Slow Dating the Detective

by Sue Brown

Keenan rushed into the house after they said goodbye. It wasn’t untidy, but neither was it kid proof. He was going to have a manic thirty minutes cleaning it up.

  He had an armful of laundry when his phone rang again. This time it was Nate’s ringtone. Keenan shoved the T-shirts and socks into the washing machine and leaped for the phone on the kitchen counter.

  “Hello?” he said, somewhat breathlessly.

  “Did I interrupt you in the middle of a hot date?” Nate teased.

  “If you call a hot date filling my washing machine with dirty laundry, then yes.”

  “Are you ready to be distracted?”

  Keenan groaned. “I’d love to, but I’ve been designated babysitter for the afternoon.”

  “You lucky boy.”

  “Sarah has a meeting, and Alan is working. I should have said no, but then I’d have to explain that I wanted to spend my afternoon with my ass in the air.”

  “I can imagine that would be a difficult conversation to have,” Nate agreed. “What did you plan to do with them?”

  “Take them to the park, wear them out, and then come back here for movie and pizza.”

  Nate’s chuckle was a warm, rich tone that made Keenan shiver. “Sounds like you’ve done this before.”

  “Many, many times. Uncle Kee Kee has his uses.”

  “I’m free for the afternoon, and I like pizza and movies. I could join you.”

  Keenan swore he just heard Nate offer to babysit. “You want to come and babysit my niece and nephew?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “They’re not adults, Nate. It’s an afternoon of diapers, tears, shouting, and playing with Legos.”

  “I’ve met them, remember? And I like Legos. You can deal with diapers.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Nate said. “So, do you want me?”

  Naked and under me.

  But as Keenan wasn’t going to get that, he said, “Sure. Whenever you’re free.”

  “I’ll be around in an hour.”

  Yes, Keenan’s heart did leap at the thought. “Okay. See you then. And Nate?”

  “Yes?”

  “Ditch the suit. The last thing you want is to get mashed banana or yogurt on it.”

  “Are you giving me orders?” Nate sounded more amused than annoyed.

  “Call it a suggestion. If you want to subject your expensive suit to the sticky hands of my nephew, you’re more than welcome.”

  “Good point,” Nate agreed. “I’m in jeans and a hoodie.”

  “The tight jeans that make your ass look great?”

  Keenan was an ass man, and he thought Nate’s butt was the finest he’d ever had the pleasure to manhandle.

  Nate chuckled. “You know I only wear those jeans because you like them.”

  “That’s fine with me.” Keenan showed his enthusiasm and Nate laughed.

  Why on earth would Keenan object to a man who wore tight jeans just for him? He’d have to be crazy.

  “I’ll see you later.”

  Keenan dumped detergent in his washing machine and turned it on. The house was ready for the invasion. He wasn’t sure he was, but this time he had a volunteer beside him.

  As the doorbell sounded, Keenan smirked. Nate had no idea what was about to hit him.

  Chapter 16

  IT WAS a perfect afternoon. Sunshine glinted through the leaves just starting to show their fall colors. Camped out like many other families on the grass, Keenan leaned back to watch Nate play with Tommy and Janey. The man was a natural with kids. Nate played airplanes with Tommy, running over the grass, arms out and pretending they were flying. Janey stumbled after them, at nearly twenty months, not able to keep up. Nate knelt, and she ran into his arms, shrieking as he picked her up and swung her around. Nate looked over, catching Keenan’s gaze. His grin was open and genuine, and Keenan smiled back.

  “You’ve got a lovely family,” a man said.

  Keenan turned to see a couple nearby with a baby in a carrier smiling at him. “Uh… thanks, but we’re not a family.” As their smile faded he realized what he’d said. “I mean, they’re not his, or mine.” He took a deep breath before they called 9-1-1 on him. “That’s my niece and nephew and Nate is a friend. He’s a cop. He’s helping me babysit.”

  The woman looked impressed. “He babysits too. Wow, he’s a keeper.”

  Her husband, they wore matching rings so Keenan hoped so, looked offended. “I used to babysit with you.”

  She smiled up at him. “I know. That’s why I kept you.”

