“We’re just cooling off for a bit,” David said innocently.
The pool room was easily twenty degrees warmer than the hallway or the gym.
Reese rolled his eyes and marched to the lounger next to them. He couldn’t deny that David’s protectiveness warmed him, but he’d been hoping to avoid precisely what was about to happen.
He dropped his robe.
At first, the only sound was Marcus’s snort of laughter. Reese hoped it was for the truly hilarious wonder on Mati and David’s faces, and not because of how he looked in his swimsuit.
His admittedly very small and very tight swimsuit.
The very small and very tight swimsuit that wasn’t going to hide a thing if David kept looking at him like that.
“Holy banana hammock,” Mati whispered.
Marcus snorted again.
Reese pivoted and stalked toward the pool, his back prickling with the certainty that at least two sets of eyes were on his ass. He couldn’t unclench his butt muscles to save his life. He reached the edge of the pool, raised his right hand above his head, middle finger lifted in salute, and dove into the water.
The relief was instant, and not just because he was no longer the subject of so much scrutiny. One lap and the restlessness under his skin was gone. Ten and his mind was blank, his anxiety and worries forgotten. He didn’t even notice when Mati and David departed for the gym. He swam for thirty minutes before hopping out and dressing quickly.
He was pleased to find the yoga studio empty and no longer hotter than the surface of the sun. He turned to Marcus. “I’d like to make a phone call and would like privacy.” He gestured through the plate glass windows. “Is this okay?”
Marcus surveyed the empty studio. “Yeah, just stay where I can see you.”
Reese went in, closed the door, and dialed Rupert.
“What the bloody hell do you mean there’s a man?”
“That’s an interesting way to answer your phone,” Reese observed.
Rupert made several very rude noises before finally managing, “Yes, hello, Reese, my old friend. How nice to hear from you when it’s not a vague middle-of-the-night text.”
Reese laughed. “Don’t be rude. And it’s good to hear from you, too. I’m sorry it took me a while to call. How are things in Moncton? How are the kids?”
Rupert growled.
Perhaps Reese had pushed his luck far enough. “Yes, there’s a man,” he said. “His name is David.”
“So you mentioned. And you want to…what? Do his taxes? Sell him a car? You’re going to need to explain, or my imagination will do it for you,” Rupert warned.
“Your imagination might not be that far off.”
That was met with silence, then, “Use your words, Reese.”
Reese had never lamented Rupert becoming a father until now. He took a deep breath. “Mati and I met David when we arrived here. He’s a friend of Chance’s. And…I’m attracted to him. Very attracted...”
Rupert let out a huff of laughter. “That’s great. Amazing, really,” he added, perhaps sounding a little too incredulous. Then he asked, in a far gentler voice, “Are you okay?”
Reese had known Rupert would get it. How big it was. But Reese didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by the concern in Rupert’s voice. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, clearing his throat when his voice came out hoarse. “Mati being here has made it…easier.”
“She’s your rock.”
Most people would say that was Rupert, actually. “Yeah, she’s great.”
“And she’s been encouraging you?” Rupert asked.
The memory of coming in his own pants popped into Reese’s mind. “You could say that.”
“I know you don’t like to talk about it,” Rupert began carefully, “but you’ve had feelings for her for ages, and now she’s witnessing all this. That must be strange for you.”
Witnessing was one word for it. “Actually, it’s…the three of us? Mati knows how I feel now.”
There was a long pause. “What the fuck.”
“Your own sister-in-law is in a similar relationship,” Reese pointed out.
“My sister-in-law and her partners are not you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’ve spent the better part of five years pretending you didn’t want to tear your clothes off every time Mati came into the room, and now you’re telling me you’ve raced off to Boston—which is unlike you—confessed your feelings for her—which you’ve resisted doing for years—discovered you’re, in fact, bisexual—which I’ve been trying to get you to consider for more than a decade, you inveterate flirt—and now you and your prim assistant Matilda, are embarking on some kind of threesome fling?”
“Well, when you put it like that…” Reese muttered. He hated the term “fling”, which was idiotic, since that was exactly what this was.
Rupert laughed and laughed. “You really do always have to do things the hard way.”
“It doesn’t feel hard,” Reese muttered, “except maybe this conversation.”
Rupert sighed. “I’m going to ignore the obvious jokes about what is and isn’t hard and say I’m sorry. I don’t want to make this difficult for you. And I’m glad you told me. For what it’s worth, you did a good job.”
“At what?”
“Coming out.”
“Oh. That’s…” Shit, that was exactly what he’d done. He swallowed past the unexpected lump in his throat. “Well, since you started with me, I figured I should start with you,” he joked feebly, feeling horribly fond at the memory of a terrified twelve-year-old Rupert telling Reese he was gay.
Reese wished he could have had this conversation with Rupert in person, too.
As if reading his mind, Rupert asked, “Do you want us to come see you?”
“What? No. I’m fine.”
