Looking from the painting to Aud, a soft grin spread across Leo’s face. “No. As long as you’re here, I’m happy to be here. Actually, some of her art is fairly interesting, even if it isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
“She was the one who started this style of Southwest art, but there are several other people doing similar things now. Concinta works hard to stay ahead of them.”
“Aud!” a man shouted from behind them.
With his hand still in Leo’s, Aud tensed before he let go and turned toward the voice. “Randal.” A dark and dangerous tone, unfamiliar to Leo, tinted Aud’s voice. “What are you doing here?”
The handsome man graced both of them with a wide smile. “I heard you were throwing a party and thought I’d stop by. You did a great job promoting this shindig.”
Aud didn’t visibly relax, but his tone softened. “Thank you. Have you seen anything you can’t live without?”
Randal’s smile widened. “Nothing that I think is available tonight. You look occupied.” His gaze rested on Leo. “Aud’s being rude and hasn’t introduced us.” He thrust his hand in Leo’s direction. “I’m Randal Hudspeth.”
Not knowing what else to do and wanting to be polite, Leo accepted the handshake. It was strong, almost overwhelming. “Leo.”
Dropping his voice, Randal added. “Aud and I have a past. I bet he didn’t tell you that.”
“Randal.” The dangerous tone returned to Aud’s voice. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”
“Leave?” Randal cocked a bushy eyebrow. “I just got here.”
Aud took him by the arm and started toward the door. He paused and looked back at Leo. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Leo stood there, bewildered, as patrons stopped their conversations to watch Aud escort Randal out.
“Oh, that’s right. Try to ignore your baser instincts, Aud. Does that make you better than me?” Randal continued to talk loudly, but after a few feet, Leo couldn’t make out the words.
“Was that Randal?” Heather appeared at Leo’s side, a bottle of wine in her hand.
“Yeah.” Leo was thankful to turn away and focus on her.
“What did he want?”
“He said he heard about the party and thought he’d stop by.”
She shook her head and struggled to open the wine. “He’s trouble. I told Aud to file a police report. I think he’s stalking Aud.”
Leo glanced toward the front of the gallery where Aud and Randal had disappeared. “Stalking?” A shiver went through him. “That’s not good. So he and Aud actually have a history?”
Around them the conversations resumed after Aud and Randal walked out.
“If you count doing something in the steam room at the gym a history.” She strained to pull out the cork.
Gesturing to take the bottle and give it a try, Leo asked, “Does he do that sort of thing a lot?” He’d known a fair number of guys who spent tons of time turning tricks. It wasn’t something that made him feel good, and it cast a shadow on his growing feelings toward Aud. He yanked and freed the cork from the wine bottle.
“Nope.” Heather accepted the bottle back from him. “I think once in a while. He’s such a workaholic that he doesn’t go out much. If you ask me, it was probably just a quick release during a moment of stress or something. I don’t know all the details. I just know Randal came in the other day looking for Aud and said something about the two of them being the hottest guys at the gym.”
“Conceited, huh?”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s not bad to look at, but attitude counts for a lot in my book.”
Leo gave her a slow nod.
“Aud told him he wasn’t interested.”
“That’s good.” Leo relaxed a bit. I wonder if that was after our first date.
Aud walked back into the room. The remnants of a scowl distorted his rugged face. “I’m sorry about that,” he said softly as he returned to Leo. “It was a mistake.”
“Heather filled me in.” Leo kept his voice low. “Do you think he could be a stalker too?”
Broad shoulders dropping, Aud walked toward the refreshment table near the center of the room. “I don’t know. I’ve known he was pushy and a bit unstable for a while, but this behavior is new. I can’t say I like it.”
Heather offered him a glass of wine, freshly poured from the bottle Leo had opened for her. “I still think you need to call the police and get something on record with them. Maybe he’ll stop this shit.”
“It wouldn’t be that hard.” One of the patrons walked up to Aud and handed him a card. “I’m a lawyer. If that man has been disrupting other things around here, it wouldn’t be difficult to get a restraining order against him, at the very least. Call me if your lawyer doesn’t handle things like that. I could get something done fairly quickly, especially if you know his name and address.”
“Name, yes. Address, no.” Aud slipped the card in his pants pocket. “I’ll keep you in mind.”