by AG Meiers
Jackson groaned loudly at Alex’s comment. Phil muttered something under his breath, and, of course, Riley said what everybody else was thinking. “Alex, you’re a fucking idiot. You’ve been here long enough, you should know how this part of the agency works.”
Nicolas couldn’t hide a smile. He reached over to Alex and brushed his hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear. Alex flinched a little. He didn’t like to be touched on his head or his face or anywhere close to his scar. While all the other men in the room carried scars deep under their skin, Alex’s scars were on his outside. Just as crippling.
“Riley, don’t be an ass. Yeah, I know how Perfect Match works, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for Jayden.” Alex leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“Well, his happiness leaves us in a fucking bind, doesn’t it?” Riley replied. “You pitched him to your hot-shot lawyer, didn’t you? Deluxe package due for arrival in a week. You sent him the pictures a few days ago.”
“Shit!” Alex paled. His arms dropped to his sides.
“I thought the lawyer canceled. I remember the email coming in,” Nicolas said with a frown. It had stuck in his mind, because they didn’t get many deluxe bookings. Most people were too cheap to spend the extra money for nothing. Nicolas looked over to Phil, but he just shrugged. Clearly, he didn’t know more.
“Well, Alex Angel Tongue talked him out of it. Twice. He’s been working the poor man for weeks now. Regular, end-of-day phone calls.”
When Nicolas turned back to Alex, the young man blushed ferociously and buried his head in his hands. All right. Interesting.
“Maybe I could go.” Jackson pushed himself up from the floor. “I haven’t had an assignment for a while and—”
“No.” Phil put his hand on the other man’s arm in a possessive gesture. Jackson immediately pulled his arm away and glowered at the older man.
“I just meant you should finish your finals first. Fucking time you finish your degree,” Phil corrected himself quickly.
“My finals are almost done. I’ll take the next client coming in.” Jackson raised an eyebrow in an unspoken challenge, but, just like always, Phil seemed to know better than to engage.
Nicolas directed the discussion back to their problem at hand. “We have a few other people who could take over, right? There’s Liam or Chris. Both could be a good fit.”
“No, no, neither of them will do.” Alex had come out of hiding. Nicolas couldn’t quite read the expression on his face, but . . . wow . . . really interesting.
“Okay, why don’t I listen to the tapes and we’ll decide together?” he said.
“Yeah, well, that’ll be difficult, because Alex has been using a cell for the calls. There aren’t many recordings.” Riley smirked. Nicolas knew this look. Riley was up to something.
“Alex, you know procedure. What’s going on?” Nicolas asked.
“Nothing. I just used my cell, because we talked a lot late at night. It was easier and I didn’t think it would be an issue. Couldn’t let him cancel, so I kind of indicated that it was too late and that we had been matched.” Alex must have heard the hesitation in his own voice; he cleared his throat before he continued. “It’s nothing new. I pretend to be the match all the time. Customer didn’t cancel and I saved a lucrative deal. And Jayden would have been back from Canada in time.”
“Yeah, but the plan doesn’t work, because we don’t have Jayden anymore. So, now the guy has been talking to Alex, and jerked off to Jayden’s pictures. No way can we send in a third guy. Nobody is that gullible,” Riley said.
Nicolas was trying to catch up. Pretending to be a match to close the deal was indeed part of Alex’s job, but there was more to it this time. Riley dropped himself rather dramatically into a chair as if to catch Nicolas’s attention. Their eyes locked. There was a rare flicker of remorse in Riley’s glance when he spoke again. “Alex, you talked to this guy every night for two weeks. Yeah, if Jayden was here, maybe that would fly. At least the pictures would be real, but now he’s expecting you, not anyone else. You’ll have to go.”
Alex made a choking sound, and his hand jerked up to his face. “I never take assignments.”
“No, I agree with Riley,” Nicolas said. “You are the obvious choice for this job. Your scar provides a simple explanation for the fake pictures. Simple and believable.” He gave a slow smile. “It’s the perfect cover.”
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Eighteen years ago, AG Meiers came to the US for adventure and stayed for love. Currently, she lives in New England with her husband and two awesome kids—balancing work, friends and family, and writing.
When she has some free time, her favorite thing to do is travel and visit new places. Her past trips have already brought her to a variety of countries on four continents. She never passes up an opportunity to experience different cultures, diverse people, and amazing locations.
Even though she has been dreaming up stories all her life, she has only recently started to write them down and share them with the world. As a writer she loves to put her characters through a lot of challenges, conflict, and heartbreak, before she allows them to find their happy ever after.
Connect with AG Meiers:
Website: www.agmeiers.com
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