  His offended look melted and he bent down to kiss her. Envy flushed through Keenan. He wanted that kind of relationship. He looked at Nate who now sat on the grass, Janey in his lap and Tommy running around both of them.

  “He is a keeper,” Keenan murmured.

  The woman shot him a knowing look. “Hang on to him.”

  She was the second person to tell him that. Maybe they had a point. They wandered off and Keenan joined his small “family.”

  “Uncle Kee Kee!” Janey launched herself into Keenan’s lap and sat down.

  Nate laughed at Keenan’s wince. “A bit close to the goods?”

  “You could say that. I’ll spend the next fifteen years telling her boyfriends to wear a cup.”

  “Janey, come play ball,” Tommy shouted.

  She ran over to her brother, and they started rolling the ball to each other.

  “Does Tommy have any setting except loud?” Nate asked.

  “Oh yes,” Keenan assured him. “Loud, louder, and extra loud.”

  “I thought so.” Nate leaned against him. “What did the couple want?”

  “They thought you were a good dad and I should keep you.” Keenan smirked as Nate rolled his eyes. “I think they were right.”

  “The best thing about being an uncle is you can always give them back.”

  He noticed Nate ignored the comment about Keenan keeping him. “Do you not want kids?”

  Nate turned his attention to Tommy and Janey. “I never really thought about it.”

  That was a lie. Keenan didn’t know how he knew, but Nate had thought about having kids. Maybe with his ex-boyfriend? “I’d like kids one day,” he said.

  “You would?” Nate looked at him in surprise.

  “I’ve thought about it a lot. I don’t want to be a single dad, but if I were married or in the right relationship, yeah, I’d like a couple of rug rats to call my own.”

  “I can see you being a good dad,” Nate said softly. “You’d be good with the homework and taking them to activities.”

  Keenan snorted. “As long as I get to do the fun stuff too.”

  He could remember his mom complaining that Pops did all the fun stuff while she got to hold the coats.

  “Definitely,” Nate agreed.

  Keenan bit the inside of his lip. What had he been expecting Nate to say? “We’d both have the fun?”

  Get over yourself, Day.

  Janey started to cry as Tommy rolled the ball too hard and it bounced up into her face.

  “Pizza time?” Nate suggested.

  Keenan got to his feet. “Pizza time, kids?”

  Tommy yelled his agreement, and Janey stopped crying long enough to give a snuffling nod. Keenan carried Janey while Tommy dragged Nate through the park to show him his favorite stone.

  “I like Uncle Nate,” Keenan whispered into his niece’s hair. She made a sleepy noise of agreement. “Even if he does like pineapple on pizza.”

  “Ugh.” It could have been sleepy agreement; it could have been a snore.

  “Ugh,” Keenan agreed.

  SARAH ARRIVED, triumphant after securing a new client and very curious as to why Nate was there. Keenan ignored her curiosity and sent her and the kids home, the latter tired and full of pizza and ice cream. He knew he’d receive a phone call later on with her jabbering questions. He made a mental note to put his phone on vibrate.

  Keenan expected Nate to take off too, but instead
Nate started trading kisses the second the front door closed, his hands all over Keenan.

  “Eager, aren’t you?”

  “Desperate, more like,” Nate muttered. Then he kissed him until they were both breathless. “I want to fuck you.”

  No complaints from Keenan.

  Clothes fell away in messy abandon, and Nate nibbled his way down Keenan’s neck. Keenan’s hands fluttered down until they reached Nate’s hips and pulled him in closer. They rubbed against each other, cocks dueling, precome helping the friction.

  “I’m going to come right here,” Keenan moaned as he shoved his groin into Nate’s.

  “I want you in bed, on your hands and knees with your ass in the air.”

  Hell yes. Keenan turned, tripped over Nate’s foot, and landed spread-eagle on the hall floor.

  “Ow!” Smacking his head against the wooden floor hurt.

  Being laid flat on his back was becoming a regular occurrence in Keenan’s life. Whether it was an accidental fist, an overexcited dog, or now a horny man who wanted to have his wicked way with him, Keenan’s first thought was “Again?” In all fairness it wasn’t entirely Nate’s fault. It had been his foot, but Keenan was the one who’d done the tripping.

