Body and Soul (Vanguard Towers #3) - Aiden Bates Page 0,2

the invitation to come inside but he would regretfully decline, I’d insist he at least sit down to drink his coffee with me, he’d say he was already running late and raise his cup in farewell. I’d watch him go, until he’d knock on Hunter’s door and I’d quickly close mine with tingles all over my body. And yeah, okay, the goosebumps weren’t from the cold.

I raised an eyebrow as he stood on the threshold of our ritual. Maybe he’d forgotten his line. I swept my arm again, with a grand twinkling of my fingers this time.

Ry broke character. He looked me over with an unreadable expression and didn’t glance back toward the hall. My heart stammered, and he stepped through the doorway. Confident. Easy. Like he’d been here a million times. Uh, he’d never been in my apartment and I inhaled sharply as I did a quick scan of my space to make sure everything that needed to be hidden was well out of view. I was still gaping at him by the time he’d glanced around my studio area as he wandered to the kitchen, set down his cup, and bent low to pet Domino.

“Cute kitten.” Stating the obvious was something he and Hunter must have learned in the FBI because the two of them did it a lot.

Domino was purring so loudly I could hear it from where I stood by the door, bracing myself on the frame. Ryland was in my apartment. My home. My workplace. This was what dreams were made of…but in my dreams, I was swanning around in a cute lacy number, regaling him, and seducing him with practiced ease. Not standing silent at the entrance and letting all the cold air in.

I pulled the door shut, and Ry stood and let Domino weave a spell around his ankles.

“Are you…alone?” he asked.

Alone? Oh! Now this was the type of dream that could get interesting. Except—

Ah… Ian.

Guilt thudded heavy in my bones and I quickly snuffed the excitement of Ry in my apartment. I had a boyfriend. A moody one, and one I was thinking of breaking up with. But still, I was spoken for and I was no cheater.

“Just me and Domino.”

He looked over my shoulder toward the bedroom, then over his own toward the second bathroom behind the kitchen. Oh. He was sweeping the joint.

“What are you looking for?” I set down the latte beside his coffee on the kitchen counter and put a hand on my hip.

He searched my face for something. I raised my eyebrows, annoyed I wasn’t in on the search. Ry stepped closer, and a wall of energy seemed to pulse between us. I looked up to see if he was feeling it too, but his expression and electric blue eyes gave nothing away. Classic Ryland.

He wet his lips and spoke soft and low. “What’s wrong?”

I set my jaw and frowned, annoyed. Nothing was wrong. What could be wrong?

Closer again, he touched his fingertips to my cheek, and dragged a thumb just under my eye. Sparks burst where he touched me and my breath snagged in my chest. I searched his face to see if he felt it too, but he was a blank page and he quickly let his hand fall to his side. I was disappointed, but guilt gnawed at my gut. Ian.

I pulled away too, and Ry motioned to a mirror on the wall.

Oh… Mascara stained my cheeks, in a pattern clearly formed by tears. Embarrassed, I laughed and rolled my eyes. “This is what I get for not washing it off before bed! My pillowcase probably looks worse than this.”

Ry tapped his fingers on the kitchen counter, like he was waiting for me to break and tell the truth. I wasn’t going to admit I’d cried myself to sleep the night before to anyone, let alone the older man I’d been crushing on for years.

I frowned and set my jaw.

“Braxton. Tell me what’s wrong.” He wasn’t asking.

And the rumble in his deep voice made me quiver. More than chai lattes every morning, more than irresistible older men with broad shoulders, and even more than getting my own way—

I loved being told what to do.

2

Ryland

I clenched my fist to stop myself from reaching out and touching Braxton again. The spark of electricity I’d felt when I’d—foolishly, inappropriately, deliciously—touched him was still lingering in my fingertips. It was to be expected, given how much and how long I’d wanted the beautiful younger man. Erm, beautiful and