My eyes widened. “You’re going undercover in Ireland?” Then the stupidity of that question hit me. “Of course you’re not. Sorry, it’s late, and I haven’t slept. It’s probably for the Irish mob or something, right? Or maybe you can’t talk about it?”
Relief filled his face. “Yeah, exactly. Not something I’m at liberty to discuss with you.”
I held up my hands. “No worries, I understand. Shouldn’t have asked.”
“What are you doing up?” he asked.
His eyes grew wide as saucers. Crap. Right. I was standing in my living room in nothing but my underwear like some kind of exhibitionist.
Eamon gave me the slowest, most thorough once-over I’d ever experienced. His gaze started at my face, lingered there for a heartbeat, then began a deliberate journey downward. I watched his pupils dilate as he took in my bare chest, the way his breathing seemed to catch when his eyes reached my abs, and how his lips parted slightly when his gaze dropped even lower to my gray boxer briefs that were doing absolutely nothing to hide my body’s reaction to his attention.
Heat flooded my cheeks as I realized what I must look like standing there—half-naked, probably disheveled from tossing and turning, and now getting visibly aroused under his intense scrutiny. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, and I could practically feel the weight of his stare like a physical touch.
I had to resist the overwhelming urge to cover my groin with my hands, which was absolutely ridiculous. The urge,not resisting it. I was a grown man who’d been naked in front of other men before, but something about the hungry way Eamon was looking at me—like he wanted to devour me whole—made me feel exposed in a way that had nothing to do with clothing.
“I need to talk to you about something,” I said quickly.
“Now? It can’t wait until tomorrow or until you are, you know, decent?”
Decent. He used such funny expressions sometimes. “No, it can’t. What about Steve? Is he getting protection too?”
“Steve? Who’s Steve?”
“Steve Porter. He works at the Charming Banquet Hall, and he was also there yesterday. If Carlo starts investigating, he’ll find Steve first.”
Eamon’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Yes, that Steve. I know who you mean. We have eyes on him.”
Eyes on him? What did that mean? “So he has protection too?”
Eamon shook his head. “He doesn’t need it. He never contacted the NYPD. You did.”
“But…but Carlo doesn’t know that. What if he suspects Steve first? Wouldn’t he, like, hurt him? Or maybe interrogate him to make sure he’s innocent?”
Maybe these were really dumb questions, and I was missing something, but I still needed to know. I didn’t want Steve to get hurt because of me. He was such a sweet guy. Though even if he were an asshole, I still wouldn’t be okay with Carlo going after him.
Eamon blinked, then winced, shooting another glance toward the ceiling. “Yes, yes, of course. That’s why I said we have eyes on him. Someone’s watching him. His house,where he works. Like that. Just not in the same way as with you. But we are keeping him safe.”
Relief filled me. “Oh good. I was worried about him. He’s super sweet and nice, but not really…street smart.”
“So we’re good? You can go back to bed now?”
He almost sounded eager to get rid of me, but I ignored it. I gestured at the iPad. “What were you doing? I heard you say something about an ethics code?”
Eamon muttered something I couldn’t make out. “It’s, erm, a job training. A required course I have to take if I want to keep my job.”
I chuckled at that exaggeration. Surely an NYPD detective wouldn’t get fired for not completing some ethics course. “So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I can’t get this fecking…iThing to cooperate. Every time I try to play some stupid movie, the whole screen disappears.”
Nope, definitely not a tech person. “Want me to have a look?”
I held out my hand and, much to my surprise, he handed me the iPad. Maybe he’d shocked himself too because panic filled his expression, “Don’t look at the… I mean ignore the…”
“The porn site you have open?” I teased. Then my eyes fell on the browser, and I damn near choked on my breath. “Holy shit, youwerewatching porn!”
“Shh!” he hushed me. “No need to shout it from the rooftops. I was…frustrated, okay?”
“Hey, no judgment from me.”
