Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Plus, Benicio and his men know you, know your face. They see you, and they know trouble is coming.” Ed grinned at him and pointed at his own face. “There’s a good chance they don’t know our faces yet, which allows us to keep a closer eye on them without them realizing it.”
Will’s shoulders slumped. That made sense. If Benicio or his men spotted him, all their work was for nothing. As it was, they were going to have enough trouble trying to sneak and surprise Perez because of him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll have plenty for you to do,” Charlie said with a smirk.
Will glared at the man. “If you’re thinking I’m cooking and cleaning while you guys take all the risk, you can shove it up—”
Charlie held up both hands in front of him and chuckled. “No. I was thinking that you’re going to be sitting with Kairo and telling him everything you know about Perez. You’re also going to be listing all the various ways we can get a viable DNA sample off Perez without requiring direct confrontation.” He paused and narrowed his gaze on Ed. “Or a blood withdrawal.”
Ed snorted. “If anyone deserves to forcibly donate a pint or two, it’s this asshole.”
Will nodded. “I can do that.”
Charlie turned his dark look on Will, all the joking and teasing gone from his expression. “And you will stay safe.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to argue that his safety was not Charlie’s primary concern. His priority was supposed to be helping Carlos. That was the job he and the others had been hired for. But considering that they’d saved his life twice already and he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to pay them for all this work, it didn’t seem like a good time to argue.
The arguing would come later.
15
CHARLIE SANDS
Charlie trudged up the stairs to grab a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in after Will mumbled something about wanting to go to bed. The day had been spent discussing plans, sharing what they’d managed to gather on Benicio Perez, and even trying to do some research on his mother. Digging up a corpse wasn’t high on his list of potential plans, but if it meant keeping Will safe, he was up for a little grave robbing.
As the hour crept closer to midnight, the others quickly claimed exhaustion and shuffled off to their rooms. He appreciated their attempt to give him and Will some private time, but the doctor only followed in their example.
He grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and was turning to leave when Will appeared in the doorway wearing the same clothes Charlie had pulled out for him last night but Will never had the chance to wear. They hung on his slender frame, making the man look both younger and more fragile than he really was. Everything in him ached to tug Will into his arms and shield him from the world. Instead, he tightened his fingers on the clothes he was holding and bit his tongue for once.
“You know, you can take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch. I’m not going to disappear in the middle of the night,” Will offered.
“The other option is for us to share the bed,” Charlie countered with a grin. “It worked well enough last night.”
“No.” Will turned where he stood and took only one step out of the room before Charlie caught his arm and dragged him back inside. As soon as Will cleared the frame, he closed the door with his foot, shutting them off from the rest of the world.
He kept pulling until Will lightly crashed into his chest, the clothes in his hand dropping to the floor. Charlie lowered his head and just barely brushed his lips across the warm skin of Will’s neck. A shiver ran through his lover’s body.
“Don’t.” The single word escaped Will in a whisper, but he didn’t pull away, leaving Charlie feeling conflicted. It didn’t take a genius to see that Will was tempted, that he wanted the pleasure and escape Charlie was freely offering, but Charlie also didn’t want Will regretting their time together. He definitely didn’t want to hear Will lying to himself that this was just sex. This was so much more than simply sex, and Will needed to face that.
Charlie didn’t release him, but he did lift his mouth so that it was closer to Will’s ear. “I didn’t ask last night…” He paused and licked his lips. He partially didn’t because things had moved so damn fast he hadn’t wanted to give Will a chance to say no. “But…you’re not seeing anyone…”
Will shoved away from him so quickly that he nearly lost his balance in his haste to escape Charlie’s hold. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? Do you really think so little of me that I would cheat on someone I was dating?” Will snarled.