by Lynn Hagen
* * * *
“What the hell is that?” Darien stood on the site the following morning as the foundation was poured for the new school.
Cory waved at the stray at his feet. “Duh. A dog.”
“I can see it’s a dog,” Darien said. “My question is, why do you have him?”
The Boston terrier growled as he pushed into Cory’s leg. Cory bent and petted his head. “He just kind of showed up last night and now won’t leave my side.”
Darien looked incredulously at the dog when it winked at him. “Did he just wink at me?”
“I think he has something wrong with his eye. He does that a lot.” Cory picked the dog up and curled him into his arms. “Since I was thinking of buying a house here, I’ll need a pet. I named him Winkie.”
Darien couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The little black-and-white stray lapped at Cory’s chin, as if he were delighted with Cory’s plans.
“He could be someone’s lost pet, Cory.”
The dog winked at Darien again, then gave a little growl.
“Be nice, Winkie,” Cory said in one of those annoying voices people used with their pets or babies.
“He can’t be on-site,” Darien said.
“What if I get him a hard hat?” Cory didn’t bother looking at Darien. He kept petting the stray and talking in that weird baby voice to the dog.
Darien pinched the bridge of his nose. This couldn’t be real. He already had enough crap to deal with. William’s lawyers were stalling about the photos. When Matthew’s lawyer showed up, he didn’t have them with him, and William kept blowing up Matthew’s phone.
Darien hadn’t been stupid enough to look at it again. He didn’t want any more lurid photos burned into his mind. He already had enough to worry about dealing with multiple deadlines he’d fallen behind on. The tile company had sent the wrong shipment. The basement of the house Jordan was currently working on had flooded last night after Casey had replaced some of the pipes, and Darien had gotten a phone call half an hour ago telling him that the materials needed to overhaul the fire department would be delayed for a week.
“I promise he won’t be a bother,” Cory pleaded. “I just don’t want to lock him in my apartment by himself. Max already threatened to have dog stew for dinner if Winkie ate another pair of his underwear.”
“Fine, but he’s your responsibility.”
Cory’s blue eyes lit up. “Thanks!”
Darien grabbed the small bottle of aspirin from his pocket and tossed two pills into his mouth. If things kept fucking up, he’d need an entire case of them.
* * * *
Matthew ground his teeth when his phone beeped again. He was on a conference call in the meeting room at city hall with one of the men who contracted his company for artillery shells for use on naval ships.
With his concentration shot, Matthew did the best he could to wrap the call up. He sighed in frustration once he’d hit the End button.
“Damn it!” He rested his forehead on the table.
“Still sending you pictures?” Seoul asked when he entered the office.
“And vile messages,” Matthew said. As he rubbed his temples, he wondered how he could have so much money at his disposal and no means to get rid of William.
Aside from having him killed, which Matthew still refused to do.
“Lucky for you that you have a lunch date to take your mind off things.”
Matthew racked his brain, but couldn’t recall scheduling a lunch date with anyone. “I do?”
“If it’s not a bad time,” Darien said as he entered behind Seoul. Matthew’s heart skipped a beat as his gaze swept up and down Darien’s body. His presence was a dominating force that stole Matthew’s very breath. His headache vanished, his worries forgotten as Matthew craved Darien’s strong arms around him.
Matthew had an urge to wipe the drool from his mouth as he said,
“But you don’t eat lunch,”
Seoul stepped from the office and closed the door behind him. Darien looked around and gave a low whistle. “Fancy.”
The room was vastly different from the boardroom at Honeywell. It had a homey feel to it that Seoul had insisted on, with large, fake plants, soft carpeting, rich, dark wood furnishings, and nice art on the wall.
The meeting room at Honeywell was glass-and-chrome throughout, giving it new-age, technical feel. More like a sterile feel if you asked Matthew.
“Thanks, but like I said, you don’t eat lunch. Why are you here?” Matthew got up and automatically went to the wet bar, caught what he was doing, and grabbed a bottled water from the mini fridge instead. Most clients preferred a malt scotch or something equally smooth during a meeting, but this was Darien and he wasn’t here for a sit-down.
