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and he made a mental note to set his alarm clock when he got home, so he didn t sleep
too late and not have enough time to do everything that needed to be done.
 I& I m looking forward to seeing you, Riley blurted out before he could stop
himself, but he didn t regret it, couldn t. Not when he could just hear the smile over the
phone line. He liked that no, he loved that it seemed to be so easy for him to make
Trace happy. At the same time though, Riley was well aware of the flip side of that coin.
If he could easily make Trace happy, he could probably hurt him easily too, and the
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more time he spent thinking about Trace, the more Riley realized that was the last thing
he wanted to do.
 I m glad. Me too, darlin . I missed you the past couple of days. I ll let you go. You
probably have to get ready. I ll see you at four tomorrow. I m glad you called, Riley.
You can call me anytime, don t worry about looking at the clock. Anytime, I mean it.
 Don t tell me that, you just might regret it. I m one of those people who likes to
talk at all hours of the night and I can t exactly go waking Jenna up to listen to me
ramble since she works a real job and all. I do have to finish getting ready though.
Part of him didn t want to hang up the phone, wanted to just sit there for the rest of
the night listening to Trace, to the warmth in his voice. Riley was already getting
addicted to hearing that. It was so new to him, to hear someone speak to him with that
kind of care for him, not to mention knowing that Trace actually listened to everything
he said.
 I ll definitely see you tomorrow. And, well& the same goes for you. For calling,
you know? If I can t see you every day, then I definitely want to talk to you.
Trace s lips curved.  Promise. Be careful, darlin . Part of him was tempted to say  I
love you before hanging up, the words burning his tongue, but he didn t. He sighed a
little when Riley promised to be careful then the phone clicked in Trace s ear.
He set it down, leaning back in his chair and looking around. He loved his house
but until recently hadn t really noticed the one bad thing about it.
It was empty.
Trace pushed away from the table and smiled, flipping off the lights as he made his
way upstairs. Not for long. Not for long at all. He made a quick detour into the
bathroom, meeting his own guilty eyes in the mirror as he washed down a pair of pills
before shutting off that light as well and heading to bed.
* * * * *
Trace climbed the stairs to Riley s second-floor apartment, smiling as he heard
Ginger start yapping behind the door. Well, he d definitely sold himself to one member
of the household, at least. Shifting the six-pack of beer he carried, he knocked, grinning
at the emphatic, increased yapping.
He heard Riley shush the puppy and then the door swung open and Riley gave him
a bright smile. Damn, he was a beautiful man. Trace s heart skipped a beat as the young
man lifted up onto his toes to brush a kiss across his cheek.
 Hey, you. Right on time. I like that. Riley grinned as he pulled back, holding his
hand out for the six-pack.  I ll take that. Come on in.
Trace smiled, handing Riley the beer and stepped inside, crouching down as Riley
shut the door to scoop up the little yapping dog.  Hello to you too, half-pint. He
grinned, scratching behind the pup s ear before setting her back down and looked up at
Riley, then straightened slowly.  And hello to you.
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Fae Sutherland & Chelsea James
He slid an arm around Riley s waist, drawing him closer and bending his head to
kiss him, soft and gentle, before releasing him with a grin.  So what s on the menu,
darlin ? He let his gaze wander over Riley, drinking him in.
 Steak tips with peppers, onions and mushrooms, wild rice and some nice Italian
bread I picked up this morning at the bakery down the street. Plus fruit salad for
dessert. You don t have any food allergies I should worry about, do you?
As he spoke, he led Trace into the kitchen, gesturing to one of the stools at the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]