Welcome to Blissville

by Walker, Aimee Nicole

  “I got to get going,” Kyle said. “I never know who’ll drop by to smell my soap.”

  “Body wash,” I corrected. I heard Kyle chuckling as he left the salon and jogged down the porch steps. There was a definite pep to his step as he headed to his truck.

  “Chaz is going to kill you,” Meredith hissed, pulling my attention to her.

  I rolled my eyes. “So let’s not tell Chaz.” I grimaced because I couldn’t believe what I’d just done either. “Let’s go find him and see if we can calm him down.”

  After a long pep talk and several hugs later, we coaxed Chaz out of the mixing room that was about the size of a coat closet. Any other time, I might’ve made a closet joke, but it wasn’t the right moment. I needed to spend my energy coming up with a plan should Kyle accept my offer and show up for dinner on Sunday.

  Harris called while we were on our way to Cincinnati to inform us that a judge signed off on a warrant to wire Silver for sound to meet with Spizer. I had already been in a hippy-skippy good mood before taking the call, but I tipped over to the euphoric zone on the mood meter at hearing the good news.

  “We’re close, Dorchester,” I said. “I can feel it.”

  “Me too, Gabe. We’re going to nail that bastard,” he said emphatically.

  My call to Silver’s cellphone went to voicemail, but I didn’t expect anything different since he most likely had only been home a few hours after closing the club. I was confident he’d call me back when he woke up and listened to my message.

  In the meantime, we needed to devise a game plan for when and where the meeting between the guys would take place, and we needed to do it before the task force interviewed the members of McCarren Consortium. It made the most sense that we should go in there surprised to see him. Therefore, we had to walk a fine line and come up with questions for Silver to ask and we needed to prepare him for the interview. I needed to make it clear that we were running the show and that he was nothing more than an extension of us.

  The last thing I wanted, or needed, was for him to go all vigilante and take matters into his hands and fuck it up. Call me a judgmental asshole, but Silver came across as a guy who didn’t want to take instructions from another. It was too fucking bad because I was in charge. If I could’ve avoided sending him into the interview, I would’ve, but he was my best bet at catching Spizer unaware.

  “Where do we want the interview to go down? Where will Spizer feel most confident, other than his office,” I amended. If the man was really into bad shit, he might have equipment in his office to scramble the signal. “The club?”

  “It depends on where they typically meet,” Dorchester remarked. “Anything outside the norm could tip Spizer off. Although, I’m pretty confident that Silver can sell anything.” I thought Dorchester was right and that it was possible that I was overthinking things.

  “Let’s talk strategy,” I told the group. “I think our best ploy is for Silver to drop the bomb that we’ve connected Nate’s death to the casino. We can have Silver give false information and see what Spizer does with it.”

  “That’s a good suggestion,” Harris said. “The other approach is to make it look like everyone involved with the casino is at risk of being hunted down and killed. That should rattle everyone and maybe pit them against one another.”

  “Great idea, Harris. That’s the tactic we’ll use to at least get ourselves in the door at McCarren,” I said. “What else do we have?”

  We continued discussing the different strategies we could use and began putting a plan A and plan B together. So much of it hinged on whatever Silver could get from Spizer. We walked a fine line, which the judge reminded us when she signed the warrant for the wire. Nate’s attorney/client privileges died with him, but Spizer remained the legal counsel for others associated with Nate. We wouldn’t be able to use the information he gave us about the other clients since privilege protected them. We also couldn’t put him in a situation that could get him disbarred. The more I turned it over in my mind, the more I worried about the many ways it could blow up in our faces.

  Silver returned my call at noon and said that he’d already had an appointment to meet with Spizer about a revitalization project he wanted to undertake. “I’m meeting him for dinner tomorrow night. Will that work or will there be too much noise?”

  “Depends on the restaurant,” I replied. Silver rattled off the name of the restaurant where I first saw him days ago, even though it felt like years. “That’ll work,” I told him. “We need to go over the questions we want you to ask and explain just how tight of a rope we’re all walking.”

