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“Nice job,” Lucas said, barely looking up from the report he was reading.
Andrei nearly choked a laugh. Poor B was crushed by the man’s lack of reaction after his adamant stance on how little was to be cut off. Andrei ran his fingers through his hair, appreciating the softness. It was off his shoulders but long enough to easily grab a fistful, which should please Lucas. Andrei didn’t want to stop and really think about why that was important to him.
“It’s perfect, B,” Andrei said, smiling up at the other man, as he handed back the mirror he had been holding.
“Thank you.” B sniffed, giving Andrei an unexpected hug before starting to clean up his area.
Lucas walked over when B was packed up again. He handed the man a white envelope and smiled. “I appreciate the rush and your skill.”
B paused in the act of taking the envelope, his dark eyes sliding over to Andrei. “I’ll cut my price in half if you let me keep him.”
Lucas’s smile widened. “No.”
“My entire fee?”
“No.”
B looked over his shoulder at Andrei and gave a wistful smile, batting his large brown eyes. “You know where to find me, sweetheart. I’m all yours.”
“Flirt,” Andrei said, smiling as he slipped into his suit jacket.
B winked at him and then waltzed out of the office with his bags on his shoulders as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Andrei turned his attention to Lucas who was watching him with an unreadable expression. “Look okay?”
Lucas merely nodded, his jaw shifting as if he were clenching his teeth.
Andrei’s grin widened. “You want to touch it?”
“More than I’ve wanted anything in a long time,” Lucas admitted with a low voice that sent a tremor through Andrei.
He blinked and there was suddenly a wealth of open longing in Lucas’s vibrant green-gray eyes. It took his breath away.
Andrei took a step toward him and Lucas immediately shuffled backward, a pained looked crossing his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Lucas was telling the truth. He did want to run his fingers through his hair. He was obviously determined to keep that private life separated from his professional life, even if they were alone in his office. A sharp pain ached in Andrei’s chest, but he hid it behind a little smirk.
“Care to tell me about this business appointment I have this evening?” he asked, dispelling the tension that had thickened in the air. He’d teased the man enough already and they had bigger concerns to occupy their time.
Lucas smiled back, no longer clenching his teeth. “We have an appointment.” He walked over to the windows looking out on the river and Great American Ballpark, home field for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. “I thought we would conduct a little research tonight.”
“I’m afraid to ask how much this is going to piss off your friends.” Andrei came to stand beside Lucas.
“Assuming nothing goes wrong, not at all.”
“Yeah, but when has ‘nothing gone wrong’ happened so far?”
Lucas’s shoulders slumped and he glared out the window. “It’s a black tie gala for charity at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The kind of money strolling around that place means there will be plenty of security. Nothing is going to happen. We’ll be there and back within a couple hours, safe and sound. No problems.”
“Ugh,” Andrei said, pressing his hand to his stomach. “You saying ‘no problems’ actually made me sick. I think you just jinxed us.”
“Shut up,” Lucas grumbled.
“What kind of research are we doing at the Art Museum?”
“Thomas Lynton will be there.”
Andrei’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. He hadn’t expected Lucas to want to track down Lynton, but then he probably should have. Lucas definitely wasn’t the type to sit back and let others take care of things. “You sure?”
“He’s a major sponsor for the gala. He is every year. He’ll be there. I want to ask him a few questions.”
Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned one shoulder against the glass. “Are you sure he’s going to talk to you? You said you were only acquaintances.”
“I think he might be more willing to talk to me after I confess that I wasn’t in a car accident as Candace has been telling everyone.”
“If you were in a car accident, what has your assistant been telling people about me?”
Lucas turned, leaning his shoulder against the window facing Andrei, his hands shoved in his pockets. “You? You’re my nurse.”
Andrei snorted. He couldn’t pass for a nurse in any way, but it was a fun lie. “Am I a sexy nurse?”
His smile grew wider as his eyes slowly swept down from the top of Andrei’s head to his feet and back up again. “Definitely. And I’m not sharing you with B or anyone else so long as I have you.”
It was a struggle for Andrei to remain perfectly still when everything within him demanded that he close the few feet between them so he could touch Lucas, kiss him, something. A thousand comments crossed his mind, demands to know if he would have to share Lucas and how long Lucas saw this arrangement lasting. He thought about making a similar proclamation and even making a joke, but in the end, he settled for silence and a smile. Ian’s words of warning were ringing in his head and he was afraid anything he said would push Lucas away. In truth, Andrei didn’t know what he wanted from Lucas. He just knew he didn’t want it to end before he figured that out.