“Frustrating morning,” Darien said.
“I know the feeling.” Matthew offered him the water. “Things that bad?” He curled his fingers in to stop himself from touching Darien’s hard chest. His dark T-shirt stretched over his muscles, and Matthew wanted to sink his teeth into Darien’s swollen biceps, his pecs, his stomach. Hell, right now, as horny as Matthew was, he wasn’t going to be picky.
“Things are coming along. Having some setbacks and delays, but we’re managing.” Darien cracked the lid and took a drink, his gaze roaming over Matthew in a way that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than lust.
“So you came here to, what, decompress or have a little lunchtime sex?” Matthew’s heart sped at the prospect of bending over the conference table for Darien.
A wolfish smile curled the side of Darien’s mouth. “Not sure why I came, but now that you mentioned it…”
Matthew hurried to the door and locked it. He turned, licking his lips. “On my knees or drop ’em and bend over?”
Darien chuckled. “Gentleman’s choice.”
Matthew moved to the table, shoved his trousers and underwear down, and bent over.
Chapter Nine
Darien knew damn well why he’d gone to see Matthew. He’d been in a funk all morning and all he’d thought about as one thing after another went wrong was talking to Matthew—seeing his handsome face and hearing his soothing voice.
Fuck. Darien couldn’t deny it any longer. He was falling for Matthew. Hard. Sex hadn’t been his intention when he’d walked up the steps to city hall, but he hadn’t turned it down, either.
Not when Matthew had presented his nice little ass.
Darien relaxed in the chair, Matthew cuddled in his arms. He needed to get back to work but couldn’t muster the strength to let Matthew go just yet.
“I guess we both have to get back to the real world.” Matthew petted Darien’s chest. He seemed fascinated with that part of Darien’s body.
“I can come over tonight if you want.” Darien kissed his head and helped him stand. As much as he hated to get up, they did need to get back to what they’d been doing before they’d found a small escape with each other.
Matthew’s phone beeped. Darien’s gaze automatically went to the device sitting on the table, but he refused to ask if it was William sending more pictures or foul messages. He didn’t want to see, and he already knew that William still hadn’t backed down.
Then again, the beep might not have been William, but Darien wasn’t going to pick the phone up to find out.
Matthew looked on the verge of tears as his gaze went to the phone, as well. “One way to kill the moment.”
Taking Matthew’s hand and pulling him close, Darien placed a quick but soft kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He left the office and headed straight for Matthew’s house, hoping Dagger was home. Darien was sick of William’s constant harassment.
Dagger opened the door on the second knock and let Darien in.
“I thought your friend would handle William?” he asked, skipping the pleasantries.
Dagger ran a hand over his unshaven jaw. “He is, but he has to locate William first. Seems William went into hiding, and normally that
wouldn’t stop my friend from finding him, but William must’ve paid a professional to help him, because my friend hasn’t found him yet.”
Darien cursed as he pressed his hands to his hips. “I’m getting really tired of seeing Matthew so upset over this.”
Dagger nodded, his eyes dark. “You and me both. Matthew’s a good guy, and he doesn’t deserve to have some fuckhead trying to ruin him, again. All we can do is wait until my friend locates William.”
That wasn’t comforting. “He does know not to kill William, right?”
Again, Dagger nodded.
Seoul hurried into the living room from the kitchen. He glanced from one of them to the other. “You two need to see this.”
Darien followed them into the kitchen. Seoul’s laptop was open on the kitchen table, and Seoul spun it and pointed at the screen. Darien moved closer, his heart racing as he read the headline.
Man Found Dead in Abandoned Warehouse Scheduled for Renovations
The story identified the male as William Black and mentioned the modeling agencies he’d worked for. He’d been repeatedly stabbed and left dead for the construction crew to find.
“Your guy?” Darien asked Dagger.