  “I won’t let you down, Detective.” We decided to meet him in a hotel room a few hours before he went upstairs to the fancy restaurant on the top floor. We’d have time to wire him up for sound and video, rehearse what we wanted him to ask, and how to avoid stepping on a landmine with a question we didn’t want asked.

  “We’ll see what we get from Spizer tomorrow before we set up meetings with McCarren Consortium,” I told the group. There wasn’t anything else for us to do that day, so I congratulated them on a great day and sent them all home. “Let’s meet here at noon tomorrow since we’ll be working late.”

  I had several errands I wanted to run before I went home because I knew I wouldn’t want to go back out once I got there. I stopped by Marabeth’s first to see if she had a bath oil or something that would help Josh sleep. It was adorable how he played off sleeping well that morning, but I knew better. My guy was many wonderful things, but an actor wasn’t one of them. I didn’t get all pissy when he lied to me because I knew his reasons were well-meaning. Besides, it was more of an exaggeration than a lie.

  Marabeth recommended a chamomile and spice bath oil that I thought Josh and I would both like. I wasn’t much of a bath guy until he came into my life. I enjoyed any activity that included Josh naked against me. My next stop was Harry’s Hardware. He’d been in business for forty years, and I did my part to make sure he wasn’t gobbled up by the large chain home improvement stores that were close. I was pretty sure I saw some loose screws at the base of Josh’s pole where it screwed into the floor in the attic. Not only that, I found the perfect trees in Josh’s—our—back yard to hang my hammock.

  I had grabbed what I needed and was headed to the front of the store to pay when a guy stepped out of another aisle and nearly collided with me. Emory Jackson clutched his chest and offered me a sheepish smile.

  “I’m sorry, Gabe. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” A husband and wife walked by us and gave Emory the once over. Oh, how well I remembered being the new guy in town.

  “No problem, Emory. How’s it going?” I asked. “You getting settled in okay?”

  “It’s going to be an adjustment,” he admitted, “but it feels right to me. Josh’s cookies and thoughtful invitation helped to make me feel welcome.”

  “Josh? My Josh?” I asked in surprise. “An invitation to what?”

  “Um, dinner,” Emory said uneasily. “On Sunday.”

  “Sunday dinner? This Sunday, as in Easter?” I asked in surprise.

  “Is that a problem, Gabe? I don’t want to cause any trouble.” Emory said, backing up as if I would snap at him like a dog over a favorite toy or a steak. His reaction broke through my shock.

  “No, there’s no problem,” I told him. “It’s just that Josh’s Sunday dinners are very sacred. They’re very important to him, which means that you’ve made a good impression on him.” Perhaps better than I realized. I wasn’t going to stress about it, and I surely wouldn’t ruin Josh’s good deed.

  “I think it’s more like pity, Gabe, but I appreciate what you said. If you’re sure it won’t be a problem…”

  “You’re more than welcome to join us for dinner, Emory. I mean that.” Before I could say anything else, Mrs. Miller from two doors down stopped and introduced herself to Emory. “I’ll see you Sunday,” I said firmly, letting him know I expected to see him there.

&nbs
p; I stopped by Brook’s Pets to pick up more of those dog treats Buddy liked so much, a tug-of-war rope, and more catnip mice for Diva because Buddy kept stealing them. Jazzy got a big red sea creature that had tunnels running through the tentacles and a huge mouth as an extra opening and exit. She was going to love that thing. I knew I would probably regret it, but I bought a multi-leveled perch with a bell at the bottom that I could suspend from the top of the cage for Savage. He could curse and ring his little bell for hours.

  I checked the time after I loaded the pet toys in my trunk and noted that it was close enough to dinner time to stop at the diner and order takeout. I sent Josh a text to let him know I was bringing food home and settled in on a stool at the L-shaped countertop bar.

  “Mind if I have a seat?” Kyle asked from behind me.

  I twisted to look over my shoulder and offered him a smile. “Pull up a stool,” I replied.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “It’s been a really interesting week thanks to your boyfriend,” Kyle said then grinned.

