Page 37 of Fool Me Twice

“Adequate,” he said, unzipping his bag and pulling out a leather-bound notebook and a fancy-ass-looking pen. Cane didn’t know they even sold fucking pens like that anymore. Who wrote shit down by hand enough to warrant it?

Hart. That’s who.

“Shall we begin?” Hart asked.

“With?” Cane asked, adding a lift to his eyebrow that was as suggestive as his tone of voice.

“Planning how to break whatever curse was placed upon you or your people?” Hart said firmly, walking out of the room and back down the hallway like he owned the place.

Cane followed lazily, letting Hart think he was in control for now. He’d deal with his snippy, prissy ass soon enough. Hart took a spot on the gray couch, moving some of Cane’s discarded clothes with the tips of his fingers and a scrunched nose.

Cane wanted to laugh but held it back. It was much more fun to prolong the reaction. To wait until Hart got so ruffled he exploded. It was a beautiful sight.

“Okay, so how do we do this?” Cane asked, sitting next to Hart on the couch. Closer than was actually needed.

Hart tensed at the proximity, and Cane felt something feral raise its ugly head inside his chest. Fuck, but he loved how Hart responded to him.

“I’ve been thinking about the best course of action,” Hart said primly, placing his hands on his knees and folding his fingers together. The picture of serenity and control. “All of the incidents happened at work, if I’m not mistaken?”

“You know you’re not,” Cane said.

“In that case, I believe the best plan is what you suggested. Just keep going through your regular routine and I’ll be shadowing you,” Hart said. “I’ll stay alert and keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary.”

“So,” Cane said, pressing his shoulders into the back of the couch and lifting his hips up to fish a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. He smirked at the quick glance Hart cast at the obvious bulge in his pants. “You’ll be glued to my ass, keeping an eye on it?”

“Again, not what I meant,” Hart said sharply.

“Again, it’s how I heard it.” Cane put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. He took a deep pull on it, embracing the sting in his throat and lungs before releasing a puff of smoke into the air between them.

He watched Hart’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. Cane smirked and extended the box toward Hart. He saw his fingers flex for a split second before he shook his head.

“How many times do I need to tell you? I quit,” Hart said, but the clench of his jaw told a different story.

“Sure you did.” Cane let out a short laugh, bringing the cigarette back to his lips. He released perfectly formed rings of smoke into the air and saw Hart watch them longingly even though he tried to hide it.

“We’ve never discussed something,” Hart said, breaking the silence and clearly trying to distract himself.

“What?” Cane leaned his head back against the couch, crossing his ankle over his knee.

“Enemies.” Hart cracked the spine of his journal open and uncapped his pen.

“What about them?” Cane asked, acting stupid on purpose.

“I will need to start ruling people out,” Hart said.

“The list would be too fucking long, sweetheart,” Cane said. “If I had a nemesis, don’t you think I would have taken care of that bastard myself before even calling you?”

He ran his fingers over his stomach, tracing a tattoo-covered scar in the middle of it. He used to have a sworn nemesis. Not anymore.

“I still think it’s worth creating a pool of names. Start with who hates you the most and work your way down if you want,” Hart said dryly. “You can scratch my name off the top for brevity purposes.”

Cane snorted, puffing out another lungful of smoke right at Hart at the exact moment the other man inhaled. “Mmm, you’d be at the top of a completely different list, I think.”

Hart visibly refused to breathe for a second until the smoke dissipated, keeping his eyes fixed on his notebook. “I’d appreciate it if you could be serious for five seconds.”

“Oh, I’m very serious, sweetheart.” Cane leaned into his ear to whisper against the shell, “Want me to tell you which list it is?”

Hart slammed the journal shut and turned to face Cane.

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