Gray. Carrying a tray oftakeout cups and a paper bag with promising grease stains in a few places.
I hadn’t eatenbreakfast this morning, so at eleven o’clock, I was more than ready to sink myteeth into whatever Gray had to offer.
Uh.
Pastry-wise.
Not that I wouldn’t have sunk myteeth into just about anything he wanted, to be honest. I wondered if he likedthat.
I shouldnothavebeen wondering if he liked that.
“Hey, Dad, I gotta go. Grayjust came in.”
“Give him the phone,” my dadsaid.
“What?”
“Give him the phone,” herepeated. “This is as good a chance as any to talk to the man I’m trusting toprotect my son.”
I glanced up at Gray, whoshrugged and held his hand out, having set the tray of coffee on my desk.Clearly, he’doverheard, and he didn’t mind being commandeered by my father.
He’d obviously never met him.The moment dad found out Gray waslikable, I’d lose him for an hour. Atleast.
Still, I passed the phoneover. If Gray talked to my dad for more than ten minutes, I was eating hisshare of whatever pastries he’d brought.
“Mr. Emerson,” Gray answeredin his customer-service voice, the one that lilted up at the end and made himsound just a little less gruff and a little more approachable.
I liked the other voice. Thesoft, deep one that rumbled in the depths of my gut when he spoke. EverythingGray said in that voice sounded impossibly intimate, like he was saying itunder a blanket curled up in bed.
Not that I was thinkingabout curling up in bed with him.
Not that I’d thought aboutit every night since the break-in, hugging a pillow and letting my tired brainjust believe whatever it needed to so I could get to sleep.
Some people named theirpillows, I was sure.
Mine justhappenedtobe named Gray.
Nothing weird about that.
I could hear my dad talkingon the other end of the line, but I couldn’t quite make out what hewassaying.
“Oh, no sir, thatwon’tbe necessary,” Gray said. “I’ve just gotten back from checking in with SergeantMoreno, but unfortunately they haven’t made any progress. Yeah.” He paused. “Notmuch to go on, sir. Some grainy CCTV footage from outside the parking garage,but it was just too dark to get a clear shot.”
Another pause.
I grabbed the coffee nearestto me and took a sip.
Whatever was in my mouth, itwasn’tcoffee. It wassickly-sweet, mostly made of milk, foamy, and disgusting. I shuddered as Iswallowed the mouthful, pulling a face.
Gray bit his lip, clearlyjust barely stopping himself from laughing. He passed me the other disposablecup and nudged the bag of pastries toward me, eyes sparkling with laughter thewhole time.
“He’s in safe hands, sir,”Gray said to my dad, as though he hadn’t nearly poisoned me half a second ago.
“I’ve already offered, but Iwill make the offer again. Yes, I agree.” Another pause. “The only thing I careabout in this job is keeping your son safe, sir. Whatever it takes.”
I liked the sound of that. Iknew Gray was just saying all the right things to keep my dad happy, but it wasstill nice to hear.
“I’ll tell him,” Gray saidsincerely. “Thank you for trusting me.”
