Chase the Stars (Lang Downs 2 ) Read Online Free PDF

thought he’d heard Caine and Macklin call him Neil, but he wasn’t sure. “You might have even heard less polite things about him.”
Chris hoped Neil wasn’t getting ready to deny it. Macklin had said they didn’t talk about it but they didn’t hide it either.
“Let me make this very clear,” Neil continued, all but bristling as he spoke. “Caine Neiheisel and Macklin Armstrong are the backbone of this station. If you can’t deal with working for a poofter, leave now, because there’s not a man on this station who will tolerate any kind of slur against either of them.”
“Wait,” one of the men said. “Either of them? Armstrong is gay too?”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Neil demanded.
“No,” the man said, raising his hands in pacification. “I’m just… surprised. And, well, a little surprised everyone is so open about it.”
“Caine saved Neil’s life,” another of the hands explained. “He now feels the need to defend the boss against any threat, real or otherwise.”
“Like Macklin would let Caine get so much as a bruise,” another hand joked.
“Caine works his arse off just like the rest of us,” Neil insisted.
“And then works Macklin’s arse at night.”
“No way in hell Macklin lets anyone fuck him.”
“Caine’s the boss.”
“On the station. No way he’s the boss in the bedroom.”
“Enough!” Neil roared. “Get your sorry arses out of here and get to work!”
The men filed out dutifully, leaving Chris alone in the bunkhouse with Neil. “What are you looking at?” Neil demanded.
“I wanted to say thank you,” Chris said quietly. “You were with Macklin, weren’t you? When he ran off the guys who were trying to kill me?”
“Yes,” Neil said with a shrug. “It was no big deal.”
“Just like Caine saving your life was no big deal?” Chris said. “I’m not going to start following you around like a puppy or anything. I just wanted to say thank you. You didn’t have to help me.”
“Caine asked me to,” Neil said. “I told him then I was his man for life. I keep my promises.”
“Well, whatever the reason, thank you,” Chris said. “And thank you for what you said to the others today. I know it doesn’t apply to me since you don’t know me really, but if they can accept Caine and Macklin, maybe they can accept me too.”
“Macklin earned our respect long before we knew what he was,” Neil warned, “and Caine is… well, he’s Caine. There’s no way not to like him. Even when I thought I hated him, I liked him. You’ll have to earn our respect the same way, but being gay won’t make that an uphill battle here.”
“I can’t ask for more than that, can I?” Chris agreed. “I’m supposed to help Kami in the kitchens. Caine was going to introduce me, but then Macklin sidetracked us.”
“Macklin has that effect on people,” Neil said with a chuckle. “He comes in with a plan, and everyone else just falls in line, even the boss. We’re lucky to have him. He’s one hell of a foreman. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Kami.”
Kami, as his name suggested, was aborigine, his skin dark as midnight, with crinkles around his eyes that suggested he smiled frequently, but he wasn’t smiling when Neil led Chris into the kitchen. “What?” he snapped. “If you want dinner on time, you have to leave me alone to cook it.”
“Kami doesn’t like people,” Neil told Chris in a whisper far too loud not to be overheard.
“I like people, just not when they’re in my kitchen,” Kami replied. “Go away.”
Chris’s stomach sank. He was supposed to help this guy?
“Stop it, Kami,” Neil said. “You’ll scare off your new help.”
“What, so I’m too old to manage the kitchen now?”
Chris wished the floor would open up and swallow him. “It’s just temporary,” he said softly. “Until I get rid of my cast and can do other stuff. I think Caine and Macklin felt sorry for me.”
“Who are you?”
“Your new help,” Neil repeated.