  “He told me about the vet visit with Chaz,” I said. I leaned forward and lowered my voice when I asked, “Did you two really have a ‘moment’ like Josh said you did?” I left off the part about them staring into each other’s eyes and such.

  “It was… something,” Kyle said. I grinned broadly then because it sounded awfully damn familiar to me when I met Josh.

  “Something, huh?” I asked.

  “Definitely.” His blue eyes took on a faraway look for a few seconds then he looked back at me. “You won’t believe what happened at the salon,” he said. I would expect just about anything where Josh was concerned.

  I listened and laughed at what happened in the salon that morning, even though I felt horrible for Chaz. Kyle must’ve been blind to it, but the rest of us saw how much Chaz blushed whenever Kyle was near. My ex-boyfriend seemed to have his radar honed in on Chaz too, so I was pretty sure Josh was right about the potential there. I also knew that you couldn’t force it, and that they’d need to find their way at the pace that worked for them.

  “Then Josh invited me to dinner and…”

  “Wait! He did what? When?” I asked.

  “Um, Sunday,” Kyle said hesitantly, a lot like Emory had.

  “This Sunday? Easter Sunday?” I asked. Kyle nodded to confirm, and my eyes narrowed in speculation. What the hell was Josh up to? He probably did feel bad about Emory being alone for the holiday, but why invite Kyle? Then it dawned on me. He was playing matchmaker. Of course, with Emory thrown in the mix, there could be trouble. What would Josh do if Kyle and Emory hit it off right in front of his best friend? Oh man, it could get ugly. “Did you accept his invitation?”

  “Should I not accept his invitation?” Kyle inquired. “Is that going to be a problem for you or something?”

  “For me? No. I have no problem with you being there. I was just surprised is all,” I assured him. “Be on time,” I warned him. “He runs a tight ship, my guy.”

  Daniella placed my carryout order on the counter in front of me. I ordered the meatloaf dinner for Josh and the cabbage roll dinner for myself. I patted Kyle on the shoulder, told him I’d see him Sunday, and went to the register to pay for my food. I gave Daniella a tip—even though we didn’t eat in—because she had started back to college and could use all the help she could get.

  Josh was already upstairs when I got home. “Honey, I’m home,” I called out. He came out of the bedroom chewing on his lip, looking like he had been beating himself up all day long. “What have you done?” I was certain to keep the scorn out of my voice because he wasn’t a child, he was my equal. “Kyle and Emory?”

  “You know already?” Josh asked. I told him about running into Emory at the hardware store and Kyle and the diner. “And you still brought me home food?”

  I set the bags of food and my purchases on the dining room table and opened my arms to him. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about extending an invitation to our home to enjoy a lovely dinner.”

  “Yeah, but those nights are just supposed to be for the four of us,” he said.

  “Sunshine, it can’t just be the four of us forever. Chaz and Meredith will find their soul mates like we found one another and they’ll be joining us. Families are made to expand, that’s just what they do.” I ran my thumbs over his cheeks, and I saw the tension drain from him. “As long as you extended the invitations for the right reasons and you don’t have Hallmark Movie Channel expectations, then I’m perfectly fine with what you did.”

  Josh snorted and rolled his eyes. “I have yet to see an LGBTQ couple featured in one of their shows, nor many people of color for that matter.”

  “I think you get my point, don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes, dear,” he said snarkily. I slapped his round bottom for his sass and began to unload the food and the loot. “What’s this?” he asked, holding up the bottle of oil from Marabeth’s. He read the ingredients and what it was intended to do then looked up at me. “Having trouble sleeping?”

  “I thought we could both take a hot bath after dinner and the kids had a chance to play with their new toys,” I suggested. “So we both sleep well.”

  Josh’s eyes softened like they did when we made love. “I love your considerate heart, Gabe.”

  “I love you, Sunshine.”

  The ballgame played in the background while we had fun playing with our critters. It didn’t hurt my feelings that Buddy wanted to play tug-of-war with Josh instead of me. I was busy splitting my attention between Jazzy and Diva while I tried not to regret getting Savage that ringing bell.