“You’re freaked out.”
“Well, yes. But I’m a grown-ass adult, so I don’t need you to abandon the team and your job to pull your children out of school and fly hundreds of miles just because I want to see a man naked.”
Rupert chuckled. “Is that really all you want?”
“Not even close,” Reese admitted, which made Rupert laugh again.
“You going to do something about it?”
“I am.” He already had, but he’d probably have to be well into Rupert’s scotch collection before he’d consider sharing any of those details.
Rupert made a happy, almost proud sound. “Excellent. Do you have any questions?”
“No.”
“You sure? Because I’m chuffed that I can finally give you advice on your love life.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Such as, always cover your teeth with your lips.”
“Please stop talking.”
“And you can never have too much lube!”
“I don’t know why I’m friends with you.”
Rupert was shouting something about oil-based lubricants breaking down latex when Reese hung up on him.
Mati collapsed on the couch and dragged her feet onto the coffee table. After the gym, they’d come back to the room to shower and David had prepared a feast of garlicky shrimp scampi stir-fry loaded with chunks of summer squash, peppers, and onions, served over a bed of angel hair pasta.
She was never going to work out again without wishing for a perfectly balanced meal prepared by a sex god when she got home. He was magic. The room should have reeked, but David had some trick for the garlic, and the mix of scents remaining was no match for the industrial air handling, already almost completely dissipated after only an hour.
She wouldn’t be recovering nearly as quickly.
Reese sat beside her. “You okay?”
“I think David broke me.”
David smiled where he stood by the windows. “You did great today.”
He meant at the gym. She didn’t bother to correct him, since that was the other reason she could barely move. “I’m going to feel that for a whi
le,” she admitted.
“Well,” David said, “the solution for that is to go back again tomorrow.”
She groaned. “Nobody likes the gym that much. You just want to see Reese in his swimsuit again.”
David shrugged agreeably, and Reese’s cheeks turned pink. She’d never get tired of watching him get flustered, or of seeing that pleased little smile.
The hotel phone rang, startling Mati.
Reese reached for the handset on the table, but David grabbed his wrist. “You haven’t told anyone you’re here, right? This hotel, this room?”
“No. Just Chance and Kieran know. And you.”
David looked at Mati. She shook her head.
David plucked the phone from the receiver. “Hello?” David listened, then held the phone out to Mati. “It’s Hodges. He wants to speak with you.”
Mati frowned. She and Reese had their phones, and lord knew, Hodges wasn’t afraid to use them.
“Hi, Hodges. What’s up?”
“I want you and Reese to shut off your cell phones and keep them off, okay?”
Her stomach twisted, lunch no longer such a joy. “Okay, why?”
“First, tell me who answered the phone.”
“That was David. We told you about him. He works for Chance.”
“Do you trust him?”
Her eyes met David’s. “With my life.”
“Okay,” Hodges said, and he sounded relieved. “I tried calling Chance, but he’s not available. Can you put me on speaker?”
She did. “Go ahead.”
“What’s happened?” Reese asked.
“Is there anyone else in the room with you?”
“Just me,” David said, his deep voice distinct enough that Mati didn’t bother to clarify. Hodges was a smart dude. “And the rooms are sound-proofed.”
“Except the bathroom,” Mati muttered.
David smirked. Reese’s eyes widened and he turned bright red.
Hodges continued. “We’ve figured out those guys unlocked the door using Mati’s phone’s encryption key. It’s device specific, so best guess is someone cloned your phone. Since we have no idea how or who or when, you and Reese need to shut your phones off. Particularly since Reese, at least, has location tracking turned on for me and maybe some other people.”
Mati scrambled to hit the power button on her phone, completely creeped out.
Reese dug his from his pocket. “Rupert and Mati, I think, are the only other people.”
“Is that how you knew to call here?” David asked.
“Yes. I can see where Reese is. It took about two minutes to get the hotel name and the room is booked under McCormick. And if I could figure out the hotel on the first try, so can whoever has that clone of Mati’s phone.”
“Shit,” David muttered, his head tipped back as if searching the heavens for patience.
“It’s off,” Reese said. “Mati’s, too.”
“Okay, I’ll let Chance know what’s going on and I’ll call you here if anything else comes up.”
“No, let me give you my number,” David said, rattling it off. “We might be on the move, and there’s no reason to think my cell is compromised.”
“Okay, thank you,” Hodges said. “I’ll call when I hear anything else.”
David promised the same and hung up.
“Do we have to switch hotels?” Reese asked.
David frowned and typed something into his phone. “I’ll check with Chance, but…” He eyed all the stuff they’d accumulated, in large part thanks to him.
Mati didn’t want him to regret any of it. She held out her hand.
David took it and sat with them, his arm around them both.
“Chance will have to find a place with a kitchen,” she said. “I’m not giving up the David Zapetti Gourmet Experience.”
David smiled. “Okay. I’ll mention that.”
