little blonde actress you used to hang out with?”
“Charlie? She was dating Linc’s sister. We’re just friends. She’s…not my type.”
Jimmy nodded. “Give my love to your mother and sisters. I’ll have the kid’s things delivered to your place if you text me the address. Again, I really appreciate you doing this for me. I miss your pops every day. He was one of the good ones.”
Bullshit. Jackson didn’t comment any further. Jimmy rose and shook his hand. The movement seemed to capture both boys’ attention, and Dayton seemed to notice Jackson for the first time. His eyes widened and he said something to Wyatt, who laughed, his look growing alarmingly conspiratorial.
Jimmy walked to the door. “Dayton. Come here, please.”
Dayton rose from the chair in one regal move. He wore tight jeans that clung to long shapely legs and a baby blanket pink sweater that fell off one pale shoulder. Every move he made, from the way he walked to the way he held his hands fascinated Jackson. It was like the boy was a puppeteer with strings dangling from each elegant finger.
Dayton slid past Jimmy in the doorway, giving Jackson what he could only describe as a hungry look, a slow smirk crossing his pretty face. “Hey, Daddy,” the boy murmured, his voice just dripping with sex.
Jimmy’s face flushed. “Dayton!”
Dayton shrugged his bare shoulder, batting dark lashes at the old man. “What? What’d I do now, Father Flanagan? Not everything I say is a scandal. Take a pill before your heart gives out.”
Jimmy looked like he wanted to strangle the boy. “Look, Jackson’s agreed to take you on as a client until we apprehend the man who murdered ADA Jansen. You could at least show him some respect.”
Jackson watched as the first crack in the boy’s armor appeared. His smirk slowly melted away as his brows drew together in confusion. “What? What does that even mean? I don’t want to be anybody’s client.”
Jimmy scowled. “You’re going to stay with Jackson, and he’s going to keep you safe until we find our suspect.”
Dayton jerked his head back and forth. “No. No way. I have a business to run. I can’t be sharing a space with some cop while I’m performing. It’s bad for business.” Once more, Dayton looked Jackson up and down like he was a piece of meat. “Unless, of course, you want to join me on camera. I bet my fans would love to see us together. All that perfect dark skin pressed up against my peaches and cream complexion.”
“Dayton!”
Dayton rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine. But I’m not going to stop working. I have a really good following, and maintaining that following takes constant content creation.”
“You’ll have your own room. It’s none of my business what you do as long as it stays in that room,” Jackson said, feeling the need to suddenly adjust himself, grateful the desk blocked his semi-rigid cock. The thought of Dayton touching himself on camera was a tantalizing enough prospect, but the thought of Jackson having access to all of him, doing anything he pleased while the world watched… That was far too alluring for three o’clock on a Friday afternoon. He forced himself to keep his face blank.
Jimmy also frowned at Jack. “Uh, are you sure he should be…uh…working? What if the killer traces his IP address or something?”
“There’s nothing in my apartment that’s not encrypted. I built each of my apartments to be my own private Fort Knox. He’ll be fine. You asked me to do this. Don’t question my methods.”
Jimmy gave Dayton one final look. “I’ll guess I’ll leave you to it then.”
The man on the opposite side of the desk was beautiful, Day hadn’t been lying about that. He was also insanely intimidating. Even from across four feet of mahogany, the man seemed to take up all the space between them. He was large—wide-receiver huge—with warm umber skin that stretched across biceps bulging from beneath a black v-neck t-shirt, leading to muscular forearms and strong hands. He had a close cropped fade, bushy brows, lashes that highlighted whiskey-colored eyes, and a thick beard that only seemed to enhance the perfect pout of his lips. The man made Day both scared and horny.
With Jimmy gone, all of Day’s bravado dissolved. Jimmy had called the man Jackson. Jackson didn’t appear to be as easily excitable as Jimmy. In fact, he had a stillness about him that set Day’s teeth on edge. He crossed his legs, flicking at some invisible spot on his