Loving Graham Read online

  I pause and think about that for a total of five seconds, and then I keep running. “We will be fine. No one will see us where we are going. Down the beach, there is a large grouping of rocks near the water that has a place where we can undress and enter the water without being seen.”

  I peel off my jeans and unbutton my shirt. Levi removes his Khakis and black Henley. We wade in together a little more than waist deep. I slide in behind him resting my head on his shoulder and pressing my hard cock against his ass. My hands glide along his skin, around his waist, and find him just as hard as I am. “Mmm, I love this,” I say stroking him up and down. He reaches back taking hold of my cock and returns the favor until I can’t stand it any longer. I slip between his cheeks and enter him slowly on a moan.

  “Oh God, you feel amazing,” I say as my feet sink into the sand helping me find the leverage I need to make love to him. The waves are favoring our love rocking us back and forth with the rhythm of my pace. A small wave pushes against Levi’s chest when I slide out, and when that same wave retreats out to sea, I push back into him. I stroke him in time with the waves. We are one with the ocean rocking, swaying, and loudly moaning when we finish, and a larger wave crashes onto the beach behind us drowning out our voices as if to provide us privacy. I’ve always loved the ocean, and tonight, I love it more.

  I hold him tight against me trembling as we come down from the almost spiritual high we experienced together. He turns his head to my cheek still resting on my shoulder. “Are you cold?”

  “No.”

  “You’re trembling.” He brings his hands to mine around his waist.

  “Levi, you make me feel so right like we were created for each other. It’s such an overwhelming feeling that it scares me.”

  He tenses in my arms, and I realize my mistake.

  “Not so scared that I would leave you,” I say in a rush, so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.

  “What are you scared of then?”

  “That I’ll disappoint you, and you will leave me.”

  He turns in my arms, and the ocean calms around us. “There is nothing you could do that would disappoint me that much.” I look into his eyes with doubt in mine. “You don’t believe me?”

  “I want to, but I’ve let a lot of people down in my life.”

  “You’ve also lifted up more than your share. You don’t give yourself enough credit.” I look over his shoulder at the vast ocean behind him.

  “Maybe.”

  “Graham, you’re an amazing, generous, caring man. How can you say maybe?”

  “I don’t know. I feel like my generosity is my penance for all the sins I committed. Would I even be a good person at all if I hadn’t gotten addicted to drugs?”

  “Who cares how you came to be this way? You’re a wonderful man now, and that’s what matters. I’m sure there were good people along the way who helped make you who you are, but in the end, you are the one who decides to do things like give to charity and treat your employees like family. You are the one who makes you good, don’t you see?”

  “There once was someone who made me see that. She taught me how to be kind and give back to the world, but then she died. That’s when I turned to drugs.”

  “You’re muse?”

  “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

  “Just a guess. Will you tell me more about her?”

  “I have a better idea. Come on, there’s something I want to show you.” I take his hand before he has time to complain and pull him from the ocean. The night air is cool making our clothes feel good even though they’re sticking to our wet skin. We grab our shoes and walk on the sand letting the breeze dry our hair.

  Speaking of hair, his has grown out a lot in the few weeks since I asked him to stop buzz cutting it. “Your hair is getting longer.” I reach over and tussle his blond waves. “I like it. You have natural streaks of gold that my clients pay thousands for.”

  He touches it himself. “Really? That’s crazy.”

  We walk for a while in silence until he can’t stand not knowing where we are going anymore. “Where are we going?” he asks.

  “Right there,” I say pointing to a small cemetery right in the middle of a residential area.

  “A cemetery?”

  “Yes, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” I lead him to the center of the cemetery next to a giant pine tree where my muse is buried. I hold his hand and pull him close to my side. “Levi Yale, I’d like you to meet my friend, Awen Sayer. Awen, this is the love of my life, Levi.” I smile staring down at the old tombstone that is in need of some TLC. Levi sways next to me stumbling back from Awen’s stone.

