Page 41 of Guys Like Him

“Ready,” Finley said, his voice so breathless Kieran nearly lost sight of his aim. But then the driver slid out from behind the wheel. Rapid clicking filled the truck bed as Finley captured the driver standing by the car and looking around him as if he sensed someone was watching. “It’s the same guy we saw him with in Last Chance Creek.”

Kieran thought the same but wanted a better look. He got it when the man triggered additional security lighting as he strode toward the door. “Definitely the same man.”

“And I sure as hell don’t need night-vision lenses with those lights on,” Finley said as he made quick adjustments to the camera. “Damn, they’ve lit the place up like a football field.”

“Or a prison yard when an inmate makes a run for it.”

Finley fumbled and dropped the lens and it rolled into Kieran’s footwell. “Oops. I didn’t expect you to make jail jokes.” Finley placed his hand on Kieran’s thigh and leaned forward to retrieve the lens, but Kieran stopped him. He couldn’t afford to have Finley’s head anywhere near his crotch.

Leaning forward, Kieran retrieved the lens and handed it to Finley. The air surrounding them crackled with electricity when their hands brushed against each other. “I’m learning that I still have a sense of humor. Sometimes poking fun at something gives it less control over you.”

Finley snapped the lens into place and captured Ritchie’s boyfriend entering the code at the rear door and letting himself inside. “Good to know. I’ll use that strategy next time instead of putting myself on a no-sex diet.” Kieran nearly choked on his saliva but passed it off as a throat tickle, or at least he hoped he did. Unaware of Kieran’s struggle, Finley added, “I’d have better luck giving up carbs, and you’ve seen firsthand how I can mow my way through bread, potatoes, and sweets.”

Was Finley currently on a no-sex diet? Had he recently ended one? But with who? It wasn’t really any of Kieran’s business, but they’d spent so much time together. How had he found an opportunity? Did he make a detour after leaving Kieran’s cabin? Finley shared the house with the burly foreman and Dylan. Hooking up with one of them would be pretty damn convenient and discreet. But Dylan was as straight as a man could get and head over heels in love with Harry. Was it Ivan? Is that why the foreman still glared at him? Kieran thought about the interactions between Finley and Ivan and couldn’t recall a single spark of attraction, at least not from Finley’s end. Ivan was another story. Were the two of them hooking up?

Finley’s soft chuckle interrupted his spinning thoughts. “Breathe, Kieran. And stop thinking so hard. I’m not involved with anyone right now unless you count my right hand and my dildo. They’ve both seen a ton of action.”

“Oh god,” Kieran said as torrid images flooded his mind, heating his blood and sending it south.

“Yeah, I’ve been moaning that into my pillow a lot lately.” If he didn’t stop talking about getting himself off, Kieran was going to come in his underwear. “Oh, heads up. Another car just arrived.”

Kieran resentfully slammed the door on his fantasies, but he’d take those babies out later when he was alone. He recognized the BMW sedan right away. “That’s Ritchie’s car. He’s probably there to give his boyfriend a ride. Sometimes I would drive one vehicle over and take another back to the shop when it was due for pickup. Other times, Ritchie would follow so we could go home afterward.”

“Home? You lived together?” Finley asked.

“Not technically,” Kieran replied as Ritchie parked his sedan next to the Mercedes. “We’d dated for a year, and most of my stuff was at his place. I thought living together was the next logical step, but Ritchie got squirrelly every time I brought it up, even though he got mad when I stayed at my place. He accused me of throwing a fit because I didn’t get my way. Ritchie did this push-pull thing that made me feel like I was crazy. He’d hurt me, and I’d end up being the one who apologized.”

“Gaslighting 101,” Finley said softly. “He won’t be able to bullshit his way out of trouble when we get done with him.” Kieran loved the vehemence in his voice. Finley made him believe, which was something he thought was no longer possible. “So Ritchie had all your stuff while you were in jail?”

Kieran shrugged. “I didn’t have much. I learned at a very early age to travel light, and those habits transitioned to adulthood. He could’ve easily tossed my shit in a trash bag and fully erased me from his life. My name wasn’t on any documents connected to the apartment. Not the lease, not the bills, nothing. I hadn’t even updated the address on my ID yet. That’s how he could get away with claiming not to know me.”

“Why did you have to travel light? Were one of your parents in the military?”

Kieran snorted to cover up his anxiousness. They were veering into uncomfortable territory, but Finley had made himself vulnerable for Kieran. Then again, their confessions were drastically different. Finley’s disclosures were arousing, while Kieran’s revelations would extinguish the desire between them as quickly as it had arrived. Then again, maybe that was for the best. “No one wanted to keep me long enough for me to accumulate much.”

Finley’s breath hitched, and he reached over to squeeze Kieran’s hand. “This is why I prefer animals.” The forcefulness in Finley’s voice contradicted the gentleness in his touch. “Present company excluded.” He gave Kieran one more squeeze before releasing him. “Ritchie’s windows are tinted too, but they’re not as dark as the Mercedes. It looks like there are two people inside.”

Kieran adjusted his binoculars and peered through the rear windshield. “You’re right. Maybe it’s the person calling the shots.”

A few minutes passed by without the boyfriend exiting the warehouse. The driver’s side door on the BMW opened and Ritchie stepped out. Finley went to town with his camera. He could become a paparazzo if the horse training gig didn’t pan out. Ritchie bent down and spoke to the person inside his car, and they pushed their door open too. Kieran didn’t recognize the silhouette when the passenger stepped out of the car and into the shadows.Click. Click. Click.He could only tell it was a tall man with linebacker shoulders. When the mystery man stepped into the light, Kieran noted a square jaw, flat nose, and a dark buzz cut.Click. Click. Click.

“Whoa,” Finley said. “Dude’s nose looks like he went several rounds with a heavyweight boxer.” The warehouse door opened, and the boyfriend reappeared. “Probably worried Ritchie was up to no good with Brick House,” Finley said.Click. Click.“You recognize the bruiser?”

“Nope.”

They fell quiet, Kieran watching the tableau play out through the binoculars as Finley captured every second. The boyfriend looked more annoyed than pissed. He called out something to the other two as they approached. “Too bad I can’t read lips,” Kieran said.

Click. Click. Click.“He said, ‘It’s about damn time. I thought you changed your mind.’”

Kieran looked over at Finley, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the scene. “Seriously? You read lips too? Is there anything you can’t do?” Finley shrugged, so Kieran looked through the binoculars in time to see the three men enter the warehouse.

“Now what?” Finley asked.

“We wait and see if anyone else shows up. If not, we document what they drive off in.”

Finley lowered the camera to his lap and narrowed his eyes. “We need to figure out who the other two men are in the trio and learn everything we can about them. Hopefully we’ll uncover some leverage we can exploit.”

Kieran’s mouth fell open in shock. “Like blackmail?”

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