“No.” Dagger shook his head. “He knew not to kill William.”
“Are you sure? Because William is taking a permanent dirt nap. This is more than just a coincidence.” Darien was afraid someone would connect the dots right back to Matthew.
Dagger cursed as he slapped the laptop closed. “This could get ugly. If my guy was the one who killed William, he not only disregarded a direct order, but he was sloppy. The body should’ve never been found. Any idiot with half a brain would know that warehouse was being renovated. That’s all the city council in Arlington has talked about for a year.”
Darien’s brows rose. “You’ve done this before?”
Dagger scowled. “Murder 101. Don’t give them a body to find and they won’t have the forensic evidence to convict you.”
“Uh, never heard of that.” Darien didn’t really know Dagger all that well, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“We need to figure out a way to do damage control,” Seoul said. “I won’t have any blame falling on Matthew’s shoulders.”
“I need to make a phone call,” Dagger said as he exited the room.
“So how do we stop this from getting pinned on Mathew?” Darien asked.
“Good question,” Seoul replied.
The front door flew open and Matthew rushed into the kitchen, pale and sweaty. “Have you heard?”
“We know,” Seoul said.
Matthew held his stomach, glancing from Darien to Seoul. “I thought Dagger said William wasn’t going to be hurt!” He grabbed the back of the chair, looking as though he would be sick at any second. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m responsible for William’s death. I’m going to prison. What have I done? They’ll find his phone, see the texts he’s been sending me, and think I had him killed!”
“Calm down.” Darien grabbed Matthew and pulled him into his arms. He thought the same thing, but refused to voice his fears. Matthew was freaking out enough for both of them. “We don’t know that it was Dagger’s friend.”
“Who the hell else would want him gone?” Matthew shrieked. “I’m so fucked. I’m so fuckety, fuck, fucked.”
“It wasn’t him,” Dagger said as he came back into the room. “My friend hadn’t located William. He says someone else is responsible.”
Matthew shook his head. “No, the cops’ll pin this on me. That fiasco last year was public knowledge. They’ll say I had a motive and the means to hire someone. I’m gonna be sick.”
He raced from the room, his hand over his mouth. Darien went after Matthew. His lover was in the downstairs bathroom, throwing up in the toilet.
Darien wet a towel and brushed it over Matthew’s neck. “You have to calm down, hon.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Matthew said. “You don’t need to be tied to this. I couldn’t live with myself if you were arrested as a co-conspirator.”
“I didn’t conspire to do anything,” Darien said. “He was supposed to talk to William, scare him. And Dagger said his friend hadn’t even found William.”
“We don’t know who Dagger hired. The guy could be lying.” Matthew flushed the toilet, stood, and grabbed the front of Darien’s shirt. “William. Is. Dead.”
“Call your lawyers,” Darien said. “And don’t answer your phone. Have the guy who’s been running your company while you’re here handle any business dealings until this matter is taken care of.”
Matthew fell against Darien’s chest. “I just wanted William to leave me alone. I didn’t want him dead, Darien. I swear I didn’t. He was a greedy gold-digger, but he had a mom and sister who adored him. I would never bring anyone that kind of pain.”
Darien hugged him tightly. “I know, hon. I know.”
* * * *
God forgive him, but Matthew wasn’t mourning William’s death. He was mourning the pain a mother would go through at the loss of her son. The pain a sister would go through at the loss of her baby brother. That was all that kept circling in his head as he sat on his bed, staring at his phone, waiting for it to ring so some unknown person on the other end could tell him that he would be arrested for sending a hitman after William.
The thoughts, worries, and images of what William must have looked like lying there stabbed repeatedly was like a whiteout in Matthew’s head. Everything collided and swirled until he sat there shivering from the coldness seeping down his spine.
Darien was downstairs. He’d refused to leave, even after Matthew had insisted. Matthew wanted to believe that Dagger’s friend hadn’t committed the horrendous crime, but he was too afraid not to believe it.