  “Hey, are you all right?” I ask trying to steady him. He’s shaking like a leaf, and his face is ghostly white. “Levi, shit, what’s wrong?”

  “You, you knew this woman?” he stutters.

  “Yes, she was my friend when I came here to model the first time. She took care of me, why?”

  He takes a step forward and narrows his eyes looking at the stone. “She was only thirty-one when she died, why?” he says voice shaking.

  “Levi, I’ll tell you that when you tell me why you’re so upset.”

  “When I came to the United States and became a police officer, I met a private detective who offered to try to help me find my birth parents. He never found anything on my father, but he did find out that my mother’s name was Awen Levine Sayer, and she was born May 1, 1973. I never knew she… I didn’t know she was dead.”

  My God, can this be the same woman? The woman who nurtured me and kept me safe in a foreign country as if I were her son? I never knew she had a child. In fact, I remember her telling me she couldn’t have children. That’s why she loved taking care of the younger models at the agency so much.

  “You don’t think it could be a… a coincidence or something, do you?” I ask. He turns his tear-filled eyes to mine, and I know the answer to my question. How many women could have that name and birthday?

  “She had me when she was only sixteen. I figured she didn’t have the money to raise a baby, and since we couldn’t find anything on my father, I imagine he wasn’t in the picture at all. I can’t believe this, Graham. Do you know what this means? Your muse is my mother from another country, and you just reunited us for the first time. You know what she looked like, what she smelled like, her personality.” He stops, and the tears start to flow. I take him in my arms and rub his back still trying to take in this news. If I had any doubts about Levi and me before now, they are long gone. No two people alive were ever so meant to be.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Levi

  It’s been a month since Graham introduced me to my mother in that little cemetery in Milan. I will be forever grateful to him for helping me close that door. Since then, we found out that my mother had cancer when she was pregnant with me and waited to do chemotherapy until I was born. She tried to keep me, but her family grew weary of taking care of a baby while she was trying to live through the hells of cancer, and she ended up leaving me at the orphanage out of desperation.

  So it wasn’t as simple as being too young, she had been sick. Eventually, she went into remission, though, and modeled for a living until the cancer came back and ended her battle. This knowledge has been like a salve on a giant, gaping wound in my heart. Being abandoned took a toll on my self-esteem, and knowing that she didn’t have a choice when it came to giving me up, is more therapeutic than I ever imagined it could be.

  Graham and I picked Jorge up from rehab two days ago. He’s been staying with Graham until he can find a suitable place to live since he was living with other addicts when he went to rehab.

  I pull into Graham’s driveway and walk to the front door letting myself in with the key Graham entrusted me with. “Hey, you guys ready?” I yell into the house. We are going to Suni’s wedding shower, the one we were originally going to throw to get information about the robberies but have since handed over to Melody and Gloria to plan.

&nb
sp; “I’m ready, but Graham is still messing with his hair,” Jorge says coming around the corner eating a bagel. He looks like a different man. He’s put on weight in all the right places, his skin is glowing and smooth, and his hair is thicker and shiny. It’s astounding what drugs do to a person’s appearance. The doctors at the clinic put him on a cocktail of meds for HIV, and he is responding much better than they expected.

  And it’s not just his looks and physical health that’s doing better—he is happy and content. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the real Jorge since he came home. It turns out his life journey was a lot like mine—abandoned in a hospital as a baby, he grew up bouncing around in foster care with no place to call home.

  “Yes, he is a primper, that’s for sure. Graham, come on, you’re not trying to impress anyone, are you? You have me after all.” I wink at Jorge, and he nods in agreement.

  Graham steps from the hallway looking like a GQ cover model in his tweed herringbone suit with a cobalt blue tie. His hair is slicked back, and his Egyptian blue eyes are twinkling. God, I love this handsome man. I want to pinch myself to make sure this isn’t a dream.

