Page 6 of Changeling
Nathan didn’t argue; that’s what he’d wanted to do in the first place.
As Sasha and Jim disappeared once again to the downstairs room they had been painting, Nathan placed his necklace back where it belonged around his neck and followed Alex into one of the lounges.
“For the record, I really did think it looked like a raccoon when I saw it,” she said, helping Nathan situate himself in a cushier recliner, something he only allowed because he really was that sore.
“Can you hand me the remote?”
Alex grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and plopped it into Nathan’s hand. “Don’t get used to this now. Basic cable. With a few extras. Might have ESPN.”
Nathan flicked the TV on and started surfing. “Not much of a sport’s guy,” he admitted.
“I think we get SyFy,” Alex snarked.
But Nathan had struck gold already. “I’m good,” he said, basking in the genius ofAirplaneas the stewardess with a guitar knocked the sick kid’s IV out. Again. Alex left with a chuckle, and Nathan allowed himself to get comfortable.
The next thing he knew, Lloyd Bridges’ character was upside down sniffing glue, and Nathan was jolting awake. The movie was almost over.
Nathan’s chest didn’t hurt anymore save its usual dull ache, and when he put weight on his leg as he got out of the chair, the expected sting didn’t come.Praise pain meds, he thought, even if they did make him a little queasy sometimes.
When he came out of the downstairs bathroom a few minutes later and wandered into the bar area, he saw Alex hovering by the jukebox pretending to dust or something equally implausible while actually peering into the nearby doorway. Nathan looked around her as he approached and saw that the adjoining room was the one Jim and Sasha were painting. Both of them had at some point removed their shirts and were speckled in white and blue paint.
Nathan had to smirk. “You are so busted,” he whispered beside Alex’s head, pleased that even in a weakened state he had been able to sneak up on her.
To her credit, Alex didn’t even flinch. “I can’t admire a job well done?” she said without turning. It was more than obvious she wasn’t talking about the act of painting.
Nathan snorted, but any comeback he might have been preparing fell from his lips as he got pulled into the scene alongside her. Jim was only too happily forgotten as Nathan focused on Sasha and hummed. Bare chest, flecks of paint, the usual low-riding jeans that were snug in all the right places, and the peek of tattoo curling up from below Sasha’s waistline. Nathan could see the tribal wings too, flexing over Sasha’s shoulder blades.
Distantly, Alex’s voice filtered into Nathan’s hearing, filled with humor. “Is it the tats or just that he wears his jeans that low?”
“Both,” Nathan said in a low voice. Alex’s snickering brought him back to reality and he raised an eyebrow at her. “You asked.”
“Yeah, but the crazy thing is…you had an answer. So tell me,” she said, grinning dangerously now and backing up a few steps to lean casually against the jukebox, “have you slept with him yet?”
Okay, maybe Nathan wasn’t quite as comfortable with being open about all of this as he had thought, especially considering hisuncomfortablelaugh poured out of him. “Uhh…what?” he managed, blaming the drugs for how much his voice shook.
“So that’s a yes,” Alex nodded to herself. “Guess I have to hand it to him; Sasha has to be good at what he does to get into the pants of a guy likeyouthis quickly.”
Nathan’s defensive shields instantly rose. “Okay, first,” he said, still keeping his voice low to avoid alerting the pair in the other room, “if you thinkmonthsis quick then you don’t know me. And if you think the only thing Sasha’s after is a good meal, tasty as I’m sure I am, then you can just…” He trailed. Alex was smiling all self-satisfactorily again. Damn it. “You’re bullshitting me, aren’t you?”
“You make it so easy,” she smiled. “Besides, I have to mess with you a little. If you didn’t get all defensive, I’d worry you didn’t really care about him. Guess you do.” Her humor-filled expression turned sincere, and Nathan softened as he realized her true intentions.
“So what about you?” he asked. “Any…unresolved issues I need to know about between you two?”
Alex laughed a little uncomfortably. At least Nathanthoughtit was uncomfortable. Maybe he was just imagining things, since he was so used to his own uncomfortable laugh. “I hesitate to even call us friends sometimes,” she said. “Despite the sociable guy act, he keeps to himself most of the time and is so private I hardly feel I know him at all.”
“You know enough to know he’s an incubus. And that didn’t really answer my question.”
The smile on Alex’s face turned to pure guarded confidence. “I foresee no love shapes in your future, Nathan. Sasha and I have nothing…unresolved.” She said that last word slowly, lingering on it like a tease.
“Wait,” Nathan said, realizing he still wasn’t getting a straight answer, “does that mean you had thingsresolvedonce? Coz I—”
“Hey, guys!” Alex called into the other room, successfully cutting off any further prodding from Nathan. “How about I grab the lowly slaves some drinks? Requests?”
Nathan gave Alex’s smug smile a glare.
“Any kind of soda is fine,” Jim called back. “Thanks.”
“Water for me,” said Sasha. “Thanks, Alex.”
