Shiver (Unbreakable Bonds 1)

“I sent the texts that you requested.” Andrei pulled Lucas’s phone out of his back pocket. He set it down next to Lucas’s hand. The man’s fingers flinched liked he wanted to reach for it but he stopped himself. “Candace agreed to be here at one pm. And I told Rowe that he’s a fucking asshole—as you asked.”

Lucas barked out a loud laugh, then cleared his throat. Andrei bit back his own smile. He watched some of the tension ease from Lucas’s wide shoulders, relaxing just a bit.

“A Detective Hollis Banner stopped by at seven this morning and left a card. Pretty damned early for a cop visit. He would like you to call him.” Reaching into his other pocket, Andrei pulled out the business card and placed it on the counter beside the phone.

“Anything else?”

Andrei cleared his throat, his eyes dropping to the other man’s hands. Even with two broken knuckles on the left, they looked strong. Pale white scars stretched across them. They were not the hands of a business man, but the hands of a man who knew how to handle himself, how to handle his problems … personally.

“Ms. Breckenridge stopped by last night,” he said slowly before raising his eyes to Lucas’s face. “You ended your relationship with her.”

That same lazy grin spread across Lucas’s lips while a twinkle jumped into his eyes. Andrei’s heart quickened and he struggled to keep from taking a step back.

“I was hoping that I hadn’t dreamed that,” he said, his voice becoming a rough purr. “At least one good thing came out of last night.”

Fuck. Did this man have no idea how insanely sexy he was? Andrei could barely draw a breath. His tongue quickly darted out, licking his lips, as he tried to formulate a thought. The man he’d met last night was back and the world was tilting again. He just wanted to reach out and touch him. So he did the only logical thing. He stuffed his hands into his back pockets and took a step back to lean against the counter.

“You remember?” Andrei asked, praying Lucas didn’t notice that his voice had grown rougher.

“Not every blessed word, but most, I think.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? I also recall you laughing. I know I did.”

Still grinning, they stared at each other for a second, surprisingly comfortable in the shared silence that stretched between them. But the moment was broken when Lucas’s phone vibrated as a new batch of emails was downloaded. Andrei was surprised that the man didn’t immediately pick it up.

“I don’t know what to do with you, Mr. Hadeon.”

Andrei straightened, suddenly wary of the man and his surprising admission. Could he tell that Andrei was attracted to him? Had he stared too long? Laughed when he shouldn’t have? “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I am used to employees whom I give tasks and they leave to do them. They’re not just…always…there,” Lucas admitted, sounding more than a little uncomfortable. The grin Andrei had enjoyed just seconds earlier was now replaced with a frown.

“Until you are completely healed, I will stick close by. It’s easier to keep you safe.”

Lucas’s smile returned and he took a step closer to the island that separated them. “And exactly how close will you stick?”

Andrei licked his lips again, and there was no missing how Lucas’s heated gaze followed that small movement. Heat flushed his cheeks and he battled to keep his breathing even. His brain rushed to figure out an appropriate response to Lucas’s question. Sarcasm? Teasing? A serious shut-down that would likely piss off Rowe’s best friend or maybe just amuse the fuck out of him because Andrei had stupidly taken serious what Lucas likely didn’t mean.

“I will remain close to you in the event that I need to move you out of danger.” Andrei decided to ignore the sexual undertones of the question.

“You’d physically move me?” Lucas glanced down at his muscled body.

Andrei nodded, not trusting his voice as Lucas ran his teeth over his bottom lip, his smile growing wider.

“I’m surprised, Mr. Hadeon. I didn’t take you for the type who liked it rough.”

Andrei’s mind was suddenly flooded with the image of Lucas slammed against the refrigerator and pinned there with his own body as he ran his hands across his wide chest, exploring all that warm skin with his mouth. Breathless and shaken, he didn’t try to sort through the unexpected desire. Lucas was pure sexual temptation. With those sparkling eyes and sinful lips that seemed to promise so many dirty things without actually saying the words, Lucas was sex.

But he didn’t mean it. Flirting was probably like breathing for him. A man like that — rich, successful, talented — he was made to flirt with anyone standing in front of him because he could get away with it.