Bryce leaned back, coffee cradled in one hand, a soft sigh escaping him as if he were as worried about Nat and Derek’s baby as they were. He seemed to know everyone in town—their families, their hopes, probably even their dogs’ names.
There was something magnetic about him. Tom had seen that from the start. It was more than charm. His easy warmthhad people gravitating to him, opening up, and he made it look easy, like he had enough to spare for everyone.
Tom had seen it with his pack, but it was a revelation to watch that generosity turned on the town as well. Everyone knew him, and everyone liked him. At least half of them flirted with him. And Bryce, that glint in his eyes, happily flirted back.
The realization landed like a punch he hadn’t braced for. Bryce wasn’t treating him any differently than he did the rest of the town. The warmth, the spark, the easy attention... it wasn’t personal, the way Tom had thought. It was just who Bryce was.
And Tom, lonely and longing, had let himself believe it meant something more.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d misread what was right in front of him. He’d thought everything with Zack was fine, that even though they weren’t mates, they’d built a life together that would last. And then he’d come home one afternoon from a strategy meeting to find Zack packing his things.
He still didn’t know if Zack would have just left, if he hadn’t arrived when he did. Sometimes he wished that he had, that he’d come home to an empty apartment rather than the lecture that laid out in excruciating detail every single one of his inadequacies.
“You okay?” Bryce asked suddenly. His gaze flicked over, sharp yet somehow soft as well.
Tom smiled. The kind of smile that got him through hard meetings and impossible committee rooms.
“Of course,” he said.
And then he looked out the window, because if he didn’t, he might do something disastrous like reach across the table to the warmth that made him feel valued and seen. Just like everyone else.
He covered the rest of the meal well enough. Easy smiles, a few polite questions, enough warmth not to be suspicious.
But Bryce had looked at him differently, as if he’d seen behind the façade. He didn’t ask again, but his eyes did—you okay?
He smiled, and smoothly moved the conversation on. What else could he do?
Bryce headed back to the ranch after lunch, with one last questioning look, and Tom returned to the hotel. He messaged Matt’s security lead, Karl, to finalize the equipment order they’d discussed the previous evening. Nothing classified, just civilian-grade gear that was reliable and which suited the topography, pack resources, and available manpower. Karl had been startlingly attractive but also quietly competent, sharply intelligent, and focused. Just the way Tom liked it.
He called in a favor to expedite delivery. The kit would be overnighted to Denver and couriered to his doorstep by morning.
Then he typed up his report, encrypted it and sent it to Steadman. He left out the way Bryce’s smile lingered in his head. That wasn’t relevant. That wasn’t the job. But it didn’t stop him thinking about it.
When Bryce had looked at him, he’d thought he’d beenseen.Not the perfect aide, not the seconded muscle, not the guy who got dumped two days before his thirtieth birthday. JustTom. It had been disarming and a little terrifying. He’d also been wrong. Bryce made whoever he was speaking to feel special, just for that moment.
Thank God he hadn’t done anything about it.
Chapter Eleven
BRYCE
Bryce found himself tapping the steering wheel with two fingers as he pulled away from the hotel.
Something had shifted at the diner, and he didn’t know what. Tom had smiled, sure, had asked questions and kept the conversation moving, but between one moment and the next, it had felt like talking to someone through glass. As if a smooth surface had descended between them that Bryce hadn’t been able to get a handhold on.
He ran their interaction back in his head, trying to pinpoint where the tone had changed, what he’d said wrong. But he couldn’t think of anything that would have caused Tom to withdraw the way he had.
He drummed his fingers again and tried to tell himself he was overthinking it. But when he thought back to the time on the porch, with Tom softer and more open, he knew he wasn’t.He’d felt something take root between them then, quiet but undeniable.
Now? He couldn’t tell if it was still there.
He sighed and flicked on the radio, hoping the drive would clear his head. The sun was out, the roads were quiet, and technically he had a few days off. Everything should’ve felt good. Instead, he was twisting himself in knots over a guy, and he didn’t know why.
Tom was beautiful—Nerissa Taylor was spot on about that, like always—but it was the rest of him that was sucking Bryce in deeper. The dry humor, the watchfulness that spelled intelligence and competence, and the sheer decency. And that clean, sharp scent, like rain after a long dry spell. It teased at the edges of Bryce’s senses like a half-remembered song.
He gripped the wheel tighter. If Tom hadn’t been Council affiliated, Bryce would’ve hit on him the first time they met. They’d have screwed, had a great time, gone their separate ways, and he’d never have known all that Tom had to offer.
But now hedidknow. And Tom pulling away from him like that—it stung.
