Page 30 of Cash

But Jules was also kind, generous, surprisingly sweet and thoughtful, and not to mention hot.

Like, really hot.

Brick already knew he had a bad habit of falling into bed and catching feelings fast.

He couldn’t do that with Jules. In addition to being a gangster, Jules had said he would be leaving when his work was done. That meant their time together, whatever it was, would be limited, so there was no point in getting involved. Although he was very flattered to be the first guy Jules had ever been attracted to, it was senseless to start something that was destined to end so soon.

There.

Problem solved.

Brick didn’t know what it said about him as a person that the length of the potential relationship was the deciding factor and not Jules being a criminal.

Maybe he’d hit his head on the stairs harder than he’d thought.

A careful touch to his nose found it a bit sore, but at least it wasn’t broken. It could have been a lot worse, and a fresh jolt of panic drove him to go ahead and get out of the shower. He really needed to find that damn gun.

And the key.

And the bullets.

One problem at a time.

He needed to tell Jules that he’d made up his mind that they weren’t going to pursue anything romantic.

Brick wrapped a towel around himself and stepped up to the sink to shave. He put on moisturizer and deodorant, a quick spray of cologne, and then headed out into his bedroom to get dressed.

Jules was there sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Fuck!” Brick yelped in surprise.

“Hey.” Jules waved.

“What are you doing up here?” Brick hissed, trying to keep his heart from exploding out of his chest. “I thought you were downstairs.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jules grinned. “Just wanted to make sure you were all right. You were in there for a while.”

“I’m good. I’m fine.” Brick held the towel tighter, well aware that Jules’s eyes were moving over his bare torso and the intensity of his gaze was making Brick blush.

“Come here.” Jules beckoned him over with a finger.

Brick went willingly, and his pulse quickened for much more pleasant reasons as Jules gently grabbed his hips. He let his hands drop on Jules’s forearms, and he totally forgot everything he’d decided to tell him. He half-expected Jules to pull off his towel and throw him into bed, and Brick didn’t think he would have minded one bit.

Jules was looking over Brick’s stomach and hips, and his tongue slid out over his lower lip as if he was indeed about to pounce on all that naked skin. Instead, he glanced up at Brick, asking, “Feelin’ any better?”

“Yeah. I am. Thank you.”

“I already got the coffee goin’.” Jules smiled warmly. “Tell me what you like for breakfast.”

“You’re gonna cook?”

“Fuck no. I can’t cook for shit, but I can Grubhub like a motherfucker.”

Brick laughed. “Hey, that works too. There’s a place right up the road from here that has all-day breakfast called the Flying Biscuit. The apple butter is amazing.”

“What the fuck is apple butter?”

“Trust me. Get the Flying Biscuit Breakfast, eggs scrambled, and order a lot of extra apple butter.”

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