Full House Read Online Free PDF Page B

slid down the wall to land on his ass.
    His anger was threatening to overwhelm him and he knew it. If he hadn’t left his office, he knew he would’ve started to yell. Marco wasn’t the person he was mad at though, so there was no reason to take his anger out on the younger man.
    As he sat on the floor with his head resting in his hands, he tried to figure out just who he should be angry with. Marco’s dad was an easy option. Never would he have believed Marco would let anyone, let alone his own father, hit him.
    Which brought Kent right back to himself. He should’ve known. He should’ve seen it before now. Had he been so blinded where Marco was concerned? For so long, he’d searched for reasons why Marco wasn’t ready for a relationship, always choosing to think the worst of the good-looking younger man.
    “Hey,” Marco called through the restroom door. “Am I fired?”
    “Hang on,” Kent answered back. He rubbed at his eyes and stood. After several deep breaths, he unlocked the door, and opened it to gaze down into the bruised face of the man who’d held his heart for years.
    He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Of course I’m not going to fire you.” Kent swallowed again, trying to keep his tears at bay. What kind of man did Marco think he was?
    “Thanks.”
    Kent checked his watch. “Why don’t we go get breakfast? We’ve got some talking to do, and I’m not sure this is the place.”
    Marco’s fingers brushed over the bruise on his jaw. “I’m not sure I’m ready to go out in public yet. I thought I could finish up the job down south while I healed.”
    It took every ounce of Kent’s strength not to reach out and replace Marco’s fingers with his own. “I know a place where no one will stare.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Marco followed Kent in his truck. He still didn’t know where they were going, but he was so shocked his boss was being nice to him he no longer cared. His head was still spinning over the events in Kent’s office. He’d actually spilled his guts and the sky hadn’t fallen down around him.
    Instead, Kent seemed…nicer. Was it pity that fuelled his newfound concern?
    Marco sighed. If it was pity Kent wanted to give, he was wasting his time. The main reason Marco had never opened up to his boss about his home life was because pity wasn’t what he yearned for from the man.
    He continued to follow the bright red pickup down one side street after another until it pulled into a bricked, circular driveway. Marco peered through the windshield at the large brick and clapboard modern house in the Colonial style.
    The first thing that struck him was how un-Kent-like the structure was. He would have never pictured his boss in such a traditional house.
    Marco pulled his rusted white truck behind Kent’s new one and shut off the engine. He was still a little stunned. Why would Kent bring him here?
    Before he could open his door, Kent was there to do it for him. “Hope you don’t mind. I thought I’d throw a couple omelettes together.”
    “No. That’s fine.” It sure as hell beat the small bowl of store brand corn flakes he’d had earlier.
    Kent reached in and practically lifted Marco from the cab. “Do you need help getting inside? The front steps might be hard for you.”
    Marco had been so focused on the size of the house, and the big white columns, he hadn’t even noticed the semi-circular brick staircase that let up to the front door. “Jesus, Kent. I had no idea you lived in a place like this.”
    His gaze went to the brickwork. He studied the workmanship with a critical eye, pleased in the knowledge he could’ve done a better job. As he continued to study the house, he spotted two separate chimneys. “How many fireplaces you got in this thing?”
    Kent wrapped a supporting hand around Marco’s waist and led him to the stairs. “Four. Two downstairs and two up.”
    Marco’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
    Kent shrugged as he helped