Le Jardin de la Lumière

Ryan swallowed hard, trying not to let on that a second before he’d been staring at the tightly muscled curve of Eric’s ass beneath his slacks. “Yeah, I guess so.” He nervously shifted his own duffle on his shoulder and stepped past Eric, eyes focused ahead deliberately on the sleek lines of the yacht. “So why do you suppose we were invited?” He could sense Eric at his side, standing far too close for comfort.

“Who knows?” Shrugging, Eric stepped in front of him gracefully, walking backwards as he studied Ryan with an amused expression.

To be honest Ryan didn’t much care for the familiarity with which Eric looked at him, especially considering he’d never seen Eric before in his life until five minutes ago. It stank of some uppity rich boy gigolo trying to scope out his prey. Ryan had seen more than his fair share when he’d attended parties, showings, and gallery openings all over the country, and it had never seemed to matter to any of them that he was on Michael’s arm. So many of them had assumed Michael was wealthy and he was nothing but eye candy for the sake of appearances.

He sniffed in disgust. “There has to be a reason.”

“Why?” Eric questioned as he spun and stepped up on the gangplank. “Can we just say it is what it is? Enjoy whatever pleasures we might discover here?”

Ryan hesitated for a moment; then the memory of that empty loft reared up, blinding him to any doubts, he might have about his present mind set. “No,” he shook his head, “we can’t.”

A soft hum escaped Eric’s pursed lips, “And why not, Mr. Esson?”

“Because,” Ryan met those wide azure eyes, “nothing is ever what it appears to be.”

“True, but then where is the adventure in that?”

Ryan dropped his duffel to the polished deck and leaned into the railing as the crew released the moorings, the boat slipping away from the dock and out across the twilight waters. “Some of us have had enough adventure in our lives.” He huffed out a breath, staring down into the dark water as the yacht sliced through it silently. “We don’t need any more.”

“Oh, but adventure is what brings us hope, desire, even beauty and faith. Adventure is what life is about. Don’t you believe that as well?” Eric chuckled, but there was a sadness concealed somewhere in the sound of his laugh.

Lifting his gaze from the water, he studied Eric for a moment. “No, I don’t.” He paused then admitted, “I did once, but not now—never again.”