Full Domain (Nice Guys 3)

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bully?” Aaron asked out of the blue, still not turning around. Kreed smiled at the back of his disgruntled partner’s blond head.

“Not a bully so much, just resigned to my fate. We have a job to do. The quicker we get done, the sooner you’re free of me. Looking the part’s critical in that goal,” Kreed reasoned quietly. Okay, technically he did bully his way through things all the time, but it would be better to have Aaron on his side, rather than fighting him every step they took. “Today your eyes are a gunmetal gray. They were more ice blue yesterday. Brown when we worked together a couple months ago. Are those colored contacts vanity or prescription?”

“Why would you even remember the color of my eyes?” Aaron shot back defensively.

“I think my job title probably makes that an easy question to answer without assistance. So is it the same deal with the hair and glasses, you always changing it up?” Kreed asked.

“Yeah. Pretty much,” Aaron finally answered, not engaging at all.

Just on the tip of his tongue to question that further, Kreed’s right leg started tingling with numbness. The modern-style, unforgiving chair made his ass hurt and might possibly be cutting off the circulation in his legs. He moved to reposition himself. Damn it, these small seats weren’t the most comfortable things he’d ever sat in. They looked cool as shit, with their contemporary design, until he sat on the hard square. He adjusted himself again, repositioning his numb ass. Kreed continued to squirm, not able to find a comfortable position, clearly not designed for the sheer mass of his body. He stood briefly to tug his arms out of his coat and drape it across the back of a chair, disappointed that didn’t help him fit any more comfortably.

“Did Knox ask about the meeting yesterday?”

Another long pause happened before Aaron answered, “No, not that I remember.”

Kreed’s brow drew in. That didn’t make any sense. He’d dodged two calls already this morning by claiming he needed a private area to talk. Mitch was a dog with a bone and this case had a T-rex size artifact that Mitch wanted to gnaw on.

“Aaron, we’re ready for you,” the woman said as she stepped back into the room.

Aaron kept his back to Kreed as he followed the woman behind the screen. Kreed grabbed his coat before following, not letting him get too far out of his sight to make sure his temporary partner got the full makeover.

~~~

Who knew Kreed Sinacola liked facials and mani-pedis? The alpha dude that always got his way seemed to know his way around a spa like the back of his hand. Not so much the layout, but he was familiar with every aspect of the services offered. He knew the differences in scents and treatments. Whether to use milk or lavender… Whatever the hell that meant.

Since they started with the hands and feet, he and Kreed stayed paired up, sitting side by side. Apparently Kreed liked his spa sessions quiet. He never really spoke until he had them include Aaron in a pedicure.

When Aaron genuinely objected, drawing the line there, refusing the service due to an unspoken, yet very traumatic childhood injury involving a swing set and an ill-placed foot, Kreed scoffed at him, like he did with everything else. The technician removed his shoes and gently, but thoroughly worked over his feet. It took a full hour to remove all the dried, dead skin, but honestly, once he got over the initial internal anxiety, he realized he’d really been missing out. And a bonus for everyone around? No one got a foot in the face like normal when someone ventured out to touch his toes.

Next, they were both shaved clean before the facials began. Aaron sat for quite a while with a warm towel wrapped around his face. Being pampered like that was something he could definitely get used to. He actually nodded off, startling when he opened his eyes to see Kreed leaning down over him, right in his personal space, surveying the work done. The guy took Aaron’s chin and moved him one way, then the other, before a huge grin curled the corners of his mouth.

“You look even younger with a clean face. Ready for the hair?”

“I know I look younger. It’s the reason I keep the beard. If you give me one of those church boy haircuts, I’ll look even younger. They won’t believe I’m old enough to do that job.” Not surprisingly, Kreed ignored him completely.

“I wanna talk to his hairstylist—” Kreed was interrupted by a short, sexy looking Italian man wearing all black.

“I’m Sergio. Which one of you is Aaron?” He clapped his hands, before rubbing his palms together excitedly. To give the guy credit, he did look between the both of them as he spoke, but his eyes came back to stay on Kreed and his olive skin turned a little flushed. Whatever. Kreed had that same effect on him. He supposed it just came with the territory of being the super-hot Kreed Sinacola.

“He is,” Kreed said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “But I’m deciding his cut and color.” Sergio became visibly disappointed at that news. Probably sized Kreed up as single and then the deputy marshal’s words made him think they were a couple. Aaron didn’t set the record straight. Instead, he rose from the lounger he sat in and moved forward, passing Kreed.

“He gets to decide within reason,” Aaron countered, but the wink Sergio gave Kreed said it all.

“Come on, smart boy. Don’t look so down. It’s gonna be okay. I promise,” Kreed said, following Sergio toward his workstation. When Kreed passed him, he patted Aaron’s ass and winked, staying a step or two behind Sergio. At the small counter separating the stations, Kreed and Sergio spoke quietly to one another. Aaron didn’t intervene, thinking he could change the plan once Kreed left the room then realizing his mistake when he looked into a wall of mirrors and watched Sergio’s face light up before looking back at him with an assessing eye.