by Sue Brown
Landry opened one eye. “Good time?”
Josh winked and placed his mask over his eyes. He had to maintain his reputation. He yawned and fell asleep again, more than a little frustrated and hungry.
“Sir? Sir? We’re almost ready to land.”
Josh opened one eye to see Perky smiling at him, this time professionally rather than the suggestive smirk he’d used earlier. “Huh?”
“You need to sit up and prepare for landing.”
Josh felt sluggish and as he’d slept through the refreshments offered during the flight he was caffeine-deprived and ready to commit murder if he didn’t find a Starbucks. He suffered through the landing, trying to ignore the pain in his ears and the knowing smirks of his team.
Once the plane had landed Josh switched on his phone to find a text.
“Morning Angel.”
Josh tapped out a quick response. Morning Charlie.
“Was he good?”
“Where’s the bug?”
“You really don’t want to know.”
“He was okay.” Charlie didn’t need to know Josh had bailed on a sure thing.
“Just okay?”
“I’ve had better.”
“Tart.”
“You know me.”
“Not as much as I’d like to.”
“Whose fault is that?” Josh had been trying to find out the identity of the mysterious Charlie for months now. He was pretty sure he had the gender right and odd things he said made Josh wonder if Charlie was British. And the flirting had been getting more obvious and open with every message. Charlie had to be gay, or bisexual. Josh had to wonder if he’d still have the urge to jump the man once he knew who he was. He hoped so. This was the closest thing he’d had to a relationship in a long time. Christ, how sad did that make him?
“We gotta go,” Gil said. “Quit texting your boyfriend.”
“Don’t have a boyfriend, dumbass.”
Gil huffed and rolled his shoulders as he stood. “What’re you waiting for?”
Josh opened his mouth to snap at him, but he caught Landry’s shake of his head and Josh subsided. He texted a goodbye to Charlie before gathering his bags. His phone beeped as he looked out of the window, but Josh didn’t bother to look at it. He was too busy trying to figure out why, when it was only midday, it could have been the middle of night as rain pounded against the windows. They shuffled like zombies toward the exit of the plane and the gaggle of flight attendants.
“Welcome to London, sir. I hope you enjoyed the—” Perky gave the smallest of pauses and a quirk of the lips. “Flight.”
Josh winked back. He’d made the flight interesting and under different circumstances Josh would’ve happily ridden Perky Airline.
“Welcome to fucking England,” Gil muttered behind him. “Move!”
Josh stepped back to tread on Gil’s toes, smiling sweetly at Perky as Gil yelped and cursed Josh, and his mother.
“Well, this is gonna be fun,” Landry said laconically. He shoved them both forward. Josh was damn lucky he had lightning reflexes or he’d have ended up flat on his face and kissing the ground.
“What the fuck, man?” Gil was real unhappy now. “I’m tired, my toes hurt and I don’t need hassle from my stupid fucking brother.”
“Just move,” Landry snapped.
Josh kept going. They could fight it out between them. Josh just wanted to get through immigration and face-plant in the hotel for a few hours.
British Customs and Borders looked as bored as their US counterparts, but eventually they were done and in a black SUV. Gil and Landry fell asleep as soon as their asses hit the seats, but Josh fished out his phone and made a call to Dominic.
Despite the fact that it was now five in the morning in Seattle he knew Dominic would still be at the office and, after one ring, his bright red hair and permanent scowl appeared on the screen. “We’re here.”
“Go to the hotel. I’ve got a five-thirty meeting set up with a local agency. Ask for Jesse Waldron. Don’t piss them off, Josh. They’re friends of CDR and hard-core bastards.”
“As if I would.” Josh rolled his eyes at Dominic’s disbelieving grunt. “No promises.”
“He says if you fuck this up don’t bother getting on a plane home.”
It was Josh’s turn to grunt because he didn’t fuck things up. That’s why they employed him. “What agency?”
“Just ‘the agency’.”
Josh grunted again. Pretentious bullshit.
“Was the flight attendant good?” Dominic asked, a sneer curling his lips.
