A wounded darkness passed through Charlie’s gaze, but he finally nodded. “Didn’t feel right without you there.” Pink filtered into his cheeks, and damn if that wasn’t as cute as it was sexy. Jeremy wasn’t sure anything had ever made him blush.
“I’m just not—-” Jeremy shrugged and looked down at Charlie’s chest again. Having seen the guy dress more than once, he knew that shirt covered lean muscle that ran from strong shoulders down to his narrow hips. Jeremy fisted his hands against the urge to burrow them under the hem of the tee. After weeks of looking, and wanting, he was dying to touch. Jeremy found Charlie hard to read though, and hadn’t wanted to do anything to scare him off. “—-very good company right now. I’m sorry if that—-”
Charlie nudged Jeremy’s chin up with his hand, his fingers just barely touching Jer’s stubble--covered skin. And then his thumb landed softly against his lips.
Jeremy’s heartbeat kicked up and his lips fell open. Slowly, oh so tentatively, Charlie stroked the soft pad of his thumb back and forth across them.
“Charlie,” Jeremy whispered as arousal surged through his body, spiking his pulse, tensing his muscles, hardening his dick.
Uncertainty poured off Charlie as the man’s hand trembled where it touched him, but those blue eyes absolutely blazed desire. No way was Jeremy imagining that.
“You’re always good company, to me,” Charlie said in a low voice, his gaze dropping to Jeremy’s mouth. Charlie leaned in closer, and closer still, and Jeremy could hardly believe the other man was the one to initiate this. But he was fucking thrilled.
Anticipating that first soft brush of skin on skin, Jeremy swallowed hard Charlie was so close his shaky breath caressed Jeremy’s lips. His pace was maddening but so damn sexy Jer could barely breathe. And then Charlie’s eyelids fluttered closed and he was right there—-
Buzz, buzz.
Ring, ring.
Charlie jumped back, his cheeks bright red, as both their cell phones impatiently demanded attention. Frustration roared through Jeremy at the interruption, especially as he spied Nick’s name on the caller ID.
Jeremy eyed Charlie as the other man checked his phone. Charlie ducked his head, averted his gaze, and hugged himself, and Jer hated the emotional distance that poured into the widening physical distance between them. Damnit.
Somehow, someway, Jeremy was getting that kiss.
Chapter 2
BREATHING HEAVILY, CHARLIE fished his phone from his front pocket with shaking hands. After working up the nerve to kiss Jeremy, he couldn’t believe he’d chickened out when their phones went off at the same time. He’d been attracted to Jeremy from the very first time he’d awakened from a feverish sleep and found the guy sitting by his bedside. But it had taken Jeremy nearly falling to his death yesterday to finally convince him to act on that attraction.
The screen of his temporary phone read his sister’s number. “Hey, Becca,” he answered as he wandered to the other side of the ruined space.
“Hey. Where’d you go?” she asked, her voice bubbly and happier than he’d heard it since she’d engineered his rescue two weeks before. After everything she’d been through, she totally deserved happiness, and Charlie was glad she’d found Nick to share it with.
“Checking out the other half of the building with Jeremy.” Just saying the guy’s name heated Charlie’s cheeks. Charlie wasn’t a virgin, but he wasn’t particularly socially skilled, either. Computers, he totally got. Games and puzzles, he could solve and decipher without a second thought. -People? Half the time, he had no clue. So he wasn’t sure if he’d read Jeremy’s interest right or not.
Maybe Charlie wanted something that wasn’t really there. Totally possible. After all, Jeremy was everything Charlie wasn’t—-outgoing, confident, funny. The sexiest man he’d ever known. Not to mention bisexual. So Jeremy could literally have anyone he wanted. Charlie was probably kidding himself thinking that might be him, a shy, awkward geek with a badly mangled hand and a whole bunch of bad guys after him.
What a catch.
“Well, listen,” Becca said. “Nick doesn’t want anyone out on the streets during daylight. At least not until Detective Vance gets the roadblocks set up around Hard Ink. Just in case . . .”
Right. Just in case . . . anything else happened. Like being kidnapped, caught up in an international drug--trafficking conspiracy, and attacked by mercenaries wasn’t enough. Charlie couldn’t believe this was his life right now.