after tonight that Ian needs to keep out of this investigation, no matter how much he wants justice for his friend. I think Turner is our best lead right now, and I plan to pay him a visit soon. My hope is that I’ll find something to justify taking him into custody.
The parlor is dark, so I flip on a light and head to the bar. I didn’t drink anything at the club tonight because I considered myself on duty. But now I’m officially off the clock, and after what happened tonight, I could really use a drink.
I grab a bottle of dark ale out of the mini fridge behind the bar and pop the cap. Then I sit on a barstool and busy myself drinking while I wait for Ian to return. As soon as he does, I’ll say goodnight and head home.
“Sorry about that,” Ian says as he enters the room. He’s changed his shirt, and he’s steadier on his feet now.
“Not a problem. Are you okay?”
He pulls a bottle of water from the fridge and screws off the cap. After taking a long swig, he says, “Yeah. I’m better.” He walks behind the bar and stands facing me, his eyes haunted. “Turner creeps the hell out of me. You should have heard the way he talked about Eric.” He shudders. “The man is sick.”
Ian takes another long pull on his water and sets the bottle down hard. “He described hurting Eric, and he said Eric liked it.”
I set my bottle on the bar, a bit harder than I meant to. “You’re not seeing him again. Is that clear?”
He smiles ruefully. “You can’t keep me locked up, Tyler. I won’t live in a cage, even a gilded one.”
“I don’t want this guy fixating on you.”
“It’s too late. He told me he wants to fuck me on my boat.”
I lift my bottle to my mouth and down the last of my beer. “Jesus. Don’t leave this townhouse without an escort.”
“Who’s going to escort me? You?”
I feel my face heat. “I’ll make arrangements.”
“A bodyguard? No thanks. Been there, done that. They cramp my style.”
“It’s only temporary. Until we arrest Eric’s killer.” I get up from my seat, needing to clear my head. “It’s late. I should go. Thanks for the drink.”
I’m halfway across the room when he calls out, “Tyler, wait!”
I turn to him, and he’s almost caught up to me.
“Thank you,” he says. “For tonight. For being there. As difficult as it was being around Turner, knowing you were there made all the difference in the world.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing my job.”
Standing this close to him, I can see how long his eyelashes are. I notice a few faint freckles on his cheeks. He’s staring at me, and I can feel the weight of the moment between us. It’s heavy and… wrong.
And yet my heart’s beating like I just ran a marathon, and I can feel my blood coursing through my body.
Ian’s gaze darts down to my lips, then back up to meet mine. Then back to my lips. This close, I smell mint on his breath, and I realize he must have brushed his teeth when he was upstairs.
He takes a step closer.
I step back. “Ian, don’t.”
He moves with me. “Don’t what?”
The way he’s looking at me makes my body burn. My cock is throbbing. “I need to go.”
I take a couple more steps back and, like in a dance, he follows me, staying with me step for step, until I back into the wall and have nowhere to go.
Slowly, he reaches out to cup my cheek, his palm brushing softly against my beard. My breath is trapped in my chest.
“Say no, Tyler.” His voice drops, and it’s rough, full of heat. So damn seductive. “Tell me no.” He says it like a dare.
“Stop it, Ian.”
“All you have to do is say ‘no.’ Can you do that?”
I open my mouth to say just that, but my breath stalls in my chest. I want to say no. God knows I do. It’s on the tip of my tongue. I can’t do this! But his fingers are in my hair now, his blunt nails scraping against the base of my skull, and his touch feels so damn good I could cry.
Ian has made me feel more in the past week than I’ve felt with anyone else my entire life. “I can’t do this.” My voice breaks, and I’m filled with shame. I’m a grown