I made a move to push past him, but his hand settled on my upper arm, gently holding me in place. “I need to go call Memphisto give him a status report,” I managed to get out, though my voice sounded uneven and shaky.
But Magnus didn’t release me, and to my shock, he stepped even closer so that we were practically nose to nose. It would have taken very little effort to brush my mouth over his. I shifted my hips back just a little to make sure he wouldn’t feel my growing erection, though I wasn’t sure why I cared since that was a surefire way to put an end to this conversation.
“I swear on Matty’s life,” he began, his voice fierce. “What happened in Ronan’s office the day of the wedding wasn’t about you…not about your skills anyway.”
Heat and need were making it hard for me to think clearly and I had trouble focusing on the words he was saying. I just needed to taste him so fucking bad, my feelings about kissing be damned. But what he said was finally registering in my addled brain and I forced myself to settle my gaze on his eyes instead of his tempting mouth. But before I could respond, he continued.
“I’ve been taking care of myself since I was ten years old. As a cop, I’ve been shot at, knifed, and threatened with death on a pretty regular basis and I’m still here. So, you can imagine what it was like to walk into that room and have someone tell me I needed a keeper.”
“That’s not what Ronan and Memphis were saying…they were just worried about you.”
“That’s something else I don’t have a lot of experience with,” Magnus said softly. I struggled to ignore the pleasant sensation traveling up my arm where he was holding on to me. “Truth?” Magnus asked.
I nodded.
“I like knowing someone has my back.” He paused for a beat and then his voice dropped even lower. “And I like knowing it’s you.”
I didn’t even know how to process that. I so badly wanted to believe him, but it made no sense. He hated my guts. I hated his.
Except I didn’t. I hated how he made me feel, but I didn’t hate him. Far from it.
Since I had no idea what to say, I settled for, “He has trouble looking you in the eye.” At Magnus’s confused look, I said, “Colton…when you talk about certain things, he doesn’t look you in the eye. Like when you told him how much you appreciated his wife’s help.”
I expected Magnus to defend his friend, to argue with me and tell me I was mistaken, but he merely nodded.
“I don’t think he’s a threat to you,” I clarified. “I just think he’s keeping something from you.”
“Thank you,” Magnus responded softly. We both hung there for a moment, our bodies perfectly lined up, the air around us rife with tense silence. If he’d been any other man, I would have pressed my advantage. But I was still reeling from his admission about him liking that I was watching his back.
I believed him.
I couldn’t say why I believed him, but I did. Maybe it would come back and bite me in the ass, but I had to think that there was no other reason for him to go through so much trouble to try and convince me. My job was to protect him no matter what. And truth be told, I would have done it even if it wasn’t my job.
As the silence dragged on and Magnus continued to hold on to my arm, I knew I needed to get us back on track or I’d end up doing something that would undo whatever truce we’d managed to reach.
“You’re way more fuckable, though.”
It took Magnus a moment to register what I’d said. I smiled when he seemed to focus, hoping he’d realize I was just messing around with him. He was quiet for another beat and then a small grin flitted across his pretty mouth.
“Glad to hear it,” he said with a chuckle. The tension broke and he released my arm. He stepped back enough to let me pass. “I think I’m going to call it a night. Us old guys need as much sleep as we can get.”
I laughed. “Don’t forget to take out your dentures, Pop-pop.”
The sound of Magnus’s laughter did something to me I couldn’t even describe…something I was too afraid to even try to. I walked out the door, but paused in the doorway and turned around. “Hey, Magnus,” I called. He was next to his nightstand removing his watch which for some reason I found really sexy.
“Yeah?”
“I do, you know.”
“Do what?” he asked.
I sucked in a deep breath and took the plunge. “Have your back.”
Another smile lit up his face. “I know you do, Dante.”
And with that I left the room and headed down the stairs to the den. I had a report to call in. But I wouldn’t tell Memphis that Magnus and I seemed to have turned some kind of corner.
Because I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that we had. But it was one hell of a start. Now all I had to do was not fuck it up.
