Henri - 20

 

 

"God save me from shopping," Henri said as soon as he joined Taegan in the gallery. He had a clothing bag slung over his shoulder. "I have a tux and all the accoutrements, including shoes."

 

Taegan laughed. "Allyn strikes again? Why don't you drop the bag in my office? I should be free in twenty minutes and we can go feed you."

 

Taegan was as good as his word, telling his employees he was going for supper. "I'm going to make an early night of it," he told his manager, "since I have to be up at the crack of dawn for the people from the TV show."

 

She nodded. "I'll make sure the place is spic-and-span before I lock up for the night."

 

"Thank you." Turning to Henri, Taegan said, "I hope you don't mind a bit of a walk. The place we're going is on the edge of the Quarter."

 

"Fresh air and sunshine is fine with me."

 

A few minutes later Taegan said, "It doesn't look like much, but the food is good and if you want, we can get it to go across the street and sit in Armstrong Park." When Henri agreed, they ordered po' boys and chicory coffee, then went over to the park.

 

"No benches, for some reason," Taegan pointed out. "At least not by the water."

 

"So we sit under a tree and rough it."

 

That worked just fine as far as Taegan was concerned. They settled, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the trunk of a very large tree. For a while, they ate in silence, enjoying the food and the ambiance.

 

When he was finished with his po' boy, Henri sighed.

 

"Something wrong?" Taegan asked with concern.

 

"Not at all. I don't think I've been this relaxed in a long time."

 

"Good. That was sort of the idea." Taegan smiled, studying him. He is relaxed. No worry lines, no frown, no tension. I wish he was like this more often. When we were down by the river, he managed to unwind some, but it came back when we got to his place and I insisted I had to go up with him to make certain it was safe. That thought made him glance around, being careful not to let Henri know what he was doing.

 

Apparently he wasn't careful enough, because Henri asked, barely whispering, "Do you see something?"

 

"Yep. A good looking man I'm becoming rather fond of." He bit back a grin when Henri turned red. "It's true, and damn the fact it's only been a short time. I'm not saying I'm in love with you. That remains to be seen. But as we've already established, I'm attracted to, and fond of, you."

 

"I feel the same, but I have to wonder…" Henri went silent, staring down at the ground.

 

"Wonder what?" Taegan asked, although he though he knew what Henri would reply.

 

"Is it really…real? Or is it the situation? Me, needing someone strong to help me feel safe. You…umm—" he glanced up, "—having a white knight complex."

  

"I'm sure that plays into it to some extent at the moment. But if I needed to go off saving somebody, I could find a lot of weak people who needed it. You, Henri, are far from that—no matter how you might feel about yourself." He put his arm around Henri, pulling him close. "You managed to survive what the bastard tried to do to you, by taking advantage of his…ego, I guess. His belief that he had you so weakened and so cowed, you wouldn't even think of trying to escape. He was dead wrong. You were cleverer than him and incredibly strong to have withstood what he was doing and make it out of there in one piece…and sane."

 

"And scared shitless," Henri murmured.

 

"Anyone would be in your position. It hasn't stopped you from being willing to become bait in our trap."

 

Henri grimaced. "I'm not so certain being called bait makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."