“I’ve had better.” Josh changed the subject. “Anything more on Michaels?”
“Not yet. No body and no money. He’s completely off the grid.”
“So he’s a bad boy?”
“Let’s hope not. I’ve got to go,” Dominic said. “Darryl and Ryan are tracking his financials. Call me back after the meeting.”
He disconnected before Josh could utter another word. A loud snore erupted from Gil. Josh scowled at both of them for being asleep when he had to work, but there was no point bitching about it. CDR didn’t pay him to be a princess on their time. Josh smirked, thinking about the rest of the time. Oh yeah, he could be a princess then. He dug both guys in the ribs when they arrived at the hotel.
“You could’ve been shot,” Landry growled as he sat up.
“Britain. Remember? No guns.”
“Fucking stupid idea.” Gil thought everyone should be armed. It was an old argument and neither Landry nor Josh paid any attention.
Josh got out of the SUV, stretching and rolling his shoulders as he surveyed the hotel. The hotel was the usual generic kind of place that CDR picked. Discreet, adequate, hopefully good beds. They checked in and by the time Josh reached the room there was only an hour before the meeting. He sighed heavily. There was no point in trying to nap now.
Josh made use of the shower instead, the hard stream of water washing over him like manna from heaven. He closed his eyes, letting the water sooth him, only cursing when he realized he’d left his shower gel in his carry on. Josh refused to use the shower gel the hotel provided; he had fucking standards and he worked hard for his soft skin.
He reached for a towel and dried off enough to make a dash for the carry on, fumbling around for the shower gel and, on impulse, grabbing the lube too. He usually jacked off in the shower anyway and it would wake him up. Back in the shower he washed quickly, pleased to soak away the long night before he took care of other matters. Josh squeezed the lube into his palm and stroked the length of his cock. He closed his eyes, leaned against the tiles and focused on his dick, smoothing lube over the head. As usual he thought of his ideal man. Even though he’d never met Charlie, Josh knew he’d be right for him and, as usual, he was fucking frustrated that Charlie had blocked all attempts for them to meet. The thrill of the chase was one thing, but Josh was here, ready to be caught. Josh stroked harder, imagining Charlie pressed up behind him; big, alpha, large dick nestled into Josh’s lower back. Yes, he made no apologies for being a size queen.
“Talk to me, Angel. I wanna hear you.”
“Need you, Charlie. Fuck me harder.”
Josh rested his head against his forearm as he jacked harder. His balls tightened in anticipation. He’d got to get a new fantasy because the thought of Charlie pressed up behind him was getting Josh off way too fast.
“Come for me, my Angel.”
He yelled as white ropes spurted over his hand, falling to be washed away by the water. It was the same every time. The thought of Charlie calling him ‘my Angel’ tipped him over the edge. If only he would. Josh leaned against the tiles, panting hard. “I’m going to have you, Charlie,” he said aloud. “You can’t hide from me forever.”
Chapter 3
Tuesday 22nd November
They arrived at the address thirty minutes after the meeting was due to start, thanks to Gil falling asleep in the shower. Josh had called reception to let him into Gil’s roo
m where Josh found him—snoring his head off. Gil woke up cursing and shouting when Josh turned the temperature to ice-cold. Then he bitched all the way through the late afternoon traffic in London, until Landry told him to shut the fuck up or he’d shoot him the second he got a weapon.
Josh ignored them both as he prepared for the meeting, although the information he had to work with was about as useful as a chocolate jockstrap. Jonathan Michaels was a wealthy hedge fund manager; squeaky clean up to the point he disappeared. Not even a parking ticket. Then suddenly he was an embezzler, who’d been kidnapped, or disappeared, or worse, murdered and dumped in the Thames. Maybe Josh was stretching it a bit there. What happened? Had Michaels been juggling too many balls? Too many questions, no answers and why the hell did they have to work with a British agency, called ‘the agency’? Josh snorted again at the absurdity of the name. Usually CDR told the relevant agencies they were in the UK and that was it. As long as CDR kept off their turf the Brits left them alone.
