Page 15 of Without Fail

Marshal’s quick inhale was loud in his ears. Lifting his eyes upward, their gazes locked and held.

The moment was intimate. His heart pounded in his chest. Marshal’s throat bobbed and then laughter in the hallway broke them apart.

After a long moment of hesitation, Marshal turned away, removed his hat, and ran his fingers through his hair.

Ryker pressed his back against the shelf front, trying to get his pulse to calm the hell down, but before that could happen,Marshal was taking his hand, linking their fingers together and sending it skyrocketing again. The man led him back out into the brightly lit hallway and all he could think about was that he wanted a kiss.

In moments, he was distracted when they entered another noise-filled room filled with kids and adults.

“We can build it here,” Marshal said gruffly and guided him to one of two empty chairs at a messy table.

“It?” he echoed, confused until he saw Marshal still held the packaged airplane.

He was pressed into one of two empty chairs at a noisy table. When Marshal sat beside him, the man’s thigh pressed against his under the table, causing his heart to sputter.

Marshal placed one hand on the back of his chair and leaned forward to watch while Ryker opened the package with shaking hands.

Excited didn’t begin to describe how he felt and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the airplane, the moment in the closet, or the fact that Marshal was here with him.

Kids crowded around the table, some sitting in chairs and others standing. Adults were just as noisy as the children, and Ryker knew in his heart this would not be his last visit.

He loved the place.

When Marshal lifted a piece of the airplane and pointed to a slot in the thin wood, Ryker slipped the slots together to create the tail.

“You’ve done this before,” Ryker huffed with a smile at Marshal.

“When I was growing up, yeah.”

Ryker was filled with sudden curiosity. He wanted to know where Marshal grew up. Why didn’t he already know where or what kind of childhood the man had? Were his parents still alive? Those were questions he’d never thought to ask before.While Marshal knew everything there was to know about him, he knew only the adult Marshal and next to nothing about the child the man had been.

“And where did you grow up?” Ryker asked, concentrating on getting the wings on.

“I’ll tell you sometime,” Marshal said softly.

“Promise?” He made the mistake of gazing up into Marshal’s face and their eyes locked and held.

A weird heat filled Ryker’s stomach and he fumbled with the wing. Marshal’s hand closed over his and guided as he repositioned the wooden wing.

“Promise,” Marshal whispered and the man’s mouth was so close to his cheek, the words caressed his ear.

“There you are!” Hailey said, coming up behind them and throwing her arms around Ryker’s neck from behind. She pressed her tits to his back and her cheek against his, hanging over him and effectively blocking Marshal out.

Ryker was annoyed. “Hey, I’m building here.”

“It looks like you’re done,” she insisted.

“You can handle the rest,” Marshal said, pointing to the stickers on the table before the man stood up from the chair.

“I’ll help!” Hailey immediately took the vacant chair and started peeling off stickers.

Ryker gazed after Marshal’s wide back as the bodyguard left the room.

A lot of his excitement dimmed.

Marshal walked out of the room, mentally kicking his own ass for dragging Ryker away in the first place.

Thank fuck Bishop had earlier informed him that Ryker was leaving the estate, otherwise, he would have missed tagging along. Sure, he could have found Ryker, but jumping into the man’s sports car had been easier.

---