  “You okay?” Nate rumbled as he ran his hands over Keenan’s body. “Anything broken?”

  “Just my pride.” Keenan rubbed his head as he sat up.

  “Did you hurt your head?” Nate ran gentle fingers through his hair. “There’s a small bump.”

  “I’m all right. I should have looked where I was going.” Keenan held out a hand. “Help me up?”

  Nate pulled him up and let Keenan lean on him for a moment, his large hands smoothing down Keenan’s back.

  Keenan sighed and buried his face in Nate’s neck, part in bliss and part in embarrassment. “I kind of ruined the moment there, didn’t I?”

  Their cocks had lost the hard desperation of the moment before.

  “Plenty of time for that,” Nate murmured, pulling Keenan in closer.

  Keenan inhaled the smell of grass and fresh air on Nate’s skin. “You smell good.”

  “So do you. Let’s go upstairs.”

  Keenan yelped as Nate picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. “What the hell?”

  “I couldn’t resist.” Nate ran up the stairs and dropped Keenan onto the bed.

  Keenan expected Nate to climb on the bed, but instead he just stared at him, his intense gaze sweeping Keenan from head to foot.

  “You’re beautiful,” Nate said huskily.

  Heat flushed through Keenan at the raw need in Nate’s voice, and he knew he was blushing. He reached up and pulled Nate in for a kiss. Nate went willingly and ended up straddling Keenan’s lap—skin to skin, chest to chest, Nate’s hardening dick pressing into Keenan’s belly. Nate was almost growling as he kissed Keenan who kissed him back just as hard.

  The sound of the phone broke into Keenan’s lust haze. He was prepared to ignore it but Nate pulled back, his eyes dark and his mouth wet and swollen.

  “You’d better answer that. It’s the second time they’ve called.”

  “It’s just Karen. She can wait. She probably wants to bitch about one of the others.” As though his sister heard, the ringing stopped. “See?” He reached for Nate, but the phone started again.

  Nate smiled ruefully. “You’d better answer that.” Then Nate’s phone started. “I’ll go get them.” Nate slid off the bed and jogged downstairs.

  Keenan lay back in the sheets with a sigh. He had a strong feeling his fun was going to be thwarted for the second time that day. Nate reappeared a minute later, handing Keenan his phone and his own plastered to his ear.

  “It’s Gordon. What’s up?” Nate smiled at Keenan as he listened to the person on the other end. The lover’s smile vanished, leaving the cop behind, and Keenan sat up. “Yeah, he’s with me. Where is he? Okay we’re on our way.”

  “What’s happened? Who was it?” Keenan asked, fear curling in his gut.

  “That was Day, I mean Karen. It’s your father. He’s being taken to the hospital. He’s got severe chest pain.”

  The breath was knocked out of Keenan, and his head filled with white noise. Nothing Nate said to him penetrated the fog. He knelt, looking around wildly for his briefs. He couldn’t remember where they had landed. Oh yeah, they’d stripped in the hallway. “I should phone Sarah.”

  “She already knows. I’ll drive you. Your mom’s going with your dad in the ambulance.” Nate threw Keenan a new pair of briefs. “Get dressed. You can call them when we’re on our way.”

  “What happened?” Keenan’s voice shook, and his hands trembled as he pulled on a pair of jeans.

  “He collapsed with chest pain. Your mom called 9-1-1.”

  “He’s still alive?”

  Nate borrowed Keenan’s clothes as he always did and came over to hug him. It was a comforting rather than passionate hug, and Keenan leaned into it. Nate pressed a kiss to his cheek. “He’s still alive. I promise.”

  Keenan noticed he hadn’t said Keenan’s father was going to be all right. He found his shoes and slipped them on. “I should call Dan. Tell him I might not be in tomorrow.” He stared worriedly at Nate. “Do you think he’ll fire me?”

  Nate squeezed him hard and stepped away to grab his jacket. “I’ll call him, and Dan’s not like that. He’s not going to get rid of you for a family emergency. Are you ready? Keys, wallet, phone?”

  “Uh… yes.” Keenan looked around again as they got to the bottom of the stairs and he found everything by his front door. He didn’t even remember leaving them there.

