Duo's POV
The Wedding Planner Part 28
Set Up
When I got to Peacecraft's, there was a sleek silver Rolls Royce pulled up where I normally parked the Jag, so I let the valet take my beloved convertible away to park.
Walter opened the door before I even had a chance to knock.
"Mister Maxwell...good to see you, sir."
I sighed. He would insist on calling me that. "If it's so great, then how come you let some bozo park a big, ugly Rolls Royce in my favorite spot?" I teased.
"Ah, that would be my big, ugly Rolls Royce," said an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous guy, walking up beside Walter and holding out a hand. "I'm Milliardo Peacecraft, the 'bozo,' and Relena's brother. And you must be Duo Maxwell."
"I must," I agreed, giving him a wan smile and accepting the handshake. "Sorry about the, uh, 'bozo' comment. I'm just not used to letting the valet park my baby."
He smiled, his ice-blue eyes meeting mine in an almost searching gaze. "The Jag...a lovely machine. Perhaps you could take me for a drive sometime, so I could compare the ride to my car."
"Sure. Any time."
Then I found myself being ushered out to the veranda by the tall, handsome hunk, and as usual, the maid had set up tea on the table. We settled in, and Milliardo again fixed me with that very disconcerting gaze, tossing his long, platinum hair casually back over his shoulder. I was honestly impressed with the hair...it nearly rivaled mine for length, and he wore it loose around his shoulders. Damn fine-looking head of hair.
"Well, Relena's description didn't do you justice."
"Relena's, uh, what?" I was suddenly suspicious. Why would Relena have been talking to her brother about me?
"She said you were gorgeous," he said with a devilish smile. "But I never dreamed your hair would be so stunning."
"S-stunning?" I echoed, knowing I must sound like an idiot by this time.
He leaned forward, lowering his voice to an absolutely sexy murmur. "I believe my dear sister had intentions of 'fixing us up,'" he confided.
I blinked. "You--you're--?" (Yes, I continued to babble stupidly.)
"--exceedingly attracted to you?" he finished for me. "As a matter of fact, I am."
"Don't waste a second do you?" came Heero's curt voice as he strode out onto the veranda, Relena close behind.
Milliardo sat back, raising an eyebrow. "I simply escorted your guest out here to wait for the two of you," he said in a cool, diplomatic tone.
I stood up automatically as Relena walked over. "G'morning, Relena...Heero." I smiled, but Heero didn't smile back. In fact, he looked pissed. "Yo! Yuy...what's got your knickers in a twist?" I chided, hoping to coax a smirk out of him.
Not even close.
He was still glaring at Milliardo with a look that could have curdled milk, but it was Relena who stepped in before he could voice his dissatisfaction.
"Duo, I see you've met my brother, Milliardo. He'd like to come with us today. I hope you don't mind."
Oh, it all became crystal clear.
Now that Relena knew I was gay, she'd taken it upon herself to fix me up with her very handsome, apparently available brother. Not that he wasn't hot. The man was elegant and sexy to a fault. But I had a rule about blind dates. If it wasn't someone I'd picked up myself, I really didn't want to get sucked into dating "a friend of a friend," and definitely not a brother of a client. But how the hell could I extricate myself from the situation? There was no graceful way out.
"Of course not," I lied, forcing a polite smile, even when Heero darted a perfectly vicious glance my way.
"Relena--" he said in a cool voice. "Perhaps Duo's already made plans for three today."
"We're, uh, going to check out wedding cakes," I said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter how many of us there are."
Heero scowled at me, and I wanted to just sink through the floor. What the hell had I done wrong? I mean, I could tell there was a little friction between him and Milliardo--but I couldn't pinpoint a reason for it. I knew damned well Heero wasn't a homophobe, or he'd have refused to have anything to do with me once he found out my preferences. So why did Milliardo's presence seem to irritate--no, anger--him so much? Yeah, the emotion I saw in those deep blue eyes was much more than simple annoyance. He was genuinely mad.
Relena laughed gaily, probably to try to defuse the situation, and grabbed my arm. "Come--finish your tea. I haven't even had a bite to eat this morning, and I really should have breakfast before all those sweets."
"Absolutely," I agreed, returning to my seat, and nodding thanks to Milliardo, who graciously held the chair for me.
Okay--I gotta say here that treating me like a girl didn't endear Yuy to me back at Romefeller--and it sure wasn't garnering Milliardo any points either. I rolled my eyes, looking over to Heero for a conspiratorial smirk, but his glower was fixed on Relena's brother, instead of me. Damn, but he had issues with the future brother-in-law! What was I gonna have to do to get his attention, and maybe drag a reluctant smile from those perfect lips?
Ah--bad Duo! I really had to stop thinking of how sexy Heero was. He wasn't mine--couldn't ever be mine--and pining over him wasn't going to get me anywhere at all.
But when he smiled, it lit up a room like nothing I've ever seen. And, well, I've said before how hooked I was on his laugh. Yeah--poor, foolish Duo. I sure knew how to pick 'em...straight and engaged...could he be less available?
I gave Milliardo a more appraising look. He really was quite handsome, clearly available, and it was obvious he was very sure of himself. I'd always liked self-assurance in a man, and he had that in spades. So why did I get a nagging feeling I'd regret hooking up with him?
"We'll take the limo today," Relena announced blithely, pulling her chair close to Heero's, and reaching across to pick up a cup of tea. "It'll be so cozy."
Yeah, "cozy" was real high on my list of fun places to be with two guys who obviously despised each other and a girl who only gave up hitting on me when I told her I was gay. It promised to be a long, long day. And Heero still hadn't even glanced directly at me; he was too busy glaring at Milliardo.
