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“Good. I’m glad you got that. None of us stepped foot in that house no matter what we threatened. That’s one of the most important details to always keep in your mind. A question every bounty hunter has to ask his or herself. ‘Do I have the right to be here?’” Duke gave them a serious expression. “And as long as you’re working for me, that answer better always be ‘yes’.”
Ty
Duke and Quick decided to stop at a hole-in-the-wall rib spot in Wyngate while they waited on their next skipper to get off work. This jumper had the audacity to get a job and try to work while being a fugitive.
“You guys gonna eat?” Duke asked. “We got about another two hours before he shows.”
“No thank you,” Kell said, a little too fast. “I had a big breakfast.”
It was almost three. Any man who’d had breakfast at seven in the morning was more than ready for lunch by mid-afternoon. Quick gave Ty’s partner a look that he couldn’t interpret.
Brian had already dropped and processed their skipper and was back with them an hour and half later. “You coming in?” he asked Ty on his way past their SUV.
“I’ll be a second,” he told Brian. Ty waited until the three hunters were inside the Rib Shack before he turned his full attention on his partner who was staring out of the opposite window.
“You’re not being honest.”
Kell answered immediately. “I did not lie. I said no thank you I wasn’t eating here and that I’d had a big breakfast. None of those were lies.”
“Why aren’t you eating here with the guys? Do you not want to eat with me?”
“Everything isn’t about you, Tyrell,” Kell said drily. “I don’t eat a lot of beef or pork. Even the smell of it can make me nauseous. I can wait to eat when I get home.”
“I don’t eat a lot of meat either and I don’t eat any pork.” Ty nodded in the direction of the restaurant, which was packed with hungry customers. “Places like this aren’t always mindful of cross contamination.”
His partner absently hummed his agreement then fell quiet again.
“Kell your stomach’s been growling for a while, I think—”
“What the heck? Is it bothering you that much?”
“Yes.”
Kell sighed in exasperation. “Then get out the truck, go inside and eat and you’ll no longer have to listen to it.”
“I can’t do that,” Ty said, keeping his voice low.
Kell sighed. “You’re unbelievable. Do you really have to—?”
“I want to feed you,” Ty said, silencing his partner. “I don’t like it that you’re hungry and are not eating. I don’t like it that we came somewhere to eat that you don’t care for.” Ty lightly touched Kell’s hand where it rested on the seat between them. “There’s a Panera across the street. Their salads are good. Fresh.”
Kell was still staring as if Ty had two heads. His partner was probably getting whiplash with the back and forth between them, but Ty swore as soon as he got everything figured out, Kell would be the first person he spoke to about it. For now he’d go with what felt good between them. With the engine off, the interior of the truck was getting colder. The temperature was continually dropping, and the sun had disappeared behind large, gray clouds. Kell slid his black beanie over his gorgeous wavy hair and pulled his hood up. Ty studied his movements. Watched the muscle tic in his smooth jaw. Kell’s stomach rumbled again and Ty’s hand went instinctively to his own belly. The sensation he got wasn’t a good one. He kept trying… he wouldn’t stop.
“Got good homemade soups too,” Ty said and got out of the car. “Come on, shorty. Eat with me. Please.”
Ty was almost to the crosswalk when he heard the SUV door open and slam shut. He let out his sigh of relief before Kell caught up to him. When they got to the restaurant, he held the door open for him and Kell’s eyes caught his as he walked by. The attraction in those blue-green irises were unmistakable. Attraction on both ends.
“I used to eat here a lot when I was younger. I can eat just about any kind of salad, the more stuff on it the better. Even at twelve I could eat it all.” Kell’s laugh lacked humor as if he was reflecting on a negative time in his life. He went quiet. Ty let him. He didn’t want to encourage bad memories.
As Ty stood in line behind the others with Kell to his right, he contemplated the new feelings he was experiencing for his partner. It felt good standing with him. Felt like he was right where he belonged. Never had anyone moved him so deeply. No female or male. He could admit he was fascinated by Kellam Knight, but did that equate to romantic fascination? Maybe he was just content with the able man he was partnered with. Ty was confused and that didn’t happen often. Kell threw him off his—typically relaxed—game.
