“Promise me you won’t get all up in that director’s grill.”
“Only if he promises to stop being an asshole.” He grinned. “You think there’s any chance of it?”
“Probably not.” He carded his fingers through Colin’s sandy locks. “You look tired. You’ve looked tired for weeks. It worries me.”
“Things are tight down at the office right now. Ady’s been off sick for a week, so we’re all carrying a huge load.”
“When’s she due back?”
Colin puffed out a disgusted breath. “She’s milking it for all it’s worth. Norm saw her at the Barracks Road mall and said she looked right asrain.”
“Did he tell Esther?”
“I doubt it.” He leaned closer to Joshua. “Notniceto rat out your fellow attorney.”
“Nice enough forher,” Joshua muttered in disgust. “Meanwhile, I’m worried about your health!”
“I’m fine.”
Joshua gave no reply, but his gaze deepened, communicating his concern more clearly than words.
“Honest, Josh. I’m fine.”
“Please remember law school,” Joshua said finally. “You were ‘fine’ then, too, or so you said. Right up to the moment you collapsed in a heap, overwhelmed by stress and exhaustion.”
“You think I’m on the dark path again?”
“I don’t think it’simpossible!” He gripped a fold of Colin’s suit jacket in his fist and shook it. “Doyou?”
Colin nodded and kissed his temple. “I’ll be aware.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
VISITING NATE
The moment they emerged from the jet bridge at LaGuardia Colin saw a smiling young man holding a sign that read “I’m a gift from Nate!” He nudged Joshua’s arm and tilted his head toward the sign and holder. “Now, what the hell are we supposed to do withthat?
Laughing, Joshua grabbed Colin’s arm and drew him toward the sign carrier. “You’re a gift fromNate?” Joshua asked, then plucked the sign from the young man’s hands and folded it into a discreet package which he returned to him. “Might not want to wave that around,” he suggested. “Unless you’re looking to get arrested for solicitation.”
“Or human trafficking,” Colin added with a wry smile.
The young man flushed and tucked the cardboard under his arm. “Mr. Reese insisted that I carry it,” he told Joshua. “I figured it was a joke.” He appeared to notice Colin for the first time, and his eyes grew wide with surprised admiration. “I—I’m uh, I’m supposed to take you to the theater.” Flushing, he grabbed their suitcases.
Joshua linked his arm with Colin’s and waved him forward. “Lead on,” he instructed. “And what’s your name?”
“My name is Alex; I—I mean Alexander. Alexander King. Do you have hotel rooms?”
“No,” Colin told him. “Nate told us not to book a hotel room. Are you in the play?”
“I tried out for the second lead,” Alex told them. “But someone else got it, so I signed on as a stagehand.” He led them down a walkway to the ground transportation area. “They thought I was a limo service, so they let me park here.” He ushered Colin and Joshua to a parking slot where a beat-up Lincoln Navigator waited.
“They thoughtthiswas part of a limo service?” Joshua asked, gesturing to the dinged-up Lincoln.
“More likely that they just didn’t care,” Colin told him. He jerked open the backseat door and got into the car. “Not often we have a chauffeur,” he said, flashing his dimples in a wicked grin. “Wanna take advantage and make out in the backseat?”
“All the way to Manhattan?” Joshua asked, clambering in behind him.
“Why the hell not?”
