Gabe shook his head and shrugged his shoulders slightly before he replied with, “Not much I can do about it until Monday. I can do a basic internet search on the guy and try to get some background info, but I guess there’s not much out there if the CPD didn’t know about him. He’s either kept his nose clean or has evaded capture.” Gabe looked at me across the table then said, “There’s no need ruining our evening over something we can’t resolve tonight.”
I knew that the investigator in him wanted to fight that logic, but I also knew from previous conversations that he felt his hectic, long hours on the Miami Police Department played a big part in his failed relationship with Kyle and he wasn’t willing to let the same thing happen between us. I loved that about him, I truly did, but I’d rather him do what he could right then so that his attention would fully be on me when he was home.
“I can ride home with Sally Ann and Adrian if you…”
“Nope,” Gabe said emphatically. “Yes, my mind will be spinning in a million directions tomorrow, but it’s not fair to call in the task force on the weekend with nothing to go on except his name. Like I said, I’ll do some research tomorrow and formulate a game plan for Monday.”
“If you’re sure,” I told him.
“I am,” he replied. “Let’s go back to enjoying our dinners and later you can tell me why I’m just now learning that you can paint.” So he had overheard what I said to Sally Ann. “I expect you to show me your stuff when we get home. Yourartwork,” he corrected when he could tell I was about to snark about how often I show him my stuff.
“The bloom is already falling off the rose,” I woefully told a laughing Sally Ann. “Gabe, you’ve seen my artwork already.”
“I have? When?” he asked.
“The studio in my attic,” I told him.
“Are you telling me those paintings of the ballet dancers are your creation? That’s just…wow, Sunshine. What other talents are you keeping from me?” he asked in awe.
The attention he was giving me in front of Adrian and Sally Ann made me feel anxious, so I did what I did best in that type of situation. “Baby, you’ve barely scratched the surface of my talents.” Sally Ann and Adrian laughed, but Gabe just studied me quietly for several moments.
“There’s no time like the present to find out,” he told me. The look he gave me promised that he wouldn’t let up that night until I shared a new talent with him.
Once we got home, I showed him how I could tie a cherry stem with my tongue and how useful a strong tongue could be once I had his dick in my mouth. I could honestly say that his case was the furthest thing from his mind right then. I also forgot to ask him how in the world Adrian found out about my pole dancing, but then I decided it didn’t matter because I trusted and believed in Gabe.
IHAD MEANT WHATI said about there being no point in calling in the task force on the weekend on just the discovery of Jonathon Silver’s existence. Time away from the job was important for a well-balanced, happy life. I was also right that my mind would constantly spin as I tried to figure out what role, if any, Silver may have played in his brother’s death.
Instead of being angry that my mind was preoccupied, Josh went upstairs to his attic and began working on the painting for Adrian and Sally Ann’s nursery. It still blew my mind that Josh had created those gorgeous paintings. Why the hell would he hide that kind of talent in a room that only he saw? It was baffling to me. I also thought that it was slightly unfair that he had been blessed with so many talents when so many of us could barely walk and chew gum at the same time. I could lift weights and play a few sports, big deal. Josh lit up a room with his personality, made people feel good about themselves, and made it a prettier world with his hidden art. I just shook my head and went back to doing a basic internet search on Jonathon Silver.
As I suspected, I hadn’t learned much from public databases. There were no mentions of Jonathon Silver’s name in any online or print articles. He didn’t appear to own any residential property in the northern counties of Kentucky or southern counties of Ohio. It was trickier searching for commercial properties unless you knew the address or the proprietor’s name. There were many sites that offered to give me the contact information for Jonathon Silver, but I wasn’t about to pay for it when I could get that information myself at the police station. I blew out a frustrated breath that what I predicted had come true—I knew absolutely nothing new. I had hoped to get a head start for our Monday morning task force meeting.
“Why don’t you call John and ask if he wants to leave earlier tomorrow, so you have extra time to gather information before your meeting?” Josh asked. I wasn’t aware I verbalized my irritation for him to hear or maybe he read my mind. Was that another skill he had been hiding?I want sex. I want sex. I want sex.“Why are you making that cheesy porn face?” he asked me.
I threw my head back and laughed at the confused expression on his face. “I was trying to see if you could read my mind because you commented on what I was thinking before I made the cheesy porn face.”
“You want to watch cheesy porn?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. “I want to know if you can read minds or if I talk out loud sometimes when I’m not even aware of it.”
“You didn’t verbalize your thoughts out loud, babe,” Josh replied, shaking his head. “I’m not a mind reader either, but I could tell how anxious you are by the tenseness in your body and the way you keep tapping your pen on the notebook. So, why not give John a heads-up about who we saw last night and find out if it’s possible for you to pick him up earlier. If not, you can always go to the station early in the morning and get started on the background searches.”
He was right, and I told him so. “I’ll go into the station early tomorrow and work for a bit before I pick him up. I can fill Dorchester in during the drive to Cincinnati.” I liked my temporary partner and didn’t want to screw up his weekend for no good reason.
“Great. Now hopefully you’ll be able to relax and enjoy Sunday dinner with our friends,” Josh told me. He never failed to call Meredith and Chaz “our” friends, and that meant a lot to me. It made me feel like our relationship was more like a partnership, that we were truly one.
“If not, I know what always makes me feel better.” I made the most lecherous facial expression I could. I narrowed my eyes into a sultry look that was supposed to be sexy and bit my lip. Instead of Josh jumping me as I’d hoped, he howled with laughter.
“You look constipated,” he managed to wheeze out in between peals of laughter. “I love you so damn much, Gabe. Never change.” I was so glad I could entertain him, but damn my ego took a dive when Josh couldn’t tell my constipated face from my sexy face. His next words soothed my wounded pride. “You don’t need a sexy face for me to want to throw myself in your arms, Gabe. You just need to keep breathing.”
“You say the sweetest things.” I set my notebook and pen on the coffee table and pulled him until he was in my lap. “I love you so much, Sunshine, so I want to be better about leaving my work outside these walls.”
“That’s not how guys operate, Gabe. Regardless of our profession, work drives us. You don’t complain to me when my last client’s appointment runs thirty minutes over so why would I hold it against you when you’re trying to solve a case?” What Josh said made sense logically, but in theory, it didn’t stand up. I saw too many relationships die for other officers when disappointment over canceled dates and late nights turn into resentment.
“You have to let me know when something isn’t working right for us. I need you to tell me when I’ve done something to upset you, instead of suppressing things.” I ran my fingers through his platinum blond hair and smiled at the way his hazel eyes turned a shade darker with affection whenever I touched him in the simplest of ways. He was a man who was truly starving for love and affection when I met him, and I was a man with an abundance of love and affection to give to the right man. We were made for each other.
“It’s like you don’t even know me.” Josh shook his head sadly. “Have you ever known menotto tell you how I feel in one form or another?” He hid behind snark when he felt most vulnerable, he got very quiet when he got angry, and expressed his love for me with his body—either during a dance, sex, or both. Technically, I would know by his reaction how he felt, but I would prefer that we just said what was on our minds. “I can tell how important this is to you. I will try harder to be upfront with you about my feelings without all the extra stuff tossed in.”
“Thank you.”
