Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“I know this kitchen is ridiculous for one man who doesn’t cook. My housekeeper makes wonderful meals. You’ll have to tell her some of your favorite dishes. She’ll get a kick out of making them for you.”
“The same housekeeper you said has arthritis?” Marc had filled him in on several things in the car.
“She loves her job, and I really like her, so she’ll work for me until she doesn’t want to—arthritis or not. I may get her help at some point, though. The house is kind of large.”
The Mediterranean feel spilled into the kitchen with its brown granite counters, square tiles, and copper accents. Warm, rich wood stretched over one wall, covering the refrigerator and oven. That room opened to a large family room he’d filled with leather furniture and more of the wood accents, including a wall of shelves around the television. More art filled those shelves. Marc sure liked color.
“When the cameras are installed, we’ll want a couple in this kitchen, so we can get all angles. Quinn is good about camouflaging them, too, so don’t worry they’ll be spotted.”
“How many cameras do you think I’ll need?”
“At least one in each room, including your bedroom. Not the bathrooms, though with the medication concerns, that might be a good idea.”
“No, I don’t like that.” His frown changed his entire face—the fierce look suiting him a little too well. “I’ll move my medications into the bedroom in the bedside drawer.”
“Does the drawer lock?”
Marc shook his head.
“I feel it’s best to keep all that under lock and key to be on the safe side. I can have one installed in the drawer.”
“That could make Lilah suspicious.”
“Your sister goes into your bedroom? Through your drawers?” He’d be keeping his bags secure for sure, then.
He rolled his eyes. “No place is sacred to Miss Lilah. As the only girl in our family, she had run of everything as a child, and she hasn’t changed as an adult. She comes and goes as she pleases and has walked in on me a few times I wish she hadn’t.” He leaned against the counter. “That’s why I said you’ll have to put on an act at all times here. Like this conversation now? She could be walking in as we speak. In fact,” he paused and grinned. “I hear the courtyard door now.”
“She comes in that way, too? Good to know.” Royce moved fast, circling the kitchen island to stand in front of Marc. He had slouched against the counter, putting him a little closer to Royce’s height. He hated going up on his toes to kiss anyone, so as Royce heard her coming into the kitchen, he wrapped one hard hand around the back of Marc’s neck and pulled him into a fierce, open-mouthed kiss.
He swallowed Marc’s gasp and focused on making it look like anything but a first kiss. It needed to be a kiss between two men who hadn’t seen each other in a while. A kiss between two men who believed they were alone. Two men who were about to fuck. So, he held Marc’s neck in a tight grip and opened his lips with his own. He pressed his body into Marc’s, noting that he’d jumped into the program fast. Marc melted against him, his heat seeping through their clothes to warm Royce, his tongue coming out to play. And those gorgeous fingers dug into his back with a strong, heady grip.
Royce listened to her footsteps as they stopped. He took in her squeak of surprise and the silence that followed. He kissed Marc thoroughly, and it took everything he had not to get lost in it because it felt so much better than he’d expected. His cologne, his lean, hard body and plump lips were going to Royce’s head. And sending blood rushing south. There was nothing he could do about that.
Besides, a hard dick would make this look all the more real.
“Really Marc? Do his tonsils taste good?”
Shock froze Royce just as he felt Marc stiffen against him. The hint of derision in her tone made the hair on the back of his neck curl. He slowly let go of Marc’s mouth but not his neck. Instead, he tucked Marc’s face into his own neck as he turned his head to look at Marc’s sister. Marc’s harsh breaths were hot on his skin.
When she caught his hard stare, she took a step back, her spine hitting the wall. He slowly let go of the man against him, ignoring that everything in him screamed to pull him close again, and he didn’t imagine the reluctant way Marc pulled free of him. Blue eyes met his, and he instantly knew that Marc was staring long enough for the utter shock to disappear from his gaze.
Marc cleared his throat and stepped away from Royce, and the mantle of smooth sophistication fell over him with practiced ease. “I told you my boyfriend would be staying here and that I was picking him up today. What did you expect to see when you just walked right in? You go through the garage. You saw I was back.”