He couldn’t wait to find out.
He had a thousand words he wanted to say, but nothing could get past the ball of fire and joy spooling in his gut, tightening his spine, and finally snapping free.
Chapter Thirty-One
Hodges walked into the kitchen the next morning, found them curled up together on the window seat, and rolled his eyes.
“Gross,” he announced on his way to the coffeemaker.
Even David could hear the affection beneath the exasperation.
And they were, objectively, being gross. They’d woken up in a tangle of limbs and hadn’t separated much more since, not even when they’d showered and dressed for the day. They weren’t sucking face at the breakfast table, but they also weren’t inclined to put more than six inches between them.
Hodges filled his mug and came over to the table. “Let me drink this, and then I’ll take you into town.”
“Actually,” Reese said slowly, “I’d like to drive us, if you have no objections.”
David watched Hodges’ reaction carefully. He looked stunned, but not upset.
Relieved, David slid out of his seat and went to the stove to make Hodges his breakfast. Reese was concerned Hodges would feel at loose ends without having to drive Reese everywhere, so David left them to talk. The plan was for Hodges to wait for one of their private investigators to show up, then together they would follow the fresh footsteps in the snow to confirm their assumptions about where last night’s intruder had come onto the property. Hodges was also considering adding more cameras.
Meanwhile, the three of them would see if Chaz was back in town and go to the bank for Mati to begin to tackle the disaster her brothers had created.
David slid a ham, cheese, and pepper omelette onto the table.
Hodges stopped speaking mid-sentence and stared at the plate like he’d never seen anything like it. “Wow. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” David said, pleased.
Hodges took a big bite and made an obscene noise. He looked at David, then at Mati and Reese with wide, pleading eyes.
David didn’t know what to make of that.
Mati laughed and went to refill her coffee. David would never get used to her in a prim suit, perfectly fitted to her curvy frame. Her hair was in a tight knot rather than the messy bun she’d worn the past couple weeks, and she was much taller than usual thanks to the towering heels on her feet.
David had no idea how she walked in those things, but the whole look was hotter than hell.
Reese was also dressed for work, wearing nicely tailored gray flannel slacks, a sports coat, and an executive-looking tie. Together, they were a couple you did not want to fuck with.
It was distressingly attractive. David had no idea business attire could get him so hot.
And that was nothing compared to the thrill of watching them work.
They arrived at the offices of Charles Bentley, Esq. by mid-morning. As soon as they came through the door, a woman jumped up from behind the desk and smiled.
“Reese! Matilda! I wasn’t expecting you today.”
David hung back while they greeted each other, scanning the elegant waiting area in what used to be the front parlor of the old house. He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and shifted to block Mati and Reese as subtly as possible.
Reese gestured to him. “This is our…David,” he finished lamely, making a face.
Mati rolled her eyes at him behind the woman’s back.
Reese huffed. “David, this is Muffy Bentley, Chaz’s sister and the reason this place doesn’t fall apart.”
Muffy waved Reese off with a pleased smile and David extended his hand, clasping hers briefly. “It’s nice to meet you. You hold down the fort all by yourself?”
Muffy glanced over David’s shoulder. “Most days, yes. Recently, my son has been helping me.”
