Taking It Slow (Code of Honor Book 4)

by Reese Knightley

  “Yup.” Liam cracked a smile.

  “That little turkey,” he said and then gave a loud laugh.

  “And their mom was acting as well.”

  Spencer laughed at that.

  Liam grinned and pulled the dark car away from the cemetery.

  Spencer ran his hand over the expensive leather of the black Lincoln town car.

  “How many cars do you own?”

  “A few,” Liam said evasively and took the on ramp to the freeway.

  “How many is a few?”

  “Eight.”

  Spencer thought about that for a minute. He fucking needed a car bad. He couldn’t keep using Dillon’s car.

  “Do you think I can borrow one until I get my truck fixed?” he asked in a hurry. “It won’t be for long. Maybe a week or two. I -”

  “Spencer.” Liam cut into his gush of words.

  “Yes?”

  “You can borrow anything of mine for however long you need.”

  Fuck if that didn’t melt his heart. How had he gotten so lucky? Here was a guy that would give him the shirt off his back. Had given his heart to him, and he was still keeping distance between them.

  What was he waiting for, the other shoe to drop? He knew in his heart that wasn’t true. So, what then? Nothing really. It was fucking fear that kept him paralyzed. What would it take to let go and trust?

  “Thank you,” he murmured and reached out for Liam’s hand.

  The man startled and he realized he’d never done that before. He slipped their fingers together and Liam squeezed, making him smile.

  Liam waved at Jason and pulled into the driveway. He shut off the engine, but didn’t get out.

  “What are we waiting for?”

  “Fuck,” Liam muttered, turning the key and starting the town car.

  “What?” he said sharply.

  “I brought you here instead of to your apartment.”

  Spencer leaned over and turned the key, shutting off the engine before Liam could put it back in drive. He slid the key from the ignition and held it tightly in his hand.

  This was his chance to make things right between them. He regretted the way he’d handled things when Liam had asked him to move in.

  Boy, had Wesley jumped his shit at the hospital. He was still smarting from his little brother’s scathing words of how Liam would never act the way he was accusing him of acting. For someone so young, Wesley made a lot of fucking sense.

  He squeezed the key. God, he wanted a second chance.

  “Spencer?”

  He glanced up from the mark the key had left in his palm to find Liam frowning at him.

  “Can we renegotiate the terms of our relationship?” he whispered and it sounded so fucking lame, he groaned.

  “What?” Liam jerked, startled.

  “I’ve been so stupid.”

  Liam smirked and slid out of the car. “Let’s talk over a glass of bourbon.”

  Spencer laughed loudly. “Man after my own heart.”

  Liam

  Striding into his study, he barely heard Anna’s greeting, but managed to give her a smile.

  He poured two glasses of liquor with two fingers each and turned to hold out one.

  Spencer shut the door and took the glass.

  “No more ex-wives here period,” Spencer rasped.

  “I only have one and she’s gone. She’s no longer allowed here on the property after the stunt she pulled the other day. I was so afraid you’d think I had something to do with that.”

  “No, I didn’t. I just want to make it clear that I don’t share.”

  “Good, I don’t either.”

  “Good.”

  “Now, repeat what you said in the car,” he muttered impatiently, squeezing his glass.

  “I’ve been so stupid.”

  “No,” he snorted. “Not that, although…”

  Spencer smirked.

  “Why the change of heart?” he asked.

  “I haven’t changed my heart. I’ve had a talking to my stupid self and realized you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Liam swallowed his drink and closed his eyes in relief. He sat his glass aside and moved toward Spencer.

  The man saw him coming and placed his own glass aside.

  Liam put his hand on Spencer’s uninjured side and looked into crystal blue eyes he loved so fucking much.

  “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  “And what does that look like?” He repeated the words he’d spoken in the very beginning.

  “I want to move in with you. I want to live with you and have a life with you. Me and Wesley.” Spencer’s throat moved.

  Liam closed the distance and brushed Spencer’s lips with his own. “I want that too, so fucking much. Can you trust that I’ll only give you things because I want to spoil you? Can you accept that I’m going to lavish you with everything you want in the world?”

  Spencer tipped his head, licked at his lips, and grinned. “I think I can handle that. As long as you don’t get out of hand.”

  Liam squinted. “Describe out of hand.”

  “Like buying Wesley a Porsche or some shit like that.”

  “Okay, no Porsche until he graduates.”

  Spencer barked out a laugh and Liam tugged the man forward and crushed his lips again.

  “I mean it, though,” Spencer continued when he lifted his head.

  “Okay, how about I run anything I’m going to buy for either of you past you first. That will give you the option of saying no and give me the time to talk you into it.”

  Spencer laughed. “You’re a nut.”

  “I am, but I love you, Spencer, and I want to give you the world.”

  Spencer went quiet and Liam realized he hadn’t said the words yet. Fuck! He’d only said ditto like a fool.

  “I love you,” he whispered fiercely and drew Spencer out of his office and down the hallway toward his master bedroom that would soon be Spencer’s room. The thought made his dick hard.

  He so enjoyed Spencer laying in his bed, coming out wet after using his shower, and wandering around the room naked when he was getting dressed.

