He’d gone home, sure he’d be able to pass out from exhaustion, but had spent the entire night tossing and turning, dreaming about that fucking kid and his gun. Sometimes he shot Andrea or Harold. Sometimes he shot David. Often, David shot them all.
He shook that off and lifted his hand to knock on Chance’s door, knowing his friend had been here an hour already, at least. David paused when he heard footsteps running over the thick carpet and braced himself.
He was slammed into from behind, a pair of strong arms wrapping around him.
David let out a huff of laughter and held those arms to his chest while he regained his equilibrium, both mentally and physically. “You keep doing this, Kieran. And every time you’re damn lucky I don’t punch you in the face before I realize it’s you,” David said, turning to see his assailant.
Kieran Morrison grinned. “You always say that, but you haven’t done it yet. And how else am I supposed to cop a feel of all this delicious man-meat?” Kieran winked as he trailed his finger down David’s arm.
David rolled his eyes. “You’re so full of shit. First of all, you see all this man-meat”—he couldn’t help the sarcastic finger quotes, because really?—“three times a week at hockey. And secondly, if you want to cop a feel, all you have to do is ask.”
Kieran’s right eyebrow shot up. “Oh, really?”
“I mean a hug, loser.”
“Oh. Okay.”
David’s arms were instantly full again. Kieran’s forehead bumped his chin, but his grip was fierce and David couldn’t help but return it, his eyes slipping closed as he let Kieran’s strength seep into him.
“Better?” Kieran asked quietly.
David didn’t bother to ask how he’d known. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Neither of them moved when the door at David’s back opened.
“Well, this is cozy,” Chance observed dryly.
“Your husband is an exceptionally good hugger,” David said.
“He is,” Chance agreed, his voice loaded with affection.
A combination of raw envy and immeasurable joy for his friends and the love they shared filled David. It was actually kind of nauseating.
Or maybe he shouldn’t have skipped breakfast.
With a sigh, he released Kieran. “I suppose you want to hear about the shit show that went down yesterday.”
“I would. If that’s okay?” Kieran asked, looking between his husband and David, since he didn’t actually work at McCormick Associates.
David shrugged.
Chance stepped back into his office. “Yeah, come on in.”
David tried to walk tall and not collapse into one of the guest chairs in front of Chance’s desk, but he wasn’t fooling anyone, based on how Kieran immediately poured him coffee from the sideboard.
David took his time detailing everything that had happened while Chance took notes and asked questions, and Kieran patted his arm in sympathy and refilled his mug.
When he finished, Chance studied him from across the desk. “I’m sorry you ended up having to deal with all that. Why don’t you take a couple weeks off?”
David couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he’d done to warrant punishment. “What? No! I’m fine.”
Chance’s cell phone buzzed and he glanced at it but didn’t answer it, returning his focus to David. “I’m sure you are, but you’ve been with the company for a year and you haven’t taken any time off. You’re a consultant, so I can’t force vacation time on you, but I can elect not to assign anything new for a while. I think it’s important that you take a break. Recharge a little.”
David didn’t panic until he saw Kieran nodding in agreement. A united front.
He couldn’t take time off. It wasn’t the money—he’d earned more in the last year working for Chance than in the previous five at the BPD. It was that idle wasn’t a speed he could do. Not if he wanted to sleep. God, without the distraction of work, he’d have to spend whole days in the gym just to burn enough energy to shut his fucking brain off at night.
“Really,” he said with admirable calm under the circumstances, “I don’t need any time off. I’ve had a few days here and there between gigs, haven’t I? I’ll be fine.”
Chance sighed. “Look, you’re the best I have,” he said, and David smiled because that was nice to hear, “but your first year here has easily captured the record for the unluckiest on the books.”
His smile faded into a grimace.
“In the ten years I’ve run this company, my people have had guns pulled on them only a handful of times. And they’ve had to pull their own even fewer. You’ve managed to double that in the last eight months.”
David hunched his shoulders. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“I know. You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, I’m grateful you were on those jobs when the shit hit the fan. But I know the last couple years with the department weren’t easy, and then you jumped right in with us. You’ve earned a break. You deserve a break. And as much as you don’t want to admit it, you need a break.”
“But I don’t.”
Kieran put his hand on David’s shoulder. “It’s not that we don’t love you, honey. It’s that we don’t believe you.”
In the silence that followed, Chance’s phone buzzed again, his eyebrows arching when he saw whoever’s name was on the screen. He glanced at Kieran, then back at David.
“I’m sorry. Can you give me a minute? I need to take this.”
Kieran stood. “Do you need me to leave, too?”
“No. It’s your brother. He’s called me three times in the past half hour. You better stay.”
David popped out of his chair and went for the door. “I’ll be out here, sleeping on your guest couch until you need me.”
Chance nodded vaguely as he swiped a finger across his phone. “Callum? What’s up?”
David closed the door behind him, cutting off the sound of their voices. He collapsed in the corner of the sofa, sinking into the cushions. He was about to nod off when a couple came around the corner.
They looked lost.
