Fish & Chips (Cut & Run 3)

Ty flipped through the itinerary quickly, wincing as he caught sight of the hot stone massage. He rolled his shoulders unconsciously, trying to ease the throbbing ache in them.

“If you"re already hurting, just tell them you want something different,” Zane said.

“It"s just up around my shoulders. I guess that"s where all the knots were,” Ty muttered as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. He flipped the page. The massage and sauna time on day five were the only spa treatments scheduled. Thank Christ. “Are you dive certified?”

he asked abruptly as he looked over the details of their scuba diving session.

“No. I"ve never been scuba diving. Doesn"t matter, though.

Corbin"s certified. Where is that?” Zane pulled his itinerary closer and ran his finger down the list.

“St. Maarten,” Ty grumbled. He was watching Zane thoughtfully, unhappy with the fact that even after all the months they"d been partnered, he"d had to ask Zane about so small a fact. How well did he really know his partner, a man he was fairly sure he was falling in love with? He"d been pondering that ever since Zane revealed his family was apparently very wealthy. Ty had never suspected, never even been particularly curious about Zane"s family or why he never spoke of them. Could he really be in love with someone he was afraid to ask about his past?

Zane flipped through the folder of materials and pulled out the activities booklet. Ty had already glanced at it, but he"d set it aside in favor of what they actually had scheduled. The booklet included descriptions of all the events, event length, how much exercise it included, and prices. Zane paged through the booklet before stopping and reading. “Says beginner to advanced level can be accommodated. I should be okay, right?” His nose wrinkled. “Scuba diving,” he said in a speculative tone.

Ty sat back in his chair, bottle of water in hand, as he continued to watch Zane while his partner was distracted. It had taken him a while, but he"d finally overcome the embarrassment when Zane occasionally caught him watching. He still preferred to be covert about it merely because it was more entertaining. Zane was intriguing when he wasn"t aware of it. Such as now. His attention appeared to be completely focused on the booklet as he looked up their various activities. He murmured to himself, sometimes frowning, his long fingers wrapped around a slim ink pen as he made notes. Brow furrowed, black eyes intent.

Ty kind of wanted to jump him. He smiled and took a long drink of water to curtail the urge. He cocked his head to one side as he watched Zane go still and frown deeply. Now he wanted to jump him ever more. But instead he made himself ask, “What"s wrong?”

Zane"s facial expression morphed into one of disbelief. “Cliff diving?”

“I gather you"ve never been cliff diving either?” Ty asked wryly.

“Or waterskiing.” Zane turned up his nose. “Maybe I"ll be sick on cliff diving day.”

“Maybe we won"t have to keep it up that long,” Ty offered kindly.

“If we"re done early, think the Bureau will have us go back before the end of the cruise?” Zane asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Ty shrugged negligently. “Probably not. Too costly to come get us. Why, you looking for another vacation so soon?” he asked with a wicked glint to his eyes.

Zane"s eyes widened. “You bite your tongue or—”

Ty laughed at Zane"s predictably horrified reaction. He pushed his chair back to balance on its back legs, grinning widely. “That never gets old.”

Zane made an aggrieved sound as he tossed the itinerary back on the table. “We"re not close enough to a decent hospital for any nonsense like a… stretch of several days with no work,” he improvised awkwardly. “There"s no telling what kind of medical facilities these islands have.”

Ty let his chair thump back down and stood in one graceful motion. He bent and kissed Zane soundly, smiling even as their lips met. He felt Zane relax under his touch, and his lips opened under Ty"s.

Ty lingered over the kiss, enjoying the down time while they had the opportunity. When he finally pulled away, he pressed his nose to Zane"s cheek, still grinning as he mumbled, “You"re so easy to rile.”

Zane turned his head, seeking Ty"s lips again as he lifted his hands to hold on to Ty rather than the chair. “I could start hiding it again, but you seem to enjoy seeing it so much,” he said between kisses.

“I do,” Ty allowed, dragging his lips over Zane"s before kissing him one last time and standing.

A long sigh preceded Zane"s words. “So, if Corbin and Del are doing all this stuff, it"s a good bet the others are doing some of it. And according to the ship"s map, all the staterooms at this level are right on the end of this deck. There"s not too many of them, though I don"t know what it matters. This entire ship is high-class.”

“Six of them, in fact,” Ty said as he sat down heavily. “Plus a few family suites and one big-ass Royal Suite, all of which are crowded here at the stern on Deck Eight. It"s a damn good bet our quarry is across the hall or next door.”

Zane glanced toward the bedroom area with a frown. “I wonder how well soundproofed these walls are,” he muttered.

“I haven"t heard any idle conversation through them since we"ve been here,” Ty offered. And he had indeed been listening, paying attention for that very reason. He smiled slowly. “It wouldn"t hurt to give them a passionate scream or two at night, though. To sell our cover, of course,” he said with false sincerity.

“Hope you brought cough drops, then, "cause you"re gonna be hoarse,” Zane drawled.

Ty"s smile warmed, and he winked at Zane cheekily. His little experiment last night had obviously gone over very well with the guinea pig. Ty had liked it as well, though it had definitely been a step out of his comfort zone. “Don"t know if I could handle that every night,” he admitted with unusual candor. He was still sore from what Zane had done to him, but mostly in pleasant ways. Ty didn"t bottom often, for reasons he had never actually contemplated. He enjoyed it quite a bit.

“I don"t think it will matter which of us is yelling,” Zane said as he shifted in his chair.

Ty cocked his head playfully. “Statements like that make me wonder if you"ve been doing it right,” he teased.

Zane groaned and let his head fall back so he was looking at the ceiling. “Don"t tempt me with that challenge. We have work to do.”