Page 45 of Warrior's Cross

“Yeah,” Julian murmured. “Me too.” He sighed as he looked away. He couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t worked on a holiday. Holidays made people careless; they thought everyone took a break. Julian found a tiny, perverse bit of pleasure in proving them wrong.

Blake sniffed and sprawled back in his chair. “However,youhave a reason to like holidays now, don’t you?” he murmured, his twinkling eyes belying the disgruntled face. “Someone to spend them with?”

Julian looked back at Blake carefully and grunted at him. “I’m going to steal him away from you,” he threatened under his breath, an impossible promise, he knew, even as he joked about it.

Blake actually chuckled. “He’d probably go too,” he allowed.

A smile flickered across Julian’s lips, but he didn’t say anything in response. “Do I need to give you a rose, as well?” he finally teased.

“That would go over well,” Blake said, leaning forward. “About as well as you getting down on your knees here in the restaurant to declare your undying devotion to my best waiter.”

Julian glared at his friend in warning. “He’s been talking, has he?” he asked softly.

“Just to me,” Blake admitted. “You really shook him up with that, you know? I wasn’t sure he was taking it that well.”

Julian narrowed his eyes and then looked away. He’d wondered that himself at the time. Cameron had been really surprised. He hadn’t taken it as the lighthearted joke it was meant to be.

Blake tipped his head to one side, the teasing light fading from his eyes and his tone. When he spoke, his voice was low and serious.

“Why did you tell him that, Julian? Trying to get him into bed?”

“You know me better than that,” Julian chastised sharply, his focus snapping back to Blake.

Blake raised an eyebrow in question. “Don’t fuck around with him if you’re not serious, Julian. He’s too good a man to deserve what’ll happen if you have to dump him and take off. You know how realistic that scenario is.”

Julian looked back at him with a momentary surge of anger, an emotion that seeped out of his black eyes almost immediately. He looked down at the table sadly. He couldn’t be mad at Blake for pointing out what was simple reality. He knew better than to think he could have Cameron in his life without it causing problems, but...

Julian frowned. He’d lost his appetite along with his good mood.

“Julian, come on. Don’t give me that kicked puppy look. I’m just looking out for both of you. Youcanmake it work. Lord knows, if anybody deserves some happiness, it’s you. Just... be careful. Please,” Blake implored quietly.

Julian pressed his lips together tightly and looked back up at Blake. “I don’t think I’ll be eating tonight,” he murmured. “Can you get Cameron for me? I’d like to say hello before I go.”

Blake frowned. “Cameron’s not here.”

Julian didn’t even twitch in response. He merely looked at Blake without blinking for a moment. “Where is he?” he asked softly, searching his memory to find if Cameron had mentioned anything unusual the last time they were together.

“He’s at home, I assume. He called in sick all weekend and today,” Blake said. “When was the last time you saw him? Didn’t you know he was sick?”

“Friday afternoon,” Julian answered hoarsely. “He was fine.” He stared at Blake intently and asked, “Are you sure he’s sick?” His pulse began to pick up as a nameless dread stirred in his gut.

“I sort of thought maybe he was shacked up with you somewhere and just didn’t want to tell me,” Blake admitted. He looked up to see Miri approaching with a bottle of wine. “Miri, have you heard from Cameron?”

“Not since Sunday morning,” she answered as she pulled out a corkscrew. “He called and left me a message, asked me to pick up his dogs.” She glanced up at Blake and then over to Julian. “Why?”

“Did you see him?” Julian demanded of her. Now his mind was starting to conjure scenarios he really, truly didn’t want to imagine Cameron being involved in.

Miri looked to Blake in concern, but answered Julian. “No, he wasn’t there when I stopped by. I just took the dogs and left.”

“He was too sick to care for his dogs, but he went out?” Julian asked in a low voice.

“He didn’t sound well on the phone,” Miri said with a shrug. “He sounded exhausted, and his voice was hoarse. I figured he went to the doctor or the drugstore or something. He left the door unlocked for me.”

Julian looked away from her to stare at the linen tablecloth. His mind raced, trying to remember how Cameron had been the previous Friday and fighting down the panic that leading his life could create.

Had someone found out about Cameron? Was he hurt?

Blake looked at Julian hard for a moment. “Thank you, Miri. I’ll pour the wine,” he said pleasantly.

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