  Now, he could have all those things forever. He was not going to fuck this up.

  “Wait, we’re not done talking.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “I have bills.” Spencer pulled him to a stop in the hallway.

  “I’ll help you pay them off.”

  “Okay, but I’m going to pay you back.” There was a stubborn tilt to Spencer’s chin.

  “I’m good with that. We’ll do a payment plan that works for you.” He soothed his love with his hands gently running down Spencer’s back to pull him close.

  “We need to get Wesley,” Spencer tugged back.

  Liam pulled his phone and made a call.

  “Anna? Would you take Adam and Jessica and fetch Wesley from Spencer’s apartment?”

  “Of course, Mr. Cobalt,” Anna replied.

  He held Spencer’s gaze as he slipped his phone away.

  “Problem solved,” he grinned.

  “Brilliant,” Spencer growled and shoved him through the door and kicked it shut.

  Liam laughed. “Any other obstacles?”

  “I’m sure there will be, but I think we can work through them,” Spencer breathed against his lips and shoved him back on the bed.

  “As long as you don’t shut me out. I’ll make mistakes, baby, but I promise I’ll do better.”

  Spencer leaned over and pressed his fingers to his lips, stopping his words.

  “Liam. You haven’t made any mistakes. I’m the one with the issues. I only thank god I woke up before you gave up on me.”

  “I’ll never give up on you.”

  “Even if I want to take things slow?”

  “How slow?” he groaned.

  Spencer laughed. “Kidding. I’m done taking it slow.”

  “Thank fuck,” he breathed as Spencer closed the dista
nce between them and he forgot what he was going to say.

  It didn’t matter, though, as long as he had this man, his world was complete.

  Spencer

  The meeting with Infinity and Fury went off without a hitch. Of course, Zane and Isaac weren’t in attendance, but they didn’t expect them to be.

  Retired General Luke Rhine was there and they found out that Van Vorst was part of the money scheme. It was going to take a lot to take Van Vorst down, but the general had a plan and he needed a few of Infinity to help with that.

  “Take Dillon, Blade, Oliver, and Pia,” Liam said, making a note on the chart. They were gathered in the general’s home. The man had a large game room in the basement that would fit an army and it easily handled the amount of men and women gathered.

  It had been a little more than two months since they’d taken down Councilman Coulier, but as impatient as he was for this to end, he also knew this shit took time.

  “I’d like Fury to assist if possible,” Rhine told Liam.

  “Good thing we caught Bowman then, isn’t it,” Link said dryly.

  Eagle and Dillon scowled at the operative.

  “What?” Link threw up his hands. “So damned touchy.”

  Chuckles went around the room. Sometimes laughter helped. He knew it had helped him.

  He couldn’t remember a time when he’d laughed so much over the past few months. He’d gotten his things from Dillon’s apartment and left that same day, promising to pay the rent for another month.

  Dillon had told him not to, that Oliver was looking for a place. So, that worked out well.

  Wesley was enrolled in the local high school to finish out his freshmen year. Adam and Jessica were a grade above him and were helping show Wesley the ropes. After a rocky start with some bullies, Wesley was doing good.

  He caught his brother alone when he noticed a black eye.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Need me to come down there?”

  “Nah. Adam took care of them.”

  Spencer glanced over Wesley’s head and caught Adam’s gaze. The boy gave him a cocky wink and grin.

  Spencer laughed, but then said sternly, “Fighting should be the last resort. Make sure of that.”

  “We will, Uncle Spencer,” Adam said. The twins had taken to calling him uncle and it warmed his heart.

  It had been a hard few months after moving into Liam’s house, not only the bullying and a new high school, but Wesley started having a hard time adjusting to living wealthy.

  Wesley had been worse than even Liam with his extravagant gift giving and more than a few fights had occurred between him and his little brother, but slowly he was getting Wesley to realize that it was okay to want things, just not in excess.

  Spencer had to admit he’d relaxed about Liam buying him things. It made Liam happy to do it and Spencer was all about keeping his man happy.

  “So that’s it,” Rhine’s voice drew him back to the basement. “Any questions?”

  “Yeah,” Dillon drawled. “Got any food in this place?”

  Rhine’s eyes glittered in the overhead light. “A whole bunch.”

  “I’m freaking starved.” Oliver slapped his hands and rubbed them together.

  The room broke out in laughter as the two teams headed up the stairs after General Rhine.

  He lingered and caught Liam’s hand. When the man stopped and turned, he tugged him in and kissed him on the lips.

  Liam set aside his clipboard and gripped him hard.

  “I’ve been waiting all damned day for my kiss,” he complained.

  Liam chuckled. “I gave you a kiss when we left home this morning.”

  “I know, and that was seven hours, twenty-four minutes and six seconds give or take.”

  Liam’s laughter against his lips warmed his heart.

  Liam

  “Okay, this is practical,” he began.

  Spencer stood in stunned silence gazing at the brand new 2020 GMC Sierra Denali pickup truck in the driveway. It was identical to his with two exceptions. His was a 2019 and the color was a metal gray. Spencer’s was a coal black so black that it literally ate the light.

