“You need to tell me what you’re thinking, baby. What’s making that gorgeous face twist up like that?” he asked, his voice soft but lilting with gentle amusement.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stubbornly looked away from him.
“If you’re slinking off into the night to murder people, Callum, I expect to hear from you more frequently than afew days.How am I supposed to know if something bad happened to you?” Without my permission, my eyes darted to the spot on his neck where the blood had been. He must have washed it off because it was gone now, but I couldn’t forget the shot of fear that had ripped through me when I thought he had been injured.
“Worried about me, ginger snap?” He hummed, reaching over to gently turn my face toward him.
The skin on my face ignited beneath his fingers, and my breath caught in my chest. Fuck, every time he touched me, my whole body seemed to light up in response. I wanted so badly to lean into him, but… we were outside in the middle of the day. Anyone could see us.
Maybe just a quick kiss?
My gaze darted nervously around the garden, checking to see if anyone was around. It was just us.
A quick kiss wouldn’t hurt—just to make up for not kissing him goodbye last night…
I was about to lean into him when he suddenly dropped his hand and scooched farther away on the bench.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
I frowned. “Why are you sorry?”
He shrugged, and this time, he was the one that wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I promised I wouldn’t push you to come out, and here I am, fondling you in public.”
He chuckled, but it sounded sad, and it made my heart hurt.
I slid my hand across the bench and wrapped my fingers around his, squeezing them tight.
He glanced at me in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.
“I’ll admit, this is all a lot for me, and I don’t know how ready I am to start screaming from the rooftops that I’m… you know.”
God, I was pathetic… Why couldn’t I say it out loud?
“You know…” I tried again. “Gay.”
Cal didn’t interrupt me; he was just staring at me, somehow sitting so still I wondered if he was even breathing.
“But inside earlier, and even just now… That’s not why I’m pushing you away, Callum.”
He frowned. “Then why?”
I sighed. “This is my business. Yes, I live here, but during operating hours, I need to behave with a certain level of decorum. People don’t need to see their mortician engaging in PDA, no matter what gender their partner identifies as. There’s also a certain expectation for how you should be dressed if you’re walking into a service.”
I gestured to his outfit, and he looked down at his sweater as if realizing for the first time that it might be inappropriate.
“If you’re going to come around here while I’m working and insert yourself into services, you need to dress accordingly.”
“What, like… a suit?” he asked, wrinkling his nose as if the idea made his skin crawl.
I nodded. “Yes. Even Theo puts on a suit when she’s helping out, and trust me, I think she’s more allergic to formal wear than you are.”
He tongued his lip ring as if he were mulling what I said over.
“Okay. I can do that,” he said carefully, and I smiled.
“Besides…” I blushed. “I bet you would look really good in a suit.”
Cal’s entire face lit up at that. Threading his fingers through mine, he tugged me closer to him, his eyes darting around the garden to see if we were still alone.
