Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(24)

“Too hot for dinner outside?” Alec asked, having heard the temperature had topped out at a hundred and one degrees this afternoon. Back at the refrigerator, he lifted a covered dish, seeing the fajita meat he’d had his housekeeper Olivia pick up from a little hole-in-the-wall butcher in Lewisville.

“Not for me,” Key said. Alec heard the distinct pop of the wine cork as he reached for the pre-sliced vegetable tray. He also saw a nice-sized bowl of frijoles, his housekeeper’s secret recipe. She most definitely deserved a raise. She’d thought of everything he needed to pull this dinner off in style.

Key left the kitchen with the wine bottle in hand. Alec smiled. Either the guy was going to chug the bottle under all the stress Alec had added to their evening or he was going for a wine glass. Alec washed his hands in the sink. This whole scene seemed very domesticated to him. They were in sync, and Alec had to admit he really enjoyed spending his time with Key.

Alec shook the excess water off his hands and reached for the hand towel as a glass was placed on the counter beside him. Key’s strong arms wrapped around his waist, and Alec took the miniscule step backward into the warm, welcoming embrace. His biker’s beard tickled as Key nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

“Thank you for gettin' over your pissed off so easy. Nobody in my life gets over anything that easy,” Key whispered, his lips pressing against Alec’s skin.

Alec stared at the sink and chose his response carefully. “I wasn’t angry at you. I was concerned at what I had done to cause your response.”

Key’s palms slid over his belly as he ran his nose up the length of his neck and reached out to playfully nip at his earlobe. God, he loved that move. Alec rested against Key’s chest, content to stay like that forever. He dropped his head to his lover’s shoulder and smoothed his arms along Key’s to keep him right there.

“You seemed happy when you got home today. Why?” Key asked.

“You were here,” he answered, staring absently out the kitchen window above the sink, loving the way Key tightened his hold at his response.

“It was more.”

For Alec, there truly wasn’t anything more to say. His happiness seemed contingent on Key. Having the surprise of Key magically showing up could change even his most dismal of days. Instead of saying that, Alec chose a different tactic, not wanting to give Key any room to doubt the intensity of his feelings again. “I have a case and things have somewhat gone my way. At least for right now I was able to keep the defendant incarcerated a while longer. There’s been some new developments that concern me, but all in all, he’s locked up for the time being, and it’s exactly where he needs to be.”

“You’ve mentioned him before, right?”

“Yeah. It’s the little girl with big blue eyes who reminds me of someone else I know with the same color. She’s older than her young age. I suspect you were very much like her as a child,” Alec explained, trying to remain passive and neutral. His recent findings were too fresh in his mind. He needed time to find the best way to tell the very private Key that he’d seen glimpses of his past.

“You’re incredible. I bet that little girl’s mom’s relieved,” Key said, turning Alec to face him.

“I doubt it, but I think her grandmother most certainly is. I need to learn how to distance myself from my job. I’m working on it, but it hasn’t come easy for me. This particular case has wormed its way into my heart.” Alec wrapped both his arms around Key’s waist, keeping them locked there together.

“Mmm,” Key said, placing a sweet chaste kiss on his lips.

“Blaine told me he could hear the biker coming out in me. My vocabulary’s apparently changing,” he said to divert the current course of the conversation.

Key’s expression unexpectedly shifted, his body tensed, and his arms tightened around Alec. A territorial move that caused Alec to do a double take. Key’s possessive intentions showed on his suddenly easy to read face, causing Alec to chuckle then lift a finger to trace the skin of his severely creased brow. Say what he would, this right here proved that Key knew they were more than great sex. Lust didn’t provoke such primal jealousy, and Alec called him out.

“You’re jealous.”

“I ain’t jealous.” Key scoffed as if that were the most absurd suggestion. He abruptly released Alec, turning away as he reached for the tray of fajita meat.

Alec stole Key’s earlier move, coming in behind to embrace him, lifting on his tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Then what are you?”

“I told you I don’t like him. He left you out there on the road like that,” Key said, looking over his shoulder. Alec kissed his cheek, knowing Key always got stuck right there. He had never let it go that Blaine had left him on the dark roadside alone the first night he and Key met.

“But you took care of me,” Alec reminded Key. Alec understood the dangers that had been involved, but he’d always considered the whole night a big win for him. If it hadn’t all gone down exactly the way it had, he might not have this man in his house right now.

“What if somethin’ had happened to you?” Key challenged.

“I’m certain you would have handled the situation upon your return. Anyone stupid enough to confront you would get what they deserved. Besides, I’m not a weakling. I can handle myself. If I remembered correctly, at the time, I brought up the hours of defense training courses I’ve watched on Viceland.” Alec got the desired effect as the brooding biker smiled and shook his head at Alec’s silliness, returning to the tray, stacking the veggies on top, and balancing the bowl of beans with the other hand.