Chapter 1

Joshua Wallace liked to think of himself as a confident man, and he really was. Most of the time. However, those occasions didn t include moments like this. He was grinning so wide in his desperate attempt to hide his nervousness, he half-expected his face to break into two halves anytime soon. He couldn t help it, though. He was sitting across the table from James Chan, the hunky owner of JC s Food Haven, one of the catering businesses with a standing agreement to provide food and drinks for the pharmaceutical firm he was working at as one of its Social Media Specialists. It wasn t his first meeting with James, and strictly speaking, he wasn t supposed to be there, but Justin Wong, the HR Manager at the firm and also one of his closest friends, was aware of his infatuation toward the sexy owner of JC s Food Haven. He had been crushing hard on James since the first time he laid eyes on the man several months ago. Truthfully, it was more accurate to label his and James s first meeting as "lust at first bump." Literally. He had been making his way around some of his colleagues cubicles and offices, collecting the physical data he needed to promote the latest product, when he had crashed into what felt like a massive piece of flat, hard rock. It had been his fault, though. He hadn t been paying attention because he was too busy reading through some of the data he had managed to collect. He had almost stumbled backward when a pair of hands gripped him by his waist and steadied him on his feet. After that, he had gaped. His mouth had been opened wide enough to catch a few thousand mosquitoes. He remembered he had been staring at an Asian man about an inch taller than his own six-foot height and probably ten to fifteen pounds lighter than his own two hundred pounds. The man was gorgeous, but Joshua had been more aroused by the deep, raspy voice that came out of the stranger s mouth. He couldn t recall what they had mumbled to each other. He was too captivated by the man s appearance and his own rapidly beating heart. He hadn t gotten the chance to know who the Asian man was because Justin had appeared next to them at that moment and led the stranger into the meeting room. However, Joshua had hounded Justin for the man s name at the end of that fateful day. James had featured prominently in all of his masturbatory fantasies since then. "Josh!" Joshua could feel the heat of embarrassment creeping up his neck and cheeks when Justin called out his name and kicked his ankle discreetly underneath the table before smirking at him. He gave James a sheepish smile before turning toward Justin and not bothering to conceal his annoyance. "Yeah?" Justin simply raised his left eyebrow at Joshua. "James is wondering if you need any additional information to put up on all of our social media accounts. After all, we will be hosting an important week-long presentations at the end of July. That may be six months away, but we have to advertise the event to attract as many audience members as possible." "Oh, right," Joshua responded in what he hoped was a calm voice before beaming at James and hoping he didn t appear as stupid on the outside as he felt on the inside. "No, not at all. Everything is fine." Joshua winced in pain when Justin placed a well-aimed kick at his shin. He would have glared at Justin if James wasn t sitting right across the table from them inside the meeting room. He had a hard time understanding Justin s expression. Justin kept darting his eyeballs in James s direction, and Joshua had no clue what message his friend was trying to convey. In the end, Justin heaved out a soft sigh and shrugged before facing James once again. "All right then, James. Guess I ll be meeting you again in about two weeks to further discuss the menu. Please take into account some of the guests may be vegans while others may have special dietary needs, and we will have to plan accordingly. We don t have the exact number of attendants yet. Some of them may even reserve their spots at the last minute." James nodded. "No problem. This isn t my first rodeo. We will prepare extra food and drinks just in case. The final logistics can be hashed out closer to the date." After that, the three of them got up. Joshua shook hands with James, but all the while, he was praying and hoping he didn t have a sweaty, clammy palm. James s grip was firm and warm, and Joshua wished he didn t have to let go of the man s hand ever. He was always nervous around James, but he was also relieved, and more than a little aroused, when James beamed at him. He was a goner. His lust for James was also melting his brain into icky gooey stuff. He couldn t think at all. Hence, he simply grinned wider. Then he ogled James s perky bubble butt, which was clad in a pair of sinfully tight slacks that left almost nothing to his imagination, as the man made his way out from the office all the way toward the elevator. He jumped a little in surprise when Justin bumped against his shoulder and smirked at him.