The car dropped them at an anonymous office building in Threadneedle Street, near the Bank of England. Gil’s mood hadn’t improved; neither had Josh’s and they glowered at each other as they got out of the car. This meeting had better pan out or Josh was on the next flight home.
A sleekly-dressed young man smiled at Josh from behind the black reception desk, and he noticed there wasn’t any sign of a company name anywhere. “May I help you?”
“We’re here to see Jesse Waldron.”
The young man nodded. “Mr. Waldron is expecting you. Please take a seat.” He pointed to a couple of brown leather sofas set around three fake plants. At least Josh assumed they were fake, they looked too healthy to be real. All the plants Josh had ever possessed died within a month.
Landry groaned as he settled into the seat. “Damn, I could fall asleep here.”
Josh moaned in agreement. The sofas were better than the ones in his apartment. He hadn’t realized he’d actually closed his eyes until someone spoke to him.
“Mr. Cooper and Messrs. Grover?”
Josh opened his eyes to see a young man of medium height, with pale blond hair and gray eyes smiling down at them. “Yes?”
“I’m Jesse’s assistant, Stephen. He asked me to take you to the conference room.”
Josh and the twins followed him to the elevators. Josh was inspecting Stephen’s ass when Gil nudged him.
“Stop that,” Gil muttered.
“What?” Josh widened his eyes innocently.
“Cut it out!”
Landry exhaled exasperatedly. “Guys, not now. I’m too tired for you assholes.”
Seemingly oblivious to the byplay, Stephen guided them into the elevator, but Josh was sure he caught a brief smirk as he hit the button for level 5.
The chill around the conference table was palpable, and most of it seemed to be aimed at Josh, Landry and Gil. Josh looked at his team to see if they knew what the fuck was the problem but they both gave a brief shake of the head. Three men from ‘the agency’ faced them, but none of the grey suits seemed to want to start the goddamn meeting. Josh had mentally named them Plummy Green-Eyes, Baldy Big Mouth, and Shortass. They hadn’t introduced themselves which set Josh’s teeth on edge as he had no idea which one was Waldron. Eventually Plummy Green-Eyes at the head of the table spoke.
“Our agencies have been told to cooperate with each other.”
If he wasn’t glaring over his half-rimmed glasses and looking down his nose at them, Josh would’ve suggested they have a separate meeting – just for two. Despite the plummy voice and glasses which would have been too old for a man twice his age he was fuckable; all broad shoulders and dark curls, and the stripes in his tie matched the deep green of his eyes. Maybe Josh’s intentions were obvious because he caught Gil’s warning shake of his head. Don’t fuck up! Josh gritted his teeth and reminded himself that if he fucked this up he was stuck on this godforsaken island full of men with bad teeth, forever. “Who are you exactly?”
“It’s not important.”
“What’s your connection with Jonathan Michaels?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Josh raised an eyebrow. “So by cooperation you mean—?”
“You’ll share the information you discover with us.”
“And you’ll share diddly-squat?” Three men stared back at him. Josh hadn’t had nearly enough fucking coffee to deal with this. He got to his feet. “I don’t think so. Time to go, boys.” Gil and Landry stood and followed him to the door. Josh opened it to find more gray suits blocking his way. He smiled sweetly, letting the edge of danger bleed into his expression. “We’re leaving.”
Plummy Green-Eyes coughed to attract his attention. “You were told to work with us.”
“The operative word is ‘with’,” Josh pointed out. “When you decide to understand fucking English, we’ll come back. Now get the suits out of the way so we can get the hell out of here.”
Someone obviously gave the signal because the goons moved and escorted them back to reception like gray oompa-loompas. On the sidewalk Gil and Landry gave Josh wary glances.
“What?” Josh snapped, hunting through his pockets for his cigarettes. He kept a packet for emergencies and now was a fucking emergency. He didn’t smoke much usually, only when he was under pressure. Today the need for nicotine was almost as strong as the need for caffeine. He shivered in the cold gray morning. At least it was drizzling rather than a howling gale.
“Dominic’s gonna string you up by the short and curlies,” Gil said, shrugging his collar up to protect his neck.
