“They’re mornin’ staples.”
“They’re pan-fried cholesterol.”
“Yeah, well.”
They walked for a few minutes, continuing past the house down the opposite end of the beach. Farther down, he knew there were some seaside resorts, and during the summer, it was usually crowded with people trickling out from their vacation rentals to spend time in the sand and surf. So far, they’d been lucky, only encountering a handful of beachgoers. He figured the same could not be said for next week when most were celebrating the official spring break.
“I left a message with RT.”
Brantley peered over at Reese. “Regardin’?”
“What comes next.”
“And?”
“And he said it’s up to us, but he’d like us to spend a couple of weeks up there if possible. He reiterated the training. I told him it was already on the agenda.”
“It’s a good opportunity for the team.” While he wasn’t expecting to get anything out of it, Brantley could certainly see the benefit for some of them.
“We’ll also want to leverage them for ideas on gettin’ clients.”
Yeah, Brantley had been thinking about that, too. “Governor Greenwood said he’d continue to refer us.”
“That’s good news.”
“In a way. But it’ll still be a matter of steppin’ on toes.”
They walked for a short time, then turned around, made the trek back. As they approached the house, Brantley thought about the fact everyone would be leaving in a little while.
“Did they say how long they’d be at the aquarium?”
“A couple of hours, probably. Why?”
“We’ll have the place all to ourselves.”
Reese stared over at him. “So?”
Brantley chuckled. “You might wanna rest up. I’ve got plans for you.”
With that, he took off running, leaving Reese laughing behind him.
Nearly three hours later, Brantley found himself alone with Reese for the first time in six days. Only after every member of the team attempted to persuade them to come along, to think of it as team building, had they finally given up, piled into Baz’s truck, and headed for the aquarium. Brantley had, of course, met every single request with a decided no. He damn sure was not giving up some alone time with Reese to walk through a bunch of oversized fish tanks. Not even a killer whale—something Trey insisted would be there—had enticed him.
As soon as Baz’s truck pulled off the street, Brantley made a mad dash upstairs, where Reese was chilling on the balcony, beneath the cover of an umbrella, beer in hand.
“Beer before noon?” he teased.
“You said to rest up. I was chillin’.”
“I think it’s time for a shower,” he insisted, not bothering to wait before pivoting back into the house and straight to the first bathroom he came to.
He flipped on the shower, ensuring it was lukewarm, then made a quick dash back to his duffel, grabbed a bottle of lubricant, and returned to find Reese already in the shower.
Brantley chuckled as he closed and locked the door—just in case—then stripped off his shorts and his T-shirt and joined Reese.
He hissed a breath and stumbled back. “What the fuck, Tavoularis?”
The water was ice fucking cold.
