Everyone's Man – 43

 

Colin snorted. "Never had one of those. It's not something I do."

 

"Why the hell not?"

 

"Come on, Dane, who wants to be with a whore in a one-on-one relationship? Some men might think they could handle it, but in the long run they find one excuse or another to move on to someone who didn't fuck for a living. I've see it happen to guys I've known. I'm not willing to set myself up for…for heartbreak I guess."

 

"Damn, Colin, you don't know that would happen, or what you're missing by not allowing yourself to at least try."

 

"I'm finding out what I'm missing," Colin replied wryly. "I see it every time I look at Marc and Bill. Even with all the problems they have, they still love each other and make it work. But that's not in the cards for me." Having said that, he went quiet until the way Keyes had phrased his words hit him. "You're in a relationship." For some reason the idea hurt.

 

"I was. In the end, he couldn't handle that I was a cop, both because of the hours and he was too scared that something could happen to me." Keyes shrugged slightly. "He couldn't deal with that. I couldn't deal with his over-protective attitude."

 

"Ouch. Yeah that could be a real pain." Colin took a bite of his steak, laughing when Keyes shuddered. "I like it rare."

 

"Did they even cook it?" Keyes asked as he dug into his lobster.

 

"Yeah, see, charred on the outside, bloody on the inside. Not like the shoe leather you have on your plate."

 

"Medium-well is not shoe leather, thank you very much. Try the lobster. It's fantastic."

 

"Umm," Colin looked embarrassed.

 

"Don't tell me, you don't like lobster. So why did you order it? Oh…" Keyes chuckled. "You were testing me."

 

"Yeah, sorry. You said order anything. I needed to see if you meant it. I mean, you're a cop, you can't really be too rich, despite the car."

 

"Actually, I am. The same person who willed me the car left me a bit of money too."

 

"How much is 'a bit'. Naw, never mind it's none of my business."

 

"Let's just say if I quit my job tomorrow, I could still live quite comfortably."

 

"Must be nice. You have a small mansion somewhere in the city?"

 

"Sure." Keyes laughed. "No, of course not. I'm a cop, I live like one. Besides I'm not really into all the fancy stuff. I grew up middle-class and I'm happy enough to keep living like that over all."

 

"Apartment or house?"

 

"Umm, condo?"

 

"That's middle-class?"

 

"Why does everyone equate condos with wealth? It's just a fancy name for owning your own apartment and paying fees to the HOA to keep the building maintained."

 

"Sounds pretty sweet to me. Better than the places I've lived by a long shot. Well, at least since I left home anyway."

 

"It's nice enough." Keyes leaned back, looking at Colin appraisingly. "Do you want to see it?"

 

"Seriously? Sure." Colin took another bite of steak before asking, "No strings?"

 

"No strings, I promise."