“Yes, but those jeans are my favorite,” Clay replied in a low voice.
“Why? I’m pretty sure all my jeans look the same.”
“Because not only does that pair of jeans hug your ass perfectly, showing off that sweet curve, but the pocket is starting to pull away on the right cheek, giving a little peek of the red briefs you’re wearing.”
Dane’s eyes widened a little, and his right hand shot back to feel around at the pocket to confirm that yes, there was a small hole starting in his jeans. Clay wanted to close the distance between them and lick his way into Dane’s wonderful mouth. Instead, Clay shoved his hands into his own pockets to keep them to himself. Dane was walking temptation, and his lover wouldn’t likely appreciate graphic displays of affection in the middle of the hardware store.
“Those jeans give me a peek of the briefs that I get to peel you out of later tonight,” Clay continued, dropping his voice to a growling whisper.
Heat stained Dane’s cheeks red, but Clay was pretty sure it wasn’t embarrassment. No, the narrowed eyes and sly smile were all promises and dirty thoughts.
“Would you be disappointed if you couldn’t see a color?” Dane asked.
Clay’s eyes flared and he licked his lips. “Commando? Hell, no.”
Dane’s laugh was a little breathless. He shook his head before leading the way down one of the aisles. Clay fell into step beside him, blind to the wide selection of adhesives and sealants they were walking past.
“I don’t think I’ve ever flirted while in the hardware store.” He snorted and muttered. “Definitely never been hard while in this store.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
Dane grinned at him over his shoulder. “Katie was all business in the hardware store.”
Clay winced and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant—”
“No, it’s okay.” Dane stopped walking, his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath and seemed to stare off into space for a second. Clay didn’t know if he was lost in thought or just taking a kind of internal assessment of whether he really was okay. But he nodded and his smile was still in place. “When I’m with you, like this…laughing, it’s easier to talk about her. I think…I think she would want me happy. She’d probably be a little confused by this, but she’d be happy for me.”
Dane paused and smirked. “I think she’d be amused that she’s still the only woman to own me heart and soul.”
“And she didn’t flirt in the hardware store with you?”
Dane shook his head. There was something lighter about him, and Clay wanted to believe he had something to do with the way Dane held his head up a little higher or that his shoulders seemed to have less weight on them.
“Nah. She was all business in this store. She loved remodeling and restoring old houses. Even if we weren’t in the middle of a project, we’d sometimes come to the store and just wander through the aisles. Kind of daydream about how we’d redo a kitchen or a bedroom with a certain set of lights or new tile.”
Dane stopped at an endcap and stared down the wide thoroughfare toward the bathroom supplies. “The kitchen, your suite, Baer’s suite, and the family room have been updated. I’m nearly done with Grey’s suite. I was thinking of working on the game room next to keep Grey and Baer occupied, but with the rate of new ‘brothers’ showing up, I was thinking I should tackle another bedroom suite.”
“What about the library?” Clay suggested, trying to steer them away from the more uncomfortable topic of Clay’s reason for being in Georgia in the first place.
It was the one shaky point of all they were building together. Dane was working through his loss and grieving, but Clay was still hiding a damn big secret from him. He needed to tell Dane the truth, but he just didn’t know how the hell he was supposed to drop on the poor guy that he was some mythical immortal being with powers tasked with saving the world. Not exactly normal dinner conversation or post-sex pillow talk.
Dane smirked at him, silently acknowledging Clay’s less-than-deft redirect. “The library?”
“Yeah, I was thinking we could go English-hunting-lodge-meets-old-school-murder-mystery.” Clay turned them the opposite direction toward the lighting fixtures and wood.
“You want to include the stuffed animal heads on the wall?”
“Ugh. Definitely not.” Clay gave a little shudder. “Baer would probably lose his shit.” He felt lucky that Baer hadn’t gone vegan when he’d gotten his powers and could hear the thoughts of all the little animals. But then, the guy spent most of his time shifted in the form of some carnivorous predator.
“So dark-wood shelves and dark walls. Some kind of fancy chandelier overhead. Oh, and maybe a parquet floor with a large Persian rug.” Dane’s words and steps sped up slightly as he grew more excited.