Page 118 of The Protective Gryphen

This was his happy place.

With Ian.

“So, we’ve had a snack. What’s next?” he asked, letting the man drive the bus.

From where they sat in the window seat, he pointed across the street. There was a small store, and in the window, there hung pretty things.

“I want to get something for Elizabeth. I feel like she would love a memento of our trip here. You know how she is.”

He did.

The woman was sentimental, and honestly, they were too.

“She has this obsession with collecting ornaments for her tree. Maybe something like that?”

He grinned.

“Perfect.”

When a woman who worked there came up, she asked them if they needed anything else.

“No, we’re good. Thank you,” he said, not paying any attention to her.

When she smiled, winked at Gryphen, and slipped him a napkin with her number, he stared at it on the table.

“See?” Ian said. “You’re gorgeous, and all the ladies are watching you.”

Well, then, Gryphen knew how to solve that problem. While Ian wasn’t saying it, he knew that if the shoes were on the other foot, and someone slipped Ian his number, he’d be irritated.

That was bound to wear on anyone’s nerves.

“Come on over.”

He was confused.

“What?” he asked.

“You heard me, Ian. Come keep me company on this side of the booth.”

Well, if that’s what he wanted…

Sure.

“Uh, okay,” he said, moving to the other side to sit beside his man. Once there, he dropped his arm over his shoulder, and sipped his hot chocolate.

That set the tone.

Everyone got the picture.

They were a couple.

“Gryph, you don’t have to do that,” he said. “I’m okay with people admiring. It’s the touching I have to protest.”

“Well, then, you’re really going to dislike this,” he said, lifting his chin, and kissing him on the mouth.

The second their lips touched, the world fell away, and Ian was only thinking about Gryphen.

When he broke the kiss, the Marine was smiling.

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