Personal Entanglement (Thorne and Dash 2)

They got everything packed into the van. “Should I drive?” Susan asked.

How the hell could she look so calm? “Do you mind? My nerves are shot.”

She smiled. “I don’t mind at all.”

Once they got on the road, Riley said. “This may sound odd, but can you help me keep Thorne out of the kitchen? I—”

“You don’t have to explain. He’s going to make you anxious because he’ll hover, and you really want him to love everything we do tonight.”

“Right. And he always tries to take charge. I know he’s technically in charge of the banquet…”

“I’ll do what I can,” Susan said. “But I can’t promise.”

Riley snorted. “Thorne is not an easy man to say no to. Trust me. I know.”

Susan grinned. “I guess you do.”

“Was that an innuendo? Because gross.”

She laughed. “At least you’re calm enough to joke around now.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Ha! Just try not to panic. I’ll do my best to see that he’s not hovering, but if you get too wigged out, I’m gonna find a way to shut the two of you in a closet so he can calm you down.”

Riley covered his ears. “No. No. No. We are not having this conversation.” As much as he did not want to talk to Susan about his sex life, he couldn’t help but smile. Susan always knew how to cheer him up.

“There it is,” Susan said.

“What?” Riley looked out the windows. They couldn’t be at the museum already.

“Your smile. This is supposed to be fun.”

“Yeah, it is supposed to be.”

“Come on, you know you love the rush you get from racing around the kitchen and making sure everything is perfect.”

He’d always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie. “It’s not unlike being an escort in that way. I get off on pleasing my customers.”

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about sex.”

Riley glared at her, but she just laughed, and then he did too, until nerves sobered him. “There’s so much riding on this night.”

“True, but we’re going to make this work no matter what.”

“But if Thorne—”

Susan shook her head. “Forget about Thorne.”

As if. “I wouldn’t be so messed up if it wasn’t for Thorne.” He stopped, shocked at what had come out of his mouth. His pulse sped up, and the road wavered in front of him.

“Riley?”

“I didn’t mean that like it sounded. I love Thorne.” He tried to shake off the queasy feeling in his stomach. “Let’s just focus on the job.”

“I’m here if you need to talk to me.”

“No, I’m fine. I just meant that I wouldn’t be stressed about… I don’t know what the fuck I meant.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes, I can be professional, and I swear I’m just trying to adjust to living with Thorne. Nothing is seriously wrong between us.”

She nodded, but her look said: methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

“Thorne and I just don’t agree on boundaries.”

“That sounds like a normal couple’s fight. You’ll work things out. Even I can see how much Thorne loves you.”

Thorne wasn’t overly demonstrative in public, but the way he looked at Riley gave his feelings away. It was as if Riley was the one person Thorne couldn’t put up his mask for. He’d been that way since their first night together. That had to mean something, right?

Susan pulled into the museum’s garage. Fortunately, finding a spot was easy since it was after hours. Marc was waiting by the entrance along with Susan’s daughter, Lilah, and one of their other helpers. Marc even had a handcart to help with the unloading.

Once they’d gotten their bearings, Riley and Marc left Susan and their other assistants in the museum’s small kitchen and rode the elevator back down to the van for a second load.

“You look pale,” Marc said.

“Great. Thanks.”

Marc laid a hand on his arm. “I’m worried about you. Did you sleep last night?”

Riley shook his head. “Not much. I’m just nervous. I can’t fuck this up.”

“You won’t.”

“Yeah, that’s what Thorne keeps saying, but what will he think if he’s wrong?”

“Whoa. You don’t seriously think he’d be angry if something goes sideways tonight, do you?”

Riley didn’t. Not really. “He’s just so fucking good at everything he does.”

“Like sharing his feelings?” Marc asked.

The elevator opened, and they wheeled the cart to the van.

“You know that doesn’t count,” Riley insisted.

“Oh, really?”

Riley didn’t respond, so Marc kept talking. “Based on the obscene reactions I’ve seen him have to your cooking, he thinks the same of you; that you’re just about fucking perfect.”

“Maybe, but I…fuck… I said something to Susan, and I…”

“What was it?” Marc asked.

“I was talking about the pressure that’s on tonight. She was trying to calm me down, and I said that if it wasn’t for Thorne, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Marc let out a low whistle.

“I don’t know why I said it. I… Fuck, I love Thorne. Sometimes he makes me crazy, but I honestly want to be with him more than anything. What the fuck is wrong with me?”