Page 78 of A Box of Wishes
“What did you do about the recipe? The one from the box, I mean.”
“Record it, file it in evidence.” Ben turned into his driveway and parked his car. “Then I spent over an hour talking to our Buckingham colleagues about the lab they busted. If we can prove that the recipe we found came from their lab, then it’s their case. They may want to talk to you, too.”
“I can’t think what I can tell them. I’ve no idea who dropped the recipe in the box. It must have happened after that lab got busted and before we met, but you hardly need me to tell you so. As for the box… I told your boss a lot more than I usually tell strangers. I’ve been treated like a freak enough times in my life to invite that kind of scrutiny.”
Ben wanted to hug him so badly his fingers itched, but he didn’t reach out. “Alastair told me a little when I questioned him. And—”
“You questioned Alastair? When? Why?”
“A few days ago. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t the reason you were in trouble. He explained about the box being a shield. And… why you needed one.” He got out of the car and waited for Ryan to do the same. “And now you’ve done your bit to help, Ryan. It’s up to us to get them off the street and make sure you’re safe in your home.”
Ryan didn’t comment, but the tension melted from his shoulders. He moved with more assurance when he followed Ben up the stairs to his front door.
And then Morris was there, meowing at a volume that spoke of his displeasure.
Until he caught sight of Ryan.
Like a flash, he evaded Ben’s grasp and crossed the hallway. He stood on his hind legs, one paw braced on Ryan’s thigh, the other stretching in the highest high five.
“Hello, Morris.” Ryan lifted the cat and cradled him like a baby. “I’ve missed you too. So much.”
Watching Ryan cuddle Morris stirred a tide of feelings in Ben’s chest. “I’m sorry I’ve been an arse,” he said when Ryan’s gaze found his.
“I’m sorry I kept secrets,” Ryan replied, still holding the cat.
Ben took two steps forward and wrapped his arms around them both. “Let’s not do that again,” he begged. “I was so darned miserable.”
Ryan dropped his forehead onto Ben’s shoulder. “Yeah, me too.”
They leaned on each other, close and comfortable in that moment, until Morris wriggled in their hold.
“Dinner time, is it?” Ben straightened. “I think that goes for us, too.”
Ryan had a cold beer on the table in front of him. He had a purring Morris in his lap. And Ben stood at the stove, searing beef strips in a pan. Ryan should be at ease and relaxed, especially since he and Ben had put their quarrel behind them. So why wasn’t he? Why was he waiting for something to go wrong?
“You look as if you left the gas on,” Ben said.
“Do I?” Ryan stroked Morris’s soft ears and then decided to explain himself. “I feel as if… I don’t know… as if I’m in the wrong place?”
“Because you’re not cooking? Or because you’re in my kitchen?”
“Either. Neither. I’m used to looking after people rather than the other way around. Makes me feel… awkward.”
Ben took the pan off the heat and came to Ryan’s side. “I want you here,” he said. “I want to look after you. But that awkward feeling you talk about? Yeah, I get that. This house… it looks as if I’ve just moved in, with bits missing everywhere.”
“You have a new dining table.”
“So I do. But—”
It was Ryan’s turn to reassure Ben, and that was something he knew how to do. “I want to be here, Ben. With you and Morris. And… I’m starving. So why don’t we dispense with the awkward and cook together so we can eat together after?”
Ben’s smile lit the room. And grew into a grin when Ryan discovered that dislodging a cat who wanted to stay put wasn’t an easy thing to do.
It was sweet how Ben took nothing for granted. He didn’t expect Ryan to cook or wash up. He didn’t expect Ryan to stay the night or for Ryan to share his bed.
Ryan loved him for it, even as he wished Benwouldexpect a bit more from others. Or, at the very least, from him.
Cooking with Ben had been fun. Clearing the kitchen afterwards had been as companionable as if they’d been in his own kitchen in the coffeehouse. And curling up with Ben in Ben’s bed was no hardship. Neither was touching Ben and making him moan.
