“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” Colin interrupted.
Joshua breathed out a soft laugh. “BUT,” he said, reaching to poke Colin’s ribs, “are your fellow prosecutors going to buy into this? Are the cops?”
Colin grinned and shrugged. “Well, so farEsther’sbuying into it, so the other ACAs won’t have a lot of choice. Far as the cops go, we’ll see how it goes. I think most of them trust me enough to at least give it a try. Then I have to sell it.”
“How will the other attorneys feel about you getting tagged for this? Esther is giving you a lot of responsibility for a newbie attorney. Are the others OK with it?”
Colin tipped his head back and laughed. “They’ll all smile and give me an ‘attaboy’,” he said with a smirk. “But I think at least two of them, and possibly three, wouldloveto see me fall on my ass and wouldn’t hesitate for one split second to put me there if they could.” He leaned forward and kissed Joshua’s cheek. “But I’m ready for them.”
Joshua reached to cradle Colin’s cheek. “And this task force comes on top of the casesalreadyon your docket?”
Colin gave him a slow smile. He covered Joshua’s hand with his own and pressed it against his cheek, then turned his head to kiss Joshua’s palm. “Don’t worry, Josh. I’ve already told Esther that I refuse to take on anything that’s going to eat into our time together. That’s why I go in early every day. To avoid that. On the night you have group I’m willing to stay ‘til seven, but that’sitand Esther knows it.”
“She’s putting an awful lot on you,” Joshua said. “And your docket is already bursting at the seams, not just withyourcases but with everyone else’s as well.”
“Well, they’reallmy cases now,” Colin murmured.
“And that’s what worries me.”
“Sweetie, I won’t let it happen.”
Joshua couldn’t help but chuckle. He leaned forward until his head was on Colin’s shoulder. “Now where’ve I heardthatbefore?”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Idotrust you. It’s not that, and you know it. But I alsoknowyou. The allure of achievement can be intoxicating. It’s a siren song to a man like you.”
“I won’t risk us again, Josh. I learned my lesson in law school. I’m off the dark path for good.”
“You’re on quite a career trajectory over there,” Joshua observed. “Jackson seems to love you.”
Colin sighed and leaned back against the couch. He propped both feet on the coffee table and stretched out to his full height. “I’m not sure that’s true. From what I’ve seen in the three months I’ve been there, it’s more like shedoesn’tlove the other ACAs.” He shot Joshua a glance. “I think she knows all about Clayton's sleazy secret love life. In fact, I think she knows a lotmore than she lets on aboutallof us, including me.”
He leaned closer to Joshua and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “But honest to god, I don’t give a damn aboutanyof that. They can all play their little bullshit games, and what Esther does about it is up to her. All I know is, she’s a hard-working, decent lady who’s been good to me. And I’m going to do my best for her.”
“Then she’s also a lucky lady,” Joshua said, clutching Colin’s hand.
Colin smiled at him and kissed his cheek again. “Thank you, husband. And now I have another question for you.”
“What might that be?”
“Are you going to feed me, or do I have to sit here and starve to death?”
“Humph,” Joshua scoffed, getting to his feet. “I could ask the same question ofyou, hot stuff.”
Colin threw back his head and laughed. “OK, c’mon. I’ll take you out.” He stood and snagged his jacket from the back of the couch. “Did you talk to Miranda about those doors?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She’s working on it.”
Colin paused with his hand on the doorknob. “Tell her she’s got a week and thenIstart working on it!”
* * *
“I miss seeing you on campus,”David told Colin later that week. He and Joshua had joined David and Nate for dinner in David’s spacious home. Colin nodded and sat his fork down.