  I take a step back. “Wow, you look amazing.”

  “Thanks, so do you, both of you.” I want to laugh because Jorge and I look plain and average against Graham’s high-fashion perfection. I’m in navy slacks and a white button-down shirt, and Jorge is wearing dark jeans and a salmon-colored Henley.

  We are like a visual progression of fashion dos and don’ts. It begins with my boring, stuffy look moving onto Jorge’s flash of color, and ending up with Graham’s perfectly put together ensemble.

  But I don’t care, he loves me, and I know he’s not going anywhere, and neither am I. Let him look sexy as hell. It’s fun to watch women and men drool when I know he’s all mine.

  “Thanks. We better go, or we will be late, and you know the women will be fainting left and right if you stroll in late dressed like that.”

  “Do you think it’s too much?” he says looking down at himself suddenly self-conscious.

  “No, not at all. I am simply looking after the welfare of the women at the party, that’s all.”

  “Good, because I love to dress up, and I don’t get to very often.”

  “You’re a model, Graham. You dress up all the time.”

  He points at me. “Not necessarily true. A lot of the time I’m modeling swimsuits and underwear. That’s like dressing down, not up.”

  “I guess we will have to find some social events to attend so you can dress up fancy then.”

  “That’s a great idea. I have one in mind that we can really dress up for.”

  Oh great, another charity event. I love that he is so giving, but I have attended enough charity dinners in the past month to last a lifetime. I don’t complain, though, it makes him happy, and that makes me happy.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  He walks closer to me and bends down on one knee. Taking my hand, he places an open ring box in my hand with a thick gold band inside. “Our wedding. Levi Yale, son of my beloved muse and mother figure, Awen, will you marry me?”

  Oh my God. My heart is pounding so hard I can hear my pulse whooshing past my ears while tears fill my eyes. He asked me to marry him, and it was planned because he has a ring. Is this really happening? Are all the hopes and dreams of that little orphaned Welsh boy coming to life right now?

  “Yes,” I answer both his question and mine. “I would love to be your husband.”

  He slides the ring on my finger and stands to embrace me. I hear Jorge sniffling next to us, and I reach out to pull him into our embrace.

  “You two are so perfect together. Congratulations,” Jorge says slapping Graham on the back.

  “Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t mean to spring this on you like that. I was going to wait until after Suni’s party, but the timing felt right.”

  “Don’t you dare apologize. It was the perfect romantic proposal ever made.” I kiss him softly on the lips to drive home my point.

  “Thanks. I’ve been nervous as hell about this all week.”

  “Okay, guys, I hate to break up this moment, but we still have to pick up Zoe at the care center, and we are already running fifteen minutes behind,” Jorge says.

  “Who is stopping to help Nicky with the ice sculpture?” Graham asks. Suni met Nicky at the barbeque earlier this summer and asked her to make an ice sculpture of a giant diamond ring if she was given a bridal shower. She couldn’t resist the challenge even though she’s never cut ice before in her life.

  “Chaz is doing it. How did that go anyway?”

  “It’s fabulous, I never doubted her talent, but she did an amazing job. She said she might even start a side business.”

  “Perfect timing. She’s not going to have your half of the bills for much longer,” Graham says with a wink. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to the idea of us being married.”

  “That’s cool, we have the rest of our lives.”

  “Guys, your lives are going to be cut short if you don’t hurry up. Gloria will kill us all if we don’t get Zoe,” Jorge reminds us, and he’s right. Zoe is still recovering from her injuries, but she is much better.

  The lawyer Graham hired for her had chromosome testing done that showed Zoe has a rare translocation of chromosomes. Her childlike personality is a result of that, and the ability to do hair was just as I thought—a savant trait. It turned out that she has several of these traits including playing the violin.

  All charges filed against her were dropped, and Zach is still in jail waiting for a trial. The lawyer is helping Zoe file for a divorce. She will stay in the care center where she’s currently residing until her arm and leg have healed, and then Graham has arranged for her to move in with another stylist who works at Tease. Cindy is single and quiet and kind—the perfect roommate for Zoe.