Somehow, Mati had managed to stay alert and focused for the entire drive. Even the woods of Northern Maine, which were, frankly, boring as hell, hadn’t been able to defeat her. But now, having finally arrived in Boston and crawled out from behind the wheel, she staggered into McCormick Associates almost delirious with exhaustion.
That had to be why she was hallucinating the most handsome, enormous, sleepy-eyed sex god she’d ever laid eyes on.
She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, but when she put them back on, he was still sprawled out across the couch, studying them like his chocolate-brown eyes could see right through to their souls.
“Good morning,” he said, his deep voice rough with what she assumed was a relatively short nap in what was otherwise a very professional waiting area.
Or, maybe he’d spent the night there. What did she know? She was unfamiliar with the daily practices of sex gods.
Reese also appeared stunned. “Good morning.”
“Can I help you with something?” the strange, beautiful man asked as he sat up.
Mati watched in dazed fascination as the muscles in his shoulders, arms, and abdomen flexed beneath his sinfully tight henley.
“We’re here to see Chance McCormick,” Reese said.
“Chance is on the phone, but he’ll be out in a minute,” the helpful sex god said.
Reese nodded. Mati stared at the couch longingly.
“Are you two okay?”
Mati didn’t want to dwell on what she must look like to compel a complete stranger to ask that question. She patted her hand over her hair, and it was mostly where she’d put it in the knot behind her neck. She’d changed into yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a fleece for the long drive, and now she felt underdressed.
She glanced at Reese and saw he was disgustingly put-together for a man who had just spent twelve hours in a car.
“We’re fine,” Mati
said, swallowing to clear her throat when the words came out with a lot more Bogie than Bacall. “Just been a long and crazy night.”
The sex god’s eyebrows barely twitched but managed to convey so much. Mati’s sleep-deprived brain realized that perhaps her explanation left too much room for interpretation. Especially when it sounded like she’d been sucking dick all night.
The sex god stood and walked toward them. Mati let her eyes drift down over his broad chest and flat belly, both highlighted by his tight shirt. She lingered on his lean hips and thick thighs, displayed to full advantage in his snug jeans.
He stopped in front of them and she dragged her eyes back up, only to find him smiling down at her with a knowing gleam in his eyes.
She didn’t suppose anyone worked this hard on their body without being aware of its impact. The gleam in his eye should have been arrogant, but she found herself smiling back, like they were both in on the same sexy joke.
“I’m David,” he said.
Mati pictured the marble statue by the same name. That sounds about right.
“Mati,” she said, taking his hand.
She half expected him to bring it to his lips and kiss it. He could totally get away with it.
Sadly, he refrained from more than a firm, polite handshake. It would have been utterly mundane if he weren’t still smiling that Mona Lisa smile.
She hadn’t realized dudes could pull that off.
He held his hand out toward Reese and cocked an eyebrow.
“I’m Reese.” He shook David’s hand briefly. “Matilda and I appreciate your concern, but we’ll just wait for Mr. McCormick.”
David arched an eyebrow. “Matilda, huh?”
“Just Mati is fine, in this case.” She threaded her fingers through Reese’s, hoping he understood that wasn’t a criticism.
Reese’s fingers curled around hers immediately.
David smirked. “Maybe he likes the longer version because it adds to the whole sexy librarian thing you have going on.” He tapped his finger to the bridge of her glasses, right over her nose.
Mati thought she should have a witty retort, but mostly she wanted to grab Reese, shake him, and exclaim, “Did you hear that? The sex god thinks I’m sexy.”
She managed to control herself, instead delighting in how Reese was turning bright red. Oh ho. It seemed David had struck a nerve with the sexy librarian thing.
As tempting as it was to tease Reese, she took mercy.
“Let’s sit while we wait,” she suggested, leading the way to the couch. Reese released her hand as she sat right in the middle.
While Reese hesitated, hovering above her, David slid back into the corner of the couch he’d recently vacated. Mati could feel his heat along her side and barely resisted leaning into it. He slouched into the cushions, making it look ten times more comfortable and welcoming than it actually was. His thighs fell open, his knee almost touching hers, all while he watched Reese curiously.
Reese frowned and sat on her other side. He didn’t drape himself all over the couch like a lazy lion with a belly full of gazelle, but tucked himself into the corner so he could see them both.
David smiled that Mona Lisa smile again.
Mati was trying to figure out what to do with that when she yawned so hard her jaw cracked.
“Are you all right?” David asked, again.
She blinked, her eyes bleary. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired. Been driving all night.”
“You can sleep right here on the couch,” David suggested. How he could make such an innocuous sentence sound like a loaded proposition, she had no idea. Maybe because he was taking up more than his fair share of said furniture, so lying down would mean lying on top of him.
Worse things could happen.
“That’s a good idea,” she said, pleased to see David’s eyebrows lift with surprise. She was way too tired to give a shit about propriety, and way too short to worry about having to put her ass in his lap.
With another yawn, she put her head on Reese’s thigh, reaching behind her to grab his hand and place it on her hair, and twisted around to drape her legs over David’s knees.
The moment she closed her eyes, she was out.
