***
“Are you okay, Uncle Chris?” But before Chris could answer, the little girl went right ahead. “Daddy will ask you when he gets the ring. Promise.”
“I’m very fine, Adele,” Chris said with a smile. “And I can’t wait for your dad to get that ring.” He turned his intense eyes which mirrored all the emotions within him, back on Shane.
To say Chris was surprised would be an understatement. He was thrilled too but he knew a marriage between him and Shane wouldn’t happen anytime soon. They needed to take care of more important issues before they jumped into anything like marriage. During their talk the night before, they’d both agreed that it would be good if Shane saw someone to help with all that bottled-up anger.
Chris had told Shane that he was ready to talk to a professional too. He’d even suggested Shane booked an appointment with Dr. Murray, Kyle, and Aaron’s shrink. He’d obviously done a splendid job with those two. If not for the fact that Stephen, Ken’s soldier fiance was out of the country on a mission, Kyle and Aaron would have been married by then. Kyle wanted a double wedding with his twin brother Ken so they had to wait till Stephen returned.
“Earth to Chris,” Shane said, finally getting Chris’ attention. “You okay?”
Chris nodded. “Never better.” He murmured, noticing that Adele was no longer in her seat. “Where’s Adele?”
“Sonja, the waitress took her to the bathroom,” Shane said, reaching for Chris’ hand.
“Did they just leave?” Chis asked.
“Yes,” Shane answered, not seeing Chris’ intent soon enough. His eyes widened as he watched Chris stand up and come around to his side. “Chris…” Shane breathed warningly, looking around. They could be clearly seen by some of the people in the restaurant but Chris seemed not to care.
When Chris got to Shane’s side, he took the seat beside him and cupped the sides of Shane’s face. Then as if in a slow-motion, he lowered his mouth to Shane’s and kissed him. Shane resisted the kiss for a moment, but when Chris drew his lower lip into his mouth and sucked sensuously on it, Shane moaned and relaxed into the kiss, his mouth opening to accept Chris’ tongue.
With eyes closed in pure bliss, Shane kissed Chris back with passion, his mouth just as eager and hungry as Chris’. When Chris sucked on Shane’s tongue, he almost went out of his mind with pleasure. With a guttural groan, Shane took over the kiss. Slanting his head, he devoured Chris’ mouth, the kiss getting deeper and hotter, tasting of a wild promise. Chris broke off the kiss when it dawned on him that they were getting carried away.
“Damn.” Chris breathed harshly, leaning his forehead against Shane’s. “For someone who was reluctant to kiss, you sure know how to turn an innocent kiss into an x-rated scene.
“Fuck.” Chris muttered as he sat back and watched a dazed Shane. Shane couldn’t bring himself to speak. He raised a hand with the intention of touching Chris on the cheek but both men watched, riveted, as his hand literally shook. “Shit,” Chris whispered, and then reached up to clasp Shane’s hand in both of his.
And they just sat staring at each other till Adele got back to the table, happily eating a cone ice cream. “Uncle Chris, why did you change seats?” She asked as she climbed onto Chris’ lap.
“No reason. That looks delicious.” Chris laughed shakily.
“It is. Want to taste?” She asked but didn’t wait for an answer. “Open up.” She ordered, making Chris laugh.
“Alright Ma’am’.” Chris said and brought out his tongue to lick the side of the ice cream, his eyes shooting to Shane’s when he heard Shane moan lustfully.
“Are you okay daddy?” Adele turned to ask Shane. At Shane’s nod, Adele shoved the ice cream into his face. “Lick.”
“No honey. You know I’m not a sweet tooth like you and your mum…and your Uncle Chris here.” He chuckled. “Hurry up darling. We have to take Uncle Chris back to the office.”
“Oww no!” The little girl moaned with a sad face. “Can’t we just…adbat him?” She whimpered.
“No, we can’t abduct him.” Shane gave Chris a warning look when he noticed the amused and incredulous look on his face. “Uncle Chris will be home before we know it.”
“Okay.” She said pitifully. “Here, Uncle Chris, you can have the rest. I’m too full.” Adele handed the rest of the ice cream to Chris.
“Oh thank you, kind Queen.” Chris actually sounded as if he were acting a play.
“Will you cut the crap?” Shane laughed as he wiped Adele’s sticky fingers with a napkin. “Shall we?” Shane said, laughing when Adele started skipping ahead of them. Since their bill had already been placed on Shane’s tab, he left a huge tip for Sonja and then reached up to wipe a bit of cream from the corner of Chris’ mouth. “Come on.” He murmured, turning to follow his skipping daughter out of the restaurant.
When they dropped Chris off at his office, he promised to see them later, blew Adele a kiss, and watched with a forlorn expression on his face as they drove away. Too bad he had meetings scheduled till close of work, Chris thought sadly. He would have loved to go home with Shane and Adele and spend the rest of the day with them. With a sigh he turned and headed into the building, wishing he could clear his calendar for the next day. But he knew he couldn’t get out of an important meeting scheduled for the next morning. It looked like he didn’t have any choice but to do a half-day the next day…as he’d already planned, instead of having the whole day off as he wished.
But even as he went through his meetings and conferences, Chris couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He knew he had it real bad…and not just for Shane, but his daughter as well.