“And you’re so damned hot!” Joshua said in return. He reached behind Colin and grabbed a handful of his ass, grinning up into his face, leaning against him with his whole body. “What’s it gonna be, Irish? Fuck or fight? You wanna go around looking like that, you have to pay the price.” He slid his tongue up the center of Colin’s breastbone. “But you’d better be quick, because I’ll be on dinner duty in a half-hour or so.”
“In that case...” Colin said, then grabbed Joshua’s hand and pulled him up the steps and into the house.
* * *
They metover breakfast the following morning. “You’re late,” Joshua said, grinning at his husband. “Shouldn’t you be gone already?” He handed Colin a glass of orange juice. “You want me to fix you some eggs or something?”
“Nah, baby. I don’t have time. I’m going in later because I’ve got a task force meeting after court, and it’ll keep me at the office longer than usual.” He smirked at Joshua and leaned close to kiss him. “I don’t want to lose any of our time together, so I thought I’d join you for orange juice.” He lowered himself onto a kitchen chair and sipped. “I probably won’t be home until after five today. Sorry.”
“I might be late myself,” Joshua said. He propped his foot on a kitchen chair long enough to tie his shoe, then he brushed off the chair and sat down. “Nice to get a bit of morning time with you.”
“Why will you be late?”
“Because I might run by the Culbreth and drop off Nate’s jacket.”
“He’s in rehearsal?”
“He’s gottwoplays in rehearsal! One of his own,It’s Not All Roses...you remember him talking endlessly about it at the cabin. And an Agatha Christie play,And Then There Were None, I think, so he’s living at the theater most nights.” He grinned at Colin. “You have toknowDavy’s ripping his hair out.”
Colin watched Joshua’s face as he talked. He was so obviously happy, his quirky angular features almost danced as he chattered in the slightly nasal, slightly slurry voice that never failed to accelerate Colin’s heart rate. He’d never seen a face as expressive as Joshua’s. He could quirk his mouth in a lopsided grin, knit his brows in an exaggerated frown, then light up the room with his broad, beautiful smile all in a matter of seconds.
Colin never tired of watching the seemingly endless array of expressions that flashed across Joshua’s face as he spoke. Each one revealed a new and unique aspect of the man he loved. Each one was beloved in its own way. Each one was a singular extension of Joshua’s beauty.
Now he reached for Joshua’s hand and lifted it to his lips. “You be careful tonight, you hear? Don’t make me have to come looking for you.”
Joshua scoffed, then rose and kissed the top of Colin’s head. “Fat chance. I’ll probably be home before you are.” He hugged Colin and pressed several kisses to his cheek, then picked up his briefcase and moved toward the back door. In the doorway he turned and smiled. “Have a great day, sweetie.”
As Joshua turned to go, Colin felt something ricochet in his chest and he surged to his feet feeling a sudden swell of panic. “Josh!”
Joshua halted in the doorway and smiled. “What?”
Colin moved to his side and kissed him. “I love you,” he said, gazing into Joshua’s chocolate-brown eyes. “I love you with all my heart.”
“And I love you, my magic man. See you tonight.”
* * *
Colin spedthrough his court cases that morning, trying desperately to clear his docket before his meeting with the task force. He now carried a caseload that numbered in the hundreds. A few cases were part of the original eighty-eight he had pulled from the box on his first day in the office; some were handoffs from Quentin or Adylinn, some had been assigned by Esther. All were up-to-date and now waited, each taking a turn in the vast process which moved them from their first courtroom appearance to the day when the case was resolved for better or worse. Scattered through the pages of his files were victims, suspects, witnesses, and police officers, attorneys, judges, bailiffs, and clerks. All focused on one thing only: the search for justice. And Colin was the guiding force behind their shared journey.
His arms filled with case files, he stuck his head into Norman Clayton’s office. “You coming to the task force meeting?”
“Do you need me?”
“Not really. It’s mainly catching up. Nothing you won’t get in the report. I’ll send it before I go home.”
Clayton nodded and waved him on. “Don’t be late getting home! Josh’ll tan your hide!”
Colin moved down the corridor laughing. He stopped in his office long enough to dump the case files in the center of his desk, then he blew out a breath and made his way to the conference room.
Donald Thompson lounged in a chair, his feet propped on the table. “Hey buddy!” he called as Colin entered.
“You’re the kinda guy who gives campus cops a bad name,” Colin said, grinning. He waved Donnie’s feet off the table. “Knock it off, doofus. Esther could pop in here any second. Don’t go getting me in trouble.”
“I thought Shannon would beat me here,” Donald said, pulling his chair closer to where Colin sat. “What the hell’s keeping him?”
“I’m here,” Shannon Nash said, moving into the room behind Colin. He took the seat between them, pausing long enough to lightly smack the back of Donnie’s head. “I just left the Light and Day Shelter,” he told the two men. “They had the pleasure of housing our boy Page for almost a month.”
“Really! What info did you get about him?”