  “Fucknugget!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Cumguzzler!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Dirty Bird!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Fire in the hole!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “That’s new!” Josh and I both said at the same time, followed by, “I didn’t teach him that.”

  “Roger’s boy!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “That must be his previous owner,” Josh said. “He’s only said his name a few times in the few years that I’ve had him.”

  “Big Daddy’s boy,” I said to Savage.

  “Big Daddy,” Savage repeated back.

  “Big Daddy’s boy,” I tried again.

  It took several attempts, but he eventually said, “Big Daddy’s boy” to me. It made my entire night—well, that was until Josh pressed his wet, naked body against mine. As much as I loved the bird, it was nowhere close to the way I felt for his owner.

  Once I had him spread and pinned beneath me in our bed, it was his turn to yell out who owned him—heart, body and soul. After we finished making love, we both fell into a deep sleep tangled up in limbs and love.

  It was nice having Gabe home later in the morning, and not just because he made me breakfast. Watching him cook our omelets reminded me of the time I’d gone to his house for a physical release—or so I had convinced myself at the time—and ended up accidentally staying the night. After sex, Gabe pulled me to him to cuddle before I could bolt from the bed and get dressed. He promised to wake me up, but I wasn’t smart enough to nail down the details before I closed my eyes and fell asleep against his chest. He woke me up the next morning, not in a few hours like I had intended.

  I ran around his bedroom cursing him and everyone he knew while I dressed. The echoes of his laughter still bounced around in my heart. I knew then that I was crazy about him, even though I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. Once we started dating, Gabe had told me about the omelet he had planned to make me that morning, and I demanded that he show me what I had missed. Gabe didn’t cook a lot, but it was always tasty when he did, especially his omelets.

  It felt more like a Sunday morning than a Friday with Gabe reading the newspaper and drinking coffee after breakfast. I hoped that his sting operation didn’t run too late and I tried hard not to get jealous of him meeting with a sexy guy in a hotel room and touching his naked chest while affixing a wire to his body. I hate
d the images that my overactive imagination created and talked myself down by reminding myself that strip searches and lingering touches weren’t part of the process. It wasn’t like Gabe was going to be wrapping the wire around the guy’s cock. Right? I reminded myself that Gabe was just one of the guys on the task force and that he wouldn’t be alone. Okay, then my mind headed straight to terrifying threesome images of Gabe with Jonathon Silver and Paul. Nope! Not going there!

  “What’s going on in that mind of yours, Sunshine?” Gabe asked, startling me back to reality. One corner of the paper was turned down, and he was peering at me over the top of it. “The hamsters in your brain are running so hard I could hear it over here. You might need to squirt some WD-40 on that thing too. It’s starting to sound a bit squeaky.”

  “That’ll be the sound your balls make when I… never mind.” We both knew I wasn’t going to withhold sex from him as a form of punishment. “You better not be implying it’s rusty and squeaky from underuse.” I pinned him with my best threatening glare.

  “Quite the opposite. That thing never shuts down and needs a rest,” Gabe reached across the table and covered my hand with one of his. “Seriously, what’s bothering you?”

  I wasn’t about to tell him where my mind had gone because I knew my worry was unfounded. I trusted Gabe with all my heart, and I wouldn’t ruin our happy morning over problems that I had to work through on my own. “I’m just worried if I have enough ham to feed all the extra guests.” I had been worried about that before I worried about Gabe engaging in hot, sweaty cop porn.

  “That’s what put that frown on your precious face? Or maybe you’re thinking about how you need to tell Chaz about Kyle coming to Easter dinner and how it’s not a good idea to wait until Kyle shows up to eat,” Gabe recommended.

  “Chaz won’t show up then,” I said worriedly.

  “Chaz isn’t going to skip dinner with us, but he can at least show up looking rested and have his hair styled.” I knew Gabe was thinking about Chaz’s ruffled appearance the previous week. I thought it was adorable that he wanted Chaz to look his best. Hmmm, had he finally joined the matchmaking bandwagon? I still suspected there was more at play than just video games with Chaz, but I wasn’t sure what the hell I could do about it. He was, in fact, a grown-ass man and could make his own decisions.