Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(81)

“Yeah, he cooks and I clean,” he replied, twisting around, grabbing his coat off the rack in the front lobby. At the front door of Fox’s shop, he was suddenly hauled backward by his shirt. Dev shoved the money into the waistband of his underwear. The tenderness of his back held him captive, allowing Dev to win the battle of the money.

“Not takin’ your money. Let that heal, then we’ll keep goin’. I want to shade it in,” Dev said and shoved him out the door with a boot to his ass.

“Thanks, man,” he said, turning back to see Dev shutting the door in his face. He lifted a hand. Dev did, too, through the glass in the door. Man, Dev was such a good friend.

And that was fuckin’ Alec in his head, defining all his relationships like that. He swiveled, tossing the jacket around himself, carefully angling his arms to catch the sleeves. It was cold and he had a long ride ahead.

=?=

“Come on, Mr. Nash, do your business,” Alec encouraged, wrapping his arms around his chest, trying to warm up. The weather was seriously bipolar in Texas. This morning, it was almost eighty degrees—hence his current state of attire, a T-shirt and shorts. Now, it had to have dropped twenty degrees, which may only mean it was somewhere in the low sixties in temp, but the chill nipped at his skin.

The pup started to do his business, but stopped and barked, hopping out of the small section of grass and heading toward the driveway. Of course, Nash had heard Key before Alec did. Alec swooped up the pup, putting him back on the grass as the bike’s pipes grew louder and the front gate started to open. At this point, Nash was barking like crazy, well past the point of finishing his business, and Alec had to again scoop the puppy up, who tried to leap out of his hands when he finally saw Key round the corner.

As busy as Alec was transitioning files and learning the complicated ropes from Reed, his heart connected with this moment, making everything occupying his head fade away. Nash was taken with Key as much as Alec was and, although his big biker had never admitted it—which was clearly his way of things—his guy was equally as taken with Nash. From the minute Key arrived home, he commandeered the dog, keeping him nearby until he was forced to leave the next morning.

In Key’s quiet way, he left the bike, his stride full of sexy swagger as he walked straight to Alec, taking Nash from his hands before leaning over and placing a kiss on Alec’s waiting lips.

“How was work?” Alec asked, slipping his arms inside Key’s open jacket.

“Mmm,” Key muttered, bringing Nash to his face, giving their puppy a toothy grin before rubbing his head. “Did he do his business?”

“Just maybe started to when he heard you.”

“Did he use your shoes again?” That had Alec’s smile falling to a frown. Nash seemed to have a thing for his shoes—different ones for different things. His expensive Italian loafers were better than any puppy pads at drawing Nash to them.

“I spent the morning moving everything up off the floor after you left. I’ve got to remember not to kick my shoes off anywhere and forget them. They’re like magnets to him,” he said as Key placed the puppy back on the patch of grass.

“You should’ve figured that out with the house shoes.” Key chuckled, shrugging off his jacket to give to him.

“I thought he liked the softness.” He hesitated but did take the jacket when his lover wrapped it around his shoulders. That was one of the little things that made Key special. His burly biker was always a gentleman.

“They ain’t that soft. Go inside. I got this.” The temperature seemed to be dropping even further, and if nothing else, he could grab his long coat. He returned Key’s jacket and started to go when he spotted the tape on his man’s neck. He reached up, pulling at the collar, and saw the plastic wrapping.

“Did you get a new tattoo?”

Key looked at him and smirked, which was Alec’s clue he was missing something that Key thought he should know.

“What?”

“You’re fishin’,” Key said and rolled his eyes.

“Does that mean you got the tattoo for me?” Alec asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to get a good read on his mister.

“I thought I’d at least make it inside before you noticed.”

Alec started across the walk with every intention of turning on the outside lighting to help get a better look at the tattoo then changed course. Dusk had already settled over them, and he really wanted to see what Key had designed for him.

“Get in the house. I have to see this,” he ordered, darting back to where Key had been standing, scooping up Nash, and still managed to make it inside and turn on the kitchen lights before Key ambled through the doorway.

“Maybe I don’t wanna show you,” Key teased, humor in his voice as he shut the back door behind him.

“Is it really for me…or about me?” he asked, placing Nash on the pee-pad he’d placed close to the back door.

“I don’t know. You tell me.” Key was hard to read on a normal day, but when he tried to be mysterious, he was infuriatingly cryptic. Alec hurriedly pulled out the kitchen chair Key had used to drape his jacket over and ushered him to sit.

“Alexa, turn on all the lights in the house.” Every light in the house lit up like a football stadium at game time.

“Whoa,” Key muttered, just like every time Alec used that function. He tended to agree, but he just pointed to the seat.