Matthew ran his hand through his damp hair. He’d taken what he’d hoped would be a therapeutic shower, but the only thing that had happened was his tears mingled with the water. Now Matthew just felt drained.
A knock sounded on the door. He got up and let Darien in.
“You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I thought you didn’t want complicated.” Matthew left him at the door as he sat back down on his bed.
“I think we both know we’re way past that.” Darien took a seat on the mattress. He grabbed Matthew’s hand and laid it in his lap. His thumb brushed over the back of Matthew’s hand. “I never thought I would say this to anyone. I mean, I’m thirty-seven years old and haven’t been in a serious relationship. Not once. That’s sad, but true.”
Matthew shook his head. “I’m a bit confused.”
“I’ve fallen in love with you, Matthew. I don’t know how it happened, or when, but it did. I’d convinced myself I just wanted a fling with you while I was here. I told myself I flew to you in Virginia as a favor to Seoul. I stuck by you when I found out about William because I’d told myself I was just helping someone in a bad situation. It was all a lie. I just hadn’t known it. My heart hadn’t told my brain yet that I’d fallen in love with you the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
Matthew hugged him tightly. He felt so safe, as if the world couldn’t get to him when Darien hugged him back. “I’ve been lying to myself, too. Only I figured out that I loved you when you made me get on my knees.”
Darien pulled back, his baby blues wide. “That’s one hell of a way to say it.”
Matthew managed a smile. “It’s true.”
“No matter what happens, we’ll get through this somehow.” He cupped Matthew’s face. “You have to believe that.”
Matthew blew out a long breath. “I know. It’s just hard when I might be arrested at any second.”
Darien stood and tugged on Matthew’s hand. “Let’s go for a walk. I know this great place with a nice deck.”
Matthew shook his head. “As much as I enjoy having sex with you, I’m just not in the mood right now.”
“I wasn’t talking about sex.” Darien tugged a little harder and Matthew relented. They headed out into t
he warm summer evening, walking hand in hand toward what Matthew now thought of as their peaceful little haven. They strolled past shops that had gone out of business, the restaurant that was ready and waiting for Glen’s cousin to arrive. And as they walked, Matthew started to really fall in love with Wildfire.
The town had a certain charm, a warm and welcoming feeling he’d never found in Virginia. In fact, Matthew no longer noticed the absence of city noise. He’d grown so used to the peace and quiet without realizing it that he now took comfort in it.
“I’m thinking of making Wildfire my home,” he said. Until that very second, Matthew had had no such thought. But his statement was true. “I think I could really get used to this way of life.”
“You think so?” Darien asked. “Kind of slow for me.”
“That’s because the town isn’t on her feet yet.” He stopped and waved toward the businesses lining downtown Wildfire. “Imagine these shops open, sidewalk signs out, hanging baskets of flowers on lampposts, and residents taking evening strolls.”
Darien looked the buildings over, as if he could imagine everything Matthew had just described. “It does sound nice.”
Matthew started walking again, Darien keeping the slow pace next to him. “We’ve just eaten at the restaurant and we’re heading to our home with the nice deck and peaceful privacy, where I’ll curl in your lap on a deck chair.”
“Wow.” Darien chuckled. “That was a far jump from open businesses to owning a home together.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I just got carried away.” Matthew tried to pull his hand free, but Darien held it tighter.
“No, I like the image. I just think we should take things slowly. Lay a strong foundation before we build a life on it.”
It was Matthew’s turn to chuckle. “I love your construction analogy.”
“It was nice, wasn’t it?” Darien wiggled his brows. “I’m smart once a year.”
Matthew laughed. He was glad he’d agreed to go on the walk. He was starting to feel better.
They reached the two-story home with green shutters and cut down the side, heading right for the deck. Since there weren’t any chairs to lie on, they sat on the steps—Matthew on the lower one so Darien could sit behind him and wrap his arms around Matthew. He rested his chin on Matthew’s head as they both simply enjoyed the quiet evening and each other’s company.