  “Spencer?”

  Spencer blinked and turned to him. “That’s an eighty thousand dollar truck. How is that practical?”

  “You need to remember I make three times that much in an hour,” he replied softly.

  “Oh, I forgot.” Spencer nodded.

  His heart dropped and he held his breath before letting it out. “We can take it back.”

  “Are you kidding?” Spencer’s eyebrows flew upward.

  He hesitated. “No?”

  “You fucking better be. Don’t you dare take that truck back,” Spencer breathed and stalked toward the driver’s door and opened it.

  Relief made him giddy and he laughed. The keys were in the ignition making a ding when the door opened.

  “It has the thumbprint lock or you can use a code or both,” he said, stepping excitedly up into the passenger seat.

  “Let’s take it for a spin,” Spencer said as he slid behind the wheel.

  So much joy was in Spencer’s face, it made Liam breathless. It hurt his heart to think that something so small brought so much joy, but then he remembered that this wasn’t small to most people. It made him happy to know he could give this to Spencer.

  “Where to?” He snapped his seatbelt.

  “How about the beach?”

  “There’s this little shack that has the best pizza and beer on the way.”

  Spencer tossed him a grin and pulled the truck through the gate.

  They both waved at Jason as they passed by.

  “What made you think of this?” Spencer asked, checking both ways before pulling onto the freeway.

  “Well, you needed a new vehicle.”

  “I was happy borrowing yours.”

  “You can still borrow mine. I only wanted you to have something all your own. This is in your name.”

  Spencer smiled and reached for the radio. It had full surround sound and they blasted the radio all the way to the beach.

  Settled into a booth at the beach shack, Liam took another swallow of his beer and finished a third piece of pizza. Spencer had eaten the rest of the pie, but with his body mass, he’d need it.

  “I need to fly out on business.”

  “Where?”

  “Dubai.”

  Spencer paused in wiping his mouth.

  “When?”

  “The day after tomorrow. Feel like going with me?”

  “Hell yeah.” Excitement gleamed in Spencer’s eyes. “That’s one place I’ve never been.”

  “Really?” He’d thought being in the military that Spencer would have traveled all over.

  “Yeah, really. I always stayed as close to home as possible.

  Of course. With Wesley being so young and without a father, Spencer had filled that role.

  “Well, here’s your chance.”

  “Good thing my passport is up to date.”

  “Good thing.” He returned Spencer’s smile.

  “I need clothes.”

  “Let’s go shopping.”

  “All right,” Spencer readily agreed.

  Startled, Liam could only stare.

  “What?” Spencer grinned.

  “No argument?” He squinted.

  “Would it do me any good?”

  “No.”

  Spencer’s laughter drew more than a few glances their way, but Liam didn’t give a fuck. He lifted Spencer’s fingers to his lips and kissed them.

  He was enjoying the hell out of this man’s company and the look in Spencer’s eyes that promised more when they reached home.

  Life couldn’t get any better than this.

  Two days later…

  Spencer

  Liam’s phone rang. “It’s Anna.”

  Spencer smiled when Liam sat the phone on the towel between them and punched the speaker button. He loved
the hell out of the fact that they had no secrets from each other.

  “Anna? What’s going on?” Liam said.

  Spencer stretched his legs out and adjusted the bottom of his swim trunks and dug his toes in the sand.

  “Jason and his wife were going to be evicted from the house they rent because it is up for sale. So, I let them rent out the children’s old house,” Anna said.

  He smirked, the children’s “old house” she was referring to was the size of a small mansion.

  “That’s wonderful, Anna,” Liam said with a smile.

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Of course not. Tell him they can stay there indefinitely if they need to.”

  “Oh, Mr. Cobalt, thank you! Here, talk to Jason.” There was a rustling sound over the phone.

  “Colonel?”

  “Jason, you and your family are welcome to move in permanently.”

  Liam had such a big heart, it constantly amazed him how freely Liam gave to others.

  Spencer gazed out over the water, it really was spectacular. Overhead, the thatch roof cabana waved in the gentle breeze. The smell of salt and sand drifted on the air.

  The beach was fucking spectacular. They’d flown in last night. The room they were in was at the top of a hotel that was bigger and taller than Spencer had ever been inside of.

  “Thank you, Colonel. I’ll see you and the captain when you return.”

  Liam ended the call and lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles.

  “Happy?”

  “Hell yes.” He turned from the sandy beach of Dubai and smiled at Liam.

  “It’s amazing for just a week.”

  “No, I told you, I have business here,” Liam winked. “You are just the icing on the cake. And it gave me a romantic place for this.”

  Spencer frowned, completely puzzled, and then his eyes flew wide when Liam pulled a box out of his pocket.

  Liam’s hand shook slightly as he flipped the box open.

  Twin gold bands glittering with tiny diamonds sat nestled together in a bed of blue velvet.

  “Marry me.”

  His mouth went dry.

  “Marry me, Spencer. Make me the happiest man on earth.”

  Spencer felt his eyes sting. He wanted that more than anything in the world and he took that leap of faith.