stopped bouncing long enough to turn and give me an adorably sweet smile as I walked over. “The chaos has been tamed.”
“It’s perfect and looks much more structurally sound.” The idiot developer who’d built my house had decided the hill at the back of the property would be fine with just a handful of plants to keep it in place and that hadn’t worked out like he’d expected.
Surprise.
Idiot.
“It’s not going anywhere.” Going up and down on his toes like a toddler or ballerina, he smiled and looked like he wanted to race up the hill. “And when the flowers come in, it’s going to be a beautiful view from the back of your house.”
The best view was when the bouncy man was in my backyard, but I wasn’t sure it was the time to admit that.
“You’ve done a wonderful job.” I started to make a teasing comment about inviting him to come in and see the view at night, but before the words could come out, one of his employees seemed to be tagged as it and started heading our way.
Fuck.
Thankfully we had about half the yard to go before he could save Kenton or me—he’d wandered farther than they’d realized—but even though the property was huge, I only had seconds to make a decision.
They were fast…and driving me insane.
All right, there was no time to be subtle.
“We’re about to be interrupted, so if I’m reading the situation wrong, please feel free to walk away. But would you like to go out to dinner with me later?” He crotch-watched entirely too often to be straight, but that didn’t mean I was his type or that he was single.
He might’ve just been naturally flirty, but as his face lit up, I decided he was probably single and a naughty flirt.
Just my type, so far.
“Yes!” Bouncing again, he leaned around me, still wearing his beaming smile. “He asked me out. You don’t have to save him from me anymore.”
Oh.
Well, one question down…a thousand to go.
Mumbling something that was probably him telling himself he was surrounded by insanity, the guy immediately turned around and headed back toward where the rest of the crew was packing up.
Kenton turned his bright smile back at me, looking like the conversation had been perfectly normal so far. “When is later? Is later today or is later this week?”
Laughing seemed like it would’ve been rude, but I couldn’t help chuckling. “Tonight. I have a feeling I shouldn’t wait too long to grab your attention.”
He giggled, eyes sparkling. “I’m not that easily distracted. You’re too hot to forget.”
As laughter burst out of me, he went back to wiggling. “But yes, tonight sounds great. What kind of food do you like? Is this just a one-off because you think I’m hot or is it more than that?”
He was fascinating.
“I’m open to a lot of different cuisines and I’m flexible with the date, but I don’t usually bed hop or anything like that.” I was a bit too possessive for the casual culture that was so prevalent lately. “So let’s say a nice date tonight and then see where things go. You might think I’m boring once we can’t talk about my plants any longer.”
His gaze dipped down before it flicked back up. “I’m sure we’ll find lots of stuff to talk about. I’m very chatty.”
I couldn’t decide if that was a euphemism for sex or not, and that just made me even more curious about the sexy man.
“I have no doubt about that.” Pushing away the desire to touch him, I slipped my hands into my pockets…definitely not framing my bulge to catch his attention again. “Now, why did they think they were supposed to save me from someone as sweet as you?”
For some reason, he couldn’t seem to decide how to answer that because he started wandering back and forth in front of me. “Well, let’s just say I’m a handful?”
The understatement was so obvious, I barely held back a laugh.
“Oh, and they weren’t sure if you were gay. You’re really polite. I’m unique, and the last openly gay man we worked for kept trying to grab everyone’s asses and propositioned most of the crew at least once.” Shaking his head, Kenton continued before I could ask what the fuck they’d done. “He was nearly a thousand, though, so we just had to make sure we were faster than him.”
Lord.
“Did you actually finish the job?” How had that worked?
“Yes, but my mother had to come out and constantly supervise to make sure he behaved. She’s really good at the mom stare.” I must’ve looked confused because he dropped his chin and glared at me. “What do you think you’re doing, young man?”
He must have gotten that look a lot when he was younger to be able to do it so well.
As I laughed, he flashed me a cheeky grin. “She was pissed she had to babysit a thousand-year-old playboy, but we finished the job.”
I was still left with questions about why that interaction had led to his coworkers thinking they needed to protect me, but I wasn’t sure it was the right time to try to figure that out.
But would there ever be a good time to ask that?
“I don’t blame her.” Shaking my head, I shrugged. “But I’m gay and managed not to chase you around the yard, so I think we can be trusted to be alone together.”
His giggle was decidedly naughty. “You can chase me around the yard if you want. I’m very fast.”
That’d started off sounding wicked but had quickly shifted and it felt like I’d missed something. “You’re very tempting, but dates first and chasing second.”
Whatever that meant to the flirtatious cutie.
“We’re going to have so much fun.” Kenton opened his mouth to say something but one of his coworkers let out a whistle that had him rolling his eyes. “Ugh. I hate that sound. He’s all talk and no follow-through.”
Huh?
“I have to go or they’re going to get fidgety, and they don’t have any patience.” Not seeming to understand how many more questions he’d given me, Kenton bounced up and kissed my cheek.
