The Dangerous Seduction by A N Bond Read Free Book Online

seems unable to stop fixating on the look on Joseph’s face when he said, I have a feeling you look good in a tux. It’s not the first time a guy has commented on how he looks, but he’s never felt comfortable being objectified in that way. He tries to clear his mind and think of some suitable topics of conversation as he strides up and down the lobby of Joseph’s impressive uptown apartment building.
    The sound of Joseph’s voice wrenches him out of his thoughts. Ryan turns around to see Joseph stepping out of the elevator, phone to his ear. He pauses in front of the elevator as the doors slide neatly closed behind him while he finishes up his call, all the while his eyes raking over Ryan in a manner that seems as intrusive as Alexandre and his damn tape measure. Ryan feels like he’s back doing the audition rounds again, standing in front of directors, producers, and casting people, and willingly letting them scrutinize and judge and inevitably find him wanting. He hated that part of the life back then, and he really doesn’t like it now.
    Joseph finishes up his call, slips the phone into his inside pocket, and strides forward, the heels of his dress shoes echoing on the marble floor. “Well, what do you know? I was right. You do look good in a tux.”
    “Thanks, and thanks—for inviting me, I mean,” Ryan says. He’s starting to feel like he’s on a date, a date that’s also like a weird mixture of an audition and a job interview all rolled into one.
    “We should go,” Joseph says.
    He puts his hand on the small of Ryan’s back to propel him forward and Ryan resists the urge to squirm away. Joseph’s palm feels stiflingly hot through the material of his dress shirt and jacket, and he’s terribly aware of Joseph’s proximity and the smell of his aftershave and shampoo. He’s also becoming uncomfortably aware of the sweat beading under his own armpits and in the small of his back, the exact place where Joseph is still touching him.
    Joseph cocks his head, catches his eye. “Ready?”
    “Yes,” he says, forcing a smile.
     
     
    T HE AWARD is for “Outstanding Achievement,” though no one bothers to explain exactly what Joseph’s outstanding achievement is. Perhaps just being Joseph Van Aardt is enough of an outstanding achievement in itself. Apparently, Joseph is the youngest person ever to be honored in such a fashion by the Foundation; at least that’s what the organizers say when they make the big announcement.
    They announce Joseph’s award, and he gets up from his seat with a rehearsed look of surprise on his face. He beams at everyone at the table and squeezes Ryan’s shoulder as he brushes past in a way that’s a little more intimate than Ryan expected. It makes him freeze in place as he watches Joseph thread his way through the tables toward the stage.
    “Your boyfriend’s very impressive,” the judge’s wife sitting next to Ryan remarks to him as Joseph bounds onto the stage. “So young to be so successful. And very handsome too.”
    “He’s not my boyfriend. We just work together,” Ryan says.
    “Oh right. Of course,” she says with a wink. “I understand, honey.”
    Joseph accepts his award with a speech that Ryan almost buys, if it weren’t for the fact he’d heard Joseph call the whole thing bullshit only four hours earlier. But the guy’s good, really damn convincing. He certainly seems to have everybody in the room convinced too, unless they’re all equally good at bullshitting, which is not that unlikely given the audience here. Joseph bestows smiles all around—for the host, the panel, the photographers, the audience. It’s the smile that makes his eyes crinkle, the one Ryan saw in close-up on the TV screens a few days earlier, and if it is false, then the guy’s a damn fine actor.
    There’s dancing once the speeches are finished. Ryan dances with the judge’s wife and two of her well-groomed, immaculately dressed friends who flock around him, giving him