Page 63 of All Twisted Up
He shook his head. “No, you said I could work.” When I didn’t reply he turned to Candy. “I can still work, right?”
Candy smiled. “For now, we’re leaving things just as they are, but just to be on the safe side, I’m sending two more of my guys over to stay here until all of this is resolved. You should lay low and continue keeping vigilant until a decision is made.” Hestepped up to Joshua and squeezed his shoulder. “Your safety and that of your family is all that matters.”
Joshua nodded, taking the hand the captain offered him. “Thank you.” He glanced around the room at the others. “And thank all of you, especially you, Judy.”
She smiled widely, walking over to hug him. “No worries, Joshua. I promise I’ll keep on it. I might have a few things in the works. Just stay here with Nash. You’re in good hands.” She glanced at me before turning back to him. “I think you already know he’s a good man and he’ll protect you with his life, time and again if that’s what it takes.” She patted him on the arm before they all headed for the front door.
Once I’d said goodbye to everyone, reminding Patsy and Napoleon to go water my plants, I shut and locked the door.
The moment I turned around, Joshua flew into my arms. I hugged his body tightly against mine, resting my chin on top of his head. Judy was right. I’d kill anyone who tried to take him away from me.
Anyone.
Chapter Seventeen
NASH
I let go of Joshua and held him out at arm’s length, noting the wary look in his eyes. “Come on. Let me feed you.” I took his hand and pulled him into the kitchen, only letting go of it to check the fridge for breakfast ingredients.
“I need a shower, Nash.”
I turned to look at him and smirked. “Why? You just took a shower.”
He frowned. “I know but what if they could smell sex on me…and your other friends are coming…and—”
“I like the way you smell,” I said, cutting him off, “besides, you only smell a little like sex.”
His eyes flew wide as he lifted his arm and sniffed his pits, pulling the collar of his T-shirt up to his nose, and taking a huge inhale. “Oh, my God, no! I just hugged Judy.”
I laughed. “I’m teasing. Besides, who’s Judy going to tell?”
“Everyone you work with!”
I shut the fridge door and went to him. “Don’t worry so much. No one I work with is going to think badly of you evenifJudy tells them about your delicious scent.” I wrapped my arms around his waist, looking down into his upturned face as I pulled him against my body. “You met them. No one is going to care.”
“But you’re supposed to be on the job, Nash. You don’t think Captain Sorensen is going to care if you’re screwing me?”
I nearly flinched at his description then kicked myself for wanting to believe that anything between us could be more than that. I wasn’t even sure I wanted that, though, I was beginning to believe I was fooling myself. I pushed the sudden rush of emotions down and focused on his question.
“Because it’s none of his business.” I cut him off as he opened his mouth, probably to protest. “Candy Sorensen is an adult, Joshua. If he even smelled sex, he wouldn’t say anything about it. My job is secure and as you pointed out a few minutes ago, I’ve already gotten you out of some scrapes.”
He smiled and reached up, twining his arms around my neck. “Some scrapes? I said that you’d saved my life three times. Those weren’t exactly scrapes, Nash.”
“That’s true. I am pretty great.” I leaned down and cut off whatever he was going to say with a kiss, unable to resist his perfect, pink lips. The kiss was slow and lush and within moments, I felt my dick hardening all over again. Something about the perfectly sweet man in my arms simply did it for me. We kissed for a minute or so before I finally broke the kiss with a gasp.
“What?” His fingers toyed with the hair at my nape.
I reached up and took hold of his forearms, bringing them down. “Because if I’m going to busy myself with bedroom activities, I’m going to feed you first.”
He snorted, stepping back out of my space. “Fine, but as much as I adored the meal you cooked for me last night, it’s my turn to cook.” He brushed past me, walking to the fridge just as Marvin sauntered into the room. I immediately bent down to scratch his head.
“Good morning, mister. Are you hungry too?” Marvin let out a low-pitched meow, so I opened the cabinet and pulled out abag of dry and a can of wet food I’d put in there last night. While I worked to feed my little guy, I reflected on what Joshua had said about my cooking. I’d made him spaghetti using some ground turkey we’d found, along with dry pasta and sauce out of a jar. Not the most inventive meal, but the only thing I could think of with what we had on hand and my basic cooking skills.
“Thanks for saying you liked my cooking, but there’s not a lot to work with in the house. We’ll need to make a grocery run if we’re staying.” I set Marvin’s bowls down and watched him run to them, digging in. When I looked over at Joshua, he’d just pulled a bag out of the freezer. He dumped it on the counter along with the other things in his hands.
“Doyou think we’ll be staying?” he asked. “What if the DEA already knows where we are and that unknown person is coming after us?”
“First of all, you heard my captain. He’s sending a couple of the guys to stay here with us until we figure out what is going on here.”
