Page 39 of All Twisted Up
I swallowed hard. I hated the idea of being away from the kids for an extended period of time even though I’d known it might happen. And living in close proximity with a gorgeous man who I couldn’t touch, wasn’t exactly thrilling me. I consciously shoved my reservations to the back of my mind, determined that I wasn’t going to become some kind of whiner.
“Okay, you win.” I spun back to the bed just in time to see a huge, orange cat crawling out from under the bed. He looked up at us and let out a strangled meow as his huge body appeared.
“Who’s this?” I said, walking over to the cat who immediately started rubbing up against my legs. “Is he friendly?” I bent and petted him.
Nash chuckled. “Marvin…I was wondering where you were.” He bent and picked up the big cat who immediately started snuggling against him. His purr was loud, making me smile as I reached out and ran my hand down his back. Nash looked up at me. “He’s adopted.”
“I got the impression you lived alone,” I said, admiring the way the cat seemed to adore his master.
“Well, I do with the exception of Marvin and my plants.” He snuggled the cat for a minute more before setting him down. “I’ll feed you in a minute, hungry boy.”
The cat immediately jumped up on the bed as I bent and grabbed my duffel, setting it on the bed. I couldn’t get over what a contradiction the man was, but I turned my attention to the bag, anxious to see what the guys had packed. When I unzipped it, the first thing I saw were three books. That made me smile. All three were gay romance novels which had been sitting on a bookshelf in my bedroom. They’d actually taken the time to pack something I love. Books always had been my refuge. I adored reading whenever I wasn’t too tired. As I pulled them out and set them on the bed, my mind wandered to work. I usually put in forty hours a week at Tango’s, so not being able to work would be weird.
I started pulling out clothes and dropping them on the bed, refolding the ones that had been hastily stuffed into the duffel. I had nearly gotten to the bottom of the bag when I saw the colorful pile of jockstraps. I made a choking sound and turned just in time to see Nash watching with interest. He met my expression of surprise with a massive grin. I felt my face flush with embarrassment as he reached into the duffel and pulled out a neon orange one.
He held it up. “Play a lot of basketball, do you?”
I snorted a laugh and grabbed it out of his hand, throwing it back in the duffel. Marvin instantly poked his head into the bag to see what else was in there. “I can’t believe Captain Sorensen packed my jockstraps. I’m so embarrassed.”
Nash laughed and walked back to the dresser, opening another drawer. “You underestimate the man.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just ignored the remark as I began carrying things over to the drawer. “Where are you going to put your stuff?” I glanced over at Nash.
“I’m making room. Fortunately, I don’t have a lot of ties as you can see. I only wear them to court if I have to testify. I have exactly two suits for that reason alone. I prefer to dress casually whenever possible.”
I glanced at the T-shirt and cargo pants he was wearing. He wore them well. Then again, he’d probably look good in a gunny sack. The man had muscles for days but not the overworked kind like some gym bunnies. I thought some of those big, buff guys overdid the whole workout thing, though, it was fun watching them lift weights. My gaze strayed down to his pants. He had a beautiful, tight ass and the cargos hugged it perfectly. I glanced at his bulge for just a moment before turning my attention back to the task at hand.
Shockingly, everything fit in the single, deep drawer. I didn’t need more than a few changes of clothing anyway. I really hoped Captain Sorensen was right about how deeply focused Nash’s team would be at catching the maggots who wanted me dead. As welcoming as Nash had been, I hated the idea of putting him out. He’d already given up his privacy, his bedroom, and his time to take care of me. Just as I finished putting my clothes in the drawer, my stomach growled. I shyly glanced over at Nash only to find him grinning.
“You haven’t eaten breakfast. Let me make you something.”
“Oh, no! You don’t have to do that.”
“You have to eat.”
“I suppose I could eat an egg or some cereal,” I replied, feeling really embarrassed. I certainly didn’t want him cooking for me.
He pinned me with a serious expression. “Joshua, you’re not a houseguest here. I want you to know that as long as we’re living under the same roof, you have the run of the place. That means you can eat whatever’s in the refrigerator and if there isn’t something appealing to you, I’ll go pick it up at the store.” He spread his arms wide. “Think of me as your beck and call boy.”
I smiled. My stomach protested again and I was surprised when he reached out and patted me on the cheek before turning and heading out of the room.
“I’ll make you one of my famous omelets,” he threw over his shoulder as he marched down the hall.
I glanced around, dropping the empty duffel on a chair before following him out of the room. When I got to the kitchen he was at the open refrigerator door, fishing things out of a vegetable drawer. I caught sight of cilantro, red onion, and cheese. He straightened and handed them to me as he grabbed the eggs off a shelf. “I’m not sure what you like in your eggs.”
“All this looks great and if you’ll give me a knife, I’ll start cutting. You must be hungry too.” Neither of us had eaten.
“Thank you.”
I walked over to the sink and began rinsing the cilantro as he handed me a garlic bulb, pointing to it. I dried my hands, took the bulb and smiled. “Love garlic.”
“Me too.”
“Do you like to cook?” I asked.
“I love to cook. It relaxes the hell out of me. Dunno know why.”
“Because it’s fun. I like to cook too, although Barbie does most of it since my hours are so long and not exactly on the sameschedule as the kids. I try to get home for dinner but sometimes I work the dinner rush at Tango’s so they have to eat without me.”