"So, what do you do for work?" I asked the aforementioned blonde Adonis.
He smiled graciously at me. "I dabble in the world of art...buying and selling antiquities." Those piercing blue eyes met mine with a sly glimmer in them. "So, you can see why I appreciate things of great beauty."
God, I wished I didn't blush so easily at compliments. But it had always been a weakness of mine. And I could feel the heat on my face, even as I dropped my gaze to the tabletop. "Ah...so that explains the Rolls, I suppose?" I asked, deliberately misunderstanding.
Heero's short bark of wry laughter made me look up in surprise, and I saw a gleam of approval in those deep blue eyes of his. I grinned back at him, glad I'd broken through the angry crust. Yeah, Yuy, you can smile at me all day long if you like.
Milliardo laughed as well, though it sounded a bit forced. "You're too modest, Duo," he said in a silky voice.
It was my turn to chuckle wryly. "That's gotta be the first time anyone's accused me of that."
Relena's brother looked over at her, while she primly sipped her cup of tea. "Relena, dear. I'll never question your judgment again," he smirked.
I had no idea what he was talking about. I could only imagine the things she might have told the poor man to lure him there just to meet me. Judging by Heero's reaction to his presence, they didn't exactly hang out together on a regular basis.
"Well," Relena announced, having nibbled a couple of biscuits while she sipped her tea. "I'm ready to go whenever you three are."
Oh yeah! The sooner we got going, the sooner we'd get back. I'd been looking forward to a fun day of sampling cake with Heero and Relena, recalling my promise to buy the ice cream at Howard's on the way home. But knowing Milliardo had been dragged into it by his misguided matchmaker of a sister, I felt uncomfortably pressured to be at my best.
See why I didn't like blind dates? There was no reason for me to worry about impressing Milliardo, and yet I did.
As we were walking through the house towards the front door, Relena pulled Milliardo aside to show him a painting in the hallway, and Heero ended up beside me.
"I'm sorry," he said in a husky undertone that immediately sent chills up my spine. "If I'd known--I'd never have let her--"
"'S okay," I assured him. "She meant well."
He gave another short, skeptical laugh. "You're a good sport, Duo. You know that?"
I shrugged. "Have to be in this line of work, 'Ro."
He opened the door, and we loitered for a moment, waiting for his fiancée and her brother to catch up. Then all four of us headed out to the limousine.
I ended up sitting next to Milliardo, facing Relena and Heero, which gave me a perfectly lovely view of the happy couple snuggled up side by side. So I turned my attention to the blonde, who'd sat close enough that his thigh was resting against mine.
"Where do you live, Milliardo?" I asked politely. While I hadn't asked to be dumped into a blind date, I at least knew how the game was played. Honestly, it was not unlike picking up a guy in a bar, which I'd done enough times to be pretty good at it.
He gave a charming laugh. "With all the traveling I do, sometimes it seems like I live out of hotel rooms. But I do have a place a couple of hours up the coast...right on the water."
I nearly groaned aloud at that. Damn him anyway! He was hot, available, and had a place on the ocean. What was not to love? Now if only he wasn't Relena's brother, which made him singularly unsuitable by my usual standards.
But y'know what? Beggars can't be choosers. Here was a good-looking guy obviously interested in pursuing a relationship. Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? I could at least keep an open mind, right? (And obviously spout clichés at the, er, drop of a hat...sorry!)
Before I could stupidly blurt out that any gorgeous man with a beach house could pretty much have his way with me if he promised there'd be ocean waves crashing in the background, Milliardo reached out and touched the gold cross around my neck.
"Are you a religious man?" he asked quietly, running his finger along the chain.
"Not really," I said, trying not to sound breathless at the rather intimate touch. "It's just a keepsake. I--grew up in a Catholic orphanage."
He eyed me in surprise, and I thought I saw a trace of pity enter the cool blue eyes. Did I mention I hate pity?
"You were an orphan?" Relena gasped, her attention turning from Heero to me in an instant. "That's awful."
"On a colony?" Milliardo asked. "Or Earth?"
Heero's blue eyes fixed me with a slightly worried look, and he gave a very small shake of his head.
"L2," I said firmly. I'd never made a secret of where I came from, and I wasn't about to start now, no matter how much Heero seemed to think I should.
Relena positively gaped at me. "You? Came from L2?" she demanded, as if it was a tragedy.
I narrowed my eyes just slightly, trying to conceal the twinge of anger her scornful tone of voice evoked. "Yes, I did. Is that a problem?"
Heero had unobtrusively splayed an open hand over his face in a gesture that said "Oh, shit, Duo, you should have lied and said you grew up on L4 with a silver spoon up your ass," as clearly as words.
Relena looked at Milliardo, and then at me, with her mouth still open.
And then Milliardo laughed gently, reaching over to put a hand on my knee in a gesture meant to reassure (or to indicate a desire to get into my pants at his earliest convenience...it was hard to tell). "My sister just can't believe someone so charming and cultured could come out of such a backwater colony," he said soothingly. "She'll get over the shock momentarily, won't you Relena?"
She nodded, blinking and then looking quickly away.
I gave Milliardo a grateful smile, and then carefully peeled his hand off my knee and set it gently on his own. "So tell me more about your art interests, Milliardo," I urged.
As he launched into a detailed account of the treasures he'd found over the years, I dared a glance at Heero, who seemed to have recovered from his moment of horror, and was watching Milliardo and me with a hint of a smile on those beautiful lips.
Fuck, but I was crazy about him!
TBC...
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