Bottom At Heart
Chapter 9

Clar sat in an armchair in his father’s office, waiting for the man to finally implode. It was a familiar scene, honestly. Clarence the Elder holding something that documented Clar’s latest attempt to besmirch the McKinley name, Clar sitting quietly, waiting for the man to sort his thoughts.

This time however, it wasn’t some tabloid detailing Clar’s midnight rendezvous with some pop sensation. It was a tablet with a leaked photo of his breakfast date with Heart. And this time, Clar actually cared about the other person in the picture. He had already glanced at the things being said, circulated, and it made him angry.

So, in a complete departure from tradition, he stood, rebuttoning his blazer, looking at his father coolly. Clarence the Elder’s head jerked up, his thick, dark brows drawing in a thunderous expression. His pure Alpha fury was almost palpable. “Where do you think you are going?” He snapped, standing as well.

Clar smoothed his suit. “I believe I already made myself perfectly clear over the phone. I’m dating him, that’s all there is to it.”

He narrowly missed a file being thrown at his head. “Like hell it is! How dare you do this to me? To our name? Dating a man? A whore for that matter?” Clarence the Elder bellowed.

Clar rolled his eyes. “First of all, if anyone’s a whore, it would be me. Second of all, I’m doing what I always do: exactly as I please.” He ducked another file. “I assure you, you never even once occurred to me when I decided to date Heart.”

His father’s gaze was glinting with almost murderous outrage. “Obviously, otherwise you would not have even been seen with him! Break up with him this instant!”

“Or what?” Clar countered, leaning his hip on the chair arm. “You’ll disinherit me? Fine, I’m sure Heart has enough money to take care of me. Good luck replaceing another heir, though.” He smirked at his father’s purpling face.

“I’ll destroy his company! His career!” His father raged, his fist clasped so tightly his knuckles were white.

Clar raised his eyebrows. “I doubt it. After all, thanks to Heart, Desire is making tons of money. The new product line is a complete success. The board would never let you get away with damaging their cash cow.”

For a moment he thought his father would stomp his foot. “Clar! Why are you so serious about him anyway? If you want to play with a piece of ass, go replace someone less…gaudy than this model.” His father spat the words out.

Clar sighed. “I’m not playing, and I’m not interested in replaceing someone else. And I don’t know why you’re so upset about me being serious about someone. Doesn’t that mean I won’t be running around all the time?” He pointed out.

Another file. “When I meant get serious, I meant with a woman like Angelica!” His father thundered.

Clar crinkled his nose at the name of the CFO’s materialistic daughter. “I wouldn’t date Angelica, regardless of Heart’s existence. Besides, don’t you think he’s been a good influence on me? I’ve done more paperwork this week than ever before.”

“That’s just because you couldn’t get laid!”

Clar shrugged. “Potatoes, tomatoes. The point is, I want to be serious for him. I want to be more, for him. I can’t explain it, Father.”

His voice got soft at the end, and he fought the small smile on his lips. He looked up at his father’s silence, and was surprised to see all the blood had drained from his father’s face. “The way you talk about him, it sounds like he’s your mate,” his father hissed.

The words were shocking to Clar. Mate. That would be one reason why he felt inexplicably drawn to Heart. Why his scent was all Clar needed to feel warm and happy. Clar shook his head. “It’s too early for that yet, Father. But know this, I will date Heart and there’s nothing you can do about it without spiting yourself, so suck it up and deal with it.”

His father closed his eyes, almost green now. “At least tell me that my son isn’t submitting to that…ostentatious bauble of a man.” He begged, and Clar flushed, recalling his earlier conversation with Heart. As soon as they had parted, he’d looked up what Heart was talking about and he had had to sit down. He still didn’t know how he felt about it.

“We haven’t discussed it yet.” He hedged.

His father’s eyes snapped open. “Well, when you do, please don’t besmirch us further by letting that model call the shots. You’re a man, Clar, an Alpha, for God’s sake. McKinley’s never submit!”

“What I do in the bedroom with my boyfriend is entirely my business, thank you,” Clar said sharply.

Before his father could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Quinn stuck his head in. “Hi, Clar? Wicked Entertainment is holding a press conference in thirty minutes about your relationship with Heart.”

His father closed his eyes again. “I need a drink,” he muttered, and Clar rolled his eyes.

“I need to go. Bye, Father.”

“Rot in hell.”

Clar laughed at that, leaving his father to drown his sorrows in scotch. He followed Quinn back to their office, a floor below. Quinn held the door open, and looked at Clar seriously. “I gave Heart your personal number because I can never hear his phone voice again. And word to the wise, never take his calls where others can see you.”

Clar laughed at his friend’s serious expression. “Are you happy for me, Quinn?” He asked teasingly, easing his tie a little from around his neck.

“You know I am. Just, be careful? Heart is unlike anyone we’ve ever met.”

Clar nodded slowly, going to his office. His cellphone rang, and he saw it was an unknown number. He answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, lover,” the voice purred on the other end and Clar instantly knew what Quinn meant. Good God.

He leaned his hip on his desk. “Hey yourself. How are you? I heard you’re doing a press conference.” He rolled his eyes at his voice, low, soft, and warm. He couldn’t help it. Heart gentled everything about him.