Ignoring the sign on the building which said ‘no smoking’ Josh lit a cigarette and took a long drag, feeling fractionally calmer as the smoke burned its way down into his lungs. “He’s five thousand miles away.”
“We were told to work with the Brits.” Gil pointed out.
“And we will. On our terms, not theirs. It’s posturing, is all. Remember Boston? We’re on their turf so they think they’ve got the upper hand.” Josh looked back into the building and saw Plummy talking to another man. Neither of them looked happy, and they scowled at Josh on a regular basis. “Watch and learn, boys,” he drawled.
Gil rolled his eyes at Landry. “In other words, he’s gonna be an asshole.”
Josh ignored them because the unknown guy was walking toward them.
“Mr. Cooper?” the new guy said.
Josh studied him carefully. He was probably mid-forties, dark hair graying at the wings, a few lines but enough to make him interesting. Josh predicted that he had a wife and two kids somewhere in the ‘burbs. “Yeah. You are?”
“Jesse Waldron. I’m your new handler.”
A handler? Josh struggled to keep a rein on his eyeballs and smiled sweetly at him. “Are we meant to sit up and beg?”
“Dominic said you’d be an asshole.” Jesse’s accent made it more arrrrsehole. Kinda cute.
“What else did he say?” Josh ignored Gil and Landry’s simultaneous snorts.
Waldron smirked. “Do you really want to know?”
Not really. Josh didn’t need some stuck up Brit to relay Dominic’s cantankerous instructions. “What do you want, Mr. Waldron?”
“Call me Jesse. We got off on the wrong foot. You must be exhausted after your flight. Come back inside to my office. I’ve ordered coffee and pastries as I missed breakfast too. Then we can start again.”
Josh ramped up the smile. “Let me confer with my co-workers, Jesse.” Jesse gave him a suspicious look but obligingly stepped away. Josh looked at Gil and Landry. “Okay, boys, time to play ball.”
“Or Dominic will have yours,” Gil said.
“I have two.” Josh shrugged. “Quit complaining, they’re playing nice now.”
“You’re a devious little shit, Josh,” Landry said.
“I’m good at my job. Anyone can be a grey suit. Not many can be a Josh Cooper.”
Landry snorted again. “Thank fuck for that.”
Josh ignored hi
m and glanced at Jesse. “The coffee had better be strong.”
Jesse broke out the smile again. Shame about the wife and kids because he was a good looking guy. “It is. CDR’s instructions.”
“You know CDR?”
“Ross was one of us,” Jesse said. “I trained him in the field.”
Josh tried to hide his shock, but from the smirk on Jesse’s face he failed. He noted the same smirk on Gil’s face although Landry looked as shocked as Josh. Someone had been keeping secrets. Josh made a mental note to have words with Gil when they got back to the hotel. Keeping secrets between the team could get them killed.
Jesse’s office was small and functional compared to the conference room. Josh got the impression he didn’t spend much time in here. A couple of photos dominated one wall. Josh glanced at them then peered more closely. One was a group of men playing soccer, one of them obviously Jesse. Josh’s gaydar shrieked at him, which was confirmed when he studied the other photo. Jesse had his arms wrapped around a man, a black dog sitting at their feet.
“That’s my partner Dan, and our dog, Norman,” Jesse said.
So much for the wife and two kids. Josh wondered if he’d like a threesome.
“Any kids?” he asked. Josh never got involved in a domestic situation.
Jesse shook his head. “Never thought it mixed with my job. I was away for months at a time.”
“Is Dan in this business?”
“No.”
Josh recognized when he was being shut down and he didn’t ask any more questions. Jesse handed him a coffee without asking how he took it. Josh sipped at it and scowled because it was perfect. The Brits were yanking his chain and he didn’t like it.
“Let’s start again,” Jesse said. “As I said, we didn’t get off on the right foot.”
Josh smiled dangerously. “You’re going to tell us what the fuck is going on?”
Jesse hesitated but then he nodded. “Let’s meet the team again.”
“Do we have to deal with Mr. Plummy—fuck.”