“You’re so cute. Okay, how about I come back here and meet you around seven? Then we can get dinner? Is that too late?”
Considering he probably had office stuff to handle and needed to get a shower, I thought it was reasonable. “It’s perfect. I’ve got a bit of work to handle and a finished yard to admire.”
They really had done an amazing job on everything from the retaining wall to the lights that were now strategically placed around the yard. It was going to look beautiful in the darkness, and I couldn’t wait to just sit out and admire it.
“We did a good job.” His utter lack of false modesty was refreshing. “Okay, got to go before they get out the whistle. I’ll see you later.”
Whistle?
Like a toy whistle?
He bounced off, racing toward the side yard where everyone was waiting by the gate. If he’d come in his own vehicle, I’d have tried to talk him into staying, but he hadn’t, and it looked like his coworkers had no intention of waiting any longer.
But why?
I was missing something but I couldn’t even begin to guess.
Waiting didn’t help give me any answers either.
My what’s going on list just kept getting longer and longer the more I waited, and I started to wonder if I’d ever done a scene with any of his coworkers. No one had looked familiar, but it’d been a few years since I’d been big in the scene, so I worried I hadn’t recognized someone I should have.
Well, if someone had been sharing about some kinky fun, it hadn’t seemed to bother Kenton even if his coworkers were worried about it.
By the time our date was creeping up on me, I still hadn’t figured out anything but I was looking forward to it, so that either said I was an idiot or thinking with my dick.
It was possibly both but just seeing Kenton pull up in the driveway made me smile, so I decided not to worry about it. His smile was infectious, and I couldn’t look away from him when he was anywhere near me.
The way he bounced out of his car and skipped up my sidewalk only made my smile bigger, and I was chuckling as I opened the door. “Good evening.”
He came to a bouncy stop and pouted. “I was supposed to ring your doorbell and greet you for our date.”
He was too cute and too adorably manipulative not to be a sub.
“Well, how about if I promise to let you kiss me good night?” He tried to keep his pout in place but was close to giggling. “Would that make up for me being too eager to wait?”
Pulling a long face, he sighed as he nodded. “Yes, that will make it up to me and I’ll carefully consider where I want to kiss.”
Oh.
His sparkling eyes said he knew how naughty he sounded, but he immediately switched to more innocent things, making me question what he meant. “Do I get to pick where we’re going to have dinner too?”
Nodding, I didn’t get any words in before he started hopping up on the bottom step of the porch and then back down to the ground, words still jumping out excitedly too. “Then we’re going to have Italian because I have a little friend who’s been texting me about spaghetti all day, and even though I’m not little, he’s made me so hungry.”
He definitely wasn’t talking about being short.
Wait.
Was there actually a little friend or was he hinting about himself?
“I think Italian sounds great.” Was I supposed to ignore the kinky friend comment or use it as a jumping-off point? “I had a friend whining about not being able to get good sushi last week, and he made me so hungry for it, I went out to dinner by myself.”
Kenton gave me a sad pout that looked much more genuine. “You didn’t have anyone to invite out?”
Was he feeling bad I didn’t have friends or fishing for my dating status?
“Most of my good friends moved away for work over the last few years and I haven’t been dating anyone lately.” I stepped back toward the house so I could close the door and lock it. “It didn’t seem like the type of thing to ask a random guy online to do.”
Kenton’s brows pulled together. “That might send the wrong message. You’re right.”
What message would that send?
Before I could figure that out, he perked up again and finally stopped jumping on the steps. “But now you don’t have to worry about it, because even if we don’t work out, I’m sure you’d be a good dinner and complaining friend.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Dinner and complaining, huh?”
“Yes.” Taking my hand and skipping us toward the driveway, he nodded. “Someone to hang out with and complain about the rest of the people in your life. You can’t work with that person, though, so we’d be perfect.”
“I think we’d be perfect for a lot of things.” I winked as he turned to glance at me and giggled.
“Me too.” Pausing and looking at the vehicle options, he dragged me over to mine. “We both like Italian and sushi and your yard. We have a lot in common.”
How was I supposed to take that?
“I agree.” Technically he wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t sure if he was trying to tell me something. “But we’re going to start with Italian and go from there.”
I meant dating-wise but he nodded and hopped as he stopped by the passenger side of the car. “Yes, we can do sushi again if you want or Thai food is always good, or oh, I saw a Vietnamese restaurant that looked very interesting, but I don’t know what to order there.”
Me neither.
“That’s something we can research.” Google fixed all kinds of knowledge gaps. “I think they have good soup and some kind of hot sandwich? I can’t remember more than that, though.”
Opening the door, I helped him into the car and watched as he buckled himself in. So, definitely not little. I’d dated a few guys who were on the little spectrum, and in nearly every case, they at least hinted that I was supposed to fix their seat belt.
“Oh, that sounds good.” Looking up at me with an adorably eager expression on his face, he nodded. “Let’s try that next.”
Did that mean we already had our next date planned?
I had a feeling that Kenton wasn’t going to be like anyone else I’d ever met.
