Free Chance to Be King by Sue Brown Page B

tea.
     
At his outraged look, Thomas said, "No coffee yet, and one crazy lady at a time, dude."
     
"I don't think I'll tell Drew or my mom you called them crazy."
    "Drew's a female?"
"Nah, just a nagging old woman sometimes."
    Drew was a quiet man with an excellent reputation in the industry. He didn't go out of his way to piss off the media and because of it Eric had always enjoyed friendly relations with the media. Even the paparazzi would back off if asked politely. Eric thanked God every day that Sarah had introduced him to Drew when he saw what some of his co-stars had to endure.
    A few minutes later Eric called Drew, who assured that him no-one in the media had heard about the fire and his location was still safe. They were still trying to sort out and locate information on the mystery man at the lake because his description didn't match up to any of the stalkers on their records.
Finally he spoke to his mom who, up to this point, hadn't realized he was on vacation.
    Eric loved his mom, he really did, but he knew how this call was going to proceed. It took another cup of Thomas' tea —with appropriate facial expressions— to work up the nerve.
    It started well but by the time it had
degenerated to 'Eric Andrew Pawlowski' his head was aching again and the nausea was starting to return.
He'd repeated "But, Mom—" three times when the phone was lifted out of his hand.
     
"Mrs. Pawlowski? Hello, my name is Thomas. Eric is staying with me for a few days."
    Eric listened in amazement as Thomas not only managed to calm his mother down, but by the end of the conversation was calling her Sandra and promising her his recipe for the meal he'd made Eric on the first night. Thomas wished Eric's mother farewell and laid the cell on the table. Eric stared across at him.
"I don't know whether to hug you or hit you," Eric said.
    The mobile eyebrow rose up once more. "Hit me? Why? I got you out of a long and tedious conversation."
    "But now she likes you." Eric squirmed on his chair as Thomas looked even more incredulous. "She's always going to be asking after you and wanting to talk to you."
Thomas leaned forward and patted his hand. "Never mind, I'm a big boy. I can cope."
    "Now you're being patronizing."
"And you're behaving like a five year old." "Am not!"
"Do I really need to dignify that with a
     
response?"
     
Eric caught Thomas' lips twitching and tried to pout but it was enough to set them both laughing. Thomas looked at him with a speculative glance. "How are you feeling now?"
     
"Tired but better than I have for a while. Why?" "Wanna go for a swim in the lake or go back to bed for a nap?"
    Did Eric want to sleep or freeze his balls off and get to see mainly naked Thomas? Was the man stupid? "I don't have a swimsuit."
Oh fuck, was that a challenging look on Thomas' face?
     
"I can provide one if you don't feel brave enough to go skinny dipping."
     
Eric leaned back and smirked at him. "Only if you join me."
    "Well in that case…" Thomas swallowed as if he wasn't quite as confident as he was making out. "Done."
    Eric swallowed as well, and stood up. Thomas placed the cups in the dishwasher and went to get some towels. Eric hadn't been out since before his migraine so he went in hunt of his sneakers, finding them in the hall closet. He slipped them on, noting the slight residue of pain behind his eyes.
    Thomas was waiting for him when he went back into the kitchen, towels in one hand and stroking Millie behind the ears with the other. He looked up as Eric came back into the kitchen.
"Ready to get cold?"
     
"I've just been sick and you want me to freeze my nuts off?"
     
"If it's too much for you, princess, you can always ask me to warm them up." Thomas leered.
    "Is that an offer?"
"It's a promise."
    Eric told himself it was the migraine that made his stomach flip-flop as they left the kitchen, and not the promise of something that flared in Thomas' eyes.
    * * * *
Thomas lied.
    Eric told him so when he got his breath