Of course, Chance had a life. David wanted Chance to have a life. But it would be really fucking terrific if he would call David back so they could figure out what to do next.
David was a decent strategist, and normally would be happy to call the shots without asking anyone’s advice or opinion, but this was…different. He couldn’t be objective. He wasn’t distant from the problem or a rational observer. Indeed, he felt decidedly irrational.
He’d sent Chance a text saying Call me. Urgent.
Now he had to wait. He took a deep breath and reminded himself it wouldn’t do anyone, least of all himself, any good to be wound this tight.
The phone buzzed in his clenched hand and he answered, relieved to hear Chance’s voice. “What’s up, Davo?”
“You heard from Hodges?” David asked, curling his arm tighter around Mati and Reese.
“Yeah. Mati’s phone was cloned, huh?”
“Yeah, and Reese’s phone had location services turned on for Mati.”
“Shit,” Chance muttered.
“Yup,” David agreed, running his thumb over the curve of Mati’s shoulder and trying to figure out if he should voice the idea rattling around his brain.
“You want someone else to jump in now?” Chance asked.
“What?”
“You bored witless yet? It’s been a couple days. You’re usually ready to kill your charges at this point, and that’s if you haven’t spent twenty-four hours a day with them. It’s cool if you want a break, and moving locations means it’s a good time to do it.”
“No. I don’t want that at all.”
“You sure?”
“I’m not bored,” David said, struck by how much of a relief that was.
Chance hummed. “I thought boredom was your thing. You sure you want to stay on this assignment?”
“Actually, about that. I need you to end my contract for this job.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to stay.”
David was painfully aware of the audience tucked under his arm, two pairs of eyes pinned to his face. “I mean, I don’t want you to pay me for this. No per diem. No contract. As of right now, I’m taking that vacation you were harassing me about.”
“But I don’t need to send someone else to look after them?”
“No. I’ll keep them safe and coordinate with you.”
“For free? On your vacation?”
“Yes.”
David could picture Chance working it out in his head. It only took a few seconds before he started laughing.
“Are you kidding me? Which one?”
“Both.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Chance said, cracking up.
“You mad?” David asked with a little internal wince. He wouldn’t change a damn thing, but it would be better if Chance wasn’t pissed about it.
“No. You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“No. You got any advice?”
Chance hummed thoughtfully. “You’re not as young as you used to be, so don’t pull anything?”
“You’re a huge fucking help.”
Chance chuckled, and David heard him typing. “Okay, I’ve got a new hotel booked for you.”
“About that…I’ve got all this stuff.”
“I know you’ve been getting your Martha Stewart on, you weirdo, so I booked you into a larger suite with a bigger kitchen. You can have Marcus help schlep it all across town.”
“Oh, thanks. But I was thinking of something else,” David hedged.
“A different hotel?”
David bit the bullet. “My place, actually.” This was met with prolonged silence. For the first time in ages, he felt the need to explain himself. “It’s secure, no one will look for them there, and I can work in my own kitchen—”
“Which is obviously critical to their safety,” Chance inserted dryly.
David ignored him and plowed on. “I thought we could keep the hotel room and their phones can stay here, turned on, to see if anyone shows up.”
“Huh,” Chance said. “That could be interesting.”
“I thought so. Hopefully
nothing comes of it because no one is looking, but in the meantime, they can lay low at my house.”
“Versus any of the fine hotels we have here in the city.”
“Right.”
“Because?”
David looked at their beautiful, confused, concerned faces and told Chance the truth. “Because I want them there.”
“Okay.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I guess all I can say is good luck.”
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”
Chapter Fourteen
Reese watched, bemused, as David hopped up off the couch and busied himself with putting away his laptop, pretending he hadn’t just taken a leave of absence from his job.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Mati said.
“I did, actually.”
“Why?” she asked.
David stopped fussing with his computer and faced them. “Because I slept with you.”
“That’s entirely separate,” Reese said.
“No, it’s not.”
Mati cocked her head. “Would you have sex with us if you weren’t also protecting us? If we’d met some other way?”
“In a heartbeat,” David said, a hint of his cocky smile hovering. “But that’s not what I mean.”
“What do you mean, then?” Reese asked.
“I mean sex is sex. That’s just…it’s sex.”
Reese would have been stung to have what they’d done dismissed so easily, but he got the sense that was the opposite of what David was trying to say. “I still don’t understand.”
“I slept with you. Not the sex, the actual sleeping. That’s…different.” David looked pained by the confession.
Reese and Mati shared a long look, then stood and skirted the couch to get to David.
“We liked sleeping with you,” Reese said, for lack of anything better to offer, because he still didn’t understand why this meant David had to quit his job.
“I liked sleeping with you, too, though I know I woke you up.”
“We don’t mind,” Mati said, taking his hand.
“Because you’re weird.”
Reese poked David’s hip. “Because we’re your friends.”
David nodded. “I guess that’s why I had to quit.”
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