Coda Books 04 - Strawberries for Dessert (MM)

should have to share you, either.” Only it wasn’t his job I had to share him with. It was his other lovers.
    He smiled up at me. “Only when I leave town, love. When I’m in Phoenix, I’m all yours.”
    “Really?” I asked in surprise.
    “Really. Now….” He wrapped his legs around my hips and pushed against me suggestively. “Where were we?”

Date: January 18
    From: Cole
    To: Jared
    Sweets, you don’t have to tell me that ski season is already half over. I know! And I know I haven’t been to Colorado even once. I would like to tell you that I’ll be there eventually, but I’m just not sure it will happen this year. Well, what’s the point when Coda’s hottest bachelor is no longer eligible? That will teach you to enter monogamous relationships with angry cops! Anyway, I’ve barely seen Jonathan in weeks. He should be home any day now, and I’m so glad. I know you’re going to try to read way too much into that. But trust me, Sweets. It’s not what you think.

    I WAS stuck in San Diego for nearly two weeks, and I found myself thinking of Cole the entire time. It had surprised me to learn that he was no longer seeing anybody else in Phoenix. I had assumed from day one that I was not the only man he saw when he was home. Of course, I hadn’t ever known how many others there were or how often he saw them, and I had never wanted to ask, at first because it was none of my business and I didn’t really care, and later because I was afraid of what the answer would be. I hadn’t quite realized how much it bothered me until the moment when I found out I was wrong.
    I also couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to hold him down while I kissed him. It turned me on every single time I thought about it, which wasn’t necessarily good since I was on a business trip. I debated calling him and asking him to fly to San Diego to keep me company, but in the end, I didn’t have the nerve. It wasn’t his idea, and I was sure he would say no.
    I got back into Phoenix early Friday afternoon. As soon as I was off the plane, I called Cole.
    “Hey, sugar,” he said when he answered. “Are you finally home?”
    “I am. Why? Did you miss me?”
    “Not even a little bit.”
    “Then you won’t mind that I have to go to the office before I come home.”
    “Honey, you’ve been gone for twelve days! It really can’t wait until tomorrow?”
    “It can’t. But it should be quick. I’ll be home by five.”
    “Well,” he said, “I’m awfully busy tonight anyway, sugar. Maybe I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    “Okay,” I said, smiling. I wasn’t fooled.
    I was still grinning like an idiot when I got to Marcus’s office, and I had to make an effort to get my mind off of Cole and back to business.
    “Come on in, Jon,” Marcus said. “Close the door.”
    “Yes sir.”
    “Jon, we’re getting close to having this ‘restructuring’ bullshit wrapped up,” he told me, once I was sitting down. “We’re letting the Senior Liaison Account Directors pick where they’re going based on seniority. Jensen, MacDonald, Nguyen, and Simmons were ahead of you, so now it’s your turn.”
    I hadn’t really thought much about the restructuring since our last meeting, and I found that the misgivings I felt before were only amplified now. The thought of moving was completely unappealing, and I was being honest enough with myself at that moment to admit that it was largely because of Cole.
    “What are my choices?” I asked.
    “Utah, Vegas, or Colorado.”
    “Shit!” I said before I could stop myself. Luckily, Marcus wasn’t the type to be offended. I put my head in my hands, closed my eyes, and counted to five. I counted to five again. Then I considered my options.
    It figured that Arizona and the three California locations would have gone first. Of the three that were still available, I felt Colorado really was the best choice. If only I could convince myself that it would not be a step backward. Utah was a beautiful state, but seemed like a bad choice for anybody who wanted to live openly as a homosexual.
    Maybe that was a poor assumption on my part. Maybe I would find more acceptance there than I thought. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk it.
    Which left Sin City.
    “You don’t have to decide right now, Jon. Take the weekend to think about it. I’ll need your decision by Monday,” Marcus said. That came as a relief, although I doubted having two more days to mull it over would make my decision any