Reese refused to squirm. He stared down at Mati’s head in his lap and told himself that getting an erection right then would make him a very bad man.
“You’re supposed to be stroking her hair,” said David in a soft voice.
Reese looked up and was pinned in place by those dark brown eyes.
David was a remarkably handsome man. He had rich olive skin that contrasted warmly with his bright white shirt and the flash of his mischievous smile. His hair was so dark it could have been black, but shone mahogany where brighter light touched it. It was also thick. Reese could imagine what it would feel like to run his hands over where it was shaved short above the nape, like bristles on a brush. David had a great blade of a nose that somehow suited him perfectly. As did the knowing smirk, and the spark of humor in his eyes.
For all that Reese hated to admit it, Mati was the embodiment of every sexy librarian fantasy he’d ever harbored. But David…well, he looked like a cross between a Roman soldier and a stripper.
His body was magnificent. He obviously spent a great deal of time at the gym and wasn’t unaware of the results. Why else wear a shirt so tight it looked to be engaged in—and losing—a wrestling match to contain his pectoral muscles? Why else wear jeans that emphasized his butt like that?
Reese was no connoisseur of men, but his best friend’s ass was often cited by many for its perfection. David’s was, from what Reese had seen, on par. Less bubble and more cut, but equally prominent and noticeable.
Well, it had to be very noticeable if Reese took notice.
Also, Reese had to be very, very tired to be sitting there thinking about another man’s butt.
Seriously.
“I’m afraid if I play with her hair, she’ll wake up,” Reese said to end the silence stretching between them.
He swallowed hard when David rested his big hand on Mati’s slim calf. His fingers curled around it protectively.
“If you pull on those pins right there,” David said, nodding at Mati’s head, “you could undo that knot and really run your fingers through it.”
Reese wondered if David had the ability to look into his mind and see all his fantasies.
“I’m her boss,” he said instead of telling David to fuck off. For some reason, he didn’t want David to fuck off. He wanted David to understand his predicament.
“Are you?”
“Yes,” Reese said firmly.
“Was it in her job description to drive all night from…”
Reese just stared at him. He was tired, not stupid.
David acknowledged Reese’s decision with a nod. “…from wherever you two have come from?”
“No,” Reese conceded. “But it was necessary. I have to keep her safe.”
David slid closer, repositioning Mati’s legs as his thighs slipped beneath them. “Of course you do.”
He was relieved David agreed, which was stupid since the man was a virtual stranger.
“But keeping her safe doesn’t mean you can’t stroke her hair,” David added.
Reese had a sudden image of David as the naughty devil, sitting on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.
And devil or not, he wasn’t wrong. Reese wanted to stroke Mati’s hair. He wanted to offer her—and himself—that comfort. He knew it wouldn’t wake her, and he had her permission. But…
“I’m not sure what’s happening,” Reese admitted, immediately embarrassed to have confessed such a thing, and to a stranger, no less.
“You’re not sure,” David repeated.
“I don’t want to get this wrong.” Reese willed David to understand. “It’s new.”
“How new?”
Reese looked at his watch, and David chuckled. The sound ran down Reese’s spine.
It took him longer than it should have t
o do the math. “Not quite eighteen hours.”
“Since what?” David asked. “What happened eighteen hours ago?”
Reese wanted to tell David everything, but he couldn’t. “We went through something big. And since then, it’s been…different.” He couldn’t bring himself to tell David about those kisses. The longer the night went on, the more Reese feared he’d imagined them.
David hummed thoughtfully. “But you’re still not sure.”
Reese shook his head.
David gave him a long, considering look. “What would someone need to do to make it completely clear they wanted you?” David asked, sliding as close as he could without disturbing Mati. His hand now cupped her knee. His other rested on the couch behind Reese’s neck. “Flirt with you?”
Reese sighed. “I’m never really sure about that. My friend Rupert has accused me of being oblivious.”
David smiled. “You don’t say.”
Reese shrugged helplessly. He shivered when David repositioned his hand and his thumb drew along the back of Reese’s neck. He felt the goosebumps spring to life along his skin.
“What if they touched you?” David asked.
“Maybe. It would depend on the touch, I suppose.”
“Then how about a kiss?”
Reese swallowed, his throat dry. “That’s pretty clear, right?”
David hummed again, a smile hovering on his lips. “You could just tell her you want her.”
“And if I’m wrong? If I’ve misinterpreted all this?”
David arched one eyebrow. “No risk, no reward.”
Reese stared back. “The risk, in this case, might be too great.”
David’s eyes drifted down over Reese before recapturing his gaze. “I think you underestimate yourself.”
Chapter Five
David almost felt sorry for Reese as he sat wide-eyed in the face of David’s admittedly blatant flirtation.
It was just…he was so gorgeous. And completely unaware of it, which was the sexiest thing David had discovered about him yet. Even exhausted, Reese’s vivid green eyes shone with intelligence. His chestnut hair curled gently, begging to be brushed off his forehead. Or maybe gripped and tugged. David could imagine the bright spots of color Reese would have on his cheeks when he was turned on, the same ones he had now when he was flustered.
Breaking Out Page 5