  “Okay, do you have the gift?” he asks Jorge who is stuffing the last bite of his bagel into his mouth and licking his fingers.

  “Yeah, it’s on the kitchen counter. I’ll grab it.”

  We make our way to the car, and thirty minutes later, we are in the middle of the biggest wedding shower I’ve ever attended eating, drinking, and laughing with all of Suni and her fiancé’s friends and family.

  “If this is a shower, I can’t imagine what the wedding will be like,” I whisper to Graham.

  “Elaborate and massive. Suni’s family is here from Korea. They’ve been talking about the wedding nonstop, and it sounds crazy over the top.”

  He takes my left hand and examines my ring. “Do you want that?”

  “What, over-the-top elaborate and massive? No, I’d prefer not to, but if that’s what you prefer, I’m willing to compromise.”

  “No, I would rather have family and close friends only. Maybe at my parents’ house? Would you like that?”

  “Yes, that sounds perfect. I love it. I don’t want to put your mother out, though. That’s a lot of work, and having all those strangers in her house, I don’t know.”

  “Are you kidding? She would love it, and I won’t let her lift a finger. Wait, no that’ll never happen. I’ll have to put her in charge of specific things, and we can pay people to do the rest.”

  “I can’t believe we are discussing our wedding.”

  “Why? Did you think we would never be anything more than this?”

  “I hoped for more, but I never allowed myself to dream it could come true.”

  “Well, you can start dreaming, baby, because this is our life. We’ve been down rough roads, and I think we deserve some smooth sailing, don’t you?”

  “I do. Smooth sailing indeed.”

  “You know, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad I was robbed. Of course, I wish it hadn’t led to Zoe getting hurt, but I don’t know if I would have ever met you otherwise, Detective Levi Yale soon to be Blackwell.”

  “I’m going to be Blackwell? What if I want you to be hot model/stylist, Graham Yale?”

&nb
sp; “How about we use both. Levi and Graham Yale Blackwell, sounds good, huh?”

  “Second best thing I’ve heard all day.”

  “Second?”

  “The first being, will you marry me, of course.”

  “And first for me was hearing you say yes, of course.”

  A waitress walks by with a tray of champagne, and I grab two flutes and hand one to Graham.

  “To getting robbed and all the changes it brought us,” I toast.

  He smiles. “To getting robbed. I love you, ya crazy Brit.”

  I smile back. “I love you, too, ya handsome bloke.”

  He didn’t have to get robbed to find me. I believe that one way or another, the universe would have brought us together. We were meant to be together, two men from opposite ends of the world joined together forever by the love of a woman whose life ended too soon.

  I’m sure she’s up there in heaven smiling down on us today knowing, in her heart, that her boys have found one another. Without knowing her life, she set the groundwork for our love, and that is the greatest gift anyone could ever give us.

  Epilogue

  Geo

  My name is Geo, and I have two dads. I know it sounds weird, but it’s not. A lot of my friends at school think I’m missing out on not having a mom, but I don’t think so.

  Graham and Levi adopted me when I was one year old. I don’t remember that, though, I was too little. They were married for five years, and my Nana told them to hurry up and give her a grandbaby or else. So they did.

  I’m ten now, but Nana still says that. She told me one time that she figures if she keeps threatening them, somebody will eventually cave in. She was right.

  Today I am getting a baby sister. Her name is Leona, and she’s coming home on an airplane. I’ve been staying with Aunt Zoe and Uncle Jorge at their house while my dads went to get our baby. Zoe and Jorge aren’t my real aunt and uncle. Papa G helped Aunt Zoe after she had an accident a long time ago, and he also helped Uncle Jorge when he was really sick. They say he was their guardian angel and cupid all rolled up into one, but Papa G says he was just being their friend.