Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Kai crowded close again, wanting to comfort him. “I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome. No one wants someone like me in their life.”
Devlin looked at him, his expression becoming fierce. He opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was about to say was stopped by the ringing of his phone in the next room. Devlin tensed, swearing softly under his breath. “I should get that. In case it’s Jake.”
While Kai might be cursing the interruption, he couldn’t fault Devlin’s excuse. He immediately retreated a couple of steps, giving Devlin ample room to leave the kitchen. “I’ll finish loading the dishwasher and cleaning up.”
“I’ll be right back to help,” Devlin promised as he hurried to the living room.
Kai turned his attention to rinsing and loading the dishwasher before moving to the dining room to clear the remaining dishes. He wasn’t trying to listen to Devlin’s conversation. Well, maybe he wasn’t trying very hard, but he truly wished he hadn’t been able to hear.
“Hey, Bryan. I’m sorry I didn’t return your call yesterday.…Yes.…No. No, everything is okay. Jake’s away at camp and hasn’t given me a second thought.…Yes.…No, you’re totally right.…About that. I was wondering if I could beg for a raincheck for dinner.”
There was no mistaking the purpose of the phone call even if he could hear only half of it. Devlin had started dating again. He’d found someone. Kai had waited far too long to try to talk to the man, and now he’d found someone else.
It was for the best. This Bryan probably had a very normal job that didn’t involve killing people for money. He didn’t put Devlin and Jake in danger.
No, this was good. Good for Devlin. It was time for him to start dating again. He needed to find someone who made him happy, who could help him raise Jake. Together, they’d have a wonderful, happy life together.
Kai couldn’t offer that. Being an assassin was all he knew, was all he was good at. He couldn’t offer Devlin and Jake the life they deserved. These crazy ideas of tasting Devlin, of basking in his warmth were stupid, and he needed to let them go.
He finished cleaning the kitchen while Devlin started making noises as if he were trying to escape the call. Palming his own phone, Kai shot Devlin a text that he was going to return to his room to continue working on their problem. He then escaped up the stairs while Devlin’s back was turned, slipping past him like the ghost he was thought to be.
Chapter 5
Devlin hated jogging, but for some strange reason, his brain loved it. He didn’t jog nearly as much as he needed to, but then, he couldn’t leave Jake home alone, even if it was only for an hour, so jogging in the summer was generally out. During the rest of the year, he could only jog after he’d dropped his son off for school and by that time, he was just ready to get into work.
But jogging cleared his mind like nothing else could. The crisp morning air filling his lungs. The silence that was broken only by the birds, his feet pounding the pavement, and the thud of his heart in his ears. They all worked to wash the clutter from his thoughts. The world started to come into perfect clarity.
Except for this morning.
He’d woken with a brain full of Kai and a rock-hard dick. One of those had been taken care of in the shower, but the other remained with him on the jog. He’d felt like they’d made progress in the kitchen, standing so close Devlin could feel the heat radiating off Kai’s body and the telltale ridge of his hard-on brushing against Devlin’s hip.
Oh, he’d cursed Bryan a thousand times over in his head for interrupting them. A kiss had been in the cards, even if he would have had to pin the assassin to the counter and taken it.
He’d tried to keep the call short, but it hadn’t mattered. As soon as he was off, he noticed the text, proving that Kai had always possessed his cell number and had just never used it. The elusive assassin had escaped to his room and this time, when Devlin had gone up, the door was shut.
That message was crystal clear. Kai was putting a hard stop to whatever had been happening.
But had there been something between them? Had he just imagined it because he desperately wanted Kai to be attracted to him?
“Let it go, Dev,” he muttered under his breath. He crossed a quiet street and took the main jogging path into a park less than a mile from his house. The main trail wound nearly three miles through heavy shade and rolling hills. If he had to jog, at least he had an enjoyable path close to his home. It wasn’t quite a five-mile circuit, but he wasn’t doing this so much for fitness as he was to clear his head.