Page 29 of Avenging Kelly

“You’re damn good looking, with or without the fuzz,” I said, no hesitation at all. It was the god’s honest truth.

London’s face flushed a bright pink, and I had a new obsession. His eyes twinkled and his glowing cheeks turned me on. I needed to find something else to concentrate on because London St. Michael could easily take up every hour of every day for me.

I reached for the wool beanie I’d brought along and pulled it on my head. “I’m not shaving off my hair, but I will let the facial hair grow. I loved it on you, so let’s make this look temporary,” I said. London chuckled, and I saw his dimples for the first time.

I stepped closer and kissed the cute little indentation on his right cheek. “You shouldn’t hide these… Dimples,” I teased.

He put an arm around my waist and pulled me into his body.

“I need a promise from you. Don’t do anything that will land you back in prison, please. I find I’m growing more attached to you, and one Saturday a month won’t be enough for me. Let’s both be careful so we can see where this goes. Pinky swear.”

London extended the pinky on his left hand, and I hooked it with my right one. “I swear. One Saturday a month would never be enough.”

With that, I kissed his soft lips, and we got our shit together to leave. I prayed we’d both be safe in the next phase of the hunt. Maybe one day we could return to Hope Island together to enjoy it. Not the sulfur smell, though. Nobody would ever enjoy that.

* * *

We arrived at the small airport next to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where a Gulfstream waited for us. Private planes were a hell of a lot better than traveling in the Army—crammed into the back of a C-17 with a bunch of other grunts and a hell of a lot of equipment, much of it being of the explosive variety. Yeah, the private jet was much better.

A porter took our bags and then a friendly flight hostess directed us up the stairs to the plane. Once we were in our seats, I turned to London. “Do you travel like this all the time?”

He laughed, deep, throaty, and sexy as all fuck. “Most of the time. If we’re going somewhere for a case, we want to get there as quickly as possible, and commercial flights don’t always work—plus, you can’t take a gun on a 737.” We both chuckled.

“So, you like your job?”

“I’m sort of mixed on the job itself—not much of it is pretty, you know? That’s why I’m glad I work for GEA-A. Giuseppe and Gabe consider that some of the shit we have to do will take a toll on us, and they do everything they can to support us. That’s something you’ll learn about Gabby and his family the more you’re around them. They’ll do whatever’s necessary to help those who they consider family, and if you work for them, you’re family.” I’d met a few of the guys, and they seemed nice enough, but nobody was as great as London was making them out to be.

He stared out the window for a second before he added, “All the guys at the American and Italian offices will help in any way they can. That’s one reason I left the DEA and went to work for them. Gabby’s a tough guy, but under all of that bluster is a big teddy bear with a heart the size of a bus who genuinely cares about the people in his life.”

I was having a hard time accepting there were people in the world like London, Dallas, Rafe, Gabe, and my late friend, Mathis Sinclair, but their willingness to jump into my mess and help me out kept showing me it wasn’t bullshit.

Thinking about Mathis reminded me of something I wanted to ask. I figured since London had been so quick to jump into the fray, he must have been close to Mathis.

“Did Mathis ever talk about me?”

London got an uncomfortable expression on his face. “Yeah, he’d mention you when anything came up about Mia. He said something about being in love with a straight man once, and I think we all assumed it was you,” he responded.

Me? Mathis was in love with me? That made no sense at all.

“What did he say, exactly?”

“I heard this about fifth hand, mind you, but one time, Mathis mentioned it was hard being in love with a straight man. It was said to one of my colleagues, Ace, but he’s got a big mouth and thrives on gossip, so he told someone who told someone who told me. Did you have feelings for Mathis that went beyond friendship?” he asked me, his eyes not meeting mine.

I was speechless for a minute, then replied, “I thought of him as a best friend who was damn loyal, but that was it. I guess he didn’t know I wasn’t straight because we never talked about stuff like that. I dated women when I was in the Army, and I might have mentioned it in conversation a time or two, so that might be where he got that impression. I never said specifically that I was bi.”

Then I remembered a discussion we’d had once. “I think he was in love with his best friend, Jonah. He’s married to, uh—”

“Dani Barr, Shay Torrente’s cousin. Wow, that’s crazy, but as I think about it, it totally makes sense. I wonder if Jonah ever knew? I saw him at the service, but I didn’t speak to him. I didn’t know him as well as some of the other guys did.”

“Can I get you gentlemen anything before we take off?” the hostess asked.

“Thanks, but we’ll be fine,” London said as he reached over to buckle me into my seatbelt.

“Aw, you care,” I teased as I left a smacking kiss against his newly hairless cheek.

“Such a smartass,” he mumbled as he buckled in.

Before I knew it, we were taxiing down the runway to whatever the future held. First stop… San Diego.

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