Page 140 of The Blame Game

“No pressure,” Shea said hastily. “I just know appointments like that can be kinda overwhelming and it’s hard to know what questions to ask. I know you know how to handle it and you’ve got tons of people there for you but I thought if you wanted it—”

“No,” Dom said. “I mean, yes. I’d like you there. If you want to come and you can make it.”

“It depends on my work schedule but if you can give me a little bit of notice, I could probably find someone to cover for me for an hour or two.”

“Yeah, that would be good.” Dom realized that he hadn’t let go of Shea, in fact, he’d let his hand slide down to grasp Shea’s. He squeezed. “Now, we should probably go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”

Not only was he going to get chewed out by Gilly, he had a meeting with his agent scheduled, and he knew there would be meetings with various people in the organization, plus, of course, the portion of the team that hadn’t already known he was gay would give him hell.

Christ.

Still, as Dom slid into bed and rolled onto his side, feeling Shea’s warm, solid body curve around him, he had to admit, this part wasn’t bad at all.

“Thank you,” he whispered in the dark room, threading his fingers through Shea’s, liking the weight of his muscular arm across his ribs.

“For what?” Shea’s lips grazed his bare shoulder.

Dom shivered. “For everything you did to protect me today.”

But Shea didn’t respond how he expected, just sighed a little and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “G’night, Dom.”

“Night,” he whispered.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Shea was still smiling as he walked into the clinic, the mug of coffee Dom had made him clutched in his hand.

He’d spent the drive there trying to ignore the voice in his head reminding him that living with Dom was all for the PR angle.

But the memory of Dom sliding into the shower with him this morning, kissing his shoulder and neck and murmuring how good he looked while he stroked Shea off into a toe-curling orgasm that left his knees trembling, was a whole lot louder.

As was the sight of Dom, wearing nothing but boxer briefs while he cooked Shea breakfast and made him coffee.

And the kiss … Dom had kissed him by the door, gliding his tongue along Shea’s in a heated dance that made Shea want to forget that he had a job to go to.

“Barnett,” someone called out and Shea stopped, his athletic shoes squeaking on the tile floor in the lobby.

He glanced over his shoulder to see his boss, Vincent Bell, standing nearby. He didn’t look happy.

Since Vince never called him anything but “Shea,” and was usually all smiles behind his thick moustache, the sudden change was a little concerning.

He swallowed hard and walked over to him. “Morning, Vince.”

“Do you have a moment to chat?” Vince asked.

Fuck.

Shea forced a smile onto his face. “Sure, of course.”

He liked to get to the clinic early and leisurely drink his coffee while he reviewed patient files and prepped for the day, so he had nearly an hour before his first patient would arrive for their appointment.

He had zero excuses for saying no.

Following Vince down the hall, Shea mentally rehearsed the story he and Dom and Kate had crafted with some help from Audra.

“So,” Vince said, when they were in his office, his desk between them. He looked somber.

Shea had never had any issues at work before. Shea had worked his ass off since he was hired and Vince was generally an affable guy.

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