“As expected, Tracey yelled at me. They tried to make me break up with you or say that we aren’t dating but I put my foot down.” There was a small silence and Clar wished he could see Heart. “Clar?”

Clar’s heart melted at that tiny sound. “Yes, my Heart?” He asked softly.

“You do want to date me, yeah? Like this morning wasn’t a dream?”

The smallness, the insecurity in his voice made Clar’s heart hurt. He really wished he could hug the tiny beauty. “I meant it, Heart. I want to date you. I’m going to date you. I’ll take care of you.”

“Will you watch the interview? It’ll be live on Wicked’s website.”

“I’ll be here,” Clar promised. He glanced at his desk calendar. “What are you doing tomorrow evening?”

“Nothing, why?”

The insecurity was gone, and now Heart’s voice was warming suggestively. Clar swallowed. “I’d like to take you to dinner.”

“Perfect. Is it okay if we make this kind of a public first date? It’ll help.”

Clar was a bit disappointed, but he understood. “Absolutely. How’s this. Dinner tomorrow for the press, and a movie date Saturday for me.”

He heard Heart’s laugh and his skin tingled. “Sounds perfect. See you soon, lover.”

“Bye, my Heart.”

Clar hung up, and went to his computer. Booting it up, he pulled up Wicked Entertainment’s homepage. He clicked on the little Live icon, and found himself in a waiting room chatroom. The screen showed the Press Room of Wicked Entertainment. In the chat, people were speculating about the sudden conference. Clar quickly minimized the chat, and instead focused on the people on the stage at the front of the Press Room. Heart was there, along with a brown-haired woman. Clar thought he saw Floris standing off to the side of the stage, his posture rigid. Clar knew he’d have to ask what was up with them, but for now, he’d leave it. He trusted Heart.

He looked from Floris back to Heart, who was playing with a water bottle. Gone were the homey tee and jeans. Heart was now dressed much like the first day he met him: crop top, glitter, choker, tight jeans. Everything about the man screamed gliz, glam, and zero fucks given. Clar smiled.

He watched as a brown-haired woman slowly quieted the room. She smiled, and Clar could see that the smile was tight. “Thank you everyone for meeting with us on such short notice. As some of you have seen, a picture was leaked this morning, and we wanted to take a moment to address it. Heart?”

She turned, giving the stage to Heart, who stood from his seat, sauntering over to the mic. He smiled at everyone, and Clar’s heart warmed. “Hello, lovers, Heartlings. Thank you for being here. I have some wonderful news.” His gaze twinkled and Clar felt himself blushing, in his office, alone, watching his new boyfriend via a webcam.

“I am in a relationship with Clar McKinley III. We met for a new project and hit it off immediately. We decided to date each other, get to know each other. This morning, we met at his office regarding the project, and we decided to get breakfast. While this wasn’t how we imaged it, we are serious enough with each other that we had planned on going public with our relationship.” Heart laughed a little, shrugging. “I know some of you have questions, so to save some time: yes, I am gay,” he held up a finger, as if checking off a list, “yes, I am Clar’s first male partner. Yes, I know about his past. Yes, he knows about mine. No, I can’t talk about the project. Yes, I made the first move,” Heart’s gaze glittered with mischief at that. Clar raised a brow. He wasn’t sure if there was any first move. They both just collided into each other’s lives so completely.

Heart paused for a moment, and smiled at the reporters again. “Now, if anyone has any questions that don’t have anything to do with what I’ve mentioned, I’ll take your questions now.”

There was a small roar of noise by the reporters, before one was selected to speak. It was a gangly blond man, and he had a mean little face Clar didn’t like. “You did say that you knew about Mr. McKinley’s past, but are you aware that not even last week he was spotted with Kailee?” He asked, his gaze glittering with a smug smile.

Heart smiled at the reporter while Clar rolled his eyes. “Actually, the second time I met him was filming for Kailee’s new music video. They were supposed to go on a date but he ended up on a date with me.” Murmurs exploded around the room, and Heart shrugged a little. “She gave us her blessing.” He said simply.

The reporter sat down, as if defeated. Clar wanted to kiss Heart. He did this so well.

“Um, Clar, I’m sorry but you have a meeting in fifteen.” Quinn said, popping his head into Clar’s office.

Clar sighed, and logged off the computer. He stood, stretching. He looked down at his phone, and smiled a little. Boyfriend. He had a boyfriend. Who would have thought? It wasn’t much, not really in the grand scheme of things. But for the first time, it felt like he was doing something he really wanted to. Heart felt right. Not like a rebellion, not like an obligation. He felt like he was exactly what Clar had been looking for all his life.

“You might want to take a minute to get that stupid smile off your face. You look like you’re in love.” Quinn informed him, and Clar looked up, smiling even more.

He grabbed his jacket, buttoning it up. He sorted through a few files. “You know, Quinn. I just might be.” He admitted easily.

“Disgusting,” Quinn replied, and Clar laughed. He grabbed the files he needed and followed Quinn out of the office. He glanced at the clock outside the elevator and sighed. He wished it was tomorrow evening already. He couldn’t wait to see Heart again.