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  Keenan stayed where he was, unable to unlock his feet. “My dad’s never ill.”

  Nate put an arm around his shoulders. “Let’s get to the hospital and find out what’s going on. It might be a false alarm.”

  It wasn’t going to be any good to stay here. Keenan had to go to the hospital. And he couldn’t tell Nate about his terror of being in the hospital again. That was a fear he buried deep from everyone, including his family. So he let Nate lead him out, locked his front door, and headed toward Nate’s sedan. He was about to call Karen when Sarah’s name popped up on his screen. She spoke before he had a chance to get a word out.

  “Keenan, where the hell have you been? Dad’s ill.”

  As though they hadn’t spoken to each other thirty minutes before.

  “I know. We’re on our way to the hospital now.”

  “We’re?”

  Keenan bit back a sigh. Their dad was possibly dying, and she picked up on one small word. “Nate is driving me.”

  “You and I need to have a conversation about tall, dark, and detective.”

  “Focus! What’s happening with Dad?”

  “He’s just reached the ER. Alan, watch what you’re doing. We’re nearly at Kings Highway Hospital. Karen’s going to meet us there. Emma’s trying to get a flight back. She was at the in-laws’ for the weekend.”

  Keenan waited for Sarah to stop shouting at her husband. “That’s good, right? It means they can fix the problem?”

  “I hope so.” She sounded doubtful. “We’re nearly there if Alan doesn’t kill us. I’ll see you in there.”

  Keenan disconnected and glanced at Nate. “He’s already at the ER. Everyone is heading there.” Nate’s hand slid into his and he realized he’d been pressing his fingernails into his palm. “I’m okay.”

  Fake it ’til you make it, Keenan.

  Chapter 17

  “THE SAME thing happened to my dad,” Nate said, and Keenan turned to stare at him. “About ten years ago. I was just out of the academy. First week on the job, and Dad collapses at the ranch. If it hadn’t been for a visitor barely out of high school, he wouldn’t be here. She did CPR on him until the paramedics arrived.”

  “I’m so sorry, Nate.”

  He smiled at Keenan and squeezed his hand again. “He had a quadruple bypass. You’d never know from the way
he rushes around today, but we nearly lost him four times that day.”

  Keenan shivered. He didn’t want to think of his dad going through that. “But your dad is all right now?”

  Nate’s chuckle was a warm sound that eased the tension across Keenan’s shoulders. “My father is a maniac. Never sits still for a second. He’s still working the ranch and spends most of his time helping people in our community.”

  “Is he a churchgoer?” Keenan had an ambivalent attitude toward the church he’d been forced to go to in his childhood. His parents still went there, but his sisters and Keenan had quit as soon as they were allowed. He hadn’t come out until after he left, but he’d endured enough hellfire and brimstone sermons to know he wouldn’t be welcome. His parents’ friends were friendly to him, and that was enough for Keenan.

  “A lapsed Catholic. Hasn’t been near a church since my sister got married. He works with a couple of nonprofit organizations that help the homeless.”

  “Wow.” Keenan blinked. “He’s an angel.”

  Nate let out a belly laugh. “Hell no. He’s anything but. He just feels he had a second chance that day and he isn’t going to waste it.”

  Keenan desperately hoped his dad got a second chance today. Roland Day was no angel, and he and Keenan had had many tense times over the years, especially when Keenan stepped, young and blinking, out of the closet. But he’d always loved his Pops, and he knew the feeling was returned.

  “We’re here,” Nate said.

  While he’d been lost in his own thoughts, Nate had parked. “Thanks for driving me here.” He unbuckled his seat belt and smiled at him.

  “I’ll come in with you.” Nate got out of the car.

  “You don’t have to,” Keenan said.

  “I want to.” Nate smiled at him over the roof of the car. “You’ll need someone to fetch the decent coffee. You don’t want to drink the pap out of the machine.”

  Keenan blinked away the sudden tears and nodded. He was grateful he’d have someone to lean on for a while. “Uh… how do I introduce you?”

  Nate snorted. “It’s not like they haven’t met me. We’ve done the introductions already.”