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Shortly after dawn, they packed up their bags and hopped in the car to drive the last two hours to Toulouse. Edward managed to get a room at his favorite hotel and a light brunch sent up while they settled in. The delicious food kept Daniel occupied briefly, but within an hour, the restlessness had set in.
He understood the man’s desire to leave the hotel room and explore, but they were safer inside. When Daniel suggested a walk around the city, Edward had countered with a suggestion of sex as a way of burning off his excess energy. The suggestion was not welcomed, and Daniel stopped talking to him.
The young man heaved a loud, forlorn sigh that had Edward rolling his eyes. It was becoming really pathetic.
Edward shook the paper before flipping to the next page. “You know, your acting was better in La Plassohla.”
“Acting? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daniel quickly said.
Edward glanced around the paper to see Daniel cross his arms and pace over to the open sliding glass door. He wasn’t thrilled with Daniel standing in the opening, presenting that perfect sniper shot to a waiting assassin, but he knew that there was no way he could convince the younger man to hide in the room with the shades drawn.
He needed to keep Daniel safe, and the man seemed determined to throw himself into harm’s way. Of course, it wasn’t like he could explain his burning need to keep him from being killed, because Daniel had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t going to believe a damn word out of his mouth. And the “I need you for this mission” speech was starting to get old. Hell, Edward had stopped believing it by the time they were leaving Barcelona.
So why did he want to keep Daniel alive?
Yeah, that was something he couldn’t afford to look too closely at.
“Eddie…”
Edward lowered his paper finally and glared at Daniel’s back. That was new. “Danny…?”
Daniel spun around, wearing a matching glare on his face. “That’s not gonna fly.”
“I’ve got to agree with you there.”
“You’ve been to France.”
“Yes.” He didn’t bother attempting to elaborate, because he was sure that Daniel wouldn’t believe him, and he was sure that Daniel didn’t care.
“I haven’t.”
“Daniel—”
“Please. You could hear from your handler in the next hour or two that this has all been cleared up. You plop me on a plane this afternoon for home, and I’ll have never seen France—the land of wine, cheese, fashion, and art.”
Edward stared at him for a second. The chances of that scenario playing out were pretty much slim to none considering the call from last night. “You could always come back for a vacation.”
“I’m feeling very skeptical about vacations right now, considering how Bermuda turned out.”
“Then let’s assume that you don’t make it to France again—which I don’t believe at all. Do you really want your one memory of this country to be tainted by my presence?”
Daniel’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. He closed it, then opened it again. Still…nothing. Edward could have almost laughed at his impression of a landed fish. He looked truly stunned and stumped by the question.
“You’re an ass,” he finally said in a huff before he flopped down on the bed.
When silence settled over the room, Edward picked up his paper again, intending to keep skimming the articles if only for something to do that didn’t include fantasizing about the man lying across the queen-sized bed.
Sleep had been a nightmare at the last hotel. They were both too big in stature to share the bed without occasionally rubbing up against one another as they tried to get comfortable. The only way Edward could be sure to give Daniel the space he needed…was to give him literal space. By one a.m., he’d taken his pillow and moved to the floor for horrible, uncomfortable sleep his body still wasn’t happy about. Unless something changed, his odds of sleep weren’t looking much better for tonight.
“I’ve been thinking…” Daniel started again.
Edward froze, staring at the newsprint without actually seeing it. There was something softer and more hesitant in Daniel’s voice. Something he hadn’t heard since the first day they’d met.
“I’ve been thinking that maybe I’ve been acting a little harshly toward you. That maybe I haven’t properly considered the position you’ve been put in.”
Slowly, Edward closed the newspaper and placed it on the table before turning in the chair to face Daniel. Loosely clasping his hands together in front of him, Edward tried to ignore the way his heart sped up. Daniel was still lying on the bed with his hands folded behind his head. His eyes were staring straight up at the ceiling as if it was more comfortable to look there than meet Edward’s gaze.
“You’ve been helping me out of a serious bind, mostly against your will, so I really don’t have room